Never being satisfied. What's with me?

[The Rossness]

(Excuse me if this sounds like venting)

No matter what it is in life, I'm never satisfied. I feel the same way about MTS right now. It's introduced me to so many great tones at a fraction of what the real amps cost. However, there are still the "Real" amps that I long for. MTS has made me want to get-
Mesa Mark V
CAE OD100/ PT100
Cameron CCV
Bogner Shiva
Fryette Sig X
Vox AC30
Kemper or Axe FX2.

Almost every gig I've had, has primarily been as a singer (My true talent) and while I love playing guitar, I rarely get the opportunity play my rigs out. Some of my MTS stuff sounds the best when the master volume is running high, but then the cops show up at my place or pissed of neighbors become even more pissed off. If I do get a guitar gig, often the volume has to be so damned low on my amps.

I'm not 100% sure, I'm not even 60% sure, but I feel I might be drastically reducing my MTS collection in the near future. I have 3 RM100's about 20 modules and I think I could sell 2 of the RM's and 10 of the modules if I really wanted to. I love tone chasing and won't completely leave MTS, but sometimes I wonder if maybe I should just move on???

My Salvation Mark US has made me very interested in getting a MESA Mark V. I feel that the M.V. has all of the tones I can't get from my other tone quest, which is 80's hair metal. The M.V. seems to have a great clean and lead channel and if I can judge it by my Salvo module, it cuts through like none of my Marshall based mods (in a good way). I think that it would sound good for Santana, pop-esque music, cleans and those times where a Marshall amps just doesn't seem to sound right. One module which I never thought I'd sell, is my Salvo Matchvox. To my ears it nailed the AC30 sound, and had another mode for Matchless sounds. So, when I'd be in a music store, I'd play AC30's and came to the conclusion that the only thing that sounds like a Vox AC30 is and actual AC30. I've been on the fence about selling the MatchVox and buying an AC30. I dunno what to do in that case.

I guess that brings me to my other tone quest, EVH/ George Lynch/ 80's hair band tones. I was born in the mid-80. I don't know why I like this kind of music. Most of my friends make fun of it. I tell my friends it was like a contest back in the day to see how each guitarist could outdo the next one. There's something about that music that just draws me in. Besides the sometimes cheesy lyrics, the level of musicianship and composition skills have always grabbed me way more than popular, modern music.
And there was a certain tone to go with it. EVH used Plexi's on the verge of death, Lynch used a wide range of amps but had razor sharp skill and precision. There were a mess of other guys like Vivian Campbell, Andy Timmons, CC Devile, Ratt, Maiden, the Shrapnel guys, ect who all had a cool tone.

For the last 4 months I've been out of work due to major surgery and it seems all I do these days is practice guitar. I'm not the world's best guitarist, anyone who's seen my youtube vids can attest to that, but since my surgery, I've gotten worlds better. Still, I'm never going to be able to play like most of the players I listen to. I know skill has a lot to do with it, but I'm still having trouble finding that 80's sound and feel, which I've heard on CD's but I can't quite find in the amp world.

Eddy used a Plexi and SLO, Lynch used a Randall and SLO. Many of the others used 800's. I've had all of those and still have yet to get THAT tone. I just don't know how to get there anymore, which makes me think I should venture out of MTS. But then what? I like how Splawn's sound, but hate how they feel. VHT/ Fryette kind of gets me there. The CAE OD100/ PT100 sound right up my alley, but cost too **** much (My all-time favorite module is an early Salvo C3). Should I look at getting a kemper or Axe FX II? If I hook either of them up to a guitar speaker cab will it still sound good? I don't have a home studio to hook one up to (i.e. no studio monitors to play one though).

I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do. While being stuck at home, I endlessly play my MTS gear and while I notice things that are sonically awesome, I also notice the things that aren't. I think that if I can find a Mark V for the right price, I?m going to pick one up, but that?s beside the point. Should I be looking outside MTS? Should I unload some modules or an RM100 to get a non-mts amp? I?ve never played a top tier modeler like a Kemper of Axe. I don?t know if I should look there. And if I got one, would I be complaining that it doesn?t sound like a tube amp, or feel like one? Would a new piece of software come out in a year making the modeler sound bad by comparison?

I guess I am venting a little. I am at a loss for what to do. If my name were Robert Johnson, I?d be at the crossroads (minus the devil). I'd appreciate any help or insight that my fellow forumites can give me.

