I swear that you could have an original Dumble, a collection of Dr. Z, vintage Marshalls and Fenders and you still would get a guy who would insist on recording with his Peavey solid-state and a Pod.

I heard that.

LOL

you know, it doesn't really matter what someone uses, they're going to sound like themselves out of a sears silvertone solid state amp, or a hand-wired custom Marshall.

getting the high end gear, is only about dialing in that last 1-5% of the 'tone' you hear in your head.

there's nothing worse than hearing someone play half-assed blues scales out of a $6,000 dollar rig....

but when you get a killer player, on a peavey........or a pod....

magic,
and easy.

I hear your pain Mod. 

And yeah.... I kinda agree with Bat too.... for the most part.... but I would still prefer a nice amp to a Sears Silvertone.... although..... aren't those things vintage now? 

I would love a Sears Silvertone!

Rim

So, what percent is in the guitar, what percent in the amp and what percent in the hands (the way you play)?

I find myself kind of agreeing with Bat as well.  As I have improved as a player over the last 25 years, I sound more the same on different kinds of equipment.  I can coax about the same tone out of any guitar with humbuckers.  One may have better playability or feel better in my hands. The biggest difference between amps is tube or non-tube.  I don't play much of a high gain style, more of a crunch.  I seem to be able to coax out a descent sound on a modeling amp.

I have recorded to Pod/ Amplitube/ GR or Pod Farm in the past and had folks say awesome tone, what amp are you using.  I hear subtleties in the differences between the real deal and simulation, but sometimes they are close enough that most folks never notice.   To really get that nice tube saturation out of my 50w amp, it needs to be almost ear bleeding loud, in my recording environment that just is n't always possible.  Maybe I need to get a low watt Marshall Class 5 and experiment or something.

Seems like it is the way that I play, the old fingers and head that make the most difference.

I prefer the feel or vibe of playing through a great amplifier and some cool pedals, but I am told I still sound like me when I play through a POD. Not sure if that is a compliment or not! (And I do have a Silvertone Twin 12)

Me too bro, I love the feel of the speaker movement.

Well, my son (he's a DJ at a college station) has told me that "lo-fi" is a growing music form (see "lo-fi music" on Wikipedia - last two paragraphs).  If that's what you're going for then great, right?

But really you're reminding me of when I was 16 (in the 70s) and wanted to mail order a Carvin tube head, but my Dad talked me into a solid-state Peavey instead.  He meant well... but I should've stuck to my guns.

MakeShift


So, what percent is in the guitar, what percent in the amp and what percent in the hands (the way you play)?

I find myself kind of agreeing with Bat as well.  As I have improved as a player over the last 25 years, I sound more the same on different kinds of equipment.  I can coax about the same tone out of any guitar with humbuckers.  One may have better playability or feel better in my hands. The biggest difference between amps is tube or non-tube.  I don't play much of a high gain style, more of a crunch.  I seem to be able to coax out a descent sound on a modeling amp.

I have recorded to Pod/ Amplitube/ GR or Pod Farm in the past and had folks say awesome tone, what amp are you using.  I hear subtleties in the differences between the real deal and simulation, but sometimes they are close enough that most folks never notice.   To really get that nice tube saturation out of my 50w amp, it needs to be almost ear bleeding loud, in my recording environment that just is n't always possible.  Maybe I need to get a low watt Marshall Class 5 and experiment or something.

Seems like it is the way that I play, the old fingers and head that make the most difference.

Personally Mike, I think it's all in your tone fingerprint...which comes from your hands. Sure, certain amps are going to accentuate different things...but for the most part, we're all stuck with our own tone finger print. I remember playing at a huge party in Georgia at this annual Guitar War meetup I attend. We eat, drink and play guitars for 3 straight days. I was on my buddie's back porch playing through this little 5 watt tranny amp with a pedal and people were saying "dude, you sound like you're playing through your rig...how the heck is that possible?!"
 
That said, I never cringe at what people bring through my door. It's my job to take what they give me and make it good. If I have to force them to use certain pieces of equipment, in my opinion, I'd not be a very good engineer. Here's a prime example. I get this metal head that comes in here a few months ago. He says "here, plug this into your console...this is what I'll be recording with."
 
He hands me a Rocktron Utopia pedal. I'm looking at the guy and I say "you're just joking with me right?" He says "no man, seriously this is what I use and what I want to print with." Well, heck...ok, if that's what you want, I'm up for the challenge."
 
Umm...what challenge? This dude got a better tone out of this thing than some of the custom built amps I've had in here. I know you're not into the high gain thing Mike, but dude....this is the exact sound this guy got from this little cheapo pedal!
 
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4909348/Recto_Fried%5B1%5D.mp3
 
I'm still in awe from this. And, all I had to do was plug it in, compress it and eq it. It sounds so convincing, I went and bought one of these things for myself just "to have". LOL!! So I could care less what they bring in here. Boutique amps, special tubes, the most expensive amp....pff...all completely moot to me. If the guy can play and can get a decent sound, I don't care if he uses Prominy SC Electric guitar and is a keyboard player. A good sound is a good sound....but a bad sound, well, yeah, then we have a problem....but then again, that's what makes the engineering field so fun and challenging to me. Each time you struggle with something or experiement, you learn something that you'll remember forever. :)
 
-Danny