In 1986 I bought a modest Court Des Lauriers electric guitar and a Gorilla GG-20 30w amp as a package from my local music store, for something like $175. A king's ransom of money from my dish washing job. I've been playing off and on since then. I was only 15.

30 years ago, I traded my modest electric guitar rig in and bought a new Washburn acoustic-electric with a gorgeous birds eye maple body. I also got an amazing "Trace Acoustic" amp (think Trace Elliot) made in England. I played pretty steady for a while, including in a church folk group. When we started our family, I sold my amp. But all this time later, I still have and sporadically play, my Acoustic guitar.

I've recently decided that I really want to play a lot more. I want to get good. And frankly, with all of the resources available today it seems like it would be far easier than in the 1980s.

For whatever reason, I am sure I want a Gretsch. I love the mellow tones it produces and I've seen pretty much any genre of music played from them with superb results. Fender now owns Gretsch and has a sale through the end of the year on Fender products, so I'm planning to get a Fender amp as well.

I guess I'm open to suggestions from my fellow SF guitarists. Ideally, I'll find exactly the right rig the first time and not waste time and money shifting through gear. For that reason, I'm working now to fund-raise by selling other toys so that I can have a lot of freedom with the dollar amount. I may end up having to get a solid body and a hollow or semi-hollow body. Just out of indecision.

So boys (and girls?), what's a dream rig you'd imagine for me? --or-- just what's a dream rig for you. It's a fun topic!

BTW: My goodness but YouTube is WONDERFUL for this purpose.

Not for everyone, but I play a modeler by Fractal Audio Systems. Gives me 300 different amp choices (I use 5-6) and awesome seamless fx that go from mxr pedal to Eventide rack quality.

There are other brands of modelers, but I don’t think anything comes close to what the fractal does as far as tube amp and cabinet emulation. Reverbs and delays as well as modulation and compression are all best in class/top notch. The big cloud reverbs alone, hell even along with Plex delay … can provide a playground for hours. Ymmv

I’ll even say the factory presets are great right out of the box. However you can build your own rigs as wished.

I like it all in one box. I play out to both traditional cabinets, a pair of 2x12s in stereo (powered by a kilowatt of clean SS power), and then I run through cabinet simulations out to FOH/FRFR.

Check it out… You can run a fully dimmed/gained plexi, Mesa, fender amp at optimal power amp levels while having complete control over master volume.

You can get a really fairly small box that will easily be more consistent and convenient vs a tube head, cabs and peddleboard.




This is Alex Lifeson of Rush playing thru the FAS FM9 floor model at the Taylor Hawkins benefit concert recently. (I use the larger rack mounted AxeFX III)

It can be a really deep and emotional topic… But I’ll just leave it there.

So many personal preferences will apply.

As far as guitars, I have one PRS P24 Artist and one custom S-type (700 to 1200 years old nootka cedar, torrified maple neck, custom Ron Ellis pick ups)

Paul Reed Smith was an absolute DREAM guitar to me back in the late 1980s. Carlos Santana had one in all of the Guitar mags at that time. Oh man, that would fulfill a boyhood dream.

That one is just splendid!

People seem to love or hate them… Since you love them, I’ll share a quick story.

I saw my very first PRS in 1985, sitting in a cowboy bar in a college town. A jazz band was playing and the guitarist had one.

For 30 years I gassed over one bad. Bought that one in 2015 after a good long search. Also has a LR Baggs piezo pickup along w/ the 57/08 prs hamburgers.


Posting pics to incentivize you…



Apologies, I meant to congratulate you! My PRS was my reentry back into playing music after a long hiatus.

18 months later I bought that Strat! Be careful…

I do not know how or why, anyone could NOT love that guitar! WWWWWWwwwwwwOw!

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
I do not know how or why, anyone could NOT love that guitar! WWWWWWwwwwwwOw!

You would be amazed… Guitarists are fickle folk!

