joe_kairis's Reviews

I think a Galaxy is a GA20RVT minuteman and the GA15 is a Devon. I am not 100% though. 60s Gibson is weird and confusing. The voicing on Gibsons with the controls on the front of the amp is screwey. They are only useable for modern music if modded. Unless you want a gimmick tone for a record which is how I used my Devon when I had it. The good Gibsons with verb are the crestline series, preferably the early ones with a tweed covering circa '61. They are very much like tweed fenders with reverb and trem. For my buck I really like the earlier tweed and 2 tone Gibsons with two push-pull 6V6es (GA14 titan, GA6 lancer, GA20T ranger, and the earlier GA18T Discovererer, GA20, GA30, GA40 Les Paul). They are all riffs on the basic Fender Tweed Deluxe/Tremolux platform more or less, though they all have different preamp and phase inverter styles that give them a different sound. The tweed GA14 and GA6 are the same amp in different cabs and are a mutt of fender's 5D3 and 5E3 Deluxe circuits and the 2 tone or beige vinyl GA6 is a 5D3 with an octal dual triode in V1 instead of Fender's noval 12ay7 so its a bit of a 5C3 deluxe too. I had a 5C3 octal preamp deluxe and it had a magic round grind, but with the tone control at less than full treble it could be flubby, whereas the GA14 had tighter bass and more gain on tap overall. The Fender tweed was great for mostly-clean tele pickin' while the GA14 could handle those tele tones as well as blow up the room with a Gibson plugged in. The 6V6 version of the GA18T is LITERALLY an early tweed tremolux, the later ones are essentially brownface princetons with different tubes, but don't sound as good. The rest of them are weird mutts using at least one 5879 pentode gain stage in their circuit like the original ac15 and 4 input, blonde ac30 (which probably copied the Gibson idea as the whole ac15 circuit is a lot like a GA40 with british tubes). I am seeking a 20, 30 or 40 to replace the GA14 I foolishly hocked... That amp was a straight up Neil Young grind machine. Oh well. Spilt milk. On the othe hand I don't think I would get another vintage tweed deluxe. Even after servicing I found the amp to be finicky about what kinda pickups you fed it and just generally overrated. For the cost they are underwhelming stock and modding one, even changing 1 coupling cap value, is a crime against resale. Or course they all sound different due to parts drift, it just seems like the Gibson versions were dialed in a lot better where even as they age they still bring the rock. The leatherette gibsons with all octal tubes are also very cool, though the later GA40 les paul models with 5879 noval pentodes school the 1st gen leather covered GA50 Les Pauls with 6SJ7 sharp cutoff pentode preamp tubes... at least for rockin'. The later ones are tighter, gainier and more harmonically rich while the octalpre GA40 has a rounder clean tone.... I digress, but tis ahrd not to because I know a lot about Gibson amps, especially the ones I like to buy and borrow.

If you look at Gibsons from their unfortunate 60s period again, the good one is the Flacon RVT.

also, you are kidding yourself, the tube amp is still kicking solid-state's ass for guitar every day... always... forever! Until the sun expands into s red giant and dissolves the earth into plasma on its slow progression through white dwarf into black hole and the inevitable entropic dissolution of the fabric of space time.... that's how much tubes in a well-designed circuit voiced to flatter the guitar beat on even the cleverest solid state or modelling gear. Stephen Hawking is working on a paper to describe how great classic tube designs sound right now, one blink at a time, but even the Lucasian professor of mathematics doesn't have enough calculus to describe the beauty of an overdriven pentode or triode with his puny equations.

The Gibson amps from the 60s were crappy designs in the 60s which is why they were not big sellers new and despite what people trying to sell them as "vintage" will tell you, AGE HAS NOT IMPROVED THEIR PISS POOR ENGINEERING..... from 62 on Gibson amps were not even an also ran. A good solid state design will keep up and if tis got analog tube emulation for OD or maybe digital modelling of GOOD tube designs then it will womp a Gibson. If you mod the Gibson a little (all the right components are there, just in the wrong order) the Gibson will womp any solid state amp. its easier just to buy good stuff first time out though. Modding is a pain n the you know whats.

nothing wrong with the solid state route, I keep getting tempted to incorporate some modelling into my live rig, just don't kid yourself that your solid state amp will hang with my classic tube amp note for note when they are playing side by side. Additionally tubes just smell good when they get warm.... mmmm ozone!

My son says "tubes rock, daddy!" sure its because I taught him to, but he still says it.

