Shopping

Tuesday and Wednesday I spent a combined total of five hours in CV Lloyd's (a local guitar shop), playing two different amps. Just two: a Mesa Single Rectifier/Solo 50 watt Head thru their closed-back 2x12 cabinet, and the Orange Rocker 30 watt Head thru the same cab (the Orange 4x12 there was out of the question).

CV’s staff was great, they didn't mind me playing. In fact, Clem Abercrombie (the sales rep assisting me) was impressed I brought in my gear and was testing the amps to see which I truly liked. (For those who care, I have been “playing” since early nineties.)

Anyway, evidently he's seen many "guitarists" show up and buy something based solely on its "coolness" or reputation. Not me. I don't work like that. I want to see if the equipment will bond not only with my playing styles, but with my other gear.

You hate to look at it this way, but buying musical equipment is a lot like finding a "mate". (No, I'm not going to "consummate" anything with the equipment, unless you consider the sound of the music...) My point is there's much effort in selecting the right stuff. If you get something that only looks cool but doesn't work in your rig, it might as well be furniture. Amps and guitars especially. Essentially, you are only as good as you sound. That's one means of how you're measured as a musician. And if you sound like crap... guess what?

Then picking the right gear is crucial, and that's what I set out to do. There were a few times playing in the shop that made my day.

The first time was in the evening. I was playing through some chops on the Mesa (being that I’m more of a lead/rhythm player than the other way around) and a crowd of window-shopping college students gathered around to listen for awhile. That was cool. I was cordoned off by three 4x12 cabs, and the heads, sitting on a stool in the middle and jamming my PRS Soapbar2.

After awhile they left. Sometime later, the sales rep fed me a line, half true / half sales, but still... he said I was making that Mesa sound better than anyone else that had ever come in and played it. The genuine tone in his voice is what I really heard.

Okay, I honestly played three amps that night, the third being a Mesa Lone Star Special combo, but it just didn’t cut it for me. It wanted to “fuzz” more than I could stand. I want a lot of crispness and clarity in my sound, especially while I’m pushing a lead. The Lone Star just wasn’t my kind of amp. (I’m no metal guitarist, more into hard rock and indie-style stuff. Blues is certainly welcome!)

The next day I took off from work to have my car door fixed because it wouldn’t shut. Turns out, the repair was quick (and free) and I found myself back in the CV’s playing the amps. You can never have too much of "Playing Amps".

At one point, I nailed a lead line on the Orange that just screamed. It wasn’t five seconds before the store manager guy ran—actually ran—over and said, “That was [expletive] awesome!” He stood around and hung out for a bit.

It was down to these two amps. I mean, they were good ones. WAY loud. Lots of head room. Here, think “Back to the Future” loud… you know, at the beginning, where he stands there in front of the speaker, and hits this monster chord, and is propelled across the room. With the Mesa, I could dial in “rough” sounds I liked within a few turns.

The Orange Rocker 30 head I plugged in, on the other hand, was like home. So much so that I almost walked away with it right there. But it was an OTP “One-Trick-Pony”. It did one thing well, which I already had with the Marshall and always felt restrained.

I wanted more options this time... versatility to play a number of sounds. So I bent the rules a little, and tried dialing in that “orange” tone on the Mesa. After nearly nailing it a couple minutes later, that was it. I knew what was my new amp. It’s setting me back a few nickels, but that’s okay. Like I said, I was (kind-of) planning to get a new amp anyway.