Sat. night @ home, daydreaming about amp options...

[Marc G]

Man, the less time I have to get out an actually play, the more obsessive I get about gear. I guarantee you, if I had the time now to be playing out with my former band, y'all wouldn't be havin' to put up with my obsessin' arse.

THIS is the truth!!! it's like the more you gig the less time you have to think about gear, you just play and use what you have and add what's necessary, when you're not gigging all of a sudden EVERYTHING is an option and the GAS shows up....

[draelyc]

I completely understand



I also have a 2 year old and an infant. When I have down time I'm usually looking at how to fuck with my rig or what to add to it.

Eggackly!

I guess it's different for me cos' I was a full-time musician.

I've been playing out an average of 5 nights a week for the past 7 years so now that I'm a stay-at-home dad, I don't miss playing out as much as you do.

Yeah, I think had I ever "made it" to that point with music, I'd look at it totally differently, too, now. For me, music has always been what I looked forward to or worked toward getting to after/beyond/around/in spite of work, lol. So it was always an escape for me of some sort.

Man, the less time I have to get out an actually play, the more obsessive I get about gear. I guarantee you, if I had the time now to be playing out with my former band, y'all wouldn't be havin' to put up with my obsessin' arse.

THIS is the truth!!! it's like the more you gig the less time you have to think about gear, you just play and use what you have and add what's necessary, when you're not gigging all of a sudden EVERYTHING is an option and the GAS shows up....

Inorite? It's that damned WHAT IF??? that sneaks up in the night!

Plus, with a 2 year old and an infant, it's kinda like a mid-life crisis ~ gotta hold on to those abstract dreams of tone to balance out the insanity of temper tantrums and baby cries!

I'll bet the kids get grumpy sometimes too.

From time to time...

It's easy to get caught up in gear obsessing when you have down time, for sure. Maybe you need a collecting hobby to keep your brain and wallet busy while you recupe. Stamps? Baseball cards? The sweet, sweet tears of your enemies?

The lamentations of the wimmin?

[100 watt]

Sell plexi

get 100 Watt JCM 800 RI , put 6550's / KT88's in it & do some DIY mods to it .

Win

[draelyc]

Sell plexi

get 100 Watt JCM 800 RI , put 6550's / KT88's in it & do some DIY mods to it .

Win

But I've only got a 50 watt cab...



SRS question, though: would an 800 with the preamp dimed but the master still fairly low (i.e., less than gig volume) really have that much more gain than the Plexi with the volume dimed & a master installed? If not, I think I'd rather mod the Plex, if for no other reason than it looks cooler!


Also, did anyone check the clip & decide that I'm crazy? Or had y'all already decided?

[GuitarBilly]

You listed option 1 first because you know it's the right thing to do. The others are just distractions

[Dave]

Lol, that would be AWESOME! ... But I don't think even at my best I could persuade Mrs. Drae to go for that. And she would definitely notice an extra head ~ our house is pretty small!

Ok...

Sell Wife
Buy huge house
Buy DSL
Keep existing amps
Play loud in new huge house

LMAO ~ WINNING!!!

'Kay, here's the part where y'all tell me I'm crazy even to want more gain out of this thing .... Quick clip I ran off last night whilst the girlz were sleeping ~ first part is boosted with the Green Rhino; second part is the same chord pattern with the Rhino off. Ideally, what I think I want is a level of amp-gain that is about half way between the boosted & the unboosted parts of this clip. Like I said ~ crazy.

Plexi boosted/unboosted

I preferred the unboosted tone, though neither one made me fall in love. Still has the direct to board feel to it. Though there is a simple mod your tech can do to get more gain. Stock the 2 channels are parallel to each other and you use the jumper to dial them in like you would balance channels on a mixing board. It can be modded so the channels are in series and 1 cascades in to the other which is similar to how 2 hole JMP's come stock.

Ask your tech about the specifics.

[draelyc]

LMAO ~ WINNING!!!

