“Dinosaur” Dave of Dinosaurrockguitar.com (do check it out, it’s great) joins the podcast once again to talk about the guitars, amplifiers, and effects that the legendary guitar players discussed in episode 30 use. Be sure to listen to that episode first.

About this episode

This podcast is a deep dive into guitar amplifiers, guitars, and effects.

The show



Show contents

00:00:00 – Guitar amplifiers00:19:00 – Amplifier types: Tube, transistor, hybrid, modeling00:24:48 – EL34 & 6L6 power tubes, Marshall Plexi, Mesa Boogie00:37:40 – Marshall JCM800, Multiple gain stages, Stereo01:04:15 – EL84 power tubes, Vox amps, lunchbox amps01:09:25 – Amplifier buying advice, unique amp characteristics01:30:54 – Guitar pickups: Single coils, humbuckers, silent single coils02:04:45 – Guitars: Gibson Les Paul, Flying V, SG, Fender Telecaster, Stratocaster02:36:28 – SuperStrats, Floyd Rose tremolos, PRS/Paul Reed Smith02:49:25 – 1970s/1980s Japanese Ibanez & Yamaha lawsuit-era guitars02:55:35 – Quality control, good/bad years, & buying a new guitar today03:06:05 – Custom shop guitars, wood types and other materials03:15:05 – Buying advice for beginners & next-generation smart amps

Show notes (courtesy of Dinosaur Dave)

Getting Authentic Dino (70s Heavy Rock/80s Melodic Metal) tones/sounds. 

* We’re going to discuss them in the context of gigging and recording use cases. That is, when having the authentic tone really matters.* This discussion doesn’t apply to bedroom and practice scenarios.* It doesn’t necessarily apply to other musical styles. * These are MY observations and opinions based on my decades of experience.

AMPS

* Amps come first. Why?* Amps creates the largest percentage of your tone. If you own 5 different guitars types, but only one amp, that one amp colors and affects the sound of ALL 5 guitars.* Also there’s an old axiom: A $200 guitar sounds better through a $1000 amp, than a $1000 guitar sounds through a $200 amp.

* I always tell beginners, invest in a good amp before you upgrade to an expensive guitar. In most situations, what you need from an amp is the following:* One good clean tone* One good Dino crunch tone* One good lead tone

* What you probably don’t need:* Many mediocre sounds* Versatility. Amp versatility is overrated in most Dino situations

* In general, design concepts are more important than specific brands and models. And when talking amps, matching the amp’s power tube type gets you closer than anything else.

Understanding Amp tones involves understanding tube basics.

Tube tone

Three most popular power tube type for Dino music:

EL34

* EL34 tone (Marshall, Orange, Laney, Hiwatt/Sound City) – Historically, THE sound of Dino rock.  AKA British sound* EL34s run hotter and distort earlier as you increase the volume.* EL34s are the sound of Hendrix, Cream, The WHO, Zeppelin, Sabbath, AC/DC, Van Halen, and a lot of 80s metal.* Prior to 1981 and the Marshall JCM 800, the distortion (in EL34 amps) came from power amp distortion (AKA power amp saturation) — basically running the amps at full volume so these power tubes got hot and created distortion.