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[doc willie]

Chad Sims wrote on Tue, 30 August 2005 20:40

Everybody is gonna hate me for saying it but some of the best clean tones I have ever recorded are with a Roland Jazz Chorus. I haven't looked but they can't be that pricey used.

They'll have to hate me too. I have a JC-120, and it is indeed the king of clean amps. It does have some problems/limitations, though.

The first, in this context, is not really a problem, and that is the the built in distortion sucks big time and is worthless.

Second, is that these amps have a considerable about of background hiss. This can be easily controlled with mic selection.

Third, these amps are LOUD. Getting the right tone in the studio might be a problem in balance in some situations.

Fourth, maybe irrelevant, the chorus is great sounding, but the speed is not adjustable, only the depth.

Fifth, relevant on the road only, the damn things are heavy.

Sixth, and the main reason I do not use it, is too much emphasis on the high end. Getting a mellow jazz tone requires turning the treble down all the way to 0 AND trimming the tone on the guitar.

But, great clean tones.

Wanna buy mine?

[covert]

It depends largely on what you mean by clean.  The Roland JC series does indeed produce some very nice clean tones.  Look for the smaller one, JC55, JC75.  Some of the smaller fenders are great.  I prefer the ones that have master volumes, to the juniors.  On the other hand, there's much to be said for a SF champ, in this application.  

[Tom Hicks]

I have a 58 Gibson GA6, which is sort of a Deluxe clone. 12 watts from 2 6V6s. The old Gibbys don't have the vintage cachet that Fenders have, but are great little amps still reasonable in price.

http://search.ebay.com/gibson-amp_W0QQbsZSearchQQcatrefZC6QQ fromZR10QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQsacatZQ2d1QQsargnZQ2d1QQsaslcZ2QQs brftogZ1QQsofocusZbs

[bloodstone]

As long as you don't need tons of volume, I'd get a Fender Amp Can.  That thing does clean very well.  $179.99 at Musician's Friend.  I own one and like it.

[Punkity]

I noticed a couple votes for the Fender Princeton. I did some clean guitar tracking a couple of weeks ago. The guy brought 4 different amps and we put them all to the test. Ampeg 501, Fender POS modeling amp (can't stand any sounds from these contemporary modeling things, at least not yet), Fender Champ (don't know the year, but old combo), and a borrowed Fender Princeton (late 60's/early 70's) head with a simple channel and a tremolo channel. Hands down the Princeton won (the heads were run through a strange, but good sounding, home-made 4x10). It simply had the most deluxe, silky, 3-D sound (especially the 3-D aspect, the difference was unreal). We ran the simple channel because the tremolo channel was busted somehow.

We used an old SG with original P90 pickups, a modern Chinese Strat, and a Robin of mine. They all sounded great on it, and we used different guitars for the different tones we needed for the songs. There are a couple on ebay right now around the $300 range. If I had the extra $$$ I would get one today.

Oh yeah. There were some distorted guitar parts. The Princeton driven with a Sebatron VMP (in the DI, line out) was instant Pete Townshend. The guitarist, who normally uses a Roland all-in-one multi-switch stomp box for all his tones, quietly said "oh my" and got really quiet for a while. Too bad I didn't have access to a Sovtek Mig60. Dimed it would have made him weep for all the wasted years.

[mjau]

A Laney lc15 can be had used for cheap, and gets a very nice clean tone for the price.

[Weird Geoff]

I've had good luck with and will second the recommendation for the vox pathfinder 15r, classic 30, princeton, and blues Jr.

I will add these as well which are also killer imho..

musicman combos or heads..i have a 210 hd130, then for cheaper amps the kalamazoo model II, Gibson Falcon, really any of those old low watt tube amps are great for a clean sound imo..and of course the Fender Champ/Vibro Champ, etc..I have used 50's tube RTR decks that had built in amps and speakers too with great luck..namely the Voice Of Music model from '55, not bad for 20$ at a thrift shop..

