Re: Compact guitar amp...

["Paul" <paulrichard10@adelphia.net>]

There's a lot of money out there. A roof-top classic apartment (or floor 
actually with a ballroom) is currently going in NYC for 70 million 
dollars. 
That's a lot of fazules! And Bently Automobiles has been advertising more 
in 
the periodicals.

My own impression (gleaned from shopping eBay, pawn shops, etc.) is that 
used music gear seems to be priced higher than ever. I know, I know, 
there's 
always the good buy that someone got but I noticed that every single item 
I 
bid on eBay turns into a bidding war and drives the price up. No good 
bargains there. Pawnshops used to have good stuff (I picked up a Minimoog 
synthesizer a few years back for $120). Now (at least the ones I've 
visited 
the last few years) have cheap junk. And music stores that have used gear 
(like Johnny B Goods in Pittsburgh) have all the stuff priced way too high 
(is anyone paying those prices for, say, an old Yamaha midi sequencer?).

Then, there's these corporate collectors like Hard Rock cafe and 
individual 
collectors with deep pockets that seem to scour every guitar/synth/effect 
pedal/etc. like a purse seine trawling for tuna. Guys with very deep 
pockets 
like Paul Allen from Microsoft.

Gibson prices seem inordinately high to me. Maybe I'm wrong. I bought a 
gold 
Les Paul Deluxe in, oh, 1970's for $500.00 so maybe that equates to the 
current asking price. Some newer Fenders seem to be priced right but both 
brands seem pricy to me for the moderately good stuff. Personally, I can 
only afford guitars in the $500-1000 price point range. And I usually 
stick 
to lower/mid end PRS/Godin or Ephiphone brands. I doubt I'd ever spend 
more 
than that unless I won the lottery.

Paul
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Todd Howell" <ransacker@earthlink.net>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2006 12:06 AM
Subject: Re: Compact guitar amp...


> 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.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>