Re: Compact guitar amp...

[Todd Howell <ransacker@earthlink.net>]

Rare is it that I chime in on such matters. But I am in agreement with Mr. 
Hartung here. 
The whole idea of the dream tone is so subjective that it's to the point 
of being moot in many cases. 
As for the idea of paying 40K for anything that I can't sleep in is 
absurd. I am sure that these Gibson Jazz Boxes are supremely well crafted 
and play and sound wonderful. I have no doubt about this. However. I can't 
imagine most people, even the pornographically wealthy, being able to 
justify the price tag.

I find that most mid range priced gear usually suits my purposes just 
fine. I play a Godin LGXT that I got at GC for less than 800.00 used, a 
Vox AC30 (CC1) and a bunch of pedals from Boss and Digitech, and a Gibson 
Echoplex. These all serve me very well in the current context that I play. 
Even if I could afford a bunch of seriously boutique-ish gear, why? I know 
that alot of it probably sound grand, but for most of us, the idea of 
doing things like paying the mortgage, feeding our kids (or in my case 
Border Collie and Tabbies) and most of all not winding up getting kicked 
the curb or at least wind up sleeping on the couch alot of nights. All of 
this to make sure that we sound transcendent as opposed to good. Most of 
John Q. Public is usually too busy picking the tomatoes off of their 
nachos or trying to making connection with carnal possibility to really 
notice your tone. I guess I don't worry too much about playing for other 
musicians when I do. I hope they appreciate it.

Forty-Thousand Dollars for a guitar? Five thousand dollars for an 
amplifier? Chime in and show me where this is a great idea.

I could be well wrong here...........

Todd

-----Original Message-----
>From: Krispen Hartung <khartung@cableone.net>
>Sent: Dec 16, 2006 11:42 PM
>To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
>Subject: Re: Compact guitar amp...
>
>From: "Zoe Keating" <cello@zoekeating.com>
>
>>I tried a very small Schertler amp a few months ago and was pretty 
>>impressed....but that was with a cello.
>
>Was it the David? I tried one here in Boise...very nice 
>sounding....though 
>they were mainly for acoustic vs. electric mondern jazz...but really nice 
>amps, nonetheless...built like tanks (Swiss, of course, I think).  I can 
>see 
>how they would sound great for cello.
>
>It's funny how my taste has changed in amps over the years. I used to 
>think 
>boutique amps, $1000 and higher, were the only way to go...and I've owned 
>a 
>few of them over the years (power, pre, combo).  These days I find that a 
>$200-$300 amp suits me just fine, and that the "alleged dream tone" 
>really 
>isn't dramatically different than a mid-range amp.  This is only my 
>personal 
>experience and opinion here, of course. I can generally get a tone I like 
>out of a lower cost amp. I put most of my investment in my guitars and my 
>playing technique.
>
>I'm also finding that there is a trend going on today with guitars and 
>amps. 
>Many foreign manufacturers are starting to produce some very affordable 
>gear 
>that plays really good and consistently. A local music store here has 
>some 
>hollow body jazz guitars that are made in Taiwan that play just amazing, 
>and 
>are a fraction of the price of the boutique jazz axes. I know some guys 
>who 
>have paid $40,000 for their Gibson L5s, Super 400 or Wes Montgomery 
>model.s....freakin' insane.  I think Gibson's guitar are grossly 
>overpriced...you can get a not-well-known luthier to make something for a 
>fraction of the price.  I wouldn't even feel comfortable taking a guitar 
>like that (the high end Gibson's) out of the case at a gig.
>
>I've read on MANY jazz guitar discussion forums that the Roland Cube 60 
>($300 +) is a great pick for diverse tone and portability. It keeps 
>popping 
>up as a great pick....pretty amazing and quite appealing for a bunch of 
>old 
>guys with gray hair whose backs are too bad to lift those Fender Twins 
>and 
>JC-120s.  Purism in amps is starting to lose grip a bit with all the 
>latest 
>greatest DSP technology.   Interesting phenomeon going on with music 
>technology.
>
>Kris
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>> On Dec 16, 2006, at 1:20 PM, Andrew Koenig wrote:
>>
>>>>  Anyone have any ideas for a small,
>>>>> compact guitar amp for
>>>>> jazz, with a lot of bells and whistles, effects,
>>>>> etc?
>>>
>>> How compact?  What price range?  If you want something to drool  over, 
>>> check
>>> out www.acousticimg.com and look for the Corus model.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> 
>
>