You nailed it. I agree with pretty much everything you said. Vintage amps are like vintage cars but with far fewer capable mechanics. Not a reliable daily driver and not a smart choice if you are on a budget.
If I were gigging I'd have a modeler or profiler no doubt. Since I'll be recording at home I do have plugins but probably will mike up or load box my tube amp setup. But I probably wouldn't settle on one or the other just because. You have to play to your song/art. :)
BlugGuitar AMP1 Iridium. I just purchased one last week and I'm blown away. It has auto-feedback it sizzles. That's about all I should need to say. It's a tube amp the size of a large pedal like a Roland Guitar synth size but smaller. I'm paring it with a Boss GT-1000 core and it sounds amazing. This is coming from a guy with 9 guitar amps including vintage Marshalls and hand-wired Friedmans. The BlugGuitar AMP1 is the real deal.
Get a 70s Master Volume Marshall if you want bedroom volume. I have 2 a 77 and a 79 both JMP Master Model MKII 2204 heads. The 77 has a Tube Buffered Effects Loop mod. I have had them since 1993 and I've never had a problem. They sound glorious. Very much worth it IMO. I use a clean boost, a TS-10, and an OCD and I can get everything from clean to brutal metal grit. The JMP 2204 is a swiss army knife holy grail amplifier.
Note regarding the venues mic'ing stuff, as someone that is currently out gigging shitty bars and clubs lol, they might mic it but theres no thought into it and the biggest kicker is you're not going to hear yourself well through whatever monitors they have. Stage volume is needed more as a monitor than anything else. The nicer the venue, the less you need the volume. I've seen a number of people struggle with a digital rig hearing themselves / being heard. They work great if you're on IEM's in a solid venue though.
Oof, tough task Mike! Tried the FM9, hated the UI but sounded good. Have a Kemper, it's great. Have a QC, also pretty solid. Years ago I'd go that route, but I just love amps. The romance is half of it for me, objectively I could get better, more consistent sounds digitally, but it's less fun and exciting for me and I get no joy looking at it next to my desk like I do all my tube amps. So today, May 24th, my answer would be my current gigging rig. Totally impractical, but man is it fun. Hayseed 30 (AC30 clone but in a 1x12 w/ a MV basically. HW so I can fix it) - $1200-1500 Fender Spring Tank (reissue is fine, have both the reissue is stellar) - $700ish Volante - $350 Protein OD - $250 $2500 for a guitar is where I hit a roadblock. I bounce around so much between models, it's hard to say. I'd probably go some kind of lower end tele and an american made JM. $2500 isn't enough to get into Gibson territory anymore, at least what I'd be interested in and certainly not enough to get a gibson and something else even if it was a junior.
Agreed on the fractal. I gigged with an AX8 for about 4 years (just sold it to my bass player) and recently got an FM9 turbo. I live my 2293x and modded 2204, but the fractal makes it super easy and consistent. Also agree on getting a used cab….plus, make it a 2x12. Plenty loud and easier to transport.
Man I am loving the frequent uploads. There are only two caveats I would add to your points. The first thing is that I think the vast majority of amps fall into one of 4 main categories. Clean Fender style amps, Vox style amps, Marshall style amps, and high-gain style amps. If you sort of figure out which of those categories appeal to you, I think you'll be much more likely to get in the ballpark of what you're looking for. Other categories like Orange exist, but they aren't as common in the music someone has probably listened to. The second, and you touched on this, is that the used market is king. You can find AMAZING deals on great guitars and speaker cabinets for next to nothing used. I think that's also true for amps, but you need to know what you're looking at and what you're looking for and just spend a lot of time looking at what different old brands are.
Hey Mike Wondering if you got my JP2C I sent back the other day! :-) It just didn't work out for me. You laid out some really good insights here. I have a similar 5K Budget scenario here and I'm looking at a Bogner Ubershall or a Diezel to add to my Marshall JVM main rig(Which Kills). HOWEVER I was thinking of instead of getting another Tube Amp do a Modeler like an AxeFX BUT Not sure I'm past my present Tube Amp Fix or not. Had all the modelers before other than an Axe FX or Quad cortex, and I'm good at homing in tones...Just not sure. Any who Sweet Very cool Sit down and Cheers had a white wine. ;)
@@eldoradoguitars6456 I got number 2, great sounding amp. but in reality those modelers will go further getting you through practice and gigs, even recording for the most part. I like stacking marshall and Vox. Lincoln Brewster does it very well with the line 6 modelers.
You nailed it. I agree with pretty much everything you said.
Vintage amps are like vintage cars but with far fewer capable mechanics. Not a reliable daily driver and not a smart choice if you are on a budget.
