# Opinions needed please for some research I'm doing.



## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

Take an experienced player with good chops, a nice touch and a great sounding instrument.
Tweak the tones and volume for maximum performance and record with top notch gear.
Under these circumstances, this should make virtually any amp sound very good.
Agree or Disagree
Thanks in advance to all who respond.


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## hummingway (Aug 4, 2011)

I agree. I think a player whose playing is expressive, who gets a lot of tone from technique can make any guitar sound good as well. 

Once you've captured something you can do a lot to it to change how it sounds so it is often possible to take something that sounds like crap a turn it into something interesting. 

It's still better to have good sounding gear right from the start.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

" Charlie they want Tunas that taste good not with good taste".......

Having said that I'm gonna drag my butt over there and make those good amps sound crappy ....largetongue


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Definitely true. I've seen guys in bars playing rigs that make the cork sniffer in me cringe, with HUGE tone.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

keto said:


> Definitely true. I've seen guys in bars playing rigs that make the cork sniffer in me cringe, with HUGE tone.


I think gear tweaking is a skill in itself, as much as playing the instrument. And like playing, can vary to great degrees.


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## fretless (Jul 3, 2009)

I think that when you listen to a good player, you naturally listen to his playing, not really his sound (unless it is real crappy, of course) so I would tend to agree.


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

absolutely... and you can give him a cheap guitar to go with it and I'd still agree.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

*you mean like this?*

[video=youtube;l1qCczGgSxw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&amp;v=l1qCczGgSxw[/video]


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

He sounds like Neil Young !!! LOL. I know that a good guitarist can make any amp rig sound good if he has good taste. We must remember that what sounds good to you does not exactly sound good to me ( case in point)


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

mrmatt1972 said:


> [video=youtube;l1qCczGgSxw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&amp;v=l1qCczGgSxw[/video]


That was ,hummm...........different.3dgrw


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## hummingway (Aug 4, 2011)

Howie makes good amps but his music is more comedic ... I hope that's the intention anyway.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Once upon a time I would have said "yes, a good player can do anything". BUT THEN: I watched youtube for a month or more. Watched amp demo's, lots and lots and lots of them. A good player can do a lot with very little need for technical support yes, however there are some platforms that no matter how good you are, getting sound out of them that doesn't leave you cringing is in the realm of "no way man". Typically the issues with these amps being overly clean, too much high end, ringing and very artificial sounding built in effects. While you may find songs that will play well with these limitations, you are playing with limitations, and being good does not fix that, only makes that look good to people watching and listening.


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## doriangrey (Mar 29, 2011)

I think that a bad amp tone sounds like a bad amp tone regardless of who is playing it...I can appreciate the technique of a great guitar player who somehow got stuck with a crappy amp tone but I've heard great players with bad tone and bad players with a nice amp tone....I would say that, similar to a previous post, getting a good tone is a skill in itself but the question is can a good player make virtually any amp sound very good and I say not because a crappy amp tone is still a crappy amp tone no matter who is playing it...just an opinion...


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## starjag (Jan 30, 2008)

doriangrey said:


> I think that a bad amp tone sounds like a bad amp tone regardless of who is playing it...I can appreciate the technique of a great guitar player who somehow got stuck with a crappy amp tone but I've heard great players with bad tone and bad players with a nice amp tone....I would say that, similar to a previous post, getting a good tone is a skill in itself but the question is can a good player make virtually any amp sound very good and I say not because a crappy amp tone is still a crappy amp tone no matter who is playing it...just an opinion...


+ a very big 1


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Depends on how you define "good player". If, by "good", you mean adaptive, able to work with what they've got, and immediately sense what it does well and doesn't, then yes. If by "good" you simply mean a virtuoso, maybe not.

Some players absolutely need a compressed clipped sound to be able to do what they do, and others would be helpless in the absence of total cleanliness. Some really need extended high end to be able to have something to reel in for emotional expressiveness, and others are able to work with a warm rounded sound.

I think a player like Chet Atkins or Mark Knopfler would be able to sound like themselves with any amp, and make it sound musical. Would Gary Moore or Angus Young? I have my doubts.

FWIW, as I've probably mentioned in past, my wife got me the DVD of Jimi Hendrix on the Dick Cavett show, and he does a tune using a Flying V and a fliptop Ampeg B-15 he borrowed from the house band on the show. Sounds great and sounds JUST like Hendrix.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

doriangrey said:


> I think that a bad amp tone sounds like a bad amp tone regardless of who is playing it...I can appreciate the technique of a great guitar player who somehow got stuck with a crappy amp tone but I've heard great players with bad tone and bad players with a nice amp tone....I would say that, similar to a previous post, getting a good tone is a skill in itself but the question is can a good player make virtually any amp sound very good and I say not because a crappy amp tone is still a crappy amp tone no matter who is playing it...just an opinion...


 I agree with this 100%. I have know players who can play fantastic, but literally can't tell that their tone is crap. And it IS crap in some cases. In a bar situation where it may be concealed, and people don't care it might not be a factor. But the problem is still there.

Ps I forgot about thos Dumble clips lol. I laughed so hard I cried first time I heard those. Different strokes for different folks I guess, but those videos seem like a Saturday night live skit when I watch them.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Following the amp, has to be a good speaker system and a good tech that knows how to set them up!! The last live event here in Burlington outside in Spencer Smith Park was the first event of the last 12 months that didn't have me ears ringing and wanting to bleed. Up till the last event the tone has been shrill to piercing no matter who was up on stage :C


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

To a certain extent I agree that a good player can make a bad amp sound good, but IMO, there are very few "bad" amps...Just amps being mispurposed, or not tweaked correctly.
And I think tweaking an amps settings is a skill unto itself, much like actually playing an instrument. And IMO, there can often be little correlation with one skill or the other (a great player may not necessarily be very knowledgable about their gear, or have a mindset for it) although spending more time with gear can certainly help a lot!

edit: Doh! didnt see that I already replied to this earlier, lol.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

*Thanks to those who took the time to vote.*

Cheers, Doug
:thanks5qx::rockon2:


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## cwittler (May 17, 2011)

Disagree. From what I know of electric guitar playing, the general rule of thumb is that any players sound is about 40% the player, 30% the guitar, and 30% the amp. So from that vantage point, a crappy amp will make any guitar player sound 30% crappier. Put two gifted guitar gods together on stage, one with a 4x12 and the other with a transistor radio, and we all know who will win that guitar duel. Just my two cents worth. Cheers!


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

what if you suck as a guitarist but have awesome gear? could you have great tone and suck? could you suck bad enough so that no one could tell you had good tone? could a snake play a guitar tuned to an open chord?


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## hummingway (Aug 4, 2011)

cheezyridr said:


> what if you suck as a guitarist but have awesome gear? could you have great tone and suck? could you suck bad enough so that no one could tell you had good tone? could a snake play a guitar tuned to an open chord?


I've known some snakes who could play in standard tuning.


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