Originally Posted by: Lordathestringshmm...
You do realise this is kinda like asking for "the meaning of life, the universe, and everything", don't you?
There are reasons why I have several guitars. They are all very versatile, in that they are all able to sound good in any genre I care to attempt. And they all sound a bit different from each other....
... A big part of tone is the amp. I like old V-series Ampegs for their ability to make a guitar sound so loud that you can feel it, without sounding like an amp. That takes a while to understand, 'cause it doesn't make sense until you play one. Most big-name amps, especially Fender and Marshall, have their signature sound. Ampegs sound like the guitar and the player.
I've never experienced another brand of amp that brought out subtle differences in guitar tone the way my mid-70's Ampegs do. There's nowhere to hide. I wanna die of embarrassment when I get sloppy, because what comes out of the speakers sounds so bad. But when I've got my chops in order, there's nothing quite like the intimacy of expression this rig delivers.
Which brings us back to the guitar. When your amp allows subtle differences to come through, then your tone-quest becomes a matter of finding the combination of hardware and technique that delivers what you're looking for.
What you describe, sounds like something a blues player would recognise. Riding that clean/dirty edge is a way of life. You need an amp that has a very ballsy clean tone. And a distorted tone that doesn't get muddy when you go from single notes to chords. Both of my Ampegs do this, but there are differences in the way they do it.
My 1976 VT-22 is a 120 Watt, 2x12" open-back combo. There's no gain adjustment, just a volume control. The tone circuits are true boost/cut type, with a wide range of adjustment. The output tubes are a quad of JJ KT88's, biased for maximum undistorted output. The sound stays fairly clean up until your clothing is flapping in the wind off the speakers. Then there's a smooth transition into a kind of distortion that I call The Voice of God. Its not the creamy 'brown' sound of earlier tube amps, and its not the sharp-edged raspy sound I associate with metal. It sounds like what it actually is - a very powerful force that has been pushed hard, and is pushing back - harder! Earplugs and body armour are recommended.
My 1977 VT-40 is unique. It was badly flood-damaged, so as part of my salvage operation, I had to build a new cab for it and I tossed the original speakers. Its now a 60 Watt 1x15" closed-back combo. There are switches to adjust the gain of each channel. The tone controls are the same as my VT-22. There's a Master Volume control. This amp sounds a bit thicker. The 15" speaker in a closed cab gives it some serious punch, and the amp gets noticeably dirty quicker than the VT-22. The output tubes are the original Magnavox (re-labeled Sylvania) 7027A's.
I should point out here that cutting the power delivered to a speaker in half produces a barely noticeable drop in apparent volume. So the difference between 60 Watts and 120 Watts isn't a big deal. The speaker in my 1x15" combo is very efficient, so the smaller amp is actually at least as loud as the 'big' one. The difference mostly comes down to things like response to picking dynamics....
If you want that tonal quality in a low-powered package, the closest thing I've found (this is ironic) is a late-70's Maganavox Ampeg G-18. Its a no-frills 10 Watt transistor 1x8" combo. Two input jacks, one channel, Volume, Bass, and Treble. A very broad distortion threshold makes it less suitable for dancing along the edge, but then again if you just crank it 'n wail, it sounds great! I used to have two of them, but the guy I was jamming with flat-out insisted that I should sell him one. So now I own one, and I have visitation rights to another.
