Grails

tekbow

Can a grail amp (or guitar) not necessarily be your favourite?

I'm not limiting how many grails you can have BTW, but in my case I have 2 amps. One is a grail amp and the other is an amp that sounds incredible. Well, they both do, but the grail, I'm still quite happy to call a grail and I'd not part with it, but the other is my preferred amp.

Discuss.

PAL

All this grail guitar and amp stuff is rubbish ! If you play well and sound good you will sound good through anything !

Stuckfast

WTF is a grail amp?

distressed

GRAIL means "Sought-After Item." GRAIL is a slang term which is used to refer to an item which is much sought after. The use of GRAIL is particularly common amongst collectors of sneakers. GRAIL is similar in meaning and use to HG ("Holy Grail").

Stuckfast

Not something that amplifies grails then?

ICBM

tekbow said:

I'm not limiting how many grails you can have BTW, but in my case I have 2 amps. One is a grail amp and the other is an amp that sounds incredible. Well, they both do, but the grail, I'm still quite happy to call a grail and I'd not part with it, but the other is my preferred amp.

Exactly that for me.

Mesa Blue Angel - "grail" amp. Probably won't sell it, but rarely use it.

Peavey Studio Pro 112 - preferred amp. I use this one all the time.

earwighoney

I thought this was going to be a thread about the post rock band of the same name!

Ah well, nevermind. 

blobb

MATAMP, but I use my mesa express.

FelineGuitars

grail

noun

ˈgrāl 

Synonyms of grail

1

capitalized  : the cup or platter used according to medieval legend by Christ at the Last Supper and thereafter the object of knightly quests

2

: the object of an extended or difficult quest

Now would a grail be a 

1968 Marshall Plexi 12000 series?
Mesa Mk 2C amp

Soldano SLO 100 from 1989

Possibly all too loud to play anywhere  other than a major gig

gatheredinsong

It seems to me that you answered your own question 

My back certainly has preferred amps that are lighter than my 'grail' amps!

InactiveX

I've never heard the word "grail" used in this way.

It's now giving me mental images of Gawain, Percival and Lancelot riding around the land looking for highly desirable guitar amplifiers.

tekbow

I mean, strictly speaking, my "grail" fits many of the colliquialised definitions.

So, it was my SLO100. I had been toying with the idea of trading up my HR50+ to get the main chunk of money for an SLO when the announcement came that Mike was retiring.

And everyone lost their minds with prices.

Part of the problem was that my HR50+ was a combo. It was a head chassis fitted in a short lived combo cab produced by Soldano which accepted any of their standard chassis' in order to produce an instant 2x12.

But Soldano combos are a harder sell. So I had to find an empty Soldano headshell (on ebay) and separately a handle and rear/front grill plates.

The front grill panel with logo came from Mike after a quick phone call, but he didnt Have any rear grills. The rear grill and handle came from C3, the headshell from Ebay (black alligator).

I assembled all of these and then set to work finding the SLO before Brexit kicked in.

Everyone in the UK was asking nuts prices and refused to split heads and cab sets which were entirely their prerogative.

I found one for a sensible price on an Italian music listings site, a bit like a localised Italian version of reverb, but you had to have an address in Italy to register.

Step in my German friend with an Italian wife and in laws living in Italy, who was also a member of the site.

He brokered the first contact, and a month later I had my SLO.

But i had an open backed combo 212 (extra open since the removal of the chassis) for a cab and it sounded like ass. So I then had it converted to a closed back, and both it and the SLO headshell re-vinyled/tolexed in purple to match each other (One was blue, the other black).

During all of that, I got the HR50+ sold

If that's not a quest, I dont know what is

This is why I call it my "grail" DESPITE the fact that I prefer the Gower in almost every respect.

tekbow

InactiveX said:

I've never heard the word "grail" used in this way.

It's now giving me mental images of Gawain, Percival and Lancelot riding around the land looking for highly desirable guitar amplifiers.

Maybe it's a Facebook group thing?

Stuckfast

I don't think I have grails, just passing whims.

Litterick

I don't think it is a grail if you own it. A grail is an unobtainable object of desire, rare and expensive. The Dumble ODS is the grail for many: you won't find one in your local music store, and in any case you wouldn't be able to afford it.

ecc83

BUT! If you remember your "Raiders" it was not the diamond encrusted fabulous cup that was the HG? No, it was the rough hewn wooden one!

Dave.

Modulus_Amps

I prefer the Gower too. 

The SLO was a grail amp back in the 80's/90s. Now all it does it speak to that era.

To use a car analogy, You have a third generation Ford Mustang and wonder why you prefer driving the 2023 Mach-E model

tekbow

ecc83 said:

BUT! If you remember your "Raiders" it was not the diamond encrusted fabulous cup that was the HG? No, it was the rough hewn wooden one!

Dave.

Last Crusade

tekbow

Modulus_Amps said:

I prefer the Gower too. 

The SLO was a grail amp back in the 80's/90s. Now all it does it speak to that era.

To use a car analogy, You have a third generation Ford Mustang and wonder why you prefer driving the 2023 Mach-E model

I think it's nearly a sunk cost fallacy. I put so much into finding one and getting it how I wanted it that I'm unable to detach from it.

Supportact

I kind of understand what you mean. I've got amps that are more expensive/sound better but for a while I've been gigging my AC15cc1 which is not a 'fancy' amp. But consequently I'm used to it and comfortable with how it responds, so I kind of gravitate towards it now rather than the more high end stuff. 

tekbow

Supportact said:

I kind of understand what you mean. I've got amps that are more expensive/sound better but for a while I've been gigging my AC15cc1 which is not a 'fancy' amp. But consequently I'm used to it and comfortable with how it responds, so I kind of gravitate towards it now rather than the more high end stuff. 

Strange, that's exactly fly how I feel about one of my guitars. It's not my fanciest, or priciest, but I've played it the most and no exactly how to make it do what I want.