Category: Music

Amp Frustrations and the Plexi Paradox

In *theory* I love the “Plexi” sound. To be more precise, I mean the Marshall Super Lead over-driven sound. Every time I try a profiled one of these amps on my Tone X profiler, it’s my go-to sound. Everytime I hear someone demoing one online – it’s the sound I’m looking for. I also quite like the sound of a Marshall JTM 45 as a pedal platform (again based on online demos), so much so that I have a JTM 45 pedal I use in front of my Fender amp, and I really dig it.

So, I figured it was time to dip my toes into the “plexi” world by buying some amps based on the plethora of demos I’ve seen online. I’ve tried the PRS HDX, the Tone King Royalist, and the Marshall Vintage 20 Studio. I’ve even tried the Plexi’s granddaddy, the Bassman, and its russian clone, the MIG. Here’s what I’ve decided. I don’t like a “real Plexi”.

Now before you immediately jump to the comment section to spout off about how these amps need to cranked to sound good, and that the cabinet really matters I already know that. But even cranked these amps just don’t sound good to me. There’s a harmonic to the gain that I find especially displeasing, an overtone that doesn’t sound musical. That overtone can be tamed a bit by dialing back the middle frequencies, but it’s always going to be there. I have cabs with Celestion Greenbacks, Celestion V30s, and Creambacks – all speakers that I love, but they don’t “fix” the tone on all the “plexis” I’ve tried.

The real frustration is this. Trying out amps before you buy them these days is a real chore. If you’re anything like me, you’re main music shop is Guitar Center. If you don’t want a Boss Katana, a Fender combo, a Vox combo, or an Orange Crush, you’re kind of out of luck. The independent mom and pop stores tend to carry a small selection of amp brands they’re particularly fond of, and if you don’t want one of those you’re again up a smelly creek without a paddle. What happens is that you end up buying an amp online and then returning it if you don’t like it. Many stores accept returns, but they don’t pay for the shipping back. So, you basically end up spending $65 or more each time you want to try an amplifier. This has been my life the last few months trying to find an amp I like.

So why do I love the Super Leads on my profiler but not the real thing? And if I like them in my profiler so much, why do I care about getting a real one? Obviously, the amp sound from the profiler is idealized, and is coming out of my studio monitors. It sounds like a recorded amp should sound. I know I wouldn’t get that out of a real amp being played loud in the room, but I at least thought I could get it close. As far as the second question goes, the answer is simple. I like tube amps. I like how they look, how they glow, how the hot tubes smell. I like the switches and knobs. I wish I could be happy with just a profiler with a bunch of built in amp sounds, but I just love amps too much.

What’s the lesson here? I guess what I’ve learned (and I don’t like it) is that I need to buy amps from Guitar Center online. That way if I don’t like it, I can just take it back to the local store without any shipping fees. That will unfortunately cause me to lose out on some deals however, but I guess it really isn’t a deal if I have to pay shipping to return the amp if I don’t like it. I just can’t deal with the gamble anymore.

Fender Mike McCready Stratocaster – A Counter-Review

When searching Google for reviews of the Fender Mike McCready Stratocaster, a made in Mexico replica of Mike’s beloved 60’s Strat, you’ll mostly find positive things being said. Yes, the fretwork is great. The rounded fret board edges are super comfortable. The electronics quality is impressive. If you like relic’ed guitars, then yes – it looks cool. BUT at a cost of $1899 (I bought mine B-stock for slightly less) there are some things about the guitar that has prompted me to return it.

I’m not going to bury the lead here, so I’ll start with the biggest issue, the back of the neck. The McCready model is supposed to have a “worn in” neck back where the gloss of the nitro finish has been worn off. If you look at the photos provided by the Fender website, you can see what I mean :

First off, one of the reasons I bought this guitar was because I was hankering for a 60s Strat but I’m not a fan of gloss necks. This sixties-esque model would have solved that dilemma for me but for whatever reason, the one I received wasn’t very “broken in”. Yes the gloss has been dulled, but not to the extent as shown in the marketing photos. The neck is STICKY. So much so, that sliding up and down the neck is a chore. I don’t think this is intended by design, but an indication of Fender’s recent quality control issues. My guess is that this one made it out of the factory with the “worn in” neck barely worn. (Perhaps my expectations are unrealistic here, but I’ve owned other MiM relic’ed guitars with the neck back worn, and in those cases it was almost a bare wood feel.) For this reason alone, I was highly considering a return.