(I know all the classic pokes/arguments against it/PRS… Lol … Being “pretty” is always gonna draw fire) some people are always going to prefer a traditional LP by Gibson, but I like Paul’s work without the inherent LP defects.

By the way, Cliff Culterri (who discovered Steve Vai and Joe Satriani) turned me onto the luthiers who built that S-type. Www.destroyallguitars.com

The Fender Super Champ XD, modded with a Ragin' Cajun speaker is one fantastic amp! The newer version is the Super Champ X2 which is basically the same, so it should be sonically great (with the speaker swap). Add a power attenuator such as the Weber Micro Mass for true tube distortion at any volume. The X2 may not easily allow this, as it does not allow for an external speaker.

As much as I hate to admit it, the digital emulations are very very good these days. Tubes aren't needed, but I still prefer them. Small speakers and cheap wood in the cabinets are the problem with many small or low wattage amps.

A Fender Blues Jr. is one of many other great Fender amp options.

I highly recommend avoiding anything that pairs with a phone or tablet, such as effects boxes or headphone amps. They are guaranteed to go obsolete very soon. Any OS update or new phone is liable to cause incompatibility.

I don't play, but my son is an avid guitarist.

His go-to for many years was the Hotrod Deluxe II, but these days, rather gigging mic'd up, open mic night shows, or just playing for fun, if he's playing electric - he's going with his Blues Jr.

Really very good point about using something like a load box ie universal audio, FAS, suhr.

The thing for me is, by the time you attenuate your amp to get control over the volume (and power amp is saturating) the FAS digital models actually sound better.

Again I think most of us know that the toobz vs digital is a quite the provocative subject.

I’m done.

A strat and a Fender Mustang Micro headphone amp for the best couch setup!

Guitars are very personal, I’ve got 4 electrics and I love them all (after a fair amount of trading around). I wouldn’t try to talk you out of the Gretsch, I’ve been eyeing a 5420 for a long time. Couldn’t agree more on your idea of a Fender amp. I can personally recommend Sweetwater’s special edition of the ‘65 Princeton Reverb. It’s got a 12” Eminence Canabis Rex speaker rather than the 10” speaker of the original issue amps. Tweed cab covering, crystal cleans, and not a better amp to be overdriven. Takes pedals great. Can’t recommend highly enough.

Lyle Caldwell has a couple videos on his YouTube channel (Psionic Audio) that you should check out concerning amps that he recommends. I have two of them on his list.





The Fender Blues series is better sounding than the Hot Rods. I find the Hot Rod Deluxe to be rather insipid. The Blues are chimey and sweet. The problem with the Fender amps is the cheap filter caps. That's the most common repair.

Stop by someday and play through one of the Marshalls or the Vox AC30. My Fender Bassman is currently on the bench and I won't get to fixing it for a couple months.

I'll have to see what all I have, but if you get a guitar with a route for either soapbar or dogear P-90's, you have a standing insta-karma win for some Lollars I built. I have a random collection of both, in 50's wind and standard, overwound bridges, and underwound necks.

So, obviously I highly recommend Lollar pickups. I worked there for a little over four years, between 2017 and this last spring and early summer before I moved. Stock pickups suck, not to put too fine a point on it, and I don't make any money off that opinion anymore and it hasn't changed. Yes, other companies make great pickups also - you couldn't go wrong with Fralin (Lindy and Jason are friends), Bare Knuckle, or Thro-Bak (the latter two, I would say are direct competitors.

That out of the way, I highly recommend going to a Guitar Center and just playing everything that looks interesting. We can all recommend our favorite guitars to you, but in the end, it's up to you what you'll really like. Don't be afraid to get the one that really catches your eye - it will keep you playing if it's something you walk by and go "damn, that's a great looking guitar." If that's a Gretsch, it's a Gretsch. If it's something else, don't feel like you missed out by not getting a Gretsch. You can always do with a guitar what you do with watches.

