Can't decide... VOX, Fender, Marshall....etc etc

[Bluesyguy]

Hi all,

I'm trying to decide on a good tube amp to purchase. I bought FM212R a solid state Fender and I was disappointed...

I've been playing since a long time but I have no idea about technical issues, I'd really appreciate if you could help me.

I like playing hard rock and also 70s classical rock stuff (AC/DC, Deep Purple, Queen, Led Zep etc etc). Today I tried VoxAC15cc, VoxAC30cc, Fender Deluxe Reverb and a Marshall JCM2000 DSL (all combo).

I loved the clean channels of Vox and Fender... The overdrive is good but it's too soft! Whereas for Marshall, the overdrive is amazing (That thing just replicates a Blackmore type sound) but the cleans are not as good.

People have been telling me that using stomp boxes, I can never get the sound of a high-gain tube amp distortion, because these things just immitate that sound. Is this true? In other words, would combining a Boss Keeley DS-1 with a Vox AC30 be insulting the amp?

Should I go with VoxAC30 whose clean channel I loved the most and boost its overdrive with a stomp box or should I rather get a Marshall or some rectifier amp due to its genuine high gain tube overdrive...

Thanks a lot!

[PlayItAll]

Welcome...

Hey BluesyGuy - Welcome!

Things like guitar tone are subjective and it would be hard for anyone to give you the "right" answer because everybody has different opinions, but most guitarists love to give advice anyway - I'm no exception, so here goes!

I have never had a setup the did everything perfectly. Never. And I have had so many different setups that I can't remember them all. After a long time, I realized that I _wanted_ the perfect setup, but only _needed_ a pretty good setup to get by. Unless you want to haul around several amps (some guys do) then you'll have to compromise. For me, the clean to slightly crunchy tones of my rig are first. I use pedals in front of the amp to get my lead tones. You may be the other way around and need to find an amp that screams on it's own and just settle for the clean tones. Again, if you find one amp that does both perfectly, let us all know.

For the amount of hassle I am willing to put up with, I use a small, single channel head set to whatever volume I need at the gig and dialed in for a very slight hint of distortion. I plug my guitar into a wah, an overdrive, a distortion and a delay. The rest is volume and tone control on the guitar, pickup selection, fingers, etc. My guitar playing approach these days is "less is more". It ain't perfect, but it is versatile and hassle free. Too many controls leads to to much tweaking on the fly and distracts you from the joy of simply playing. IMO.

The good news is that there is a lot of great gear being made these days and/or you can find vintage stuff on eBay. The fun part of buying new gear is where you are right now - trying to decide. You'll probably find what you think is perfect after much searching only to realize a few months later it isn't quite right, so enjoy the journey!

The old cliche of "use your ears" is still the rule.
Good luck,
Ed