Secondly, after playing the guitar for a good while, I found the neck pickup especially dark. So much so, I had to EQ my amp differently from all my other Strats. It was dark enough that at first I thought the neck tone knob was turned down. It wasn’t. And even with amp EQ changes, I still wasn’t happy with the neck pickup sounds.

Third, the action upon receipt was HIGH. I’m not one of those guys who needs his action super low to enjoy playing. Many of my guitars have what I’d call “medium” action, but this guitar’s setup exceeded even my tolerance. (Granted this could be an issue with the shop I bought it from, and their setup – not the fault of Fender) I adjusted the action to meet my needs and it was much better, but when paying as much as you do for one of these guitars you shouldn’t have to make such an adjustment.

Finally, we come to the case. It’s cool that it comes in it’s own special case. I dig the brown tweed, and the yellow interior. However, the case is not the highest quality. It’s flimsy. It flexes easily. Setting it down any kind of non-level surface will prevent the locks from lining up. The stitching of the interior fabric is not the result of someone being shall we say, detail oriented. There are sloppy folds, and wads of fabric in the corners. Being used to my G&L cases, this one was disappointing.

In the end, I’ve decided to send the guitar back. This is an expensive Mexican model (if not the most expensive) and for that price point it should really be an awesome experience to own one. For me it wasn’t. At that price point you could buy impeccable Indonesian models from other manufactures with more features and better quality control. In fact, I might just forgo my desire for a 60s-like Strat and go with one of those manufacturers. Or better yet, another G&L might be in my future.

New Tone X Software and Firmware Released!

The new Tone X update is out. Upgrade your software and firmware today!

While I don’t agree with several of this reviewer’s complaints, (especially given the price point), the demo is very good.

IK Multimedia to Release New Effects for Tone X in November

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/news/?item_id=16996&srsltid=AfmBOorbvRzTVqYb1O2zCi2UhbTMByd_67BQGx30OgSN8-_AOEMiAfZt

New effects will be coming to Tone X in November. While the previous release added a tuner, this future release will include 2 delays, chorus, spring reverb, tremolo, phaser, flanger and rotary.

Pete Thorn Telling the Story of EVH Moving to EBMM

Pete Thorn posted a new video telling the story of why Eddie Van Halen moved from Kramer to Ernie Ball Music Man, and how the Air Norton and Tone Zone pickups came to be.

My First Electric Guitar

In 1991 my parents bought me my first electric guitar and electric guitar amp for Christmas. The guitar was a brand new Squier II HSS Stratocaster in red, and the amp was a Peavey Rage 108 solid state practice amp. I loved that thing, and I learned on it for years but it eventually became my experimental project guitar. It was on that guitar that I taught myself how to replace pickups and knobs, and as you can see in the 3rd photo I even tried my hand (unsuccessfully) at painting. Eventually, I moved on from that guitar to others, an Aspen Les Paul copy, a Washburn (also seen in photo 3), and some other off-brand emerald green S-type that wasn’t work its weight in wood. Unfortunately in the end, I modified the Squier into oblivion. Its mangled body resided at a friend’s house for years, while its neck lived the rest of its life in my storage shed. The bridge and electronics live in a ziplock bag in my tool box. While my original Squier II won’t be played again, I may have found its brother online, and it may have to come live with me soon…

Fender Fret Wire, and My Preference

From Fender:

The main fret wire maker, California-based Dunlop Manufacturing Inc., produces five main fret sizes. Listed by part number, name (where applicable), crown width and crown height, they are, from smallest to largest:

6230: The smallest fret wire found on older Fender necks (.078? x .043?).
6150: Vintage jumbo. Much wider but not as tall as 6230 (.102? x .042?).
6105: Modern narrow and tall; currently very popular (.090? x .055?).
6100: Jumbo. The largest fret wire available (.110? x .055?).
6130: Medium jumbo (.106? x .036?).

Which size you like is purely a matter of preference, although it can affect your playing style. If you like your fingers to actually touch the fingerboard when fretting the strings, frets that aren’t very tall like the 6130, 6150 or 6230 are for you. On the other hand, jumbo 6100 fret wire can provide easier playability with better sustain, tone and bending because you don’t have to press as hard to fret the strings, but your fingers probably won’t even touch the fingerboard, which could take some getting used to if you’re accustomed to smaller frets.

The main guitars I play are my Made-In-Japan EVH Wolfgang Specials. One of the primary reasons I love these guitars so is because they (and the MIC models) are the only EVH Wolfgang Specials to have “Vintage” frets on their fret boards. When production moved to Mexico in 2014, jumbo frets were used on the Specials, and they have been that way ever since. Now, only the USA made EVH Wolfgangs come with “vintage” 6230 sixed frets.