I mean under no circumstance am I even gonna bother reading all that, and after you start with the your kidding yourself with the solid state garbage... this is why I don't fuck around on forums at all. Its really a matter of opinion, buddy. Its really cute that you sit on here and play God and all these kids look up to you and think your the shit. That's really nice dude. I didn't ask you to fucking harp on me about tube amps vs solid state amps. I said before tube amps are okay, but for what I'm doing I like solid state, they sound the same (and someone from the tube period agreed with me, and he went further to say people just like to be dicks (you) and act like they can hear the difference between a duracell and an off-brand battery in their pedal). Its alright tho, no matter how furiously you type, and how many little tidbits and facts you pack into your responses, my opinion is still not going to change. My sound is fine, never had any complaints on my end, in case you were wondering.

I am kind of intrigued it drive you so nuts that I really only use solid state... it really means that much to you man..?

You kinda went - also your kidding yourself, tubes etc, then the next post nothing wrong with solid state.. so I'm both confused and offended by your response, lol. Alright sir. This ones for you bro. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5YQkRJ0GXs

PS - While we are on opinions, and I have ALOT too, I wish I could turn the rage mode on on here mode, I think you'd piss off a little more, but as Johnny Rotten said, "Please, I try SO hard to be nice".. Neil Young sucks, except for keep on rockin which was alright but gets monotonous fast.

And I'll have you not fucking insult my equipment, the Gibson cost me alot dude. It took alot of hard work and bullshit on my end to get that son of a bitch. ALOT. Not all of us were born with a plastic spoon in our mouths like you and your kid. You might have been some kinda badass when you were younger, but I'm still a total asshole of gigantic proportions. If someone layed into me like this even once in real life, we would have a serious confrontation. Its alright you can have you last remaining moments of greatness on here, heard your soundcloud stuff.

Meh. Tubes didn't seem to do much to help your creativity.

nor does solid state, they are just tools... I just have a tube bias (pun intended) because every time I share a stage with a guy with SS I wind up eating his poor amp for bandwidth and punch. He may sound awesome on his own, but he gets lost in the mix when I come in.

the bit abut tubes kicking ass until the sun explodes was meant in jest... I get carried away making joke son EB when my kid is playing Thomas the Tank games on the computer in another window. Sorry if you took me seriously. It was meant in jest. Completely tongue in cheek. I didn't think anyone would take that seriously. But I did wanna point out that you are slamming tube technology based on a very poor example of a vintage tube guitar amp design. Arguably one of the weakest 60s amps from a major manufacturer.

I don't like Neil's music all the time, but he has a wicked guitar sound... you don't like Neil young's tone?

No wait, I literally came back on here to readjust my position. By my Gibson I meant my SG, not this piece of junk, I literally bought this thing to resell, maybe I'll keep the Fender Super Reverb, as it is a better example. Look man, I feel bad I sorta jumped the gun. I'm pretty bi polar, and I've been having a shit time lately. No excuse to take it out on you. Neil Young is alright I just find him very monotonous in general. Hey man, I love tubes, hence why I bought a blackstar that its main highlight is it EMULATES six or seven different types of tube amps. I think we're just havin a clash of minds. I feel bad though. Idk what came over me. Again, not used to forums and it felt like you were harping. Shoulda listened to that kid (dukeuke maybe?) when he said you sound like your being mean but your just tryin to offer advice man. No hard feelings I hope.

If I had to start pickin out tube amps I'd have to own, like as a last message if I was gna get kicked off for freakin out or somethin, it would be the upper Marshalls, Superlead and JCMs prolly? Really admire most of the middle Fender Combos from the 60s and early 70s too. I mean I just got done listenin to Ramones and Sex Pistols all day, so I would be lying out right if I said I don't have any hand in tubes whatsoever. :P

Agree on Gibson being one of the weakest amp manufactures if not the weakest, and I know very little about the amps of the era, also grew up with Thomas the Tank, good to see some non ridiculous cartoons are still around. And again, idk what got into me man, either way I'll probably take a little break from the board here. Sorry my brother. I kinda like your punk stuff on soundcloud, as I am mostly punk and some metal myself (I was mostly trying to insult you blatantly at that point, and didn't mean it). Idk I think your alright brew. Haha. Jesus man. Maybe you'll have to come show me what the fuss is all about with the amps sometime I suppose. :P

But its all good man im done and out for now, hope ya dont hate me. I think its Guitar Center syndrome (can barely go there at all nowadays), when one person maybe has expertise in one field and one in another, and one flexes it more than the other... yeah. I guess it can lead to a little pent up aggression. It sucks cuz I actually don't dislike you or anything. I think I got a lil jealous my bud. Take it easy, and have a good day, there man.

