'76 Strat and a Solid State Amp

[dez]

Did a bar gig with some old friends and a few guys I've never played with friday. All I brought was a '76 Strat and a Fender Deluxe90 amp. The other guitar player had a '57 RI LP and played through a SFTR with a Tubester or Tube Driver or some such thing.

The tone compliments I got on my simplistic (and cheap and lightweight!)set-up blew me away. The bass man and drummer (whom I had never met before) talked about the tone I was getting during both set breaks and after the gig.

The harp and guitar player did much the same.

Compliments were on clarity, cut, versatility and warmth.

People there to drink, socialize and occasionally listen to a band don't seem to care or notice tone unless it's aweful. But when the people you play with make a point to say something complimentary (especially about a setup that musician's generally think SHOULD produce nothing but crappy sounds), it's surprising and kinda cool.

I have been using that amp for gigs with my original band but stuck with either a bassman RI or SFSR for 4 hour cover gigs. I figured for the blues/rock kinda crap those gigs seem to demand, tube amps were the way to go.

No more.

No more back aches, no more worrying about tubes blowing. None of it. All gigs get the simple set-up. Maybe for the studio I'll take tube amps, but at this point I'm more inclined to get rid of that stuff.

[cooltone]

Dez, that's a great story. You shouldn't give all the credit to your set up, though. I'd venture to guess that your playing is a big part of it. :)

[dez]

Thanks, Cooltone! But I'll go with the set-up! :) I've finally (after 20 years) figured out how to bring next to nothing to a gig and enjoy it, so I'm patting myself on the back ahead of time for not being stupid for the next 20 years worth of shows!

[Tonefreak]

With your tube rig, what were you all hauling?

[dez]

Either a BRI in a road case or a SFSR in road case. I'd bring along either a Rat, Guyatone OD-2 opr Barder Direct Drive. Those amps in road cases (or alone without cases) are heavy and need to be cranked to enjoy the full tonal possibilities.

Why waste my back and stage space with that crap?

(well, they're not crap - they're both great amps that have done hundreds of gigs for me. The back just doesn't appreciate pedigree and tone as much as the ears I guess)

[classicplayer]

dez:

How do you set the tone on the Deluxe 90 for these gigs you write about? Are you shooting for a "fat" tube like tone? I have an American Series ('01) Strat (stock) with a recently purchased Deluxe 90 DSP and I like the combination alot, although I'm not playing out right now. I have been trying to figure out the tone controls on my amp and I think I have the highs set too high in relation to the mid and bass controls. I seem to get screechy treble when just playing chords with a pick only. I also use the pick and two fingers approach and that seems to eliminate the problem. Is is usually that the highs well be set higher than both mids and bass, and that mids will be set a bit higher that bass control? Or, is it really the individual room you play in that determines where to set them?

Classicplayer

[dez]

classicplayer,
My Deluxe 90 was bought before the DSP thing. Anyway, I adjust everything to the room. But I start out with mids and bass all the way up. Treble usually at 3-5.

Crunch is on the high setting (red light rather than green) and I strat around 2 and adjust to the room.

Using that as a base I can get nice clean- crunch sounds and a really good range of the in between stuff.

I hate the typical post srv blues sound but it's easy to simulate using the guitars controls and that basic amp set-up.

[classicplayer]

dez,

Those settings you gave above....are those for the clean channel as well as the dirty one? I have been trying to get rid of some of the screechy highs with my Deluxe 90 DSP. Are these highs I'm hearing more to do with it being solid state, and will I have to endure them for the duration of owning this amp? As long as I use a pick and fingers approach to playing, I don't hear them, but as soon as I lay the pick on the strings for chording, I get these spikey highs. At lower volumes in the clean channel, I have the treble set about 5.5, mids about 4.2 and the bass at 4.8 (plus or minus) on all setting of course. I'm using a Strat (stock) also.

Classicplayer

[RedRain]

I have always had reliability issues with ANY tube amp I have ever owned. I love the tones from tube amps but a good sounding SS amp that "works" for you is always a plus. Esspecially from a reliability standpoint. Havent tried any Fender SS amps but have gotten great tones from old Randall, Kustom and Acoustic amps. Even a Peavey here and there.

[dez]

Clean channel settings same as dirty. Again, then things are adjusted for the room.

Sunday I used a classic player strat into the Deluxe 90 for a studio demo. The mic I used to record was blown but it sounded kind of cool so we did the whole day with it. Only on the loud clean stuff did it sound too scratchy/buzzy but it was funny so we left it.

Hopefully, by the end of the week the guy who does our website will get the songs up so you guys can get a good laugh at yesterday's work.

[electriman]

I think overall that I prefer a good SS amp over tubes. I always had an attitude about SS amps. "AH! Nothing beats a tube amp!", I've said. I said that because I always played through a tube amp and I was just too stuborn to even try a SS amp. As far as I was concerned, if they were any good why don't all the pros use them and save money on tubes?

Well, at that time I owned a Peavey Deuce amp that had SS preamp and 6L6 output. Remember these? Anyhow I really wasn't happy with the sound. I thought the treble response had no "focus" to it. I blamed that on SS preamp! Then one day I seen a Fender M80 which was SS at my music store. I plugged into that thing and wow! What a clean clear sound. I immediately bought it.

Of course after a while I convinced my self that I had a lousy tube amp in the Peavey and I checked out a MusicMan. Didn't like it. Tried out a Fender Deluxe..nice, but thinner sounding than the M80. Then a early 70s Twin. Didn't sound any better than the M80 side by side unless I cranked it enough to blow the walls out!

Do I like tube amps? Sure do. I still have a Peavey tube Prowler that I like. It's warmer which a lot of people prefer but not me. I also own a Digital amp by Yamaha that can do an amazing job at sounding like a Fender tube amp and a lot of others as well. It can be set up to break up when attacking the strings which is also why many prefer a tube amp. And of course I still have my M80.
Well, I've tried a lot of amps and I have good ears for tone. Maybe I haven't found that great tube amp yet, and I'll eat my words some day.

The bottom line: YOU be the judge of what sounds best to YOU.

[deepman2992]

I always play with SS, and get nothing but compliments on my tone. Even by non-musicians!!! But I get my ditortion from a fuzz, using the amp clean... Also smoothed out by a compressor. I prefer the directness of the SS. Plug and play!!! more reliable also.

[CocoTone]

You guyz should get yer hearing tested!! SS and good tone in the same sentence is not allowed!!!

CT.