'Kay, here's the part where y'all tell me I'm crazy even to want more gain out of this thing .... Quick clip I ran off last night whilst the girlz were sleeping ~ first part is boosted with the Green Rhino; second part is the same chord pattern with the Rhino off. Ideally, what I think I want is a level of amp-gain that is about half way between the boosted & the unboosted parts of this clip. Like I said ~ crazy.

Plexi boosted/unboosted

I preferred the unboosted tone, though neither one made me fall in love. Still has the direct to board feel to it. Though there is a simple mod your tech can do to get more gain. Stock the 2 channels are parallel to each other and you use the jumper to dial them in like you would balance channels on a mixing board. It can be modded so the channels are in series and 1 cascades in to the other which is similar to how 2 hole JMP's come stock.

Ask your tech about the specifics.

I know, mang ... it *is* direct to the board. It's different through the Greenbacks, as you can I'm sure well imagine.

Thanks for the tip about modding the volume controls ~ I'll talk to my guy about it. Does that mess with the eq, though, since the two volumes are voiced differently?

Thanks!
C

[Dave]

LMAO ~ WINNING!!!

'Kay, here's the part where y'all tell me I'm crazy even to want more gain out of this thing .... Quick clip I ran off last night whilst the girlz were sleeping ~ first part is boosted with the Green Rhino; second part is the same chord pattern with the Rhino off. Ideally, what I think I want is a level of amp-gain that is about half way between the boosted & the unboosted parts of this clip. Like I said ~ crazy.

Plexi boosted/unboosted

I preferred the unboosted tone, though neither one made me fall in love. Still has the direct to board feel to it. Though there is a simple mod your tech can do to get more gain. Stock the 2 channels are parallel to each other and you use the jumper to dial them in like you would balance channels on a mixing board. It can be modded so the channels are in series and 1 cascades in to the other which is similar to how 2 hole JMP's come stock.

Ask your tech about the specifics.

I know, mang ... it *is* direct to the board. It's different through the Greenbacks, as you can I'm sure well imagine.

Thanks for the tip about modding the volume controls ~ I'll talk to my guy about it. Does that mess with the eq, though, since the two volumes are voiced differently?

Thanks!
C

Oh I know, I've just heard your mic'd clips which are usually excellent so these direct clips are hard to gauge



It's just running the output of 1 channel to the input of the 2nd channel. I wish I had more specifics for you, but I'm already speaking beyond my knowledge level so I need to stop potentially putting my foot in my mouth


Now, I know this is against what I've been shoutin your way, but with the amount the plexi would bring in used you could score a DSL50 PLUS the matching 1960. I've been seeing the half stacks on my local CL for $800 fairly often.

[draelyc]

LMAO ~ WINNING!!!

'Kay, here's the part where y'all tell me I'm crazy even to want more gain out of this thing .... Quick clip I ran off last night whilst the girlz were sleeping ~ first part is boosted with the Green Rhino; second part is the same chord pattern with the Rhino off. Ideally, what I think I want is a level of amp-gain that is about half way between the boosted & the unboosted parts of this clip. Like I said ~ crazy.

Plexi boosted/unboosted

I preferred the unboosted tone, though neither one made me fall in love. Still has the direct to board feel to it. Though there is a simple mod your tech can do to get more gain. Stock the 2 channels are parallel to each other and you use the jumper to dial them in like you would balance channels on a mixing board. It can be modded so the channels are in series and 1 cascades in to the other which is similar to how 2 hole JMP's come stock.

Ask your tech about the specifics.

I know, mang ... it *is* direct to the board. It's different through the Greenbacks, as you can I'm sure well imagine.

Thanks for the tip about modding the volume controls ~ I'll talk to my guy about it. Does that mess with the eq, though, since the two volumes are voiced differently?

Thanks!
C

Oh I know, I've just heard your mic'd clips which are usually excellent so these direct clips are hard to gauge



It's just running the output of 1 channel to the input of the 2nd channel. I wish I had more specifics for you, but I'm already speaking beyond my knowledge level so I need to stop potentially putting my foot in my mouth


Now, I know this is against what I've been shoutin your way, but with the amount the plexi would bring in used you could score a DSL50 PLUS the matching 1960. I've been seeing the half stacks on my local CL for $800 fairly often.

