1953 Wide Panel Deluxe Replica
Totally Custom Boutique Amp by Ace Pepper
hand wired boutique amp chassis by Ace Pepper
Ever think about tonal qualities of glue?? Glue can dampen your cabinets tone, so I like to use animal glue to apply amp coverings.
Cake or Animal Glue is the best glue for speaker cabinet covering
It dries with a very woody characteristic which drastically decreases cabinet dampening as compared to using most other adhesives. The resin or cake glue also is non toxic and has great work-ability, and it is much easier to stripp off than other glues, for it is water soluble and can even be sanded off. It is more expensive that other glues but is well worth the outcome.
Finger-Joints on a solid pine speaker cabinet
Marahsll Style 4*12 in Construction in Baltic Birch Plywood with Finger-Joints
I remember mine!
It was finally time to go. Mimi, my grandmother of 14 or so years, was taking me to the local guitar shop to get a guitar, man I was stoked. The smell of the store was intriguing but not familiar. I was in place in an unfamiliar world, and I was liking it very much, this wonderful guitar and instrument filled candy store.
I really wanted to start playing drums but they seemed too loud for Mimi and Mom, so I glanced over at the used electrics and saw her. A beautiful Aria Les Paul copy in blond with mary kay and she screamed at me. I was more than happy to hear the man say it was in our price range, so I took it off the wall and gazed in amazement at this beautiful guitar. It didn’t play like my old acoustic which I had since I was 8 or so, it was quiet and needed an amp to hear it proper. Mimi asked about suggestions for a practice amp and I wound up with a small combo, probably a few watts and an 8″ speaker, no distortion. I didn’t realize how important the amp would be to get a good sound until I got it back home.
My Grandfather Gagy, whom was sitting in his normal chair for the evening, was excited to see his grandson with this new instrument and amplifier. I plugged the guitar in and turned on, and then up, and then up and then no more volume.
I could barely hear it it seemed, such a small sound for this great guitar, but I was not going to complain, for I had already won the jackpot, but Gagy stopped me, and then yelled to Mimi “you better take this damn amp back and exchange it for a one that I can hear when he plays!” Wow, that was it, no questions, we were back in the car and off to the candy store to get a bigger piece.
I ended up with a Peavy Backstage 80 watt combo, which for the time blew me away and really blew everyone in the house away. It was quite loud and had great sustain and distortion. I was off to power chord heaven and I will never forget how the amp inspired me to play! I am off to biggeer and better things now but the point is that the Peavy, at the time, inspired me to play.
I had no idea that amps would end up being such a big part of my life some time later on in life. I have learned that if your amp doesn’t inspire you to play then you need to find another amplifier that does.
I will start with a list of the elements (not necessarily in any order) which will be broken down to explain the significance with achieving ultimate guitar tone. I will continue to elaborate on these elements so please check back from time to time, there is really a lot involved and I will elaborate more after I cover the basics on achieving the ultimate guitar tone.
I know everyone has a different idea or “sound in their mind”of what perfect guitar tone is so let me try to set a standard for all of us to go by. Throw out the end component of what your desired tone is, and what I mean by this is just imagine your amplifier alone, no effects, with you and your axe. Got that, PLUG STRAIGHT IN. Ok, now you need to play some licks and really listen for “piano like reproduction” of the instrument you are tendering. Just you and your guitar and amplifier are making this happen right now so realize, these are the most important basis to build the rest of your guitar tone stack on. A good analogy would be to compare how a picture or video file gets distorted when you upsize it from its original size; the better the “original size” is the better the final desired outcome will be. This said I know you will not be able to get your complete desired tone for some applications just playing straight out of your amp, but your end tone will be its best if you learn to achieve your “dry” tone to its top capabilities.
Now that I have hopefully gotten us all on the “same page” I will continue to explain the important elements of getting the ultimate guitar tone. I will just follow the above list and elaborate on each topic.
Your Guitar plays one of the most obvious roles for achieving incredible guitar tone. There are too many guitars to choose from these days, and I am sure there are a lot of great ones, but I always stick with the top industry standards, such as Gibson, Fender, Tom Anderson, Shector, Paul Reed Smith, and so on. Make sure you always have good strings, I prefer pure nickel, but at least get nickel wound. Your strings do have a life span and you will lose tone when they begin to go. Always wipe them down when you are done playing to help with premature string damage, Stringease can be helpful. Make sure you keep your pots clean and if you have active pickups always check your battery. Make sure your pickups are set up correctly and to maximize tone transfer from your strings. Periodically check your jacks to make sure you are getting proper contact when you plug in.
The next topic in getting great tone is your fingers. We all have different fingers, and fingers do influence your tone. Grabbing a note is an art in itself, so do not be shy, grab your notes with authority and confidence, this will help with conveying your tone. Keep those deep calices in shape! Also try picking with your fingers for a really fat tone; I try not to use a pick most of the time, but sometimes you just gotta have one!
Custom Point to Point by Ace Pepper
Next is Amplification! It is my opinion and many others that that basis for ultimate tone must come from a hand wired all tube amp and a properly made cabinet. I guess the proof lies in the fact that there are so many tube amp companies making killer amps like in the vintage days. Even Fender has reissued most of their old popular models. Back in the early seventies solid stat amplifiers came into the game, but it was not long after that guitar players were missing their tube amps, mainly the tone which they produced. Players were happy to not have to deal with tubes anymore but the trade off was not worth the loss of tone!! Sure there are many amp emulators out there, but the digital stuff will never really sound just like a tube amp, and I can say this from experience. You need a well build amp with a solid wood cabinet Your amplifier cabinet has a pronounced effect on the tone you can achieve. I will elaborate later on cabinets and their tonal differences. When you turn the beautiful analogue sound wave into 0’s and 1’s you are losing the “guts” of your tone. Why to try to recreate what was already perfect! Get a real Amp with A real Cabinet.
Your instrument Cables and effects will have an influence on tone as well. Signal loss is a major tone issue, so always use good quality cables and run the least length you can get away with. Also, try to use analogue effects, and where applicable have them modified with a double pull/double throw switch, this will eliminate signal loss. A good example where this is needed would be on an original Dunlop crybaby. There is a noticeable loss of tone when you turn the effect on, just listen! There is a lot to talk about when it comes to effects, cables, batteries, and signal loss. I will touch on this more in my comments to this post.
Your amps power source is important too. Make sure you have a true, constant voltage coming out of the receptacle you are plugged into. This effects tone and the well being of your amplifier. You can purchase a voltage regulator that will provide a steady current to your amplifier. You can check the source with a multimeter. You would be surprised at how many stages have faulty wiring, I have played on too many of them!
Lastly, remember your surrounding has a big effect on tone, especially to your audience, so make sure to sound check properly and get your EQ adjusted accordingly. You may sound ok on stage but your listeners hear something different. Playing outside is another animal, which can really mess with your head. The idea is to bring more amp to outdoor gigs, as they tend to sound thin outdoors. I always have the bass up a bit more when playing outside, and the volume knob is always up considerably as well. I always try to have someone in the audience who is listening and giving me signals regarding to my tone, this is important to learn the different sounds of different clubs or venues so you know how to optimize your tone for each place you play.
Please visit my Squidoo page for advice on how to build a great sounding amplifier cabinet and get great guitar tone!
Page optimized by WP Minify WordPress Plugin