My Tone Journey With The DG30 Amplifier

[WeFixFlats]

My Tone Journey and tempestuous relationship with this beauty of an amp has to come to an end. I have been seduced by the siren call of another from Petaluma and they cannot share the same roof. So as blonde and beautiful as she may be, I've gone to a black beauty; she gives me 'more options', when I'm noodling around. As of right now my attorney Mr.Reverb, Esq. is handing her quiet but respectful exit from the premises...

 

[László]

My Tone Journey and tempestuous relationship with this beauty of an amp has to come to an end. I have been seduced by the siren call of another from Petaluma and they cannot share the same roof. So as blonde and beautiful as she may be, I've gone to a black beauty; she gives me 'more options', when I'm noodling around. As of right now my attorney Mr.Reverb, Esq. is handing her quiet but respectful exit from the premises...

Ah, seduction. It’s always wonderful stuff!

As for my neck o’ the basement, PRS and Petaluma have always enjoyed a policy of Perestroika - that is, the Party was “restructured” to permit glasnost. We’re open to different ways of thinking.

Which Mesa are you getting?

 

[Boogie]

I could live the rest of my life with only PRS and Boogie amps...and a Kemper. In fact, other than the stray Fender and Marshall here and there, I think I will.

 

[László]

Honestly, I could live out my days with any one of my amps, but as luck would have it, I don’t have to choose. I’ve developed a Jones for fine amps, and I do plan to have more before the grim reaper beats down my door.

I won’t be selling off the amps I have, though, and I’m carefully (JMOD) considering my next addition (JMOD), though I haven’t made any serious (JMOD) plans.

 

[WeFixFlats]

Which Mesa are you getting?

Little Miss Pentaluma Dyno-Mite; Small, powerful, with 2 channels and 6 preamp options(no boost or overdrive pedal required; I've sworn those off...) the one and only: Mark 5:25.It will drive my PRS Deep Cabinet(with a WGS Veteran 30/ET 65 pair), or my Lonestar 2x12 Open back cabinet(C90's) or my Wide body closed back Mesa(C90) which is it's default.My 2016 McCarty, DGT or Santana all sound like they are 'at home' with this rig. Especially when you ride the volume and tone controls...

The Blonde's bags are packed and she's waiting on the Reverb Taxi...kinda sentimental sad

 

[Boogie]

... my PRS Deep Cabinet(with a WGS Veteran 30/ET 65 pair), or my Lonestar 2x12 Open back cabinet(C90's) or my Wide body closed back Mesa(C90)...

Man, we have very similar tastes in speaker combinations! The one thing I’ll offer from my experiments is that the Mark series really love the C90s and the WGS speakers you mention...for my musical palate. The Super Dallas, not as much. V30s in a pine 2x12 still do the Grissom thing so damned well, I can’t imagine going a different direction...or wanting to. But for my MkIII, those speakers in 1x12s and 2x12s - open and closed back - bring a cornucopia of tonal variety. You should really enjoy that amp.

 

[László]

The Blonde's bags are packed and she's waiting on the Reverb Taxi...kinda sentimental sad

Too bad you can’t hang onto it, you might miss it from time to time. But either way, you’ll have a sweet rig and nice choices!

 

[Deleted member 5962]

the one and only: Mark 5:2

I’m in the opposite position now as the Mark V 25 might be on the chopping block. I’m going to take a few weeks to decide between it and the ATMA.

 

[veinbuster]

I could live the rest of my life with only PRS and Boogie amps...and a Kemper. In fact, other than the stray Fender and Marshall here and there, I think I will.

I have exactly that.
The stray Fender I’ve had for over 40 years so I might as well keep it - thinking of using the 4x10 for the Kemper.
I don’t really consider the PA to be an amp.

 

[László]

Somehow, despite all my many rants about only needing one amp over the years (yeah, I know, I know, I’m a little strange), I’ve come around to the way of thinking that it’s good to have interesting choices.

Should I have hung onto my Mark V, and my Two-Rocks, and kept them here in addition to my PRS amps? Sure!

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Somehow, despite all my many rants about only needing one amp over the years (yeah, I know, I know, I’m a little strange), I’ve come around to the way of thinking that it’s good to have interesting choices.

Should I have hung onto my Mark V, and my Two-Rocks, and kept them here in addition to my PRS amps? Sure!

“Shoulda, woulda, coulda”

 

[László]

“Shoulda, woulda, coulda”

My wife says that to me almost daily.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Somehow, despite all my many rants about only needing one amp over the years (yeah, I know, I know, I’m a little strange), I’ve come around to the way of thinking that it’s good to have interesting choices.

