I laugh when purists say transistor amps are terrible, then they also say things like the Origin effects amp pedals are amazing - despite them being transistor!!
I’m a bass player so I’ve always had a lot of love for solid state amps. One of my all-time favorite “big combos” is the Acoustic 125, it’s a beefy 100+ watt 2x12 with reverb, a graphic EQ and a footswitchable master volume. Obviously it’s an incredible clean amp and pedal platform, but with the master volume engaged you can get a really nice, gritty overdrive reminiscent of BB King’s tone (fun fact, King was a longtime user of the solid state Lab Series amps produced by Gibson and Moog in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s).
Have a Reverend Dirtbike. One pickup. Volume with a treble bleed, tone, and bass contour controls. With those 3 knobs, the amount of flexible tones are shocking.
I've owned a 1H Gibson for over 20 years. Many hard rock & metal players rarely utilize their neck pickup, and I like to use these guitars to focus and limit my options - like utilizing a P bass. The tone benefits imho are having a bunch of wood aroynd the neck joint that's otherwise routed away. My Gibsons with one pickup, my original G&L Rampage, my Slick "juniors", all that "this feels like a good one" thing going on.
Vintage pedals are so pointless... I used to have a nice collection until I started building my own DIY clones and mod versions. I now have all the same circuits but built with proper wiring (you cant imagine how horribly soldered and wired are some old EHX pedals, for example), all inside standard boxes, with regular power and IO connectors with top mounted jacks... You just need to open an old tonebender or even any other non so vintage pedal and just check how sketchy is everything.
Tone voodoo is wild. One pickup sounds better than two because it's not getting the magnetic pull from the other pickup? First time I've heard that one, and I'm dead.
Yeah man, I understand if people collect vintage pedals because they dig having them, or you're a pedal builder and want to get a look in them, but playing them sucks. New tech is just better for a plethora of reasons.
If you've ever built a pedal from a kit it really takes the mystique away from pedals. So many circuits are very similar. What you do have is a nice enclosure, pretty graphics, and a good marketing team...but a very similar circuit under the hood.
Agree about transistor amps. I think people generally think of solid state amps as something to emulate tube amps that you can't afford, but they're better if you embrace their own character.
I'm confused about your Midi opinion. You just mentioned using it for going between tonal extremes? What about using it for, say, going between banks on a Eventide H9. Or for subtle changes for your Strymon? I mean, it's just a communication protocol. Like saying written English is overrated because people use it two write hate mail? :) Good entertaining video tho, as always! And I can appreciate your point about it being difficult to learn/master, 100%
Can confirm I have inherited several of my fathers effect pedals including a very early fuzz face. The fuzz face for example sounds great but it's falling apart it's something I use for recording and as much as I love fuzz, let's face it, It's not the effect you drag out for every song. Worst pedal my father have handed down to me is his old memory man. That thing has spent more time in repair shops the last 20 years than on a board and it has a terrible noise floor (like a lot of old pedals do). Peace and ha det bäst
I agree that tubescreamers are Meh in front of a clean amp. But they are awsome in front of other dirt pedals or pushed amps. Especially the ones that need the low frequencies to be tamed.
A couple of comments; 1) You should make this more like Goldilocks and the three bears: Too hot, Too cold, Just right. Sometimes I feel like something is neither over or underrated, it's just right. 2) Eddie Van Halen played a Junior guitar for a long time. One pickup, one knob. Just right. (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) So did a bunch of guys in those 80s rock bands with their Charvel/Jackson Junior guitars; 3) Tube amps: Just right; 4) Transistor amps: underrated; I think Brussels - Midi is all right. Lots of things to do right outside that station. Big fan of Belgium here. Ugliest guitar are: a) Hofner Beatle Bass; b) Danelectro longhorn bass; c) Anything with a PRS headstock, but their standard shape makes me want to vomit; d) Anything with an old-style Epiphone headstock.
Hey man you should lock down your focus when doing talking heads like this, especially if you're not showing any products that needs close focusing. The focus hunting going on in the back was hella distracting when I noticed it, you might have to increase your fstop a lil bit too. Fan of your videos in general tho, keep up the good work!
Got the DS-1 but rather had bought the SD-1. As for distortion got a ProCo Rat and might add a high gain overdrive (BD-2). Have a Boss Dual Cube lx lunchbox amp (stereo outs) as DSL-1 (fx-loop), I like both since I do not need or even want loud amps. Surprisingly fun pedal is the Tonex One (comp,gate,reverb a.o.).
3:50 "I don't care about vintage pedals... It's different with amps" ISN'T congruent. At all. "Architecture-wise" they are very similar as Josh Scott will tell you... If noise is the problem, just grab your pedal, throw in some batteries and enjoy isolated blissness! Vintage amps will always be noisier. Even if correctly grounded, there's the hum...
