The Impossible Quest: Renting a MOD50

[graymatter]

Hello everyone,

Fellow MOD50 owner here with a dilemma. I'm looking to rent a MOD50 in South Florida next week for a Theatre show im doing. We are recreating Van Halen 1
note for note and i'm trying to avoid GC rentals. I have a Rebel on order that should be here (Toronto, Canada) this week but i'm not sure if it can cover those VH1 Type sounds.
The Rebel will be fansastic for travel/fly dates....i just hope i get it in time.

Any suggestions ?

 

[Gino]

Either a) hope someone incredibly nice in South Florida is willing to let you borrow/rent their amp or b) get a good OD (Crunch Box, OCD, Xotic BB) and put it in front of the Rebel so that you have two channels if need be.

 

[graymatter]

Yeah, I figure option a) would be to good to be true. I have all three of the OD's you mentioned. Gino, can the Rebel get close to the
early VH Sound ? If the gain can get near JCM800 territory all i would need is a OD/Boost

 

[broknstuff]

Hm...where exactly are you playing? I'm in south florida but I might be really busy next week and there's always that uneasiness about lending the amp you are obsessed with to someone you don't know, but what modules would you need to be able to do the VH thing (I'm one of the few guitar players who doesn't play much VH .. )? If it's a show or two we could work something out if I can be there, I don't see too much of a problem in that, but if it's a week long event we might need to hash through some details and talk about it.

I played a rebel for a little bit and I think it will get you into JCM800 territory. Another thing I thought of would be this: there's a rebel for sale at my local guitar center. If you were dead set on getting one anyway, I could buy it for you to make sure you have it when you are down here, and then hand it off to you as soon as you get here. You can easily take it back with you as a carry on or it can fit in your luggage no problem. (it might save you cash on shipping/customs I'm sure). I could leave it in the box without opening till you get down here too so you don't feel like you are buying a "used" amp. There are a few rebel owners on here so they may be able to confirm if the rebel would work for you, but I think it has that kind of base gain available. If it does, I could maybe rent/lend you a cab, but it's v30s not greenbacks (that's what VH uses right? I don't know).

I can't make any promises without knowing further details, but hit me up on PM and we can talk about it. Hopefully I can help you out, and if not at least catch a cool show or throw back a beer with a fellow egg-head.

 

[Gino]

Yeah, I figure option a) would be to good to be true. I have all three of the OD's you mentioned. Gino, can the Rebel get close to the
early VH Sound ? If the gain can get near JCM800 territory all i would need is a OD/Boost

I think, as long as you have some kind of OD/boost for solos and crazy licks, you'll be just fine. With the tube blend you can get the Rebel to sound very British and it's a hot amp. You probably won't be as happy with it as your MOD50 for obvious reasons but I think it'll be a damn fine substitute. Also, as soon as you get your Rebel and get some time to test them, please make a post comparing all three of those ODs with the Rebel. I'm sure a lot of us would be very interested to know how they compare. I'm about this --> <-- close to buying a Crunch Box.

Hm...where exactly are you playing? I'm in south florida but I might be really busy next week and there's always that uneasiness about lending the amp you are obsessed with to someone you don't know, but what modules would you need to be able to do the VH thing (I'm one of the few guitar players who doesn't play much VH .. )? If it's a show or two we could work something out if I can be there, I don't see too much of a problem in that, but if it's a week long event we might need to hash through some details and talk about it.

I played a rebel for a little bit and I think it will get you into JCM800 territory. Another thing I thought of would be this: there's a rebel for sale at my local guitar center. If you were dead set on getting one anyway, I could buy it for you to make sure you have it when you are down here, and then hand it off to you as soon as you get here. You can easily take it back with you as a carry on or it can fit in your luggage no problem. (it might save you cash on shipping/customs I'm sure). I could leave it in the box without opening till you get down here too so you don't feel like you are buying a "used" amp. There are a few rebel owners on here so they may be able to confirm if the rebel would work for you, but I think it has that kind of base gain available. If it does, I could maybe rent/lend you a cab, but it's v30s not greenbacks (that's what VH uses right? I don't know).

I can't make any promises without knowing further details, but hit me up on PM and we can talk about it. Hopefully I can help you out, and if not at least catch a cool show or throw back a beer with a fellow egg-head.

Wow, this is pretty friggin' generous.

 

[graymatter]

WOW !

Diego, That is incredibly Generous of you. Way above and beyond for sure. Thank You.

The Shows are at The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
in Hollywood, FLA. The company i work for has its own Theatre there and it's very secure. I will PM you some more info.
I have been doing the VH stuff with the SL2 module with great results as i find its voiced a bit more agressive than the SL.
Both of those modules can get eerily close to my old marshalls. I have A/B/C'd them in studios lots of times and whether its a JCM800, 69 'Plexi, or the 72' superlead the SL/SL2
Covers it...and them Some

Gino, i will compare all three OD's when i get back but basically i keep going back to the BB. The Crunch Box is great too although i don't use it much. I basically keep it on hand incase backline is Fender Twin/deluxe or something to get a basic JCM800 type tone and then use the BB to boost from there. the CrunchBox has a ton of gain ... i usually keep it pretty low around the 9 O'clock position.

Cheers,
Russell

 

[Suhrfer]

2 quick notes:

1) I met Diego thru the sale of my COD module... he's a great guy. What an awesome display of Egnater community!

2) I have OCD and Crunch Box (no BB yet). In my opinion, they're both great pedals but for different things.

- the OCD is more overdrive, less of a distortion. It's also more transparent, and basically gives your tone more hair. I notice a little bit of bottom end loss, but not too much to really matter (I'm way anal about pedals, cords, volume knobs, etc. that take away bass or roll off highs). I also have a Keeley Katana (clean boost). It's awesome when you just need to hit the front end of the amp a little harder... very transparent, but best on a sound with gain already. The MOD50 is so sensitive that I don't use this one anymore...

- the Crunch Box is an excellent distortion pedal. It has a character that it gives your starting tone - in a good Marshallish way. It does have more bottom end loss than the OCD tho. I use it in front of a class A crate V32 Palomino on the sparkling clean channel and it sounds great. I also have a Blue Boy Deluxe (made by the same company MI Audio) and it's closer to the OCD.

Sorry to be off topic and so long winded! Hope the show works out.

 

[broknstuff]

Thanks for the kind words Mark, you're also a great guy to deal with! Great price, super quick shipping, and excellent communication throughout. I'm loving the COD module by the way, as you can tell from my little tone review thread, so thanks again.

To Russell: Any updates on your rebel coming in? I just ordered one this weekend and the tracking says it should be here on Friday (14th) if you need to use it for the show.