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FINALLY found my amp


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There is probably a REALLY boring story about how I finally got here. I don't lack for words, so if anyone wants to hear it, I'll write a novella about it.

 

But the point is, I found the amp.  Part of finding it was actually realizing that the muddy low end I hated on most tube amps was actually on the albums, just sound-engineered to be minimized, and tightened up by the bass guitar covering.  That made me more willing to accept a thrashy/muddy low end. 

 

The Fender GT-200 came *very* close.  Especially on the Blues Junior setting.

The GT is light enough to carry, big/loud enough to gig with, has a great interface, and pretty good tone. But it didn't stop me from looking.

The amp that finally did it?

The Roland Blues Cube Artist 212.

All my guitars sound good through it. Great clean tone, great high gain tone, great boost on either one. You can combine the clean and high gain (to tighten up the sloppy low end?), as well.  Some really good sonic flexibility with buttonology/twiddling that is both intuitive AND simple.

It was already good enough.

But one of the reasons I got it was that it was expandable with the tone modules.

When I got the New York Blues module, it was a revelation.  I haven't taken it out since, even to try the Ultimate Clean and Eric Johnson modules.

The New York Blues is supposed to be a driven AC-30, I guess?  To me, though, it just adds an edge I was hoping for to the original default sound.  With the gain up high, it provides good enough distortion for anything I want to play, but also provides a great range of crunch and break-up tone.  Which is wider than I think I ever really realized before this amp. 

Basically, for the first time, I feel like I can play blues, funk, surf, rock, hard rock, vintage rock, and metal, from ONE amp, with minimal twiddling.  It's all intutive.

Previously, even when I had something I liked a lot (like the Peavey Classic 30 or the Line6 Firehawk FX), I still kept looking for other amps.  I got this amp, and have felt no urge to try anything else out.

It's been almost a year now. I think it's gonna stick solid.

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Thanks for the tip. One day when I’ve had enough of my six tube amps this one may be for me. I’ve also heard great things about the Fender Tonemasters but I assume this one is more versatile. 

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1 hour ago, LucSulla said:

There's a line in a Waylon Jennings song that describes my relationship with amps.

"Well, I got a good woman, what's the matter with me? What makes me wanna love every woman I see?"

Can totally relate. 

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