Guitar players, what amps are giving you your PJ fix for now?

57Goldtop

Just seeing what amps you're playing to give you your PJ tone. I thought Mike sounded like Mike in 03, but Stone definitely sounded different. Don't know if it was the Trentino amp or switching to the Strat and single coil pickups for his main guitar.

mccreadyisgod

I almost hate to say it, but I think Ed had the best tone last tour. But there's something to be said for the basics.

parchy

I've never given Stone's tone my full approval... he's an amazing riffmeister, but there's something about his effects live I just do not approve with...


Not to mention I've always hated the fact that he sometimes plays songs that need an acoustic (Elderly Woman, Thin Air) with an electric into acoustic effects.... he toned it down a little from the 2000 tour, but I just can't stand that

mccreadyisgod

To answer the original question, my amp is a Sovtek Mig 50, which bears some resemblance to a Marshall Plexi and a Fender Bassman in theory. But in actuallity... I think I get close to the same tone as Ed's Hiwatt when I crank it to the break-point. Especially through my Marshall 4x10" cab.

Pacomc79

Right now it's an Orange AD 15/12 combo into a Barber Direct Drive an a Keeley Rat 2. I use a Morley Bad Horsie currently for my wah and a Line 6 DL-4 for all manner of delay effects.

MissYouAllDay

I am playing my Telecaster HS into a HIWATT DC 40. With a keeley tubescreamer and big muff(occasionally) in front.

thingmaker88

I use an old non master volume 1/2 stach from the late 70s and early 80's. Oddly enough it is a Peavey Butcher unmodded. I run it in the low gain imput with both pre and post gain at equal levels, the higher you crank them the better. Eq wize i keep the mids at about 4, slightly scooped, and the high and low at about 6.5 with the presence at a neutral 5. i run all this into a 4x12 peavey can loaded with celestions. I know many people would think that the peavey must sound like shit, but I would stack this up against any ones trec or old marshall, or boutique amp anyday!!!!! but the majik for the pearl jam tones are locked in my tele, and pedals. I like to run a wah, jsu a crybaby, into a ts9dx, then an Ibanez SD9 (I read that Mike uses the sd9 to boost the tubescreamer for solos and such.) After this I have an old small stone phaser, and then it's straight into the Amp. It works for me. Also the Butchers usually go pretty cheap on Ebay, its an affordable route to go if you want to get into a powerful nice sounding Amp thats tough as nails. I changed out the origional tubes last year. They were at least 20 years old!!!!

pariah

The cranked Hiwatt Studio/Stage w/ a humbucker guitar resemble Ed's tone to a certain extent but I still think the difference between EL34's and EL84's is pretty audible..

That said, I love my own tone just as much. And I agree with whoever said Ed had the best tone last tour; I don't really care for either Mike's or Stone's live tone at all... as opposed to their studio tone which I think is amazing.

MissYouAllDay

"The cranked Hiwatt Studio/Stage w/ a humbucker guitar resemble Ed's tone to a certain extent but I still think the difference between EL34's and EL84's is pretty audible"

Can you explain what you mean by this? I am confused.

pariah

MissYouAllDay wrote:

"The cranked Hiwatt Studio/Stage w/ a humbucker guitar resemble Ed's tone to a certain extent but I still think the difference between EL34's and EL84's is pretty audible"

Can you explain what you mean by this? I am confused.

Sorry, I have a Hiwatt Studio/Stage amp (http://www.hiwatt.co.uk/Studio%20Stage.htm).. when I crank it while using a guitar with humbuckers, esp. on the neck pickup, I get close to Ed's tone. But my amp uses EL84 tubes, while his amp, the Hiwatt Custom 50, uses EL34's. You can hear the difference in character because of the tubes.

All Those Yesterdays

thingmaker88 wrote:

I use an old non master volume 1/2 stach from the late 70s and early 80's. Oddly enough it is a Peavey Butcher unmodded. I run it in the low gain imput with both pre and post gain at equal levels, the higher you crank them the better. Eq wize i keep the mids at about 4, slightly scooped, and the high and low at about 6.5 with the presence at a neutral 5. i run all this into a 4x12 peavey can loaded with celestions. I know many people would think that the peavey must sound like shit, but I would stack this up against any ones trec or old marshall, or boutique amp anyday!!!!! but the majik for the pearl jam tones are locked in my tele, and pedals. I like to run a wah, jsu a crybaby, into a ts9dx, then an Ibanez SD9 (I read that Mike uses the sd9 to boost the tubescreamer for solos and such.) After this I have an old small stone phaser, and then it's straight into the Amp. It works for me. Also the Butchers usually go pretty cheap on Ebay, its an affordable route to go if you want to get into a powerful nice sounding Amp thats tough as nails. I changed out the origional tubes last year. They were at least 20 years old!!!!

Peavey gets not credit. They are reasonable priced new, and extremely cheap used. People focus to much on what they see people hear and not all the other manufactures available.

mccreadyisgod

All Those Yesterdays wrote:

Peavey gets not credit. They are reasonable priced new, and extremely cheap used. People focus to much on what they see people hear and not all the other manufactures available.