If you are talking about the tracks on soundcloud from the Under Your Bed Record the tones are mostly Marshall. There are 2 different superleads, a 20 watt treble and bass, an 18 watt clone in a head... also there's a 12 watt magnatone varisty(?) from the mid 50s, possibly a vox ac15, an epi devon, an epi valve junior, a top hat portly cadet (which I blew up during a take that made the mix), a fender showman and a dual showman both pre CBS I think), an ampeg V4B and an SVT. Almost all of the sounds came from a tall amrshall cab with OLD greenbacks and 1st gen V30s in an x-pattern. Not a lot of effects apart from a rangemaster, an original smallstone, an original mu-tron flanger, a dynacomp and some amp-based tremolo. Maybe a tubescreamer? probably not though. we ran straight in and played AT EXTREME VOLUME mostly.

My ex-wife is pretty bi-polar too. We were married for years because I blew it all off well. I may be mouthy but I don't take offence easily. I only realized I couldn't make the marriage work because she got violent. Otherwise I can put up with a lot. Add the violence in with the attitude and laziness though and I had enough bullshit. I still kept at it longer than I should have! I have a big mouth that can get me into trouble, but otherwise I am one of those give you the shirt off my back types of guys. ne of those people who is grumbly about being nice but will ALWAYS choose kindness over cruelty while complaining the whole time. y'know, whadaaya call them guys? Dumbasses????

to be clear, if you said anything that you thought was nasty it just rolled off my back, seriously no worries.... I was at pains to apologize to you because you seemed to miss the fact I was kidding you a bit... you might want to read my overly techy first comment about old gibsons as I am considered to be an expert on old gibby amps n some circles

Thats pretty cool man! I like alot of your simple leads there from your sound cloud stuff. I like listening to alot of peoples stuff to get ideas. I tend to go overly complicated. As always, simple is better my good man. Its good to throw a ballad or two on your cd, but if you want people to listen to you and like you, you gotta have fairly clear vocals and simple riffs (as you have done for most of your songs, still sounds pretty cool though).

Yeah man the worst thing is two bi-polar people though haha. Like that axl clip. Its pretty much like that brosef. Yeah I was alot more out of hand in hs, idk how we kept a band together as well as we did to be fair. I get mouthy too but I usually cool off very quick. Ill pop back on here now and again..

Looks like we got some decent traffic on here in the past week or so? I couldn't believe it when I signed on here the other night and saw how many submissions had been made.

And I'm good now, I tend to back off, especially If i just don't know what you are/ I am talking about, in which case I will observe your conversation with whoever else your talking with on here, then its all good. Yeah man water under the bridge. Still my bad again. You def. know your stuff.

P.S.- Have been using SOME smaller tubes since we last spoke, so I can't really stand on my last foot anymore brother. Mostly daddy's good ol' fenders. Don't touch this Gibson much, it sits in the to-be jam room (my basement, lol).

Good to hear from you! Hope your doing well Jimmbo.

I forget, do you have any legit tube amplifiers?

Good question, Jim. Nah not anymore, last one I had I believe was a Super Reverb i bought off my pa, and before that... I forget. I had a Peavy tube head (I think, I'm not sure because I was pretty young, not the same peavy I have now btw). Before that, high school and before, had a Deluxe Reverb, Traynor Guitar Mate Reverb YGM-3 (was pretty nice actually, one of the only tubes I genuinely miss, had that one in college I believe)...oh and I've played though mah boy's older marshall tube head alot back then also (circa 80s model, cant remember which 1).

Is that an issue? Hah. When I see something like this blackstar, which I debated heavily on gettin.. yes, tube amps watt 4 watt are louder I feel than SS, and the tone is very warm and inviting! but A) rare in my area, at a good price at least b)doen't really work for what I'm trying to do cuz-- c)I'm just a high gain/compression guy, and I'd need so many pedals to get where I'm trying to be with a tube amp. Like really high gain, before this past year, I was trying to do like RR, Zakk Wylde, Alexi Laiho type stuff. Will buy another tube amp here in a few months, after money situation rectifies itself, hopefully. :P

why would I feel ridiculous spending big on a quality guiiar? its nice to go cheaper, but not if there's 500 bucks differenc between the epi and the Gibson and if you are talking about the current Indonesian and chinese 'pro' epis versus any pre-govt-raid LP custom? Well I would spend the extra coin on a payed-in odler Gibby instead of buying 2 or 3 epis....