Peace~

 

[webrthomson]

I've got just about every amp that boogie have made since 1978, every version of the mark series and the early rectos, studio 22+, DC5, triaxis, formula, v-twin (pedal and rack) etc. and I still always come back to my Mod50.

Now that does not mean that the Mark V is not great, it is Holy Grail IMHO for all things boogie. There are amp sounds what it can manage that I like, boogie is not even vaguely like a Marshall of any stripe, let alone a Soldano, Splawn, Diezel, Cameron, Cornford, Vox - you get the picture!

So if you want to get a Mark V - do it!!! I can guarantee you will love it, but keep your MTS, or at least some of it ? does a MTS AC30 modules actually sound the same as an AC30, nope probably not it can?t! In part because the MTS stuff is not on the verge of setting fire to itself like an AC30 in full flight is ? trust me look at the EL84 tubes on an actual AC30, does the MTS get 80-90% of the way there, yes they do!

In the main that?s enough, some of the amps will cry out to you more, and in these cases you need to get them, for me it?s the Diezels ? I need that amp and again it to do with the power section, but for Marshalls and even the SLO I can live with the MTS stuff ? so pick what MTS works for you and for the rest try the real stuff and if needed buy it!

Best of luck - aint nothing wrong with you, here?s hoping you find the tone in your head!!!

 

[Imselln]

I hear ya!

Funny thing is I've always been a Marshall guy. I've had my 83 Jcm 800 since 93. I love it's tone but hate its lack of versatility. Never cared much for the tone of the channel switching Marshall's. I got an Axe Fx Ultra a few years back and primarily used it with a vht 2502. Got rid of it and bought a Mark V.

The Mark V is crazy versatile but if your not a Mesa guy well, then you're just a Mesa guy. Hard to explain but I hope you know what I mean. Anyway, sold the Mark V this morning on EBay. As soon as the funds clear I'll be entering into the MTS world. But,

I'll never sell my 800!

 

[JD]

Best thing thing you can do is go get yourself Martin D28 and enjoy it for a while and continue to focus on your playing.

I grew up in the late 80s. The guys who could play brought in the people to the clubs. Their tone didn't matter so much. I remember when one of my friends switched from a JCM 800 to the 5150 when it came out. They still packed the house and people thought they sounded awesome either way. I'm sure 99% of the people didnt notice the switch or really care. Tone is only a small part of the total performance. Stop driving yourself crazy over it.

 

[BigBrewtus]

MTS=The gateway tone drug. Always gotta have more and its never as good as the first time. :twisted:

 

[crankyrayhanky]

You have a vast collection that could be reduced to less than 10 mods easy
MTS is great, but if you've identified a tone you love, go get it!
Note: most reviews seem to say the Mark4 is superior to the 5

Oh, if you can somehow swing a Kemper, you can profile a bunch of mods before selling them off. The sound & feel is astounding!

 

[ricknasty1985]

Oh, if you can somehow swing a Kemper, you can profile a bunch of mods before selling them off. The sound & feel is astounding!

AxeFX 2 for life! Haha

 

[The Rossness]

You have a vast collection that could be reduced to less than 10 mods easy
MTS is great, but if you've identified a tone you love, go get it!
Note: most reviews seem to say the Mark4 is superior to the 5

Oh, if you can somehow swing a Kemper, you can profile a bunch of mods

Then There's the Kemper VS axe FX debate. If I'm a tone snob, will either unit impress me. Are they that much better than Line 6?

 

[Disciple]

I got a Kemper a little over a month ago and love it. Buddy tested mine with his Axe FX II and needless to say his Axe FX is now gone and he has a Kemper. You have try it and hear it yourself - amazing product and sound quality!

 

[The Rossness]

I got a Kemper a little over a month ago and love it. Buddy tested mine with his Axe FX II and needless to say his Axe FX is now gone and he has a Kemper. You have try it and hear it yourself - amazing product and sound quality!

Will it still sound good through real amp cabs and not studio monitors?

 

[wesarvin]

Pardon me for sounding like a jerk, I'll try to state this as politically correct as possible:

You're out of your mind to get out of MTS. Seriously.

As for the power and feel, pick up an rm50 or rm20 if you want more sag at lower volume. That'll clear up the cop situation.

As for tone...it seriously is in the fingers. Practice tone, using just your hands. From palm muting styles (distance from bridge and pressure both impact tone differently), to pick selection, grip, selective muting, pick attack speed, pressure, planting, harmonics, left hand muting, etc. all have a HUGE effect on tone.