I have a transistor fender frontman 212r and every RUclipsr says it sucks so much, for me it works, has some really punchy cristal clean tone and I work with a big muff, DS1 and a tube screamer for gain stages of distortion and I get some good sounds out of it all (the dirt channel yes it's bad, I don't touch that )
I need a bridge I can intonate. Those Jr.’s and Specials are garbage. I’m from Kzoo, I know former Gibson and Heritage employees, they’re garbage and need shimming.
Cheap pedals are criminally underrated, I'm heading right now to buy a memory toy for close to 50 bucks, would it be the end all be all delay? Probably not. Is it a great pedal full of cool sounds that are going to be inspiring? Yes People don't hate that pedal based on what it is but on what it isn't, put it in a fancy enclosure and call it "Vintage memory man ispired" and everybody would be paying it's weight in gold
Cheap pedals are definitely underrated. To me, finding those hidden gems are a huge part of building your own tone and owning gear in general. One of my favorite pedals is a stupid iset flanger I got for $25. It's set to barely modulate my tone but it has such a unique timbre. I might be on my third one since they break easily, but like vans slip ons, I'll just as easily buy a replacement.
Its like you saying a casio watch is better than a rolex.🤣🤣🤣my friend you play cheap equipment you will sound cheap.very simple.you cant say a chinese les paul made out of cardboard is better than a 59 les paul..sorry noooooooooo.you confuse people.if someone has the money treat themself to the best.i have an ibanez ts808 narrow box 1979 1st year and ive tried all the overdrive pedals on the market and nothing has beated that pedal.also along side my boss od1 from 1978.sir please .🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
I laugh when purists say transistor amps are terrible, then they also say things like the Origin effects amp pedals are amazing - despite them being transistor!!
Tube amp supremacists with solid state “amp in a box” pedals on their boards crack me up.
@@MrBeardsleyeven my IRX? Its running tubes at full plate voltage. No digitizing
Stuff like quilter still sucks.
Friedman put an actual preamp in a pedal. The future is now, and I still get to be a tube snob
Tube, transistor, digital, modelling, etc. everything has its place.
@@MrMystery666 yep, tubes belong on stage. Transistors and digital belong in the pawn shop
You are missing the third sign simply reading “rated”. 😂
"Just right."
haha yes, this is a concept I've taken from other youtube channels.
Guitarists are some of the most gullable people...facts lol
I largely agree about vintage pedals being overrated. However, some are still unmatched today. My example is the DD2 from the 80s.
I’m a bass player so I’ve always had a lot of love for solid state amps. One of my all-time favorite “big combos” is the Acoustic 125, it’s a beefy 100+ watt 2x12 with reverb, a graphic EQ and a footswitchable master volume. Obviously it’s an incredible clean amp and pedal platform, but with the master volume engaged you can get a really nice, gritty overdrive reminiscent of BB King’s tone (fun fact, King was a longtime user of the solid state Lab Series amps produced by Gibson and Moog in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s).
Have a Reverend Dirtbike. One pickup. Volume with a treble bleed, tone, and bass contour controls. With those 3 knobs, the amount of flexible tones are shocking.
I've owned a 1H Gibson for over 20 years. Many hard rock & metal players rarely utilize their neck pickup, and I like to use these guitars to focus and limit my options - like utilizing a P bass.
The tone benefits imho are having a bunch of wood aroynd the neck joint that's otherwise routed away.
My Gibsons with one pickup, my original G&L Rampage, my Slick "juniors", all that "this feels like a good one" thing going on.
Vintage pedals are so pointless... I used to have a nice collection until I started building my own DIY clones and mod versions. I now have all the same circuits but built with proper wiring (you cant imagine how horribly soldered and wired are some old EHX pedals, for example), all inside standard boxes, with regular power and IO connectors with top mounted jacks... You just need to open an old tonebender or even any other non so vintage pedal and just check how sketchy is everything.
Tone voodoo is wild. One pickup sounds better than two because it's not getting the magnetic pull from the other pickup? First time I've heard that one, and I'm dead.
Yeah vintage pedals make me sad. I have a 70’s big muff. The bypass switch breaks quickly and it sounds so horrible bypassed.
Yup
Yeah man, I understand if people collect vintage pedals because they dig having them, or you're a pedal builder and want to get a look in them, but playing them sucks. New tech is just better for a plethora of reasons.
If you've ever built a pedal from a kit it really takes the mystique away from pedals. So many circuits are very similar. What you do have is a nice enclosure, pretty graphics, and a good marketing team...but a very similar circuit under the hood.
Agree about transistor amps. I think people generally think of solid state amps as something to emulate tube amps that you can't afford, but they're better if you embrace their own character.
like the jazz chorus. amazing clean tones AND the built in chorus
I'm confused about your Midi opinion. You just mentioned using it for going between tonal extremes? What about using it for, say, going between banks on a Eventide H9. Or for subtle changes for your Strymon? I mean, it's just a communication protocol.
Like saying written English is overrated because people use it two write hate mail? :)
Good entertaining video tho, as always! And I can appreciate your point about it being difficult to learn/master, 100%
Great analogy
yeah, don't take this too seriously. Part of my hatred against midi is solely based on laziness.
i appreciate your input on these matters!
