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Re: guitar amps
I think we've been over this before, but since you
seem to be happy with many of the modelers around (as
am I) why not just get a nice keyboard amp or powered
PA speaker and use the amp modeler of your choice?
This gives amazing flexibility IMO. Sounds good for
bass, acoustic and you can even route keyboard sounds
though it. Get a modeler that's an all in one floor
unit, as I'm sure you'll need stuff on the ground
anyway.
I found the Mackie 650s to be a little cold sounding
but had great bottom. A bit of time with an EQ was
all they needed though. Why have the bells and
whistles in the amp?
Mark
--- Krispen Hartung <khartung@cableone.net> wrote:
> The polytones are indeed nice (just don't use the
> gain on them, as that
> produces what could likely be the most nasty
> sounding distortion on the
> planet earth)...however, having used many models of
> Polytones in my guitar
> playing history, I find that they are a generally a
> one-dimensional amp.
> Most guys I know using them are using good sized
> archtop guitars, which is
> what I did. The polytones are designed to have a
> very flat frequency
> response and re-produce the beautiful, and unique
> sound of a big bodied
> archtop. This is also why they are a popular amp
> for accordion players. But
> for someone who wants to play modern jazz - a mix of
> traditional clean tones
> with other flavors of dirtied up tones, like Mike
> Stearn, Scofield, etc - I
> don't believe the Polytone is a good choice. It's
> not that sort of amp. I
> keep falling back to the newer DSP amps, like the
> Roland Cube 60, Fender
> FM65, Vox, and so on. I keep seeing these amps pop
> up in jazz guitar
> discussion forums over, and over again. One just
> found out that one of my
> favorite jazz guitarists, Lorne Lofsky (an
> mind-blowing modern jazz
> guitarist that teaches and lives in the Toronto
> area), is also using the
> Fender FM65. These amps have the ability to produce
> a very clean tone (like
> a JC-120), but also a vintage amp or tube amp that
> will get dirty when you
> push it. I never believed it until I use them, but
> amps like the Cube 60
> even have the ability to produce that "spongy" feel
> of tube amps. I think
> it's just amazing what they've done with them...so,
> for the versatile jazz
> guitarist who has to switch from traditional jazz,
> to smooth jazz, to modern
> jazz, to fusion on the fly depending on the gig,
> these DSP amps are the
> cat's meow.
>
> I find "harshness" to be a feature of EQ, not an
> amp. I've never played an
> amp that I couldn't get a smooth tone out of by
> adjusting the EQ...roll off
> the presence or highs, boost the mids, and turn the
> tone down on the guitar
> a bit....all age old tricks of jazz guitar players
> to "silkify" their tones.
> Although I've heard some tube purists say that solid
> state amps in general
> are harsh...but I think this is an unqualified claim
> as well. Once you tweak
> a solid state amp right, it will NOT sound
> harsh..."harshness" is not the
> right term, in my opition..rather, it's that
> "sponginess" I mentioned, the
> fact that tube amps breaks up when you push them,
> that they change
> throughout the duration of a performance as they
> heat up (which annoys the
> shit out of me), etc. I think harshness is an easy
> characteristic to
> change, but these more organic features of tube amps
> are more difficult to
> emulate...but the new DSP amps are getting really
> good at it...enough so for
> that I really prefer the DSP amps now, because they
> run cool, don't require
> tube maintenance, and they are light. It's the best
> of all worlds. I don't
> know who a Roland could be regarded as harsh...turn
> the treble and presence
> to 0...the last thing it will be is
> harsh...incredibly undefined, but not
> harsh.
>
> Speaking of Polytone, you ever played a 104? The
> George Benson model? I used
> to one one...weight a tone, but it was a LOUD
> sob....very clean, 2X12 amp. I
> used to own a Lab Series L5 too...very intriguing
> amps, with built in
> compression and some filtering EQ. I used to run a
> L5 one one site, and a
> Polytone 104 on the other for big jazz gigs, where I
> had to compete with an
> 18 piece jazz group or loud drummer.
>
> K-
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "samba -" <sambacomet@hotmail.com>
> To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
> Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2006 5:55 PM
> Subject: guitar amps
>
>
> > Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> >
> > I think for small portable the polytone is very
> tatsty. I find the roland
> > stuff has a sort of harsh edge,where the polytone
> is sweet.No bells and
> > whisltes though.I got one for under 100 and have
> seen 2-3 for 50 that
> > needed repair.It'/s usually switch or power supply
> problems,or maybe a
> > cap.
> >
> >
>
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