Help with Guitar Amp

These days, people buy special pedal effects to achieve that vintage, less than perfect sound. You've been able to achieve the sound without having to spend the extra money on pedals.

 

Sounds like a bad power transformer.Shouldn't make any buzzing on humming noises at all.

 

That's a pretty cool gift, by the way! My wife gave me this for my birthday--I almost wet myself!

 

It's a Gibson 335. It's just sweet, no other way to describe it. God bless her, she even got it for significantly less from a dealer, rather than being gouged by Guitar Center.

 

If there's a ground switch on it (might be on the back) that may help as well when the flourescent lights are on, but it's hard to say. Flourescent lights tend to transmit a lot of noize through amps so it's just one of those things that ya have to put up with sometimes .

Gilles: That's one beautiful 335 Dot ya got there! I take it that it's one of the newer Custom Shop models judging by the gorgeous flamed top. They sure do nice work now, but boy do they charge out the arse for it. Your wife wouldn't happen to have a sister, would she? jk

 

television, cell phones, cordless phones, wrist watches, remote contols, garage openers, micowaves . the list goes on! all of these things in the house will effect the sound of a guitar amp in a home. i have a TRAYNOR tube amp and several guitars. ive been thinking of selling off 3 of them since i only play the old Stratocaster and the '69 Epiphone . the red one is a real deal Gibson Les Paul Custom. glad to see there are others on here who play.

also buy the quality guitar cords that go from the amp to the guitar, the shielded Fender ones are great. cheap cables will cause many headaches, and dont EVER walk on the cables or leave them all over the floor. oh yea, get a VOX whah-whah pedal for her!!!!! they ROCK!!! i have not touched my old Dunlop whah pedal in years!

 

The one with the sumptous fretboard: Is it a Starfield?

My first guitar was a Starfield, back in 1980

Today I basically reduced my collection to 5 PRS, two other guitars and a bass. Amplifiers are two Boogies and a Marshall, all of them heads.

 

its a very early SCHECTER the neck and body are one solid piece of mahagony, with a ebony fretboard and the vine inlay. the thing has sustain FOR DAYS! i only seem to play my ancient Srat and the old black EPI. i know where a very special Les Paul is at, so i will be selling off a few things. i have had a few PRS's also, they are very nice!

 

I work for GC at the corporate office, I need to eat you know...

Actually the prices are no too bad on most items. It's also nice to have an employee discount too. Gotta love buying things at cost.

 

Carreaper,
How long have you had the les paul for?
I was in the market for one when they weren't 2500. I've been playing for 15 years, and I bought a fat strat in korea for 130 u.s. I mainly play that. They have a great sound.
UroTrash, also keep the amp a couple feet away from the power outlet. I found that this causes that empty buzzing sound too.

 

i bought the cherry sunbust Les paul custom when i was 16 . i am now 33. thanks for asking! i am sorry for the hijack.

 

i remember the occasional Saturday morning, being startled awake by this unbelievably loud but rhythmic sound... i would stammer out of bed and stumble into the living room only to find my father had hooked up his guitar to his amp and was playing Bo Diddley like it was the last thing he'd ever do... It sounded great... Just not at 7am, Saturday morning...

 

It does if it is an extension to Friday night!

Ahh, the good 'ol days!

DL

 

Great guitars guys! Carreaper, thats a great collection you have. I'm loving that Les Paul you've got. I feel the collecting bug starting to take hold, and a Les Paul is at the top of the list. Not to mention a Marshal amp, so I can get the beautiful Les Paul/Marshall sound used by quite a few guitarist's I'm a fan of (the Kid and James Lynch, DKM; Lars F, Rancid/Bastards; Rontrose Heathman and Dan Bolton, the Supersuckers; etc...).

For now, my first guitar, a Fender Squire Strat is still doing a fine job. I'll always keep this one, since its my 'first' and I've personalised it a bit:
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the Fender custom shop TEXAS SPECIAL pickups are great. URoTRASH, you may want to get a set of these for your daughter later as she learns to play. without getting all technical, they sound great.

 

ya know ive had a few Marshal amps, and EVERY single one had problems. i must of gone through 4 or 5 sets of tubes and a powerhead . i bought the Traynor since its well built and sounds great. some of the old stuff is great, but its still old!!!

 

MIKE

IN MY YOUNGER DAYS IN THE FAMILY BUSINESS, WE SOLD TO FENDER AND MARSHALL THE TUBES

6L6
KT88
KT66
12AX7
12ATY

ETC................

 

yes, the Mexican and Jap Strats play just fine. the new pots and pickups are a real plus!! i used to be a die hard "originalality" freak and only used Gibson or Fender strings on my old axes. however, Annie Allman , the sister of the Allman Brothers has a very nice guitar shop here in Savannah. she urged me to try these "DR" strings. they are hand made, and though i dont know what difference it makes, they are the best guitar strings i have ever had , period. please bear in mind i play a very heavy blues sound. think Stevie Ray Vaughn meets Randy Rhoads ( early OZZY).

if your daughter sticks with it, a quality tube amp and a guitar upgrade will be in the far future. i think its a great gift for her, and if i can help in any way please Pm me. i have been wanting to get some computer software to record my stuff with, when i get around to it! you made a great choice. Michael

 

boy i could have kept you guys in business!!! shame i got rid of all my old amps....... stuff would be worth a fortune now, and you can get most of the parts again. i will get another Marshall if / when i ever play in public again. my little Traynor is great for the house. you can still hear it at the mailbox outside, my friends hate it when i cant hear the phone or the doorbell though!

 

Ooops! Actually, Matt, I usually like GC, but now that I've got someone from corporate, I do have a question or two.

1)What's up with the priced-to-haggle system? Every one of the larger items I've purchased over the last 20 years I've paid cash, negotiated with the salesman ("I'll have to talk to my manager...He said 'no'.") and had to literally walk out the door before completing the sale!

2)Salespeople are way too hit or miss. I've met guys there who know everything upside-down and inside-out. And I've had guys who obviously didn't know a damn thing, but rather than admitting it and referring you to somebody who can help, they try to distract you and sell you something you don't need. That may be a regionalized problem, or not, but sometimes it feels more like it's just a place for frustrated rock star wanna-be's to hang out and earn an extra buck.

 

I answered #1 in a PM.

For number 2, it's called commission sales. Let me know what store you go to and I will get you in touch with Pro sales a manager. It's all who you know.