[disco stu]

See if a different mic setup works better for you - i found the best clean tones i got from using just an omni room mic (behringer ECM8000)

Also if you are getting a hard sounding top end its probably because the cabs are producing nasty whistly harmonics which while not prominent in the sound, if removed, smoothen up the tone significantly

To do this EQ high Q value +18dB gain move it around between 1-10kHz find the whistling frequencies and notch them out, standard fare in my mixes especially with distorted guitar and particularly for solos theres always at least 4 frequencies annoying thing is i usually have to use 2 EQ plugins to notch them all out as one only has 6 bands, ahh how i long for a 2.5GHz mac  

Might work might not but its worth a try before you go spending more money

Stu

[josh]

disco stu wrote on Sat, 17 September 2005 22:34

(behringer ECM8000)

I love that mic on guitar cabinets, but more for overdrive guitar tone with the mic capsule pressed into the grille.  It also works great in the back of a guitar cabinet.

For clean tone I really like my Studio Projects B1, also one particular SM58, each about a foot away for good clean tone.

You know mics do colors really well and apply that to clean guitar once the guitar tone is worked out in the amp... IOW, once it sounds good "in the room", then just about any mic is going to make a good recording just depends on what you are after.  It's not magic.  Overdrive guitar or distorted guitar, on the other hand, is extremely tricky and takes just the right combo of room, position (of the amp in the room), mic, position (of the mic), pre, etc., and ALSO dialing in an amp tone that may not necessarily be the best "in the room".  

[Spiritwalkerpro]

I have been recording my Princeton reverb on a stool with a mic on front and one on back.  Great clean tones and turn it up and it drives really nice.  With the album I am recording we have used a marshall head, a 1968 bandmaster with a 212 and sometimes a 410 fender cabinet.  The guitar player has used a Tele, strat and a Cort (Neil Zaza). Out of all the tracks my 1967 Gretch "Viking"into the Princeton is my favorite tone on the album.

[hargerst]

Can't be stressed often enough: put small amps up on a chair or a tall stool.

[Austin]

I went to Guitar Center for a box to ship an amp and I saw an old Ampeg V4 in a room. I went in to check out the Ampeg and a guy was playing through a Crate Palomino V8 amp with a Tele....The amp is currently $279.00 at Musician's Friend. 5 watt Class A they say. 10" Celestion with EL84 output. I was frankly taken aback. The tone was all there. Very nice clean. Surprisingly so. I could see recording with it.  I'm sure it doesn't have a lot of clean headroom, but the cleans were quite good and really sweet and they also sell a V16 15 watt, with a 12" Celestion for $399.00 and I'm sure more clean headroom.
Maybe they are a discontinued deal??? Dunno...but if you are still looking, worth a look I think...Been playing since the 60's so I've been around a few amps if a reference point helps at all...

[rockrev]

I second the Vox Pathfinder - works great for me.

rockrev

[vegas4ever]

Austin wrote on Thu, 29 September 2005 17:43

I went to Guitar Center for a box to ship an amp and I saw an old Ampeg V4 in a room. I went in to check out the Ampeg and a guy was playing through a Crate Palomino V8 amp with a Tele....The amp is currently $279.00 at Musician's Friend. 5 watt Class A they say. 10" Celestion with EL84 output. I was frankly taken aback. The tone was all there. Very nice clean. Surprisingly so. I could see recording with it.  I'm sure it doesn't have a lot of clean headroom, but the cleans were quite good and really sweet and they also sell a V16 15 watt, with a 12" Celestion for $399.00 and I'm sure more clean headroom. Maybe they are a discontinued deal??? Dunno...but if you are still looking, worth a look I think...Been playing since the 60's so I've been around a few amps if a reference point helps at all...

I agree the Palominos are nice clean, but the distortion its easy, bold and sweet.

[C.Cash]

Bang for the buck, it's pretty hard to beat this one;

http://www.pignoseamps.com/index.php?disp=detail&subcat= tubeamps&id=256

I put a Jensen Alnico speaker in mine and it sounds great, lots of bottom end.