To be fair, Peavey makes a lot of really shitty gear. And most of their stuff from the 80's and early 90's is complete crap.

But they have good models:

Classic 20, Classic 30, Classic 50 (either 2x12" or 4x10"), Delta Blues, Delta Blues 210, 5150, 5150 II...

They had some tube amps back in the 70's that were pretty cool, too.

I sincerely think that the best solid-state amp out there is the Peavey Bandit II. If you've never tried one out, you should give one a shot. They'll never replace my Vibro Champ or my Sovtek Mig, but if I was playing bar shows every night, I'd probably be playing one of those rather than my precious tube amps.

HeavyMetalNyge

I'm A/B ing 2 amps that I can get good Ten tone from. My clean is the Peavey Classic 50 212, and my distortion is a JCM 900 SL-X through a Carvin 212 cab. It just sucks carrying all that gear around. But I don't like playing unless I have the tone I want.

Shwn

mccreadyisgod wrote:

To be fair, Peavey makes a lot of really shitty gear. And most of their stuff from the 80's and early 90's is complete crap.

But they have good models:

Classic 20, Classic 30, Classic 50 (either 2x12" or 4x10"), Delta Blues, Delta Blues 210, 5150, 5150 II...

They had some tube amps back in the 70's that were pretty cool, too.

I sincerely think that the best solid-state amp out there is the Peavey Bandit II. If you've never tried one out, you should give one a shot. They'll never replace my Vibro Champ or my Sovtek Mig, but if I was playing bar shows every night, I'd probably be playing one of those rather than my precious tube amps.

Peavey Triple X's are very nice if you're looking for a cheaper Mesa ripoff.

All Those Yesterdays

mccreadyisgod wrote:

To be fair, Peavey makes a lot of really shitty gear. And most of their stuff from the 80's and early 90's is complete crap.

But they have good models:

Classic 20, Classic 30, Classic 50 (either 2x12" or 4x10"), Delta Blues, Delta Blues 210, 5150, 5150 II...

They had some tube amps back in the 70's that were pretty cool, too.

I sincerely think that the best solid-state amp out there is the Peavey Bandit II. If you've never tried one out, you should give one a shot. They'll never replace my Vibro Champ or my Sovtek Mig, but if I was playing bar shows every night, I'd probably be playing one of those rather than my precious tube amps.

I'm not picking a fight, but Fender & Marshall make a lot of crap too. There are only selected models of each that are currently made that I'd even consider using. Marshall your paying for the name, and all though I love the old plexis, 800's and even the 900. In my personal opinion they aren't extremely versitile. But to each its own, I can find something good in each.

mccreadyisgod

All Those Yesterdays wrote:

I'm not picking a fight, but Fender & Marshall make a lot of crap too. There are only selected models of each that are currently made that I'd even consider using. Marshall your paying for the name, and all though I love the old plexis, 800's and even the 900. In my personal opinion they aren't extremely versitile. But to each its own, I can find something good in each.

The difference is, Fender and Marshall have good reputations, whereas Peavey has a reputation for being crappy.

Think about it: what's your knee-jerk reaction when someone says they play through a Fender? Or a Marshall? Now, what's the reaction when they say "Peavey"?

I never heard a Fender solid-state amp I liked, and I'll be the first to admit it... and Marshall hasn't made a good amp in the last 30 years (even their vintage reissues, while good, have reliability issues).

Hell, even Orange makes aweful solid-state practice amps that're manufactured in Korea or China, the Orange Crush amps.

So, that's very true, it goes both ways. I was just saying there are reasons for Peavey's bad reputation, and exceptions... Just as there are reasons for Fender's good reputation, and exceptions...

And, just to register an opinion, I don't much care for the XXX or the XXL amps by Peavey, but to each their own.

All Those Yesterdays

mccreadyisgod wrote:

The difference is, Fender and Marshall have good reputations, whereas Peavey has a reputation for being crappy.

Think about it: what's your knee-jerk reaction when someone says they play through a Fender? Or a Marshall? Now, what's the reaction when they say "Peavey"?

I never heard a Fender solid-state amp I liked, and I'll be the first to admit it... and Marshall hasn't made a good amp in the last 30 years (even their vintage reissues, while good, have reliability issues).

Hell, even Orange makes aweful solid-state practice amps that're manufactured in Korea or China, the Orange Crush amps.

So, that's very true, it goes both ways. I was just saying there are reasons for Peavey's bad reputation, and exceptions... Just as there are reasons for Fender's good reputation, and exceptions...

And, just to register an opinion, I don't much care for the XXX or the XXL amps by Peavey, but to each their own.

I agree with what your saying. I've been one to play what I think sounds good and not what everyone else sounds like. For the past 6 months I've been hooked on a old Gibson Minuteman and Traynor makes a great sounded amp too that I'm in love with.