Should I have hung onto my Mark V, and my Two-Rocks, and kept them here in addition to my PRS amps? Sure!

I used to be a "great guitars and cheap amps" guy because I could never get away with playing loud enough to actually warrant a great amp. Now, I see the amp as being as important in the overall picture as the guitar. The scary thing is, I'm beginning to think it's MORE important in your overall tone, than the guitar. I remember this thread at TGP about 5 years ago "great guitar, good amp vs. good guitar, great amp." There were a LOT of guys who said they'd prefer a $500 guitar with a great amp, over a great guitar with an affordable amp. At the time, I laughed at it. It's the GUITAR that I play and connect with, after all. Still true, but now that I'm playing louder, I finally understand just how important the amp is as well.

p.s. I know where you can get a Mark V.

 

[Boogie]

My SE245 (albeit, with a $300 set of pickups) through a stupid-awesome amp makes me play the same as my ‘70 ES-335 thru that same stupid-awesome amp. The unbelievable results equally inspire me.

 

[László]

I used to be a "great guitars and cheap amps" guy because I could never get away with playing loud enough to actually warrant a great amp. Now, I see the amp as being as important in the overall picture as the guitar. The scary thing is, I'm beginning to think it's MORE important in your overall tone, than the guitar. I remember this thread at TGP about 5 years ago "great guitar, good amp vs. good guitar, great amp." There were a LOT of guys who said they'd prefer a $500 guitar with a great amp, over a great guitar with an affordable amp. At the time, I laughed at it. It's the GUITAR that I play and connect with, after all. Still true, but now that I'm playing louder, I finally understand just how important the amp is as well.

p.s. I know where you can get a Mark V.

I was probably one of the ones saying the amp is as important as the guitar, if not more so.

For me the issue isn’t volume-related, though. There are characteristics related to harmonics, clarity, openness, tightness, ability to break up smoothly, etc., etc., etc., even at low volumes. A great amp shines regardless of volume levels.

PS. Re: the Mk V; I’m not going to do the round-robin any more of buying/selling the same thing over and over, as I did for many years. Nope. Gonna move onward and upward!

 

[Deleted member 5962]

No doubt a great tube amp can sound very good at low volumes. It’s the “magic” that happens when you open them up though that has spoiled me. Been playing my ATMA almost exclusively lately and even in 5 watt mode, the real magic in the tones, when the cone starts to add that beautiful round punch to the notes, happens at a volume that’s just a bit louder than I can usually play. I usually flirt with it for a moment then turn it back down just a little. I really do need to try to start using just 1 12” speaker and see if I can get that at a lower volume, but the 2x’s just sound so much bigger.

 

[László]

No doubt a great tube amp can sound very good at low volumes. It’s the “magic” that happens when you open them up though that has spoiled me. Been playing my ATMA almost exclusively lately and even in 5 watt mode, the real magic in the tones, when the cone starts to add that beautiful round punch to the notes, happens at a volume that’s just a bit louder than I can usually play. I usually flirt with it for a moment then turn it back down just a little. I really do need to try to start using just 1 12” speaker and see if I can get that at a lower volume, but the 2x’s just sound so much bigger.

For me, what’s great about a 2x12 is the “swirl” that comes from the two speakers pulsating and each speaker having a phase effect on the other one. It’s especially nice with a room mic.

I’m a 2x12 guy, and have never really loved a 1x12, even though they record pretty much the same when using only 1 mic.

But yes, no doubt, opening up a tube amp is where the joy-joy resides to the nth degree.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Last night I had to haul all my gear back to the rehearsal spot, and since it included my keyboard amp I packed up my combo amp instead of the DG30 to save on space.... ugh, what a mistake.

I’m never doing that again. The DG30 has gone from being a nice amp, to the best amp ever, and now to a “can’t live without it” piece of gear.

 

[László]

The DG30 has gone from being a nice amp, to the best amp ever, and now to a “can’t live without it” piece of gear.

When I first got mine, I didn’t really understand how to set it up, so it got a lot less use than my HXDA. Now, it might even get more use. It’s a fantastic amp with a wonderful voice that can be clean or dirty with the twist of a knob or the guitar’s volume control.

The amp I discovered I really didn’t need is the Lone Star, but WTF, it’s here, it’s too heavy to move, and I’d lose my shirt selling it, anyway. So it’ll stay. But...live and learn!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I brought the DG30 back to rehearsal yesterday... yeah, I’m not gonna try and live without it again. Even though I’m gonna be cramped for space on stage, I have to roll with this amp.

The German combo amp is still in my trunk, I can’t decide if I should bring it back in the house or put a garbage sticker on it and leave it on the curb.