Dig. But my tech already threatened to excommunicate me over the idea of trading in the Plex for a DSL. Not even kidding.

[Dave]

LMAO ~ WINNING!!!

'Kay, here's the part where y'all tell me I'm crazy even to want more gain out of this thing .... Quick clip I ran off last night whilst the girlz were sleeping ~ first part is boosted with the Green Rhino; second part is the same chord pattern with the Rhino off. Ideally, what I think I want is a level of amp-gain that is about half way between the boosted & the unboosted parts of this clip. Like I said ~ crazy.

Plexi boosted/unboosted

I preferred the unboosted tone, though neither one made me fall in love. Still has the direct to board feel to it. Though there is a simple mod your tech can do to get more gain. Stock the 2 channels are parallel to each other and you use the jumper to dial them in like you would balance channels on a mixing board. It can be modded so the channels are in series and 1 cascades in to the other which is similar to how 2 hole JMP's come stock.

Ask your tech about the specifics.

I know, mang ... it *is* direct to the board. It's different through the Greenbacks, as you can I'm sure well imagine.

Thanks for the tip about modding the volume controls ~ I'll talk to my guy about it. Does that mess with the eq, though, since the two volumes are voiced differently?

Thanks!
C

Oh I know, I've just heard your mic'd clips which are usually excellent so these direct clips are hard to gauge



It's just running the output of 1 channel to the input of the 2nd channel. I wish I had more specifics for you, but I'm already speaking beyond my knowledge level so I need to stop potentially putting my foot in my mouth


Now, I know this is against what I've been shoutin your way, but with the amount the plexi would bring in used you could score a DSL50 PLUS the matching 1960. I've been seeing the half stacks on my local CL for $800 fairly often.

Dig. But my tech already threatened to excommunicate me over the idea of trading in the Plex for a DSL. Not even kidding.

I don't blame him to a point, but if it works for your situation it works for your situation.

A.) You get a super versatile and great sounding amp

B.) You get a 4x12 so we can continue to BS here on GAB without you being banned

[Marc G]

Dig. But my tech already threatened to excommunicate me over the idea of trading in the Plex for a DSL. Not even kidding.

hahaha... your Tech needs a high five

dude... give the amp a chance...lol

[draelyc]

I don't blame him to a point, but if it works for your situation it works for your situation.

A.) You get a super versatile and great sounding amp

B.) You get a 4x12 so we can continue to BS here on GAB without you being banned :cop:

Well, there's a plus!

[draelyc]

Dig. But my tech already threatened to excommunicate me over the idea of trading in the Plex for a DSL. Not even kidding.

hahaha... your Tech needs a high five

dude... give the amp a chance...lol

I suppose I should've put another option on page 1: change my style & approach to playing to accomodate the Plexi.

[Marc G]

hahaha... come on man... no need to change your style... just need to turn that sucker up!!!! The amp I just had built is pretty much a stock Plexi but with a master volume... it KILLS.. so unless you're playing metal then I don't see a reason to change your style lol... though... my amp and the Fulltone GT-500 get some killer distortion tones

[draelyc]

hahaha... come on man... no need to change your style... just need to turn that sucker up!!!! The amp I just had built is pretty much a stock Plexi but with a master volume... it KILLS.. so unless you're playing metal then I don't see a reason to change your style lol... though... my amp and the Fulltone GT-500 get some killer distortion tones

Werd. But if I leave well enough alone, I will have to get used to needing my od pedals to get my basic rock sound, instead of getting my basic sound purely from the amp & just using the pedals for "extra." Doesn't mean the pedal+amp tones aren't great ... I'm just not used to rollin' like that, gnome sane?

[gb74]

how many times has your tech been at your house or even at one of your gigs to know what your playing/tone needs are?

Tell him to STFU and keep soldering.

[Dave]

how many times have your tech been at your house or even at one of your gigs to know what your playing/tone needs are?