I sound like me no matter what rig I play on. I've tried a million different gear combos to alter my tone, but listening back to recordings, they're just a filter through which we see the music. Instead of fighting the tone, I've learned to embrace it. I have a certain twang meets shred sound, and while I can get close to covering it up, just letting it be natural is much easier.

When we think about players that we love to listen to, they all have a certain "thing." They're not trying to sound like someone else, but rather just trying to make music and have their own original voice. Rigs don't matter nearly as much as the song, and musician.

Remember...much of Joe Satriani's Surfin with the Alien was tracked with a Gorilla practice amp!

 

[JayDA]

Remember...much of Joe Satriani's Surfin with the Alien was tracked with a Gorilla practice amp!

Gorilla module....we need a Gorilla mod!! But it must have a "tube stack" switch...

 

[grbassist]

(Excuse me if this sounds like venting)

And there was a certain tone to go with it. EVH used Plexi's on the verge of death, Lynch used a wide range of amps but had razor sharp skill and precision. There were a mess of other guys like Vivian Campbell, Andy Timmons, CC Devile, Ratt, Maiden, the Shrapnel guys, ect who all had a cool tone.


Peace~

You had me until CC Devile............CC Devile?!?

"razor sharp skill and precision".....not.
Not even good tone in my book. Tone comes from the hands.
More like the dagger into the heart of the music you love.
Might as well list Kurt Cobain :roll:

...just having fun with you

 

[JayDA]

Uh oh.....don't go trashing CC ....a certain forum member will be very sad.

 

[Mike361]

I have a friend that is such a great guitar player he could easily be a studio musician rather than a guy playing small gigs every now and then.. After I hear him through my rig I know it's not the rig but my playing. He can make anything sound incredible and has commented many times at how great the rm50 sounds with some of my modules namely the 59plat, the SL+ and the super v. He plays a budda 18 watt. I will never sound that good, because of the time I actually get to practice is minimal and I just don't have his hands. But I sound like myself and some think it's pretty good. We are our own worst critics. As far as gear goes it is just a tool and no amp will make you not sound like you. If you have to have a certain amp or guitar just do it and be happy that you are able to make music at all. I always have a few amps that come and go, but have kept the rm through all of them. It is fun to get new things and sometimes you need some inspiration. Keep 1 rm and your favorite modules and get something new. I will guarantee eventually you will go back to the Randall. Maybe you should look into some amps that are 5 watts or so. Lots of great ones out there to keep noise down.
As far as digital goes that is your choice but I have never liked the sound of guitar through monitors. Nor have I played through any of the new stuff so I don't know if they are better or not. I can use my rm50 with just about any of my modules at low volume and run a tube driver pedal cranked pretty high to get that connection from my hands to the amp. From what I have read from some, that is what they miss when going digital. To bad you have to spend so much to find out. Although with a good return policy that might not be a problem? Good luck

 

[The Rossness]

(Excuse me if this sounds like venting)

And there was a certain tone to go with it. EVH used Plexi's on the verge of death, Lynch used a wide range of amps but had razor sharp skill and precision. There were a mess of other guys like Vivian Campbell, Andy Timmons, CC Devile, Ratt, Maiden, the Shrapnel guys, ect who all had a cool tone.


Peace~

You had me until CC Devile............CC Devile?!?

"razor sharp skill and precision".....not.
Not even good tone in my book. Tone comes from the hands.
More like the dagger into the heart of the music you love.
Might as well list Kurt Cobain :roll:

...just having fun with you

I like CC. He might be fun to rag on, but he's cool in my book.

 

[davetheslave]

I never stop looking for tones which is why I have stuck with MTS however just recently I picked up a Hughes and Kettner Access pre-amp and man is that thing full of joy tones but the best thing about it is it has a loop input to plug another pre-amp into and so a RM4 loaded with my favourite mods is also accessible and midi switchable.

 

[drewiv]

(Excuse me if this sounds like venting)

And there was a certain tone to go with it. EVH used Plexi's on the verge of death, Lynch used a wide range of amps but had razor sharp skill and precision. There were a mess of other guys like Vivian Campbell, Andy Timmons, CC Devile, Ratt, Maiden, the Shrapnel guys, ect who all had a cool tone.


Peace~

You had me until CC Devile............CC Devile?!?

"razor sharp skill and precision".....not.
Not even good tone in my book. Tone comes from the hands.
More like the dagger into the heart of the music you love.
Might as well list Kurt Cobain :roll:

...just having fun with you

I like CC. He might be fun to rag on, but he's cool in my book.

