Amp advice: Twin Reverb, AC30, pedals... hmmm

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Ankhanu
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Amp advice: Twin Reverb, AC30, pedals... hmmm

Post by Ankhanu »

I've been playing through a 1972 Twin Reverb for about 7-8 years now, and it's been serving me superbly... but, I want some good tube overdrive, which it just doesn't offer, it's clean, clean, clean and a tiny bit of grit cranked. I like my tone to be a bit sparkly, and the Twin gives me most of what I want, just without the drive. Right now I have a Fulltone DP-1 and a Marshall Jackhammer for my drive/distortion, neither of which are quite the character I want (especially the Jackhammer, decent for bass, shit for guitar).

To this end, I've been craving a Vox AC30 for a while, and their Voxy sparkling overdrive goodness. A cranked AC30 is an absolutely beautiful thing. Problem is they're expensive :P There's currently one in the locally owned music shop in town, and AC30C1, for $900, which, AFAIR is a decent price. Unless I want to wait another year or so, I'd have to sell something, or a few somethings to get it... most valuable thing I have is probably my Twin. If I were to sell my Twin, I'm kinda scared of seller's remorse... I mean, an AC30 is a great classic amp, but, I really do like the Twin!

Alternatively, I could go with an amp in a box solution, like the new ProGuitarShop Catalinbread Galileo and just run it through my Twin... that might give me the Voxy dirt, with the same basic chime/sparkle, and all the clean headroom of the Twin, at a cost somewhat less than buying a whole new amp. Anyone have experience with this, or similar pedals with Fender amps? Are they convincing enough? Responsive? Other good suggestions?

I primarily play a Schecter Hellcat VI and MIJ '66 Classic Jaguar through my Twin and play moderately sized bars and all-ages shows mostly in church or community halls. I do want a fair bit of clean headroom to play clean in these sorts of venues unmiced at stage volume, so, while I've been considering the AC15 route to save some coin, it might not cut it.

I use reverb extensively, and I also use the amp tremolo on the Twin a fair bit, so those are both features I want to maintain if I were to lose my Twin. Luckily, the AC30 has these! But, if other options are suggested, the reverb, in particular, is quite important, the tremolo I only use for fun, and in one song in my band.
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Post by Gabriel »

They're vastly different beasts - both one trick ponies really. The Twin gives the awesome clean tones and the AC30 great overdriven tones, but neither manages to do what the other does. I'd recommend buying a pedal first, it will never be a Vox but it may get you close - I'd definitely try the Tech 21 Liverpool. Otherwise see if you can borrow an AC30 to see if it's good for you. I always got a bit annoyed over the clean tone as it is quite boxy (at least to my ears), but this cuts through really nicely in a rock band.
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Post by Ankhanu »

Thanks, Gabe.

Any other opinions out there in Shortscaletown?
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Post by UlricvonCatalyst »

Just this: buy a Joyo ACTone for £30 - it's basically the Liverpool at a fraction of the price.
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Post by NickS »

On the subject of analogue amp-in-a-pedal emulations I've just been reading up on valve-emulating FET distortion at runoffgroove.com. Their recommendation is that each gain-stage FET has two trim pots. The OLC Slow Century kit I've been playing with has one per FET. Obviously, as a manufacturer, if you select your FETs to be carefully matched you may be able to get away with fewer trim pots or even none, but better valve emulation costs more, one way or another.
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Post by Ankhanu »

Pedals seem to have it.
Will look into the Liverpool and ACTone.

Pedals I'm going to look into:
.: Vox Over the Top Boost
.: Tech 21 Liverpool
.: JOYO or Carl Martin ACTone
.: Catalinbread Galileo
.: Wampler Cranked AC

Any others?
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Post by BearBoy »

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Post by Gabriel »

Ankhanu wrote:Pedals seem to have it.
Will look into the Liverpool and ACTone.

Pedals I'm going to look into:
.: Vox Over the Top Boost
.: Tech 21 Liverpool
.: JOYO or Carl Martin ACTone
.: Catalinbread Galileo
.: Wampler Cranked AC

Any others?
The Joyo pedals have speaker simulation, so they sound great as a DI but can be a bit weird straight into an amp. The Vox Cooltron pedals are cool, but I'd probably look at the Tech 21 as it has a speaker simulation on/off switch.
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Post by Ankhanu »

BearBoy wrote:
Ankhanu wrote:Any others?
http://www.shortscale.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=48161
Right, how the hell did I forget about that??
Gabriel wrote:The Joyo pedals have speaker simulation, so they sound great as a DI but can be a bit weird straight into an amp. The Vox Cooltron pedals are cool, but I'd probably look at the Tech 21 as it has a speaker simulation on/off switch.
Great tip. Probably wouldn't have noticed the always on speaker emulation until it was too late.
Nice thing is I can test out the Tech21 stuff at my local store, everything else will be video demo/buy blind.
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Post by lank81 »

I had the CB30 and I wasn't thoroughly impressed with it as I have been with other Catalinbread pedals. I know people love the Viper so I'm sure that'll help out when cascading that in to the CB30 circuit in the Galileo. I still prefer the real thing though. If all you need is overdriven tones could you grab an AC15 on the cheap or is that not enough volume? Also, although different OD sounds, how about an attenuator for the TR?
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Post by johnnyseven »

Ankhanu wrote:Pedals seem to have it.
Will look into the Liverpool and ACTone.

Pedals I'm going to look into:
.: Vox Over the Top Boost
.: Tech 21 Liverpool
.: JOYO or Carl Martin ACTone
.: Catalinbread Galileo
.: Wampler Cranked AC

Any others?
Boss Combo Drive?
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Post by Ankhanu »

I'm not gonna sell my Twin, I'm pretty certain I'll have seller's remorse if I do, and I'll never get another like it for the price I got it.
lank81 wrote:I had the CB30 and I wasn't thoroughly impressed with it as I have been with other Catalinbread pedals. I know people love the Viper so I'm sure that'll help out when cascading that in to the CB30 circuit in the Galileo. I still prefer the real thing though. If all you need is overdriven tones could you grab an AC15 on the cheap or is that not enough volume? Also, although different OD sounds, how about an attenuator for the TR?
The AC15 could work, I'm just a little concerned about clean headroom when I want it (which is about half the time or so). If it can stay clean at gigging volumes, it'll be a fine alternative to a 30. I was considering getting an AC30 head, and just using the Twin's speaker cab plugged in to it, but, I'd really rather not haul two heavy amps (well, three, 'cause half the time I'm playing bass in my band) to gigs.
Goin through some reviews of the standard CB30 now.

As for the attenuator on the Twin, I'm not sure it'd really help. Even with the amp (pre and master) cranked, while bleedingly loud, it stays pretty much clean on the Vibrato channel (which I use almost exclusively, I'm a bit of a reverb junkie), and stays almost pristinely clean on the Normal channel. I'm pretty sure the attenuator would just keep it the same, but quieter.
johnnyseven wrote:Boss Combo Drive?
I'll check it. Thanks.
ekwatts wrote:That's American cinema, that is. Fucking sparkles.
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