Amp Recommendations?

english_bob

^ indeed it does have a Jensen speaker, although I never paid much attention to the model number. Unfortunately, speakers aren't something I can knock together myself in an evening like overdrive pedals are, which makes them a little harder to experiment with...

ICBM

But they can make more of a difference. Really…

The speaker is often the most important single component in the tone chain. It's not always the 'majority' of the sound, but when you think that everything else has to pass through it, it may be more obvious as to why it makes such a big difference.

I'm actually a bit surprised that Cornell should choose a fairly mid-price/quality speaker like that Jensen, to be honest. It's not always true that expensive is better, but I would have expected something a bit more upmarket in such a nice amp.

stickyfiddle

Wisdom for the G12H-30. That's what in my Laney and it's really really nice. Did I mention buying a Laney Lionheart? Awesome thing

english_bob

ICBM said:

I'm actually a bit surprised that Cornell should choose a fairly mid-price/quality speaker like that Jensen, to be honest. It's not always true that expensive is better, but I would have expected something a bit more upmarket in such a nice amp.

The price of Cornell amps seems to have shot up since I got mine- I paid somewhere in the region of £700 in '05 for a brand new one IIRC, they go for nearly £1200 now. I know they made some cosmetic changes along the way that make the newer amps look much more "handmade" than "homemade" (the Comic Sans model name on the control plate was a particular eyesore) but I don't know if they did anything "under the hood"- like putting in a nicer speaker- to justify the price hike, aside from adding the extra lower wattage modes.

And yes, @stickyfiddle, so far you're the only person who's actually recommended an amplifier in a thread called "amp recommendations"

...all advice gratefully received though.

newi123

english_bob said:

newi123 said:

I don`t think you need multiple pedals either - I used to cover a huge amount of sonic range with a Carr amp (again blacface sound) and an xotic BB preamp - the pedal cleaned up beautifully with the volume control to give everything from cleanish to Gilmour. I found this much easier than trying to `stack` pedals.

 

So you got all those sounds by setting the BB to the highest gain setting you'd need and backing the volume off for the lower gains? Did the overall volume stay fairly consistent?

If I could at least cut the pedalboard down to a single dirtbox and free up space for some more interesting effects it would be a step in the right direction.

I definitely think an evening trawling tagboardeffects is in order.

Yes that`s exactly how I used it. My tiny brain can`t deal with too much tap dancing, and I also had a 1 trip from the car policy! The set up was wah, BB, delay into clean amp and the BB stayed on almost all night, unless something required straight up clean. The pedal cleaned up really well and there was not much difference in volume when rolling the guitar volume back for less gain. I`m sure there are many other pedals that do this just as well! We played everything from t bone walker to bonamassa and the combination of volume control and pickup selection on the strat covered the right ballpark on most sounds. 

robinbowes

You might be interested in this:

http://madbeanpedals.com/projects/Glitterrattii/docs/Glitterrattii.pdf

R.

english_bob

Indeed. I'm also looking at the veroboard kits at Bitsbox, which include a Klon, a Zendrive and a "Dumbloid" that looks quite interesting...

http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=280_281

english_bob

Indeed. I'm also looking at the veroboard kits at Bitsbox, which include a Klon, a Zendrive and a "Dumbloid" that looks quite interesting...

http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=280_281

crunchman

I had a Romany Plus and tried at least 3 different speakers in it (including a Celestion Gold) and came to the conclusion that the Jensen Mod actually sounded the best.  It just seems to suit the amp.

It's probably more money than you want to spend, but I got rid of my Cornell when I tried a Lazy J.  It does a lovely warm clean sound.  I use that as my base sound and then use pedals to get drive.  It is absolutely superb.  I went through 7 amps in about 7 or 8 years.  I've had my Lazy J since the very early days of Jesse's production (it doesn't even have a logo on it) and it has completely cured my amp gas.

paulmapp8306

Another pedal recommendation.  Exotics RC boost may work for a cleaner boost than the BB, and Im sure most of the other recommendations here would work.

Also a + for a different speaker.  I happen to have a 16 Ohm G12H sitting in a box (replaced by a higher powered creamback version) - though its the Aniversary not the Heritage version.  Easy enough to try

nickb_boy

Sounds like you will be wanting to save up for a Lazy J20 if you don't fancy going down the pedal route.  Although it may be 4 times your budget!!!

Failing that you could try this as it's under budget:

Hand wired Tweed Super

It may well give you that extra oomph on top of what you currently have and is made true point to point for some added mojo!!!

Voxman

For better EQ control you can't beat adding an external EQ pedal...even a simple cheap 7 band EQ pedal will work wonders. In front if the amp it will also add gain whereas in the fx loop it will give you a clean boost in addition to huge EQ control not available from just the onboard EQ...it will sound like a new amp. I tend to set the EQ sliders in a W shape and tweak from there if needed. This adds bottom end fullness without sacrificing mids and top end.

