A Great Combo (Pun Intended)

I don’t have a ton of amps and guitars. 5 electric guitars, all PRS; four amps, two PRS. But mine help me make my living, so I freaking love them and don’t give a rat’s ass what they weigh, or how loudly I need to record them to get a good take.

It’s all a matter of what you need.

I’d rather be known as a composer than a cabinet designer. But IF I had the itch...yeah, I would know what to start with.

Yeah, I have to give a rats @ss on what my amps weigh because I can’t risk crushing more nerves in my spine in order to get the right tones.

Fortunately, I make my living making sure peoples lights come on when they flick the light switch. Totally unrelated to my guitars and amps so there’s no reason for me to risk further nerve damage due to needing an 85 lb Twin Reverb. I’m content with music being a fun thing.

But yes, if music was how I made my living or helped me make my living then that would change my entire perspective. At the moment, I don’t have that itch. Not at all.
 
You need to post it with your PRS in the shot, to keep in the spirit of things. :)

Your wish is my command -



I must admit this combo makes some brilliant tones. The amp is open back and the extension cab, closed back.

Yes I’d love a Mesa extension cab, but most people want nearly the used value of my amp for one! And I’d rather remain married!!:oops:

Yeah, I have to give a rats @ss on what my amps weigh because I can’t risk crushing more nerves in my spine in order to get the right tones.

Fortunately, I make my living making sure peoples lights come on when they flick the light switch. Totally unrelated to my guitars and amps so there’s no reason for me to risk further nerve damage due to needing an 85 lb Twin Reverb. I’m content with music being a fun thing.

But yes, if music was how I made my living or helped me make my living then that would change my entire perspective. At the moment, I don’t have that itch. Not at all.

Maybe go with the amp you want and a decent flight case on wheels Just saying!

Or a roadie!;)
 
Your wish is my command -



I must admit this combo makes some brilliant tones. The amp is open back and the extension cab, closed back.

Yes I’d love a Mesa extension cab, but most people want nearly the used value of my amp for one! And I’d rather remain married!!:oops:



Maybe go with the amp you want and a decent flight case on wheels Just saying!

Or a roadie!;)

I want a roadie...

But not a crazy one.
 
We are indeed much alike in our tone preferences!

My guess - and it’s just a guess, not science - is that simpler circuits just screw with the tone less. As an example, my Lone Star has 5 or 6 preamp tubes the signal travels through, and god knows how many other bits and bobs of parts. All of them seem to leave their fingerprints on the tone.

The HXDA and DG30 each have three preamp tubes, and I believe, a simpler layout. Probably why I prefer them a little bit., but I don’t discount how much I still like the Mesas I have for different uses.

Granted, sometimes you want a circuit to make its presence felt! F’rinstance, I rarely use the extra gain stage on the second channel of the Lone Star. But when I need it, I have it. Same with the global master volume. It, and the effects loop, can be switched out of the circuit. I think it sounds a lot better with all that stuff out of the way, but there are times it’s needed.

I keep saying this, but in this era, we are SO lucky to have (a) the many choices we have to pick gear to personalize our sound, and (b) accounting for inflation, even the best stuff is relatively affordable.Throw in modeling for those that like it (I’m less enthusiastic about modeling than most), and we are living in a Golden Age.

And don’t even start me on the fact that I can make recordings that are broadcast-quality for my ad music tracks with very little gear, in my freakin’ basement!

Simpler circuit = more gooder.

That’s been my experience for sure.

Made a few hundred records in my days too as an engineer. The technology and quality available now for peanuts is why I changed industries. The kiddos don’t get how good they got it.
 
Here's another vote for a lightweight twin-type amp or! Doug, are you watching the forums?

I've had both the Lonestar and Lonestar Special at the same time. When my father passed away, I inherited his LSS with a 2x10 and a 1x12, both wide bodies. My Lonestar is 1x12 wide body. I don't gig the Lonestar anymore...because it weighs 84lbs. I DO love the tone and completely agree about the big iron making a difference.

