I have a Fender strat 2006, I'm looking for an amp that will give me a nice clean mid1950's Rock n roll sound.
suggestions please.
I have a Fender strat 2006, I'm looking for an amp that will give me a nice clean mid1950's Rock n roll sound.
suggestions please.
Try Fender's 5F6-A tweed Bassman, either an original or a re-issue.
It doesn't get much better than that.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
Nope.Originally Posted by phantomman
Tweed Supers and Pros are also up on my list, but those generally require build expertise as they don't come in the reissue flavor as much.
"...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."
-Edmund Burke
I've never played a 5F6 or other tweed bassman so I can't comment. I've heard them and their clones and they're fantastic. I didn't think I needed that much power or bulk so I built a 5F4 Super, considering that it would be, right or wrong, "half a bassman." Incredible amp. Very clean and plenty loud with my Strat (Tex-Mex pickups) and really loud when opened up and breaking up.
With the P90 GT Les Paul it's a Dr. Jekyl / Mr. Hyde amp. Here's a pic with the 2005 AMSE Strat I had for a while. I really should do some clips for Youtoob.
You want what sounds right to you. Take your Strat to music stores and try a bunch of amps out. You'll find it.
On SmartPhones:
"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But That only permitted other men with machines to enslave them." Frank Herbert.
For the 50's R&R sound the little Ampeg Jet is near the top of my list. It's got that 50's vibe and won't break the bank.
Old Gibsons have it the best but be prepared to part with cubic dollars to get one.
Agreed a Bassman needs way to much throttle to sound round - and R&R is all about that clean cut with a fat EQ.
Also, delay is your friend, it will give you that tape-echo sound without the reverb muddiness.
All that said...the very last guitar I would reach for to do the classic 50's R&R sound is a Stratocaster, so you're behind the eight ball to start.
Last edited by Offshore Angler; 08-30-2015 at 12:15 PM.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
I love old Jets! Good fun at a reasonable price.
Why is that, Angler? More of a 60s vibe?
"The beauty and profundity of God is more real than any mere calculation."
Absolutely.
We've always known that Buddy Holly got it soooooooooo wrong.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
Buddy Holly's Strat influenced a generation or two of guitarists who play the two horned beast.
No guitar fully represents an era. When I was a lad, I always liked bands to have one guitarist playing a Fender, the other a Gibson. That way I got to see both in action.
By the way, the OP was somebody's joke or troll.
If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison
It almost seemed standard that bands around here in the late 50s/early 60s would have a lead Strat and a rhythm Tele (odd choice, I know). That all changed after the British Invasion and Gretsches and semi-hollow Gibsons became more common. Strats went out of fashion very briefly and were considered quite passe until Hendrix changed everyone's mind. I almost never saw anyone play a Les Paul until I saw Cream.
"The beauty and profundity of God is more real than any mere calculation."
Man, YMMV, but when I hear real rock and roll I hear semi-hollows and rich EQs. I'm not talking Buddy Hollie or other pop artists, I mean REAL rock and roll from the 50's. Back-beat, double bass, woody mids and few to no rides from the drummer and a piano. Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, Little Richard, The Big Bopper, Eddy Cochran... The list goes on and on. It was made to dance to. It was great stuff until the guitar players fucked it up! 50's R&R was all about the pocket. It's a lost art, but if you go back and listen you can hear it.
And yes, the Stratocaster was pretty much a flop when it came to 50's R&R. I know this is a Fender aficionado place and there may be a slight hint of bias (!) but the facts and the master narrative don't match.
If I want a 50's R&R sound I'll use my semi-hollow every time. You can use a Strat if you choose. It's all good.
Just don't confuse Rock with R&R, 'cause they ain't the same.
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
The more I think about this, the more I think you are dead on. My youthful guitar experiences began with surf bands which almost always used spankin' new Fenders, including amps. But if you roll back the clock just a few years, yep, it's all archtops with few exceptions, probably the result of the country influence on R&R.
"The beauty and profundity of God is more real than any mere calculation."
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