This is partially me. I’ve bought and flipped countless amps over the years to try new things, but what’s unseen is the 10+ mainstay amps and 2 racks that I’ve kept for up to 20+ years.
This is partially me. I’ve bought and flipped countless amps over the years to try new things, but what’s unseen is the 10+ mainstay amps and 2 racks that I’ve kept for up to 20+ years.
The stuff getting sold and flipped is the stuff I knew going in there was 95% chance it was getting sold regardless of how good it is, because I found “my sound” ages ago. I just wanted to try it along with other new junk…still doesn’t mean I’m worth a damn though
I had an Anderson from the late '80s that was just the best sounding guitar I've ever played (sold it years ago because it just sat in a closet because I use 7 and 8-strings all the time).
Point #2 is very important. Anyone who’s been playing guitar for at least 5 minutes can play a simple powerchord and that can be sufficient enough to make many amps sound great even if your “fingers” aren’t yet well trained. I remember when I was 15 I was new to guitar, didn’t know much yet, and was struggling to figure out how to get enough sustain/gain for my needs. I remember back then I liked a lot the Vox Night Train (what was I thinking lol), but couldn’t get enough sustain out of it, but then I heard this middle aged guy play and sounded great on it and had lots of sustain. I asked him how are you getting that much sustain out of that amp. I couldn’t do it. His answer was “I don’t know man, tone is in the fingers”. I wasn’t even talking about tone lol, just the amount of sustain he was getting. I later figured out it was simply a combination of him just playing it very loud and mostly that I myself was getting much more sustain than I realized, but was just always under the impression that I wasn’t getting enough (I was more used to solid state modeler stuff back then), but when I listened to others play I didn’t think they need more gain, just myself lol (probably a feel thing more so than sound). I’ve come a long way since then lol
Wow I should try older ones then. I’ve only tried more recent made ones (quite a few of them) and that’s been exactly my experience as well (like Suhr’s) :sterile, dead and plinky sounding. Awful tone
Dunno what the finish was. It was trashed when I got it. I think Anderson started his own company is '86 or '87 and this particular guitar was from '88. It was old school, with a four bolt neck and a Floyd with posts just drilled right into the body rather than bushings which you typically see now.
Agreed. Always seemed very weird to me that some feel you need to be a certain level player to warrant having certain level gear. 2 independent things. I know some guys who are awful players, but still have excellent ears for tone and have great gear, yet also some great players with bad ears for tone with gear that’s pricy, but not great
Ah yeah it always seemed weird to me seeing just 2 bolts on his recent ones. Not sure how 2 vs 4 is functionally
It can also help stiff amps
It might be hard to tell unless you compare side by side with a nitro finish guitar with at least otherwise similar specs, but I’ve found without exception (even with thin poly finish) that poly guitars always comparatively sound choked, suffocated, doesn’t breathe, the notes are all very homogenized which greatly limits nuance in overtones, dynamics and all sorts things that help expression players show their nuances that make them expressive. Some may say I’m crazy, but I feel the difference is huge. But plenty of bad sounding nitro guitars as well. I tried once a nitro re-finished ‘52 tele at my local shop that sounded ok, but not great for a vintage tele, but later it got refinished again in nitro and sounded like a completely different guitar. It sounded great and the way a good vintage tele should