I like CC too. He may not have been the best, but he had some nice riffage and the tone on Poison's second and third album was great, IMO.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do. While being stuck at home, I endlessly play my MTS gear and while I notice things that are sonically awesome, I also notice the things that aren't. I think that if I can find a Mark V for the right price, I?m going to pick one up, but that?s beside the point. Should I be looking outside MTS? Should I unload some modules or an RM100 to get a non-mts amp? I?ve never played a top tier modeler like a Kemper of Axe. I don?t know if I should look there. And if I got one, would I be complaining that it doesn?t sound like a tube amp, or feel like one? Would a new piece of software come out in a year making the modeler sound bad by comparison?

Only you truly know the answer to this... sometimes a man must choose a new path in order to appreciate the one he was on? Only then can he understand what it is he truly needs. Like being engaged but wondering about other girls.. sometimes it is just worth it to call it all off !

Some other options.. Bogner ecstacy?I also felt the stock XTC module was actually really good for leads if you wanted a more forgiving tone so if it is anywhere close to the real thing, maybe a consideration.

I would say sell some MTS, make 3-4k and buy a used mark IV or V and start with that. Maybe it really works for ya. Maybe consider a friedman modded or BE100 used at around 2k or so. They emphasize lower mids to my ears and have the chewiness which make them easier to play for leads and not as stiff. Sometimes too many options are just that.. (unless you know exactly what you want to do with them) Don't sink anymore money into MTS hoping it will give you what you need. Try something different.

Myself, I have said it many times. I really like the Randall stuff but the modules don't always hang with the real thing. A lot are voiced too dark, fizzy, or thin sounding. My JCM800 has none of those problems. It just plain kicks. So Randall for me is the backup.

 

[The Rossness]

I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do. While being stuck at home, I endlessly play my MTS gear and while I notice things that are sonically awesome, I also notice the things that aren't. I think that if I can find a Mark V for the right price, I?m going to pick one up, but that?s beside the point. Should I be looking outside MTS? Should I unload some modules or an RM100 to get a non-mts amp? I?ve never played a top tier modeler like a Kemper of Axe. I don?t know if I should look there. And if I got one, would I be complaining that it doesn?t sound like a tube amp, or feel like one? Would a new piece of software come out in a year making the modeler sound bad by comparison?

Only you truly know the answer to this... sometimes a man must choose a new path in order to appreciate the one he was on? Only then can he understand what it is he truly needs. Like being engaged but wondering about other girls.. sometimes it is just worth it to call it all off !

Some other options.. Bogner ecstacy?I also felt the stock XTC module was actually really good for leads if you wanted a more forgiving tone so if it is anywhere close to the real thing, maybe a consideration.

I would say sell some MTS, make 3-4k and buy a used mark IV or V and start with that. Maybe it really works for ya. Maybe consider a friedman modded or BE100 used at around 2k or so. They emphasize lower mids to my ears and have the chewiness which make them easier to play for leads and not as stiff. Sometimes too many options are just that.. (unless you know exactly what you want to do with them) Don't sink anymore money into MTS hoping it will give you what you need. Try something different.

Myself, I have said it many times. I really like the Randall stuff but the modules don't always hang with the real thing. A lot are voiced too dark, fizzy, or thin sounding. My JCM800 has none of those problems. It just plain kicks. So Randall for me is the backup.

I've been weeding through my modules, trying to figure out what to sell and what to keep. At the same time, I've narrowed down my amp choices outside of MTS. I'm looking at 6 amps, 3 different classes of amps and 2 amps per class. I can't afford all of them, so one of the classes will probably go bye-bye
Class 1= CAA PT100 or Fryette Sig:X
Class 2= Mesa Mark V or Vox AC30
Class 3+ Kemper or Axe FX 2

Class 1 sees the CAA take on the Fryette. the I find it ironic because CAA and Fryette MTS mods are my most used modules. Anyhow, I love how both amps sound. The CAA is stupid expensive. I had a SigX for a short time a few years ago and it gave me horrid headaches. I loved the tone, but my head HURT! So both amps have their low points. Unless I can find a cheap PT100, I'm probable going for a SigX. The Fryette comes with 2 KT88's. If I wanted an EL34 conversion, could it be done? Coule an additional 2 tube sockets be added to an the amp?

Class 2 sees the MV and the AC30. They're very different amps and somehow I think I'll put them on the back burnner for the time being since they're not my main sound.

Class 3 sees the digital stuff.If class 3 can pull off class 1 or 2, maybe ?'ll just go with class 3. However, without being able to play either of them, its a hard decision.

hmm...