your favorite modern blues amp tones

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mentoneman

mentoneman

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people seem to have a wide range of opinions when it comes to modern 90s-now blues.

popular choices i never really bonded with are gary moore/still got the blues, joe bonomassa, and more recent robben ford tele tones.

some unique amps i’ve run across over the years that have a cool natural old vintage tweed bassman, jtm45, to cranked blackface super type breakup plugging straight in, with their own twist, are the original 90s peavey classic 50 tweed head, carvin bel air combo, friedman dirty shirley, and my all time favorite:



as far as who’s consistently getting killer sounds in concert i normally default to tone master Landau:


clean to raw nasty blues shred EG is pretty amazing-makes me wanna try his mark raw dawg siggy:


josh smith may technically be one of the best modern blues fusion guys alive today but his tones don’t do much for me.

phil sayce in the room gets great tones but on record it doesn’t seem to translate.

kenny wayne sheppard…? others?
 
CarlF said:
Kenny Wayne Shepherd got some great tones. I always went for the Two Rock, Dumble style tones for blues.
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Yeah he had the best blues tone I've ever heard live when I saw him at a festival in Memphis like 20 years ago or so. Basically it was an "SSS strat -> Bassman rebuilt by Dumble to sound closer to British crushed glass" kind of tone.

I don't have access to KWS's Dumbles though, so my ideal blues tone is pretty much an SSS Strat into a cranked plexi for the crunchy, glassy thing, with a tubescreamer thrown in for extra sauce when necessary.

I used to have it in my head that the best blues tone “must be” a Strat into some kind of overdriven Fender but those rigs tend to get a bit flubby if you push them too hard. Turns out a Strat into a Plexi is exactly the right amount tighter, brighter, and crunchier to get exactly where I want to go for those tones.
 
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L*rrys are the best blues amps by far. You order one, don’t get it for years upon years, or at all. That’s when you really feel the blues. It’s enough to turn an albino into Willie Dixon himself!
 
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Hmmm I always really dug Larry McCray Soldano HR50.

And Eric Gales’ brother Lil Jimmy King. No idea on the amp though.
 
CarlF said:
Kenny Wayne Shepherd got some great tones. I always went for the Two Rock, Dumble style tones for blues.
Click to expand...
he’s one of the few players i’ve not checked out live or on record. any specific tunes or albums worth mention?
 
TheGreatGreen said:
Yeah he had the best blues tone I've ever heard live when I saw him at a festival in Memphis like 20 years ago or so. Basically it was an "SSS strat -> Bassman rebuilt by Dumble to sound closer to British crushed glass" kind of tone.

I don't have access to KWS's Dumbles though, so my ideal blues tone is pretty much an SSS Strat into a cranked plexi for the crunchy, glassy thing, with a tubescreamer thrown in for extra sauce when necessary.

I used to have it in my head that the best blues tone was a Strat into some kind of overdriven Fender but those rigs tend to get a bit flubby if you push them too hard. Turns out a Strat into a Plexi is exactly the right amount tighter, brighter, and crunchier to get exactly where I want to go for those tones.
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some friends attended the hendrix experience tour at griffith park LA years ago, with all the players doing tributes, and they said KWS stole the show.

i agree with your blues tone gear formula. the best blues tone i ever personally achieved with my gear was a strat + w/d rig using my peacemaker hit with the klamac arc furnace OD as the dry, and a reverb/slap echo out to a blackface fender deluxe. after all the tone chasing and tube screamer madness, the simple use of one crunchier plexi combined with the fender pushed blackface clean was just IT.
 
My favorite blues tone of all time is a vintage tweed bassman or a HPTT absolutely fucking cranked, and ride the volume.

For a budget version, the fender LTD bassman sounds amazing IMO too, if you can find a clean one - doesn't sound quite as good overdriven, but still very good.
 
mentoneman said:
people seem to have a wide range of opinions when it comes to modern 90s-now blues.

popular choices i never really bonded with are gary moore/still got the blues, joe bonomassa, and more recent robben ford tele tones.

some unique amps i’ve run across over the years that have a cool natural old vintage tweed bassman, jtm45, to cranked blackface super type breakup plugging straight in, with their own twist, are the original 90s peavey classic 50 tweed head, carvin bel air combo, friedman dirty shirley, and my all time favorite:



as far as who’s consistently getting killer sounds in concert i normally default to tone master Landau:


clean to raw nasty blues shred EG is pretty amazing-makes me wanna try his mark raw dawg siggy:


josh smith may technically be one of the best modern blues fusion guys alive today but his tones don’t do much for me.

phil sayce in the room gets great tones but on record it doesn’t seem to translate.

kenny wayne sheppard…? others?
Click to expand...

That eric gales song reminds me of laugh i nearly died at least that beginning part

 
DanTravis62 said:
My favorite blues tone of all time is a vintage tweed bassman or a HPTT absolutely fucking cranked, and ride the volume.

For a budget version, the fender LTD bassman sounds amazing IMO too, if you can find a clean one - doesn't sound quite as good overdriven, but still very good.
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The other guitarist in my band has the LTD for loud gigs. It's a great amp but I don't like it as much as a Twin. It makes a good complimentary sound with two guitars though.
 
thegame said:
L*rrys are the best blues amps by far. You order one, don’t get it for years upon years, or at all. That’s when you really feel the blues. It’s enough to turn an albino into Willie Dixon himself!
Click to expand...
confession-
the first time i heard icon buddy guy in concert i was radically unimpressed. after watching years of clips of him my first take hasn’t changed. but as long as he can make noise he’ll have a “blues diehard” following.



 
mentoneman said:
confession-
the first time i heard icon buddy guy in concert i was radically unimpressed. after watching years of clips of him my first take hasn’t changed. but as long as he can make noise he’ll have a “blues diehard” following.



Click to expand...

He's a great singer, and blues is vocal music, not douchebags with a strats who can't sing.

 
degenaro said:
Hmmm I always really dug Larry McCray Soldano HR50.

And Eric Gales’ brother Lil Jimmy King. No idea on the amp though.
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nice suggestions! was not familiar with Larry McCray but he’s cool!
 
VonBonfire said:
He's a great singer, and blues is vocal music, not douchebags with a strats who can't sing.

Click to expand...

you make a good point. i can cite only two white male blues vocalists that to my ear legitimately convince me when i close my eyes.





in the case of Johnny, i saw him in concert for the first time on Catalina Island as part of an assignment for Teen Beat magazine when he was a young heartthrob, and was in a state of shock when he opened his mouth to sing and a 50 yr old black man came pouring out.
 
mentoneman said:
confession-
the first time i heard icon buddy guy in concert i was radically unimpressed. after watching years of clips of him my first take hasn’t changed. but as long as he can make noise he’ll have a “blues diehard” following.



Click to expand...

I saw Buddy in 1990 shortly after SRV passed. It qualifies as the worst concert I ever saw.
 
DanTravis62 said:
My favorite blues tone of all time is a vintage tweed bassman or a HPTT absolutely fucking cranked, and ride the volume.

For a budget version, the fender LTD bassman sounds amazing IMO too, if you can find a clean one - doesn't sound quite as good overdriven, but still very good.
Click to expand...
with the whole boutique uprising it was pretty easy to dismiss the bassman tweed reissue 4x10 when it came out.
but you’re right. my friend bought one after shopping around and the thing is great.
 
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