pbognar

Myles, Question for you... I know you don't like amps with a load of preamp tubes, but I'm going to ask for some advice in the Boogie DC-3. I remember playing one ages ago, and as much as I wanted it to be a versatile 2 channel 112 amp, I thought the clean side sounded real dark (I was hoping for an F-30 or Mark IV type of clean), the the drive channel was ok, but could have had more presence. Their prices on the used market are pretty reasonable. I was wondering if you had any tube suggestions to make the clean side more Fender like, which might also help tame the drive channel. Also, most people seem to indicate that you should find one with a Vin30 in it... If you think the amp is crap, do you have any other $400-$600 suggestions for a decent 2-3 channel 112 tube amp? The third alternative is to get a Fender amp (even SS) and front-end it with a MI Audio Tube pedal, or Tone Lab. The MI Audio site demos their Tube pedal with a JC-120 and it sounds really great. I guess it's easier to make a good clean amp to sound good dirty rather than the other way around... btw - avatar is nice, but makes browsing the forum difficult at work... Pete

Myles, I realize recommending amps is very subjective, but who cares, I'd like your subjective recommendation. What combo amp would you recommend (2 channels - 3 would be best) to achieve the holy grail - a squeaky clean Fenderish sound, a crunchy Marshall sound, and a smooth, sustaining, articulate solo sound, between $500-$1000 (used amps included)? Or do you recommend getting a Fender amp and front-ending it with stomp boxes, and if so, which amp and which overdrive/distortion stomp boxes? Or do you recommend getting some sort of modeller? You probably get this question all the time - logic would dictate that in order to get the clean Fender sound, you go with that, because that's harder to create with stomp boxes than overdriven sounds - but who knows, I just want YOUR opinion... There has been a lot of talk on this thread regarding Rivera amps, any low end models which might fit the bill? Thanks, Pete

Pete .... There is not too much you can do here. The amp has a very complex circuit path, and expects a wide range speaker. The V30 by the way, will handle 60 watts. In any case, having this complex circuit takes it's toll on amp and player articulation and definition. In amps, you generally cannot have your cake and eat it too .... that is one good reason for multiple amps in many cases. Myles, Thanks for your reply. When you were speaking of amp and player articulation were you indicating that a modelling amp could never really sound like a tube amp - just asking? ;-) Allan Holdsworth uses these amps live, and you know the kind of tone he gets (overdriven and clean) - do you suppose that he is goofing around with parametric or graphic eq's. He definitely uses one amp for clean sounds and another for solo work, even though this is an amp where you have like 128 patches!!! Are there any all-in-one amps you'd recommend for a crisp Fenderish sound along with a nice Scott Henderson/Holdsworth type solo sound? Or is the answer to front-end something like a Hot Rod Deluxe with some any particular stomp boxes for some articulate soloing? Pete

Myles, From what I gather you're a tube amp guru, but I have a Yamaha DG-80a 112 modelling amp, and I have a speaker question for you: The amp is really versatile, and I like it a lot -HOWEVER, for clean Fender type sounds, there is a lack of high-end shimmer - it's kind of dark sounding, and when you compensate with treble and presence controls, it just ends up sounding brittle. The speaker which comes with the amp is a Celestion G12H-100. I've been told that switch out to a Vintage 30 (although the power rating would be too low, but I don't play that loud) or a Celestion 7080 - which is supposed to have more musical high end. Any suggestions? Pete