What is the difference between American and British voiced guitar amps?
guitar amps November 3rd, 2009I already have two tube amps in mind, one built with more of an American voice, and the other British. My main axe is an Epiphone Elitist Casino, which is FULLY hollow, for some who like to argue… Anyways, I want a nice warm, and crystal clear clean sound, so which would be my best bet in terms of achieving the "ultimate" clean sound?
American voiced amps tend to use 6L6 or 6v6 power tubes, and typically have strong bass response, slightly scooped EQ tendencies and plenty of headroom. British voiced amps commonly use EL34s/EL84s and are characterized by quick breakup, an overall looser sound and lots of mid range. I’ve always preferred Fender style cleans, which are definitely American voiced amps, but there are plenty of good EL34 powered amps that can produce great cleans. Above all, you really need to play both amps before you buy one, and see which one you like most.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:41 am
American voiced amps tend to use 6L6 or 6v6 power tubes, and typically have strong bass response, slightly scooped EQ tendencies and plenty of headroom. British voiced amps commonly use EL34s/EL84s and are characterized by quick breakup, an overall looser sound and lots of mid range. I’ve always preferred Fender style cleans, which are definitely American voiced amps, but there are plenty of good EL34 powered amps that can produce great cleans. Above all, you really need to play both amps before you buy one, and see which one you like most.
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November 4th, 2009 at 1:31 am
If you want a very clear sound, I would suggest American. The speakers normally have a quicker response time, and you can find many that have both solid state electronics coupled with tubes, so the result is a very warm sound that is also very clear and clean.
I’ve never found a British made amp that combines the 2, and seem to generally have a slightly lower response time and are made to have that less refined sound, because that’s always been so popular with British music. It also depends on what type of music you are playing through it.
There are ways around it depending on how much money you’re willing to spend.
Line6 makes pretty amazing gear, they are programmable, and you can download different tones to the brain of it via USB plug from the internet. Combine a Line 6 head with a tube driven power amp, and you can vitually make any tone possible, even down to the exact EQ setting that your favorite band uses, and you can find 1000’s of presets online to program it for that particular sound you are looking for. They are not cheap, but well worth the money.
It’s American, but available at most music stores in the UK too.
I went through a bunch of different amps until I came accros the Line 6, and I probably wont use anything else again unless something new and better comes along.
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