I feel you. I dunno, I have alot of equip and my dad has even more, the more the merrier? As far as the USA brands (GIB, FNDR, uh.. G&L, PRS) I would drop maybe up to a grand on them, as I did for my Gibson (eh, maybe like seven or eight hundo), then past that It just feels like grasping at straws. My mind just changed recently I was a strictly Epiphone (but really just Gibson) then I saw what the Far East could do in terms of matching Gib sound, quality of the guitar, quality pickups tuning pegs. I guess my point is, if the name isn't on the guitar, but you have a guitar made out of the SAME wood, same/similar tuning pegs/bridge/pickups... but its made in CHINA instead of America... Is it then really not as good as our stuff? Unsure at this point, I'm torn good sir. And I should probably revise my statement, the wording for "feeling ridiculous for buying an above a grand guitar" sounds a bit mean and degrading, and I didn't mean to come across that way, sorry bro.

The one thing I will say and I'm not being rude, I do wish that like you, I could consider $500 a small margin to account for in the pricing difference between the daughter company's model and the parent company's.. sounds like your doing well sir. haha

Shattering things, especially peoples hopes, dreams and expectations is... BRUTAL!

Totally Man! I love it when I hate something (a guitar company or a brand, made in TAIWAN..) and then it ends up playing decent and sounding even MORE decent. lol

That's BRUTAL. :P

Taiwan has made kay guitars back to the 80s... nothing special, but not bad either.... and those little Taiwanese folks can certainly wind a solid bucker. Nothing mind-blowing, but better than a lot of OEM far-east buckers. Those guys and the Koreans are keepin' it real now that Japan charges USA prices.

No I'm not like that I just shouted out the most random one I could think of basically, it was that or Vietnam. I don't know if I'd play anything that isn't at least from mainland China or whatever..and of course ESP's from Japan are pretty expensive (moreso than American Jacksons for the most part). The PRS copy I got on my page tho is Chinese and I'm tellin' ya... my attitude has changed QUICK after settin that puppy up (Johnson? Based out of Arizona I read).

I was never a fan of the SG shape but I got sucked in by the fret access after owning a nice LP special for a while. I will be buried with my SG standard,.. buried with it!

I totally understand, I was wayy more into LPs but after standing up using the older models (or any models I guess really), it just feels heavy. I mean I am like 6'1" almost 185lbs but it just feels uncomfortable. GREAT sitting down. Idk.

Idk if its all SGs, but the Gibson SGs seem quite neck heavy (just slopes straight to the floor, headstock-first, slowly but surely), I like the shape and thicker tone of the LP, but for a show or something I'd still go SG. Oh well haha.

I agree fully with you jimmarchi1, keep rockin brother!

I remember liking the original valvestates in the 90s (my friend had one and it had a quirky, humorous sound), but I don't think I tried an AVT amps. I have always been an all tube devotee so I just never plug into anything else anymore even at stores... I did really enjoy a marshall solid state combo from the 80s I had briefly. Pawnshop prize, that one.... still only good for 80s sounds though. This thing looks like it has a shit-ton of features though. Laid out like a marshall JCM2000 or something. wish they would just do a hybrid 800. Tube 800 preamp into a nice valvestate power amp.... I'll ebt they could get some pretty solid sound outta that layout. I would think about going transistor for that one because I miss my 50 watt 800 but don't wanna spend the current buy in for another one.

I wanted a JCM but I didnt have the money (and still dont haha) but I hear ya I grew up on tube amps... fender, traynor(sp?), some Peavy (not sure if tube now actually...)... Yeah. Stuff like that but I dunno, I guess I'm worried about the tubes and stuff (easy to replace), but I tend to go full SS.

Just bought a Blackstar for cheap off Musicians' Friend and I'm foaming at the mouth waiting for it. Don't get me wrong, tubes are my sound, but for the price and loudness and the fact that I use such high distortion/compression that it doesn't REALLY matter, yanno?

The AVT tho, I DO reccomend checkin out... YES, ALOT of features, every effect basically except Wah, but eh. Like I said, sounds better than MG for distortion, the clean channel is nothing to write home about but the acoustic simulator is fairly close...don't take it from hot to cold and back and don't count on it for gigging however, lol. Haven't tried any SS/tube crosses older than 90s I don't think..