If I were gigging I'd have a modeler or profiler no doubt. Since I'll be recording at home I do have plugins but probably will mike up or load box my tube amp setup. But I probably wouldn't settle on one or the other just because. You have to play to your song/art. :)
BlugGuitar AMP1 Iridium. I just purchased one last week and I'm blown away. It has auto-feedback it sizzles. That's about all I should need to say. It's a tube amp the size of a large pedal like a Roland Guitar synth size but smaller. I'm paring it with a Boss GT-1000 core and it sounds amazing. This is coming from a guy with 9 guitar amps including vintage Marshalls and hand-wired Friedmans. The BlugGuitar AMP1 is the real deal.
Get a 70s Master Volume Marshall if you want bedroom volume. I have 2 a 77 and a 79 both JMP Master Model MKII 2204 heads. The 77 has a Tube Buffered Effects Loop mod. I have had them since 1993 and I've never had a problem. They sound glorious. Very much worth it IMO. I use a clean boost, a TS-10, and an OCD and I can get everything from clean to brutal metal grit. The JMP 2204 is a swiss army knife holy grail amplifier.
Note regarding the venues mic'ing stuff, as someone that is currently out gigging shitty bars and clubs lol, they might mic it but theres no thought into it and the biggest kicker is you're not going to hear yourself well through whatever monitors they have. Stage volume is needed more as a monitor than anything else. The nicer the venue, the less you need the volume. I've seen a number of people struggle with a digital rig hearing themselves / being heard. They work great if you're on IEM's in a solid venue though.
Oof, tough task Mike!
Tried the FM9, hated the UI but sounded good. Have a Kemper, it's great. Have a QC, also pretty solid. Years ago I'd go that route, but I just love amps. The romance is half of it for me, objectively I could get better, more consistent sounds digitally, but it's less fun and exciting for me and I get no joy looking at it next to my desk like I do all my tube amps.
So today, May 24th, my answer would be my current gigging rig. Totally impractical, but man is it fun.
Hayseed 30 (AC30 clone but in a 1x12 w/ a MV basically. HW so I can fix it) - $1200-1500
Fender Spring Tank (reissue is fine, have both the reissue is stellar) - $700ish
Volante - $350
Protein OD - $250
$2500 for a guitar is where I hit a roadblock. I bounce around so much between models, it's hard to say. I'd probably go some kind of lower end tele and an american made JM. $2500 isn't enough to get into Gibson territory anymore, at least what I'd be interested in and certainly not enough to get a gibson and something else even if it was a junior.
After standing in front of cranked Marshall plexi stacks for years, I bought an Orange Rocker 30 (SM57 mic). Great tone, not too loud... works great.
Agreed on the fractal. I gigged with an AX8 for about 4 years (just sold it to my bass player) and recently got an FM9 turbo. I live my 2293x and modded 2204, but the fractal makes it super easy and consistent. Also agree on getting a used cab….plus, make it a 2x12. Plenty loud and easier to transport.
Man I am loving the frequent uploads. There are only two caveats I would add to your points. The first thing is that I think the vast majority of amps fall into one of 4 main categories. Clean Fender style amps, Vox style amps, Marshall style amps, and high-gain style amps. If you sort of figure out which of those categories appeal to you, I think you'll be much more likely to get in the ballpark of what you're looking for. Other categories like Orange exist, but they aren't as common in the music someone has probably listened to.
The second, and you touched on this, is that the used market is king. You can find AMAZING deals on great guitars and speaker cabinets for next to nothing used. I think that's also true for amps, but you need to know what you're looking at and what you're looking for and just spend a lot of time looking at what different old brands are.
Love that jake e lee friedman! Probably one of the best amps I’ve played
It’s killer! Dave’s best amp.
I'd say a Synergy pre-amp is the best option.
Hey Mike Wondering if you got my JP2C I sent back the other day! :-) It just didn't work out for me. You laid out some really good insights here. I have a similar 5K Budget scenario here and I'm looking at a Bogner Ubershall or a Diezel to add to my Marshall JVM main rig(Which Kills). HOWEVER I was thinking of instead of getting another Tube Amp do a Modeler like an AxeFX BUT Not sure I'm past my present Tube Amp Fix or not. Had all the modelers before other than an Axe FX or Quad cortex, and I'm good at homing in tones...Just not sure. Any who Sweet Very cool Sit down and Cheers had a white wine. ;)
I’ll take the Jake E Lee 20w head when it comes out!
I got a Marshall 1960B 4x12 all original for $400 on reverb.
What serial number is your JEL?
15
@@eldoradoguitars6456 I got number 2, great sounding amp. but in reality those modelers will go further getting you through practice and gigs, even recording for the most part. I like stacking marshall and Vox. Lincoln Brewster does it very well with the line 6 modelers.
I agree with you. I also love tube amps, but they are very boring these days.