And for the record probably my favorite guitar that i've played so far is an late 70's Peavey T-60. Its pretty heavey though, only for studio use!

solsurfr

Hope not to get flamed but I'm a DSP user with both Flextone III Plus and HD 147 series of amps from Line6 along with the FBV SB. I'm in a couple of cover bands and really love the flexibility and "all-in-one" setup because I'm so lazy!

As for Mike's tone, I like to either use my American Tele or Les Paul Standard thru either any Marshall patch with 'verb and delay. For the Corduroy solo, I like to start out with wah playing my tele thru my JCM 800 patch. I get a pretty thick and accurate tone that Mike gets. I also think the key is the cabinet/speaker setup as well. I think Mike is still using rackmounted effects thru a couple of marshall 4x12's.

When I play Ledbedder, I play my Strat at the neck pup thru a pretty dirty Plexi patch. When the solo kicks in, I'll switch to the bridge pup and hit the compressor to get a nice bleeding lead tone. Thankfully, PJ is pretty basic in their tones so as long as you play it right, you can pretty much sound like them with some little tweaking on your side.

mccreadyisgod

DissidentBand wrote:

Hope not to get flamed but I'm a DSP user with both Flextone III Plus and HD 147 series of amps from Line6 along with the FBV SB.

There are already a few Line 6 users around here...

Myself among 'em.

So don't expect to get TOO flamed.

solsurfr

mccreadyisgod wrote:

There are already a few Line 6 users around here...

Myself among 'em.

So don't expect to get TOO flamed.

Nice.... Just don't know how dsp-friendly the folks are around here :-)

mccreadyisgod

DissidentBand wrote:

Nice.... Just don't know how dsp-friendly the folks are around here :-)

Be careful throwing the term "DSP" around...

Not many of us are fans of the Fender technology carrying that name.

solsurfr

mccreadyisgod wrote:

Be careful throwing the term "DSP" around...

Not many of us are fans of the Fender technology carrying that name.

You talkin' about the Cyber-Twin? Never was a fan of that amp.

mccreadyisgod

DissidentBand wrote:

You talkin' about the Cyber-Twin? Never was a fan of that amp.

No, not the Cyber amps... the series was recently replaced by the Dyna-Touch series. It was basically a crappy solid-state amp with built-in effects (reverb, chorus, delay, phase, flange, I forget all of 'em).

But the Cyber amps aren't all they're cracked up to be, either.

DriftingByTheStorm

My current happy guy setup is a

Gretsch 1979 "The Committee" solid body guitar
or my new lovetoy a
1974 Gibson SG Professional with aftermarket Khaler floating bridge and p90s
mmm

run through several effects
Ibanez TS9 (analog man 808 mod, bought on ebay, $90)
Ibanez Phase Tone '70s phaser (with the flying fingers. woo hoo! whatever)
Ibanez UE-305 analog multifx (chorus, delay, compression)
[yeah so i like old ibanez pedals, so what]

into either
Mesa Boogie DC-3 30watt tube amp.
I love this little baby. It's got a blown fx send right now, but it squeals for a 30w amp.

OR

[Robert] Egnater 1980's vintage handwired DualTone (Fender Delux\Marshall Plexi) 2 channel 100 amp head (this thing is retarded rare, but i had to have it when i saw it. the Egnater name plate is classic 80's DOS computer lettering)

powering a

2x12 EarCandy Amplification all Maple clear PU finished BuzzBomb cabinet (This cabinet is sick looking. i'll take a picture some day and show you) with a tweed cover over diamond stamped steel grill plate. Ridiculous.

Ok ...
I can't say that i sound just like pearl jam ... but i can definately nail bits and pieces.

Hell sometimes live PJ doesn't even sound like PJ.
-nick-

pariah

DriftingByTheStorm wrote:

My current happy guy setup is a

(...)

Ok ...
I can't say that i sound just like pearl jam ... but i can definately nail bits and pieces.

Hell sometimes live PJ doesn't even sound like PJ.
-nick-

I'd really like to see some pics of that rig...

ski4

mccreadyisgod wrote:

To be fair, Peavey makes a lot of really shitty gear. And most of their stuff from the 80's and early 90's is complete crap.

But they have good models:

Classic 20, Classic 30, Classic 50 (either 2x12" or 4x10"), Delta Blues, Delta Blues 210, 5150, 5150 II...

They had some tube amps back in the 70's that were pretty cool, too.

I sincerely think that the best solid-state amp out there is the Peavey Bandit II. If you've never tried one out, you should give one a shot. They'll never replace my Vibro Champ or my Sovtek Mig, but if I was playing bar shows every night, I'd probably be playing one of those rather than my precious tube amps.

don't forget the road master from the late 80's and early 90's as a good amp, very solid, nice sound, all tube head with enough power to smash walls

the odd thing is we are talking about such a relative topic, it's strange to see such polarity, I go through phases, I had a nice road master big loud tube amp that was nice, got a little marshall solid state that i like for a while but now hate. now spend time between my peavey classic 30 adn peavey mark bass head and home made cab, i like em both, If I could i would get a twin from fender black face silver face no matter, sound is so subjuective though unless you are trying to sound just like someone.