Let me start off by saying that I could do my work with only one amp and a few pedals. I've done so in the past. But you have to use EQ to sculpt stuff out or add stuff in tracking and/or mixing, and that changes the character of the amp's sound. It's no longer what the player is used to working with.
The results are fine if you have a knack for it. Not so much if you don't.
Ask yourself: Why have classic black panel Fenders of the mid to late 1960s found their way onto so many great records? Why have the Fender-inspired classic Mesa amps done the same?
I think much of the answer to this one is their scooped midrange. With recessed mids, there's lots of room in a mix. You can make the guitars relatively louder and they won't mask the vocal. In other words, they're naturally good at sitting in a mix. They just work in that role.
Why have Marshalls and Dumbles been so great for lead tones? Same answer in reverse: they work well in that vocal midrange area. A solo is a replacement for the vocal, it's expected to live in that frequency area.
What's cool about what a Vox AC30 does in a mix? Its purposely-designed low frequency cutoff not only allows the amp to be louder (bass frequencies requiring more effort from the amp), it also means that you can hear the kick drum and bass very well. Pulling back the mids a little to make room for vocals doesn't seem to hurt the amp's tone, because most of the chimey overtones folks love are produced above the vocal range.
Similar things can be said about any number of amps used in a variety of ways on recordings, or in a live setting.
So I'm interested in starting a conversation about which of your amps are best suited for what, in a variety of similar roles, and why. If you use a modeler, which models do you like for these roles?
This stuff kind of fascinates me - we have so many amp choices now, it's fun to know what works for what.
The results are fine if you have a knack for it. Not so much if you don't.
Ask yourself: Why have classic black panel Fenders of the mid to late 1960s found their way onto so many great records? Why have the Fender-inspired classic Mesa amps done the same?
I think much of the answer to this one is their scooped midrange. With recessed mids, there's lots of room in a mix. You can make the guitars relatively louder and they won't mask the vocal. In other words, they're naturally good at sitting in a mix. They just work in that role.
Why have Marshalls and Dumbles been so great for lead tones? Same answer in reverse: they work well in that vocal midrange area. A solo is a replacement for the vocal, it's expected to live in that frequency area.
What's cool about what a Vox AC30 does in a mix? Its purposely-designed low frequency cutoff not only allows the amp to be louder (bass frequencies requiring more effort from the amp), it also means that you can hear the kick drum and bass very well. Pulling back the mids a little to make room for vocals doesn't seem to hurt the amp's tone, because most of the chimey overtones folks love are produced above the vocal range.
Similar things can be said about any number of amps used in a variety of ways on recordings, or in a live setting.
So I'm interested in starting a conversation about which of your amps are best suited for what, in a variety of similar roles, and why. If you use a modeler, which models do you like for these roles?
This stuff kind of fascinates me - we have so many amp choices now, it's fun to know what works for what.
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