Choosing between lightweight gear or perfect sound?

Jagtornado · Post by **Jagtornado** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:03 am

Hi guys,

Would you settle for a slightly lesser sound in favour of the comfort, small and lightweight gear offers you? I am a real nitpicker when it comes to sound but my motto is, what joy will you get out of a perfect sound if you got a hernia as well?
So I would always choose for a small combo like the good old Peterson PG100 over a heavy valve top with even heavier 4x12 inch cabinets.

How do you guys think about that?

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:15 am

perfect sound for me, luckily though mine is pretty lightweight so I kinda got both going for me.

Freethenoise · Post by **Freethenoise** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:26 am

I think if you do enough research you can find a pretty suitable compromise.

Most venues I play have speaker cabinets that are free to use for playing bands, so half the time I only need to take an amp head, pedalboard and guitar. Works well for me.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:38 am

This topic is hogwash and here's why.

The year is 2015. If the music you're playing is shit, boring, or uninspired, it doesn't matter if you've discovered "perfect sound" or not. If you're good, however, you could be good through a Peavey amp with a Squier. If the crowd is impressed by your handwired Marshall and Ampeg SVT fridge stack, then you are probably selling an image as much as you are the music itself. And that's well and good if that's your thing, but FFS stop saying it's in the name of perfect sound.

And as long as you're being mic'd live, smaller less powerful amps generally work better anyway. Not because they're lighter, but because no soundguy is going to want you to turn your Fender Twin past "2", and to a lesser extent, it's the same deal with recording. What is a Twin at the end of the day besides a really good amp for band practice? Musicians are a stubborn bunch, and once they've acquired their "holy grail" of tone, there is not much changing their mind. Their amp is best amp because that's the amp they own. Not because it actually is the best amp for them.

OK, so guitar gear aside, nothing sounds like a real transistor combo organ. I have a Yamaha YC30 I used to gig with. It probably is responsible for ending the band I was in at the time. I would get into arguments with the singer over the setlist if we didn't have enough keyboard songs for me to feel justified having lugged the 90 lb beast to a gig. Of course in hindsight my reasons for wanting to bring it in the first place were entirely self indulgent. I still have the organ in my basement and will continue record with it, but for live use, I found a little Roland that gets that cheesy organ point across just fine in a live setting and still has a cool old vibe about it. A Deluxe Reverb has also replaced my Fender Twin. It's not about compromise, it's about having your priorities in check. I feel like there's a lot of overcompensation for talent when it comes to many bands on the local level, or at the very least, throwing money at problems that don't exist yet. With so many options out there now, many more affordable than ever, there is really no excuse to torture yourself with heavy gear in the name of your stupid tone that only you care about.

Post by **Doog** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 7:04 am

Lolz, Nick nailed it

gusman2x · Post by **gusman2x** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 7:41 am

I'd say that 99% of the punters can't really tell the difference between a Peavey Classic, and a 1960 twin. They can tell a good song, and a good performance from a bad one though, and I think that's the most important thing. That's not to say that you should just use super cheap or shit gear, but the last 10% quality that you can hear is completely lost on an audience (even cork sniffers).

Save your back from the amp, and put the extra energy into jumping around on stage.

sholkham · Post by **sholkham** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 7:51 am

Sorry to go off on a tangent but have you seen that new Yamaha mini-YC Nick?

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2015/07/y ... ce-synths/

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:09 am

Not entirely sure what the question is but I'm fairly certain the answer to it is a Matamp head with a matching Matamp 6x12 cabinet.

(Or Hovercraft, which are amazing)

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:16 am

SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER ROCK MUSIC

jagsonic · Post by **jagsonic** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:30 am

Nick wrote:This topic is hogwash and here's why.

The year is 2015. If the music you're playing is shit, boring, or uninspired, it doesn't matter if you've discovered "perfect sound" or not. If you're good, however, you could be good through a Peavey amp with a Squier. If the crowd is impressed by your handwired Marshall and Ampeg SVT fridge stack, then you are probably selling an image as much as you are the music itself. And that's well and good if that's your thing, but FFS stop saying it's in the name of perfect sound.

And as long as you're being mic'd live, smaller less powerful amps generally work better anyway. Not because they're lighter, but because no soundguy is going to want you to turn your Fender Twin past "2", and to a lesser extent, it's the same deal with recording. What is a Twin at the end of the day besides a really good amp for band practice? Musicians are a stubborn bunch, and once they've acquired their "holy grail" of tone, there is not much changing their mind. Their amp is best amp because that's the amp they own. Not because it actually is the best amp for them.

OK, so guitar gear aside, nothing sounds like a real transistor combo organ. I have a Yamaha YC30 I used to gig with. It probably is responsible for ending the band I was in at the time. I would get into arguments with the singer over the setlist if we didn't have enough keyboard songs for me to feel justified having lugged the 90 lb beast to a gig. Of course in hindsight my reasons for wanting to bring it in the first place were entirely self indulgent. I still have the organ in my basement and will continue record with it, but for live use, I found a little Roland that gets that cheesy organ point across just fine in a live setting and still has a cool old vibe about it. A Deluxe Reverb has also replaced my Fender Twin. It's not about compromise, it's about having your priorities in check. I feel like there's a lot of overcompensation for talent when it comes to many bands on the local level, or at the very least, throwing money at problems that don't exist yet. With so many options out there now, many more affordable than ever, there is really no excuse to torture yourself with heavy gear in the name of your stupid tone that only you care about.

That is so well said - i'm just willing to write it on a tshirt!

Concretebadger · Post by **Concretebadger** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:41 am

I'd say go for the 'perfect sound' for the studio, because your ears will hear (or you'll *think* your ears are hearing...) every little nuance and difference between the *right* amp and everything else. That's where you can tweak things till your heart's content.

Live? As Nick says: as long as the sound levels are balanced and you're in tune, the right sound matters a lot less than gear that's portable and is unlikely to break down.

Besides, a studio rig might sound great at home but like shit live, and vice-versa. Something about performance volume changes a whole load of other variables, so you may well end up wanting separate 'studio' and 'live' rigs anyway.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:48 am

I've gigged loads of times with a Roland Cube and some dirt pedals.

I have a big fuck off amp for enjoying at home, but being honest, it would be a hassle to gig with.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:37 am

Live is drunk people playing to drunk people... You shouldn't care too much cause they don't care at all. In the studio strive for your version of perfection and fail as closely as you can.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:58 am

I try to find the best compromise. Both the amps I own a 1x12 combos and I can't see myself going any bigger. I could perhaps stretch to a small footprint 2x10 but it'd have to have neo speakers to keep the weight down.

My favourite amp at the moment is an old 70s roland cube 60 which is really small. There are some gems out there that sound amazing but aren't huge so if like me you can't drive and have to walk or take public transport to all your gigs it's worth while looking into the smaller amp world.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:53 pm

sholkham wrote:Sorry to go off on a tangent but have you seen that new Yamaha mini-YC Nick?

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2015/07/y ... ce-synths/

oh my god.

I wish it didn't have mini keys but still !!!

71Smallbox · Post by **71Smallbox** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:33 pm

WHAT?

Jagtornado · Post by **Jagtornado** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 5:51 pm

If you buy this gear you get five sessions with a fysio therapist for free

71Smallbox · Post by **71Smallbox** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 6:04 pm

Jagtornado wrote:If you buy this gear you get five sessions with a fysio therapist for free

I am pretty sure that stack would require a fork lift, a crane or possibly both.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 6:35 pm

IS SOMEBODY TALKING? I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING BUT AWESOME

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 6:36 pm

SERIOUSLY GUYS