It's All About Texas...

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Too Many Notes
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
34,641
Location
Michigan
OK, I'm in Michigan, born and raised here. Went to college here. Got my professional start here, and my music clients are here for the most part, too, the car manufacturers.

My only connections with Texas are that I like visiting there, I played SXSW a while back, my son is playing SXSW this year, and my grandfather lived there as a boy and a young man. That's it. But something connects me to Texas in a big way:

I love Texas guitar amp tones!

There's that balance between clean and dirty that I just eat up. SRV had it, Grissom has it, Eric Johnson has it...I mean, we could run down a whole list of players with great tone, and so many of them have a Texas connection.

It's not a coincidence that Doug Sewell gets it...he got his start making amps in Texas. And as far as I'm concerned, he's making the best amps in the world right now if you're into getting some variant of that Texas-style tone (and granted, there are a LOT of variants!).

Yes, I know, the Archon is PRS' big amp hit right now, and I get that, but I'm still a traditionalist and I don't play much metal. So for me, the single channel PRS amps' tones are the ones I crave. And what I love about them is their ability to let me play inside that range where the amp is breaking up a little, but is also clean enough to be articulate, and to get those in-between tones happening enough to basically live there when I play. And to control them with my guitar.

Sure, they can do clean, and they can do gain, but most amps can't find that middle zone between clean and gain very well to begin with, and very few will let you play all night and just sit there the whole time playing with that dynamic tension between clean and dirt.

There's almost an elasticity that the PRS single channel amps have that I love for their ability to do that.

DG30? If that isn't a Texas style amp, nothing is. Same with the HXDA, the HX part was modeled on an Eric Johnson amp. I know Boogie loves his Super Dallas. More Texas.

So to Texas, its guitar players, and its music venues I say, "Thanks! Without you guys I'd be stuck playing amps I don't love!"

Two thumbs up for Texas!

Plus...god help my feet...I love wearing cowboy boots.... ;)
 
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It was until Alaska came into the picture...

Hmmm...I didn't know they even allowed guitars in Alaska. Just goes to show ya.

Maybe I should go there to play. I could use the cold as an excuse for my bad playing.
 
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I like Minneapolis tones.

I actually like all amp tones, I just wanted to say something different.
 
I'll be in Texas a couple times during spring break while traveling to and from Arizona. My dad remarried over 30 years ago; married a girl from Michigan and she is DONE with the cold you get "back up North". Last time I drove through Texas (as in I-40 to and from Amarillo) I really enjoyed listening to ZZ Top for proper mood music and I intend to do that again this year.Too bad Arizona isn't known for it's own tone. There is an amp maker there called Red Plate but I don't know much about them. But I'm still working on a plan to get an HXDA. I really want to see what all the fuss is about. Maybe I'll get to take one for a test drive at the Experience this year.
 
My dad remarried over 30 years ago; married a girl from Michigan and she is DONE with the cold you get "back up North".

I SO get this. Living in Michigan (born here) I am over the cold completely. My wife is visiting my sis-in-law in Phoenix this week, and called me saying how nice it is to be able to live where the weather's nice in winter.

She's ready to move there. Might be a good idea for me, too. :eek:
 
Les, a Michigan guy like you is going to melt in Phoenix during the summer.

Back to the subject at hand, yes a single channel amp pushed hard and with the tubes nice and hot (like Phoenix) is nirvana.
 
I like Texas. Id move there if I could talk my wife into it. Course Id move to Hawaii if I could talk her into it.
Hmmm.
Maybe I could give her an ultimatum. "Texas or Hawaii. Pick one"
She'd probably tell me.................................................................
wait for it........................................................
NO THANKS!!
:D
Im on a roll.
 
I like Texas. Id move there if I could talk my wife into it. Course Id move to Hawaii if I could talk her into it.
Hmmm.
Maybe I could give her an ultimatum. "Texas or Hawaii. Pick one"
She'd probably tell me.................................................................
wait for it........................................................
NO THANKS!!
:D
Im on a roll.

You are indeed on a roll!

My wife says wherever I want to go, no problem, as long as it's warm in winter. Otherwise we'd move to Chicago to be near my daughters. But neither of us sees much point in shivering in Chicago all winter vs shivering in Michigan all winter.

Shivering sucks for us wherever one chooses to do it.

So...yeah, I'd go to Austin. I really, really like Austin.
 
+1 on Austin. Spent a ton of time, as a kid, in the area and have family there. Plus, the best BBQ in world is in the vicinity. :D Still trying to talk our youngest son into taking a job here. In a sea of insanity, Austin is a tiny island of coolness.
 
+1 on Austin. Spent a ton of time, as a kid, in the area and have family there. Plus, the best BBQ in world is in the vicinity. :D Still trying to talk our youngest son into taking a job here. In a sea of insanity, Austin is a tiny island of coolness.

It's the fastest growing city in the US, I just found out. I'm not sure that's a good thing or a bad thing. But it's a thing.
 
Born and raised. Lived there 54 yrs. of my life until I moved to Hawaii in 2003. Yes, the guitar tones seep into your pores and you get strange looks from those that aren't familiar with it, like the Hawaiians. Some of these guys are note perfect, but that tone is missing.
 
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