Cacofonix

english_bob said:

I'm wondering if the smaller, lower wattage Mesa amps might be an option- Studio .22s, DC series, Subways, F series and occasional Express and Nomad series amps seem to crop up on eBay at that sort of price. Any opinions on whether these amps will get me where I'm looking to go? if not, what will? Anything?

Edited for remove waffle.

The Nomad will get you pretty much anywhere you want to go, though opinions differ as to whether you'd need an eq pedal with it.  Mine is a 4x10 and I ain't Hercules these days, but I bought it as being able to do Lone Star Special toanz, clean, dirt and drive.  Really versatile though takes some dialing in at first.

english_bob

The Nomad is the Mesa amp I'm most leery of, since opinions seem extremely polarized and the haters *really* hate those amps. There are a whole series of videos on YouTube of some German guy with a bunch of vintage Strats where he gets some fantastic tones from a Nomad 45, but the forums seem to be full of disappointed punters. Is it that people expect it to be a Recto? Are they falling foul of the"set everything at noon" approach that seems to fail miserably with Mesas?

Flanging_Fred

Buy the cheapest shittest tranny amp on eBay. Play it exclusively for a month then go back to your Romany.
Job done.

english_bob

 Flanging_Fred said:

Buy the cheapest shittest tranny amp on eBay. Play it exclusively for a month then go back to your Romany.
Job done.

Will it make my Romany sound any different? Because if it won't I don't see how that helps.

ThePrettyDamned

I think you'd do well to try a TC Spark Boost.  It's AWESOME.  

That and maybe a smooth fuzz for the Gilmour lead tones - plenty of muff style pedals out there that ape Gilmour in some way.  

I've not recommended an amp because I don't think there is an amp that can get you everything you want from just an amp - the gilmour lead sound is a very hybrid setup - solid state pedals and valve amp. 

But the Spark Boost will let you get 'more' from your amp, and not hold back on the dynamics so much.  There is a mid boosted mode that might actually give everything you need anyway. 

Then a Wampler Velvet would get you a sustainy Gilmour lead. 

57Deluxe

...I am starting to think that there are now more pedals in the world than guitarists feet...??

57Deluxe

...anyway - you say you like a Tweed and a Blackface but want more dirt when you want it?

Well me too and although I have a Tweed Deluxe and a Blackface Super Reverb I also have a Supersonic 60 and well, is nothing you can't do with this majestic amp... here is Mike Zito using one live and see how effortless and consistent his tone range is! he is on the Bassman chn and maybe a drive pedal...

Cacofonix

english_bob said:

The Nomad is the Mesa amp I'm most leery of, since opinions seem extremely polarized and the haters *really* hate those amps. There are a whole series of videos on YouTube of some German guy with a bunch of vintage Strats where he gets some fantastic tones from a Nomad 45, but the forums seem to be full of disappointed punters. Is it that people expect it to be a Recto? Are they falling foul of the"set everything at noon" approach that seems to fail miserably with Mesas?

Yes.  It's not a set and forget amp, and because it's more than a one trick pony, it does take some getting used to.  But, you have an effective 12 channels (count 'em!), if you use the extreme switch, although only three plus boost are switchable at any time from the footpedal.

I tend to set up channels 1 and 2, I don't really use channel 3 as it's more of a hi-gain entity, and switch between them.  It also has a headphone out, with a mute switch, so you can get that drive sound at midnight practice volumes, and a separate reverb setting per-channel.  I bought a two-rock Studio Pro, (which is actually the best sounding amp I ever heard, ever. Anywhere.) but I still couldn't bear to get rid of the Nomad when the time came.  I keep flirting with moving it on, but as my expectation is some 40% above its realisable value, and that situation is likely to always be the case, I can't see me ever getting rid, as its value in my mind is always going to be way above its cash price.  Don't know if that says anything about it.

There was a batch with cheapo pots in, which caused a lot of the hate.   Westside sent me a full replacement set for free, and some stickers for the control pots, which are a bit dark without them.  Another pet hate was phantom channel switching. This was caused by a dicky midi connector cable (£30 for a replacement which is about a mile long). Oreste uses a Nomad 45 as his studio amp, he tells me, and he has probably played them all, so again that might tell you something.  There's also a shop in Derbyshire that sells high end guitars that uses one as a demo amp.

I think someone on the forum whose name may only be mentioned if standing in a chalk hexagram with copious libations of ram's blood strewn artfully about the place had a head version, which he sold because it broke (I think the word he used was "again").  Mine redplated a couple of valves, which stressed the remainder a couple of years ago, but other than the pots, cable and new valves, has been steady for well over fifteen years.