Need some amp education

[Glacies]

Okay so I went to a pawnshop I've never been to yesterday with the guys that I play with in the band. They wanted new microphones, I was just there for moral support. I get in there and there are guitars all over the walls, brands I've never heard of. I picked up a couple and played them. Some were very weird, others felt really good. I was amazed with how much I really like the strat neck. But one $89 guitar just stuck out to me and not because of price - it was the Sx Hawk which I mentioned I was interested in here in another thread a while ago. I never plugged these guitars plugged in because A. I was embarrassed to play loud enough for everyone to hear, and B. I didn't want to bother the dudes there, but we befriended the dudes there and they started hanging out with us in the music area and eventually got me a cable and plugged me into a blackstar head with what pushing a cabinet with maybe a 12 - also blackstar.

Holy CRAP! I sounded incredible.

First it should be noted that my regular player and only guitar of quality is a Epi LP Standard so I'm very familiar with that type of humbucker sound. And my only amp is a Peavey Vyprr 15 - I always thought it sounded great but I didn't have much to compare it to.

THis Hawk through the blackstar was ridiculous. It was super clean - like much cleaner than what my amp can do and of course it was twangier in a way because the hawk was a strat style with single coils. What surprised me was that there was no single coil noises out of it either.

So how much of this is the amp and how much of this is guitar? The amp was $500 used,t the guitar was $89 - I know price means little in terms of quality but something's gotta give here and I'm not experienced enough to really understand what's going on. If I buy this guitar, am I going to be unhappy through my peavey? I can't be spending $500 on just the head.

[Commodore 64]

It wasn't the guitar, it was the amp. I dunno which Blackstar it was, but it surely was more than a practice amp, which is all the Vypyr 15 aspires to be.

[Glacies]

HT-5: http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/products/ht-5/

[markb]

Given the same amp settings a "strat" with three reasonable output single coils will always be cleaner and twangier than a Les Paul.

[Commodore 64]

500 bucks for just the head? That doesn't seem right. It's $380 new.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BLCHT5RH

[Glacies]

Given the same amp settings a "strat" with three reasonable output single coils will always be cleaner and twangier than a Les Paul.

I thought single coils were supposed to be buzzy. Needless to say I'm obsessed with the setup right now.


500 bucks for just the head? That doesn't seem right. It's $380 new.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BLCHT5RH

Might have been the head and cab, don't know. Saw $500 and walked away. Slowly.

[Spudman]

A brand new Hawk is only $10 more FWIW.
http://www.rondomusic.com/hawkmnvwh.html

B (http://www.rondomusic.com/hawkmnvwh.html)ut, yes the amph will make a big difference on how a guitar sounds. Still, like Mark says, almost any single coil guitar will sound that way compared to your Les Paul regardless of what amph you use.

[Glacies]

I don't know if they price them high so you can negotiate or what. I've been thinking about picking one up which is why I wanted to try it. The feel was essentially indistinguishable to me from a MiM so I was impressed and then, like I said, the sound about doubled me over.

So is blackstar a good amp? The website looks hardcore. I am in the process of building a modified 57 Twin - but I am definitely thinking about that blackstar combination.

[NWBasser]

I don't know if they price them high so you can negotiate or what. I've been thinking about picking one up which is why I wanted to try it. The feel was essentially indistinguishable to me from a MiM so I was impressed and then, like I said, the sound about doubled me over.

So is blackstar a good amp? The website looks hardcore. I am in the process of building a modified 57 Twin - but I am definitely thinking about that blackstar combination.

Blackstars are great amphs. Just ask Frankenfretter.

Someone else here (bad memory day!) has a 40-watter that they really dig too.

[Eric]

Someone else here (bad memory day!) has a 40-watter that they really dig too.
That'd be Lev. Those blackouts can really mess with your day, huh NWB? :poke

[Lev]

Yep, that'd be me. I have the HT40 which I love. Blackstar make great amps, the company was established by some ex Marshall designers. They do a great job of making amps that sound great at any volume, which was a big selling point for me.

[NWBasser]

That'd be Lev. Those blackouts can really mess with your day, huh NWB? :poke

:rollover