Tell him to STFU and keep soldering.

No kidding. DSL's are solid as fuck.

[draelyc]

Lol, he's a good guy, y'all -- and the only one I've ever trusted to work on my beloved Hamers. He just called me & talked about some ideas for modding the gain structure on the Plexi's front end. I told him it has an awesome growl, but I want it to roar. He thinks it'll be pretty easy to tweak it for that.

[gb74]

So selling the amp to get something that would be much better for your needs is not a good idea, but modding/butchering a classic design for extra gain etc is? LOL
Come on, Chris. Follow the money.

[draelyc]

Hell, Bill... when ya put it like that...

Otoh, doesn't the idea of a classic amp custom tailored to one's personal tastes sound kinda cool?

I want to hear his ideas at least, and find out if they'd be reversible, before making a final decision...

[Marc G]

Otoh, doesn't the idea of a classic amp custom tailored to one's personal tastes sound kinda cool?

I want to hear his ideas at least, and find out if they'd be reversible, before making a final decision...

that's pretty much why I had my amp tech build mine...

[draelyc]

Otoh, doesn't the idea of a classic amp custom tailored to one's personal tastes sound kinda cool?

I want to hear his ideas at least, and find out if they'd be reversible, before making a final decision...

that's pretty much why I had my amp tech build mine...

Werd. Looks like I'mma try that route first. My man assures me that everything will be completely reversible. So, best case scenario, I get my dream amp; worst case scenario, it goes back to stock and I sell it and *then* get my dream amp.

[Sasquatch]

One would think that with two kids, one would d have very little time to nitpick on your rig the way you do.

I only have one boy and I'm finding it hard to find time to play, much less fuss around with my gear.

Man, the less time I have to get out an actually play, the more obsessive I get about gear. I guarantee you, if I had the time now to be playing out with my former band, y'all wouldn't be havin' to put up with my obsessin' arse.

Plus, with a 2 year old and an infant, it's kinda like a mid-life crisis ~ gotta hold on to those abstract dreams of tone to balance out the insanity of temper tantrums and baby cries!

(Don't read that the wrong way, y'all ~ I adore my girls!!! But y'all who are parents know it just isn't easy, even with kids who are as good and cheerful as mine generally are [thank God!].)

man, i feel ya. love my little 3-month old but i have had a strong urge to get a really nice new guitar lately.

[atrox]

If you must sell the Plexi, there are three amps, already mentioned in this thread, that will do what you want for relatively cheap. I have owned two of them and have played the third one a lot.

DSL
JCA
5153


Do eeeeeeeeet

[draelyc]

If you must sell the Plexi, there are three amps, already mentioned in this thread, that will do what you want for relatively cheap. I have owned two of them and have played the third one a lot.

DSL
JCA
5153


Do eeeeeeeeet

Man, I hate being so on the fence about this almost as much as the entire rest of the forum hates my being so on the fence about it!

I'm pretty sure I could be really happy with the DSL. Doesn't have the "cool" factor of the Plexi, but we're not supposed to care about such things, anyway, right? I did just find out the head is 1.5" wider than my 2x12 cab, though... ugh. Guess Billy's right ~ I'd have to get the 4x12!

I hadn't checked the used prices of the 5153s till just now ~ surprised to see that it would be in line with what I could get for the Plexi. I've never played one, though I've loved the clips I've heard. If I could swing the matching 1x12 cab, that would be a sweet rig, I think.

As for JCA, I really think I could rock the shizz outta this, especially for the kinds of local gigs I was doing before Baby Draelyc #2 was born:



But again, I've never played one 1st hand, and there's no place 'round here (that I know of) to do so.


I did check out the Splawn Street Rod combo on ebay ... certainly the most expensive option, but maybe not out of reach if I were to sell both the Plex and my Greenback 2x12 ... I *love* that feature set and the clips I've heard. But again, haven't played it first hand.

I appreciate all the suggestions, from all of y'all! I'll try not to keep bumping this thread ad nauseam. And hopefully I'll settle on something soon and can shift my focus to off-topic lulz.