As for amps, the profiling amp stuff has gotten so good now that's it's really, really had to tell it apart from the real thing, if even possible. In person may be a different ballgame, but don't ignore Kemper and their contemporaries - with one amp, you get access to everything and I mean, everything. That said, there's nothing wrong with a quality tube amp, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one to anyone. That's basically all I'll own or mess with.

A word on used vs new: Don't be afraid to buy used. There's a bazillion great guitars out there that aren't new. Some of them? Better than what's made today. That doesn't mean every vintage guitar is worth a ton of money, however, so be careful with that. The offer you extended me on helping guide me to a used Seamaster? Consider that offer extended to you with a used guitar. If I don't know enough about whichever particular one you might be interested in, I have access to my friends at Lollar and all their contacts, plus my old boss who used to own four stores in Nashville and all his contacts. Short of getting my hands on something, I can provide you as qualified an opinion as you're liable to get.

Keep us in the loop, this should be a fun thread.

I'm not a player, but my roommate was. Best Amp I've ever heard was a Mesa Boogie.

I love Fender amps. I currently have a ‘59 Bassman Reissue, a ‘72 Champ and a ‘68 Princeton Reverb. I purchased a reissue spring reverb tank a few years ago and it switched between the Bassman and the Champ.

If I were going to have one amp, I’d go with the Princeton Reverb. It’s a great little amp and it’s more power than I need.

In terms of a guitar, I love Gretsch. I have a 1960 6118 Double Anniversary. I bought it years ago for $1200. I saw one on eBay a months ago for $1800. It’s a great way to get into a vintage guitar without spending a ton. For whatever reason, the Double Anniversary isn’t as collectible, but it is a great guitar that looks awesome. The downside is that many of the older Gretsch guitars have binding rot, which is an expensive fix.

I also have an Electromatic. I got a good deal on a 5422TG a few years back. It’s a Korean made guitar. It sounds good and it plays well.

If Paul Reed Smith guitars interest you, check out the CE line. This is the bolt-on neck line. I really prefer the feel of the Pattern Thin neck. If you shop around, you can find deals on the CE24s. I own two from 2021: a solid body and a semi-hollow. I can’t tell much of a difference in sound, but switch back and forth on which one I like more.

Good luck with your search!

In my younger days, I was into the crunch of a Les Paul but now I like the Strat and Tele sounds. If you don't want to spend too much on a guitar, the Classic Vibe lines are around $550-600 for either Strat or Tele.

As for an amp, since I'm spending your money, I'm going to suggest Fender Twin Reverb or Vox AC30. Both are legendary amps.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
So, obviously I highly recommend Lollar pickups. I worked there for a little over four years, between 2017 and this last spring and early summer before I moved. Stock pickups suck, not to put too fine a point on it, and I don't make any money off that opinion anymore and it hasn't changed. Yes, other companies make great pickups also - you couldn't go wrong with Fralin (Lindy and Jason are friends), Bare Knuckle, or Thro-Bak (the latter two, I would say are direct competitors.

I need to replace the neck pickup in my Classic Vibe Tele.

I was thinking maybe I'll just go with a set of Lollars or Fralins along with a set up.

I have several guitars now and one of them is a PRS Singlecut Artist that I purchased in the early 2000s. It's a really nice guitar in Dark Cherry Sunburst. I am thinking about selling it though. I just don't play it much any more. I do play my Gibson SG every day though. It is much lighter and sounds great. Although I have a Fender Vibro King and VOX AC15HW1X, the amp I play through the most is my Roland JC-40. It is much lighter and it takes pedals really well.

It really depends on what moves YOU.

Here's my latest, just got it two weeks ago. Plays like butter, looks way better up close than in photos.

One of Tal Farlow’s personal custom Gibsons is for sale in NYC

https://brosguitars.com/collec...-owned-by-tal-farlow