I did a really in-depth comparison when I had them both. Honestly, I wanted to like the LSS more, since it was smaller and lighter, was a custom order tolex, and it was my dad's. I ran them both through every cab I own, used every guitar I own, and tried to dial them as similarly as possible over a variety of tones. There was an edge of break-up tone I could dial in on the LSS clean channel that I really liked over anything similar on the LS, but everything else sounded better on the LS. I traded the LSS and 1x12, but kept the 2x10, so I can reminisce over my dad's tones. EL84s and smaller transformers are NOT 6L6s and big iron.

Les, put down the martini(s), and keep working on the lightweight cab concept. Keep in mind it's got to fit a budget, too. 2x12 for $1000 of super high tech would be reasonable. If you can get it light enough, I can still stuff a couple EVM-12Ls in there. :)
 
Here's another vote for a lightweight twin-type amp or! Doug, are you watching the forums?

I've had both the Lonestar and Lonestar Special at the same time. When my father passed away, I inherited his LSS with a 2x10 and a 1x12, both wide bodies. My Lonestar is 1x12 wide body. I don't gig the Lonestar anymore...because it weighs 84lbs. I DO love the tone and completely agree about the big iron making a difference.

I did a really in-depth comparison when I had them both. Honestly, I wanted to like the LSS more, since it was smaller and lighter, was a custom order tolex, and it was my dad's. I ran them both through every cab I own, used every guitar I own, and tried to dial them as similarly as possible over a variety of tones. There was an edge of break-up tone I could dial in on the LSS clean channel that I really liked over anything similar on the LS, but everything else sounded better on the LS. I traded the LSS and 1x12, but kept the 2x10, so I can reminisce over my dad's tones. EL84s and smaller transformers are NOT 6L6s and big iron.

Les, put down the martini(s), and keep working on the lightweight cab concept. Keep in mind it's got to fit a budget, too. 2x12 for $1000 of super high tech would be reasonable. If you can get it light enough, I can still stuff a couple EVM-12Ls in there. :)

I like you. Welcome to the ‘looking for the Twin Reverb sound in a lightweight and less than core PRS guitar price range’ team. We are happy to have you. Your t-shirt will be arriving in the mail soon.

Maybe next year there will be a PRS amp that aligns with our request? o_O

I mean... this would be innovative, there’s nothing like it in existence, it would be a new take on an old concept, one could easily compare it to the ‘gold standard’ to determine success. If they do it right, it would shake up the world.

A girl can hope.
 
I like you. Welcome to the ‘looking for the Twin Reverb sound in a lightweight and less than core PRS guitar price range’ team. We are happy to have you. Your t-shirt will be arriving in the mail soon.

Maybe next year there will be a PRS amp that aligns with our request? o_O

I mean... this would be innovative, there’s nothing like it in existence, it would be a new take on an old concept, one could easily compare it to the ‘gold standard’ to determine success. If they do it right, it would shake up the world.

A girl can hope.

I wonder what a carbon fibre cab would sound like? I wonder if they can use it for an amp chassis too?
 
I wonder what a carbon fibre cab would sound like? I wonder if they can use it for an amp chassis too?

Me too. I’m gonna ask, lol.

I ran into a local famous amp maker over the weekend and he said he could build exactly what I want... but it ain’t gonna be cheap.

Another odd thing is that I realized that what I love about the Twin Reverb is it’s clarity at the bottom end of its wide/tall headroom. The beautiful one that I played over the weekend had its volume set lower than 3 and it was glorious. It didn’t thin out or sound wimpy at low volumes.
 
Welcome to the ‘looking for the Twin Reverb sound in a lightweight and less than core PRS guitar price range’ team

I put you on the right trail. Just wanted to add this. If you really want a “twin” ... two speakers, get a 1x12 combo and a 1x12 extension cab, both pine. I know it’s more “stuff” to carry, but it’s way easier than carrying a 2x12 anything. Heck, you might even consider a head and a 2x12 pine cab. My PRS 2x12 cab is shockingly light for a 2x12. Without looking them both up, I’d guess it’s 20 lbs lighter than my Zbest (which is the older heavier version before Mike realized how many people loved the cabs but said they were too heavy).

I’ll also add: TRY Neo’s before you buy them. Some people say that all NEO models seem to have “a sound” and that it’s not as good as the ceramics. Now... alnicos is a whole nother story. They have “a sound” too, but for clean to mild gain stuff it can be better than ceramic.
 
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