Can confirm I have inherited several of my fathers effect pedals including a very early fuzz face. The fuzz face for example sounds great but it's falling apart it's something I use for recording and as much as I love fuzz, let's face it, It's not the effect you drag out for every song. Worst pedal my father have handed down to me is his old memory man. That thing has spent more time in repair shops the last 20 years than on a board and it has a terrible noise floor (like a lot of old pedals do).
Peace and ha det bäst
I agree that tubescreamers are Meh in front of a clean amp. But they are awsome in front of other dirt pedals or pushed amps. Especially the ones that need the low frequencies to be tamed.
A couple of comments; 1) You should make this more like Goldilocks and the three bears: Too hot, Too cold, Just right. Sometimes I feel like something is neither over or underrated, it's just right. 2) Eddie Van Halen played a Junior guitar for a long time. One pickup, one knob. Just right. (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) So did a bunch of guys in those 80s rock bands with their Charvel/Jackson Junior guitars; 3) Tube amps: Just right; 4) Transistor amps: underrated; I think Brussels - Midi is all right. Lots of things to do right outside that station. Big fan of Belgium here. Ugliest guitar are: a) Hofner Beatle Bass; b) Danelectro longhorn bass; c) Anything with a PRS headstock, but their standard shape makes me want to vomit; d) Anything with an old-style Epiphone headstock.
Nobody wants old SS amps. You cant even sell them to pawn shops.
Anybody want a Peavey Musician?
It’s a mix right? People want the old sunn betas so bad that they actually relaunched the line last year
Hey man you should lock down your focus when doing talking heads like this, especially if you're not showing any products that needs close focusing.
The focus hunting going on in the back was hella distracting when I noticed it, you might have to increase your fstop a lil bit too.
Fan of your videos in general tho, keep up the good work!
Got the DS-1 but rather had bought the SD-1. As for distortion got a ProCo Rat and might add a high gain overdrive (BD-2).
Have a Boss Dual Cube lx lunchbox amp (stereo outs) as DSL-1 (fx-loop), I like both since I do not need or even want loud amps.
Surprisingly fun pedal is the Tonex One (comp,gate,reverb a.o.).
I use tubescreamers for od stacking in pair with others overdrives.
Tubescreamers aren’t overrated as long as you keep your addiction hidden like I do.
3:50 "I don't care about vintage pedals... It's different with amps" ISN'T congruent. At all. "Architecture-wise" they are very similar as Josh Scott will tell you... If noise is the problem, just grab your pedal, throw in some batteries and enjoy isolated blissness! Vintage amps will always be noisier. Even if correctly grounded, there's the hum...
I have a transistor fender frontman 212r and every RUclipsr says it sucks so much, for me it works, has some really punchy cristal clean tone and I work with a big muff, DS1 and a tube screamer for gain stages of distortion and I get some good sounds out of it all (the dirt channel yes it's bad, I don't touch that )
Totally agree with you. These amps also have onboard spring reverb tanks. With a speaker swap they sound even better.
If you ever get the chance to turn it up, they sound great at high volume. Quite in the Joe Walsh Rocky Mountain vibe.
I need a bridge I can intonate. Those Jr.’s and Specials are garbage. I’m from Kzoo, I know former Gibson and Heritage employees, they’re garbage and need shimming.
Look into the bridge Joe Glaser makes for Jr's. I think it's called the Music City Bridge, or something like that.
You are nuts! The Yamaha Pacificas are awesome guitars. They are strats!😠
MIDI should be limited to keyboards!.
haha yes
I hate how purists rant about tube amps sounding better and then use solid state transistors to boost it…
I’ve known and read about people who prefer tube amps I have never heard anyone rant about them, and why would you hate that, I am sincerely curious
Can you not afford a tube amp
Because it‘s the best of both worlds and sounds much better than anything else
Cheap pedals are criminally underrated, I'm heading right now to buy a memory toy for close to 50 bucks, would it be the end all be all delay? Probably not. Is it a great pedal full of cool sounds that are going to be inspiring? Yes
People don't hate that pedal based on what it is but on what it isn't, put it in a fancy enclosure and call it "Vintage memory man ispired" and everybody would be paying it's weight in gold
Cheap pedals are definitely underrated. To me, finding those hidden gems are a huge part of building your own tone and owning gear in general. One of my favorite pedals is a stupid iset flanger I got for $25. It's set to barely modulate my tone but it has such a unique timbre. I might be on my third one since they break easily, but like vans slip ons, I'll just as easily buy a replacement.
Its like you saying a casio watch is better than a rolex.🤣🤣🤣my friend you play cheap equipment you will sound cheap.very simple.you cant say a chinese les paul made out of cardboard is better than a 59 les paul..sorry noooooooooo.you confuse people.if someone has the money treat themself to the best.i have an ibanez ts808 narrow box 1979 1st year and ive tried all the overdrive pedals on the market and nothing has beated that pedal.also along side my boss od1 from 1978.sir please .🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