Robben Ford Discussion

[Mondoslug]

[tonemaster2_11]

Saw Robben's show in Cleveland last week. As usual it was awe inspiring. The band was GREAT! I wasn't familiar with anyone else in the band except Malach so I didn't know what to expect. Dewayne Pete was rock solid and Hilary's performance was about the most MUSICAL drumming I've ever heard. She and RF really carry the show!
Our party got there early and had seats reserved up front so I got to watch Daved setting up. When I listened to him strumming a few things through Robben's rig it really just sounded like any good amp but when ROBBEN picked up one of those guitars well... I think you know the rest !!
I sticking to my earlier stated opinion...

HANDS= 99%


Thanks to Daved for being patient with my sniffing around. Ask Robben where he got that cool shirt??!!

[marinblues]

[doctor-mo]

I saw Robben in Minneapolis a few weeks ago and it was great. His new band is fine and Hillary can drum. I thought Robben's last two CD's were a little weak but the songs really come alive when he is in concert.

All I can say to this thread is that I recently obtained a Andy Fuchs Overdrive modified Fender Bassman for $1000 on E-bay and I am selling my other amps so I can buy the real thing one of these days. For those who say the amp does not matter, I do not think so unless everyone already has a great amp (Two Rock, Fuchs, Dumble, etc, etc).

I thought Peaveys, Fenders, and Marshall's were supposed to be ok until now unless you are in a band playing Foghat stuff. I even bought a Vox Valvetronix a few years ago in search of the sound and it is lame next to the Fuch. I am just a novice player and can see where the amp matters. So in my universe, skill and talent is #1, amp is #2, and guitar is #3 unless you are playing a Kay guitar.

The Fuchs makes all of my electrics sound good from Stat to Baker. Now if I can only learn to control the beast.

[doctor-mo]

I saw Robben in Minneapolis a few weeks ago and it was great. His new band is fine and Hillary can drum. I thought Robben's last two CD's were a little weak but the songs really come alive when he is in concert.

All I can say to this thread is that I recently obtained a Andy Fuchs Overdrive modified Fender Bassman for $1000 on E-bay and I am selling my other amps so I can buy the real thing one of these days. For those who say the amp does not matter, I do not think so unless everyone already has a great amp (Two Rock, Fuchs, Dumble, etc, etc).

I thought Peaveys, Fenders, and Marshall's were supposed to be ok until now unless you are in a band playing Foghat stuff. I even bought a Vox Valvetronix a few years ago in search of the sound and it is lame next to the Fuch. I am just a novice player and can see where the amp matters. So in my universe, skill and talent is #1, amp is #2, and guitar is #3 unless you are playing a Kay guitar.

The Fuchs makes all of my electrics sound good from Stat to Baker. Now if I can only learn to control the beast.

[Slip Slidin' Slim]

Hey,
Has anyone tried Ampeg SVT's to get a Dumble tone? I believe Dumble based his desings off of the Ampeg SVT. Yes, I know it's a bass amp, but how do you think the Steel String Singer and Dumbleland are wired. Stevie Ray Vaughan recorded 'Texas Flood' on Jackson Browne's Dumble bass amp. I was thinking of getting the 100 watt version (Ampeg V4BH) to capture the Steel String Singer tone, what do you think?
_________________
Wishin' you the Blues...

[Daved]

Slim,

I LOVE Ampeg SVT's... pre-SVT 2.

The Ampeg SVT (original version) with an Ampeg 8-10 cabinet has always been MY favorite bass amp.
Even hidden inside a road case, it was, still is actually, instantly recognizeable by its weight!
STILL regularly heard at load-ins & load-outs around the world: "What the hell do you have in this case... a SVT?!?!" ).

Simple and basic, with only half a dozen knobs across the front, you can find them almost anywhere around the world.
Sure, there are a LOT of marvelous sounding bass amps around these days but, to me, the an original Ampeg SVT with an Ampeg 8-10 cabinet is to the world of bass as a genuine Hammond B-3 / Leslie cabinet is to the world of keyboards, synthesizers, and organs.
If you want a GREAT rock/blues/jazz organ sound, nothing beats a Hammond B-3/Leslie setup.
If you want a GREAT amplified, pure, bass sound, nothing beats an original Ampeg SVT/8-10 setup.

The transformers in those things were HUGE, but they were always the most solid, durable, consistant, and dependable of bass amps from a roadies view, and overall the best sounding of all the bass amps in MY personal view.
They were state-of-the-art for many, many years and are still considered the industry's primary "workhorse" bass amp.
With that HUGE, HEAVY transformer, capable of handling the huge waveforms generated by low-end, the original SVT's sounded warm, fat, clear, defined, and loud, needing very little tweaking to "dial in".

common tech Q: "If I can't get you your regular rig for the show, keep in mind we are doing this rental gig in the middle of nowhere so designer rigs will be very hard to duplicate, what will you accept as an acceptable replacement?"
usual artist A: "An Ampeg SVT will do fine [almost always 1st on the list], but make sure it's an early one, OK? If not that then try to get a.... blah, blah, blah."

Ampeg's first major screwup with the SVT was by trying to reduce the size (ie., weight) of the amp with smaller, more modern, efficiency designed transformers.... starting with the SVT 2. Then they continued the hacking process with following models by adding "features" such as multiband EQs, boost buttons, etc.

They may be heavy, but I still love to see (and hear) an original SVT head with a SVT 8-10 cabinet in the bass players corner.
Generally speaking, rarely do I see an FX rack being used by regular SVT players (other than maybe one or two footpedals on the floor, such as chorus or delay). The sound is beautiful and rarely seems to need enhancement.
However, again just generally speaking, my experience is that bass players using almost any other kind of bass amp usually have an associated FX rack (often quite sizeable) loaded with EQ's and other assorted specialty FX modules.

As for using a "Bass" amp as a regular guitar amp, it does, of course, depend entirely upon how you are using it and, ultimately, upon what you are trying to get out of it, but I've done it myself and see it done all the time in the studio. Bass amps are actually prefered when amping a keyboard (which can often out-low most stringed basses) because they can reproduce and handle the low end frequency range better.

Mechanically, there is really no reason you can't use a bass amp for guitar. Basically an amp is an amp... it takes what goes in, makes it louder, then spits it back out... ie., amplifies.
Now if you want the amp to be part of your guitar sound design, then you'll probably want a more guitar oriented amp, flexibly constructed with features more guitar specific.
But if you're primarily looking to increase the volume of an instrument's natural voice, bass amps can often work very well and are very often used in studios to get specific sounds/tones/audio reproductions.
_________________
B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)

[Groovecross]

Check out this clip of a Fuchs and a Dumble. It's edited back and forth, see if you can hear it.

http://michaellewismusic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2030