Guitarist Advice

[JoeVice]

since there is nothing "opeth" to talk about, i decided to ask for some advice from some of you musicians out there. i'm going to switch guitar amps. right now i am playing a marshall jcm2000 dsl 50 half stack. it is far to brittle and thin sounding for me. the treble peels paint off the walls when you turn it up past 5. i'm going for a darker sounding amp, a smooth high end, and buttery mids...i'm not really going for a "metal" tone. a nice crunch is all i need. if anyone has ever seen a perfect circle live, then you know kind of what i am talking about with howerdel's sound. advice please.....

 

[Land Of Grey And Pink]

To me, your situation really lies within your budget.

Id say a hughes and kettner amp would do great for you, or a fender twin reverb 65' reissue. Perhaps a laney or a vox. What kind of guitar will you be running through this? but yes, anything like a marshall, or mesa, crate or peavey will not give you the tone youre looking for.

 

[Ermz]

I agree with the above. Definately don't go for the big name metal brands, especially Marshall in your case. I've been hearing alot of good things about these Hughes and Kettner amps too... especially their 'vortex' model which is very very affordable for a half-stack.

You might also want to look into some Laney valve amps if you're really into the whole natural overdrive/buttery mids thing.

Anyway, good luck.

 

[jaykeegan]

Moonlapse: unblock me on msn.

 

[Rejvk]

Yea, if you're looking to pick an opeth sound get the VH100r, this baby's got a nice crunch to.

 

[suislidE]

If you want the combo the VC100 is the same as the vh100r, just cheaper and smaller. Im looking into getting a VC50 myself.. i dont need 100 watts. Keep a lookout on ebay, i saw a VC100 go for $550(the seller had it set as the buy it now.. looked mint.. stupid guy).

 

[Ermz]

I played the VH100R at a local store through the gain channel and it sounded like total ass. I couldn't get good high-gain out of it no matter what I did... but I suppose it's not made for that purpose and is why Peter uses a GT-6 through his.

 

[fadingessence]

I played the VH100R at a local store through the gain channel and it sounded like total ass. I couldn't get good high-gain out of it no matter what I did... but I suppose it's not made for that purpose and is why Peter uses a GT-6 through his.

I don't want to imply you don't know how to use it right, because I know you do, but those things have a ton of gain and thats the first time i've heard otherwise. At least my GH and others i've played do, and the only difference with the VH is seperate channels instead of just the drive boost. Maybe the store one was crapped out, had a bad tube, something was set wrong, but I can nail Opeth's distortion with the GH and thats with the gain set relatively low, the thing almost matches a 5150 when its cranked. Although I did retube it with JJ's and an EQ in the fx loop tightens everything up considerably.

I definitely prefer it over any tube marshall, both in price and sound. If you want to spend that much go with a tube Hughes and Kettner or maybe a peavey xxx.

 

[Rejvk]

I agree with fadingessence, I wasn't quite sure how the channels worked when I first saw the VH100R, but basically, it has 2 Channels, which are divided into a further two, so in effect it's like 4 Channels. Channel A = Clean. Channel A + Drive = Mild Overdrive
Channel B with no Drive = Crunch, And overdrive to quite a nice distortion at high gain. And Channel B with Drive = GAAAAIIIIN.

So in order to be on the Hi gain channel, you need to be on Channel B with the Drive channel on. If all that is right and it still wasnt working. It may be because at the back, there is a switch which may be turned on without you knowing, It was when I tried it out in the shop. You need to put the switch onto bypass (I think) otherwise the volume is controlled on the knob at the back, which is quite useful as an alternative to power attenuation. Anyhoo I think it was a channel thing, in your case, cos the amp does not lack in gain. -trust me.

 

[JoeVice]

the fender is sort of what i was leaning towards. i've been playing a twin amp and a hot rod de ville 2x12 in a music store. both of them have a nice fat and warm tone, adn they are both louder than my marshall half stack...easily. plus, the tubes drive nice with a good overdrive pedal. thanks guys.