What makes an amp sound "good"?

austint01

I know there was thread a while ago about what makes amps sound the way they do with reference to tone stacks etc, but I was wondering what makes for a "good" sounding amp?

I know there are lots of different flavours not to everyone's tastes, like sparkly, chimey, gritty etc. but what makes an amp sound robust, clear, punchy and not pathetic, lifeless and whimpy?

Or will this question be voided by the person who has been on a tone quest for a limp, thin, fizzy kind of tone?

Is it quality of components? Transformers?

ICBM

Unfortunately there's no easy answer.

Some cheap, poorly-built amps sound great - usually in only the right context, but still great for that - and some apparently high-quality, expensive amps sound quite average and boring, although again that can be what you want in the right context.

I'm not usually a fan of small, middy, compressed, boxy-sounding amps, but in the right hands and the right context they can sound...


...like Neil Young, who has one of my favourite tones ever.

Jimmy Page used a Supro amp on a lot of Zeppelin tracks and it sounds great - and they're quite a poorly-built amp really.

Even a cheap transistor amp can sound good if you use it right. The Jam's first album was recorded with a Peavey Backstage.

digitalscream

Another factor is getting the right speakers. A speaker that sounds good with one amp doesn't necessarily do the same for another, and the difference in tone can be really quite significant.

austint01

I guess its a tricky question anyway because its hard to differtiate a subjectively good style of sound from an amp from a generally good sounding amp.

Sassafras

Usually the guy playing through it.

Dave_Mc

Somebody else playing it...

austint01

Sassafras;473920" said:

Usually the guy playing through it.

There is that! I heard a guy on YouTube called Shawn Tubbs doing a demo for the version 3 VS Route 66. His base clean sound was amazing and his playing was tasty too. I think he's another one like Pete thorn who can make pretty much anything sound good

richardhomer

I think one over-looked aspect of 'tone is in the hands' is the player's ability to dial an amp in.

Some players seem to know what they want out of an amp and can quickly get close to that tone. Some players seem to endless fiddle and never seem happy with what they are hearing....

There's a definite art to getting disparate sounding amps work for you.

ICBM

^ I agree completely with that. I'm not a good player but I can make most amps sound good, even down to typical sub-£50 transistor practice amps, as the shop staff will testify! That doesn't mean they all sound the way I would ideally want and would choose for my own sound (though other people wouldn't necessarily notice) or that there's more than one good sound, but I can normally get something I would be able to work with.

There are a few notable exceptions... most of which I have bored you all about already .

ESBlonde

Sassafras said:

Usually the guy playing through it.

That was going to be my smartarse answer too, but it seems many think the same.

I tend to think that those old amplifiers designed to sound good with the limited fidelity of the technology of the times have a benefit over those more recently designed to be all things to all men and falling down on the basics. No clear cut golden rule though, plenty of amps designed in days of yore were shyte and are all but lost to memory.

meltedbuzzbox

it is down to the player. 

A good player will sound good through most amps. 

Sassafras

I've recently been rediscovering my tiny Pignose amp which lay unused for years because I didn't know how to use it.

Once I got that you have to whack up the volume and control it from the guitar, I've been surprised at how good it can sound.

Most amps have to be played and tinkered with. There's usually at least one good sound in there.

ICBM

Sassafras said:

I've recently been rediscovering my tiny Pignose amp which lay unused for years because I didn't know how to use it.

Once I got that you have to whack up the volume and control it from the guitar, I've been surprised at how good it can sound.

Most amps have to be played and tinkered with. There's usually at least one good sound in there.

I found there was a critical angle to open the casing at which made the Pignose sound pretty good. Agree about the volume control too.

richardhomer

Sassafras;475504" said:

I've recently been rediscovering my tiny Pignose amp which lay unused for years because I didn't know how to use it.Once I got that you have to whack up the volume and control it from the guitar, I've been surprised at how good it can sound.

Several of the guitar parts on Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Boulevard were recorded via a Pignose DI'd into the desk.

IIRC, the slide parts on Motherless Children and I Can't Hold Out.

randomhandclaps

meltedbuzzbox said:

it is down to the player. 

A good player will sound good through most amps. 

Got to say that I wholeheartedly agree with this.

BilliBob

A Telecaster.

57Deluxe

...is also dependent upon the type of electricity it is deleivered with...

spacecadet

Q. What makes an amp sound good

A. Jeff Beck

Moe_Zambeek

57Deluxe;475890" said:

...is also dependent upon the type of electricity it is deleivered with...

I've re cabled the mains into my house with 3 miles of Pete Cornish silver signature. Expensive but worth it; my Marshall MS2 has never sounded so good.

Cirrus

It's when the sound coming out the speaker is close to the sound in your head;

If you want a nasty/bright/fizzy tone and you play it with intent and conviction, a nasty fizzy bright amp will sound great.

When you want a huge smooth dynamic tone and you're struggling through a nasty fizzy bright amp, it'll sound shit.

Strat_a_tat_tat

Dodgy hearing.

If you're blessed with that... any amp sounds good.