Hand wired boutique amps over production amps

russpm

Paul1401 said:

Alex2678 said:

I think it depends, the people that have bought them will likely think they were, some people may have decided they’re not and gone with production amps. Not all production amps are created equal, not all boutique amps are created equal, were there any specifically you were looking at? 

I was considering Emprize or Gartone over Marshall.

I can highly recommend a Gartone amp. Martin gives plenty of options, including components, to make the amp exactly how you want it.
knowing exactly what you want is another thing and it’s good to try different amps to get there. In my experience knowing what you don’t want is half the battle.

Stuckfast

Nerine said:

People drone on about the Zeppelin drum sound. It’s nothing special, really. The songs and the performances have the sound meaning or purpose and consequently, gave the gear a mystique. 

If Bonham had been playing Premier rather than Ludwig, people would have been fawning after that instead. 

The Bonham drum sound is probably the one example where I'd disagree with you. Not because I think his choice of brand made much difference, but it was a very, very distinctive drum sound, and actually the production on most Zeppelin stuff went quite against the ’70s trend to make everything dry, dead and close-miked. Bonham's drum tuning was unusual, as was his choice of a 24-inch kick, and his reported refusal to let anyone mic up the individual drums. 

What other well-known track from the early 70s has a drum sound at all similar to When The Levee Breaks?

Secret_Sam

I was told that the critical component of the drum sound for When The Levee Breaks was that it was recorded in the stair well of Headley Grange.  It's the room, not the kit, that makes it distinctive. 

Nerine

Secret_Sam said:

I was told that the critical component of the drum sound for When The Levee Breaks was that it was recorded in the stair well of Headley Grange.  It's the room, not the kit, that makes it distinctive. 

The room is a big part of it for sure. But the kit matters, too. 

Stuckfast

There are a bunch of things that make that particular track unique. Not only was it recorded in a very ambient stairwell but they used no close mics or overheads mics at all -- just a pair of Beyer M160s two floors up -- so what you hear is just the room mics. There's also a Binson echo which was tracked as part of the sound. 

Not all of Bonham's drum sounds are quite as extreme as that, but who else was doing that in 1971?