Amps for that Tone?

nohshow

Is anyone going to make fun of me because I bought an Epiphone Les Paul? Almost certainly, and yet, undaunted, I carry on: What is a good amp or make of amp (budget restrictions apply) to get that full and rounded Santanaesque tone? I don't do much live, mostly preferring to record at home. I also have a POD with some nifty downloads, but the Maine amp I got about 20 years ago is a little on the edgy side for my tastes and doesn't do anything very much justice anymore.

Karl Hungus

nohshow wrote:

Is anyone going to make fun of me because I bought an Epiphone Les Paul?

What makes you say that? They're decent enough guitars.

nohshow wrote:

What is a good amp or make of amp (budget restrictions apply) to get that full and rounded Santanaesque tone?

Well, is a Mesa Boogie out of your budget? He uses Mark Is and Nomads. What exactly is your budget anyway? I believe he also uses Dumbles. But the chances of seeing one for sale, are slim to none, even if you could ever afford it.

Prodived your budget is really limited, I'd say you could do a hell of a lot worse than going for a Laney, such as this LC 15R. You just can't beat real tube overdrive, and that little baby will do you well.

The Mark I reissue is definetly the one to go for if you want the real Santana sound, but any decent sounding overdriven tube amp will get you close.

-=al=-

u can always just use the pod for some nice tones, and yea overdriven tubes sound so nice, u can always get an overdrive pedal ro a tubescreamer to help saturate them and colour them,

Paul gilbert demonstrated the laney one at his clinic, im nto a big fan of his tone but it sounded nice for what he was doin, those amps arent half bad at all

and ive an epi Lp :eek:

John

epi LP ftw

david

http://www.musicstorekoeln.de/de/global/0_0_G_0_GIT0007319-000/0/0/0/detail/musicstore.html

Use that with your POD.

feylya

OT but when Santana first played a Mesa he said "Man, this Mesa boogies"...

Paladin

If you bought an Epi Les Paul than you are probably not throwing around huge amounts of cash. As a fantastic value for money amp I would highly recommend the fender 212:
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_fender_fm212r_egitarrencombo_prodinfo.html

Nice clean channel. Nice dirty channel too btw. And *LOUD*. Use a POD or something to get the santana tone. It will be difficult to get a Santana tone with any amp using an Epi Les Paul so you may as well just get an amp that is a good amp. If the clean channel is good you can use effects to get *close* to the sounds you want.

disgruntled

Those Atomic amps look interesting alright, but if your budget wont stretch maybe you could use your pod in place of the preamp on something like that fender 212. Basically just use the poweramp and speakers of the amp, I had a similar setup myself for a while.

david

I imagine the fender is REALLY clean and sterile, i'd say you want valves tbh.

http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_peavey_valve_king_112_gitarrencombo_prodinfo.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_fender_blues_junior_prodinfo.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_peavey_classic30_prodinfo.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_artikel-178988.html
http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_engl_thunder_50_e322_roehrencombo_prodinfo.html

Theres some nice valve amps to suit a low-medium budget. I can guarantee you that the Thunder will get santana tone.

feylya

Ah, the Fender ain't that bad, especially if you're pushing some nice effects into it.

Paladin

The Engl Thunder is E500 more than the Fender 212 though. Which is why I would recommend the Fender.
I honestly think the clean tone from the Fender suits something like the POD (or even the Behringer version if you are on a budget).

Voodu Child

I agree with Karl, mesa is a good choice if youre trying to nail the santana sound. Go secondhand if youre on a budget, i might even sell you one of mine.
The f series are good value for money too, especially from guitarbargains

david

Paladin wrote:

The Engl Thunder is E500 more than the Fender 212 though. Which is why I would recommend the Fender.
I honestly think the clean tone from the Fender suits something like the POD (or even the Behringer version if you are on a budget).

You really need valves to nail the santana sound properly

Kenny_D

If you want valves on a budget it might be worth checking out one of these:

http://www.thomann.de/thoiw6_epiphone_valve_junior_epajr_gitarrencombo_prodinfo.html

I've heard good things about them

Here's some reviews: http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Epiphone/Valve_Junior_Combo-1.html

nohshow

Thanks to everyone for these suggestions. I'm very interested in the Atomic, which seems good on paper, almost exactly the kind of thing I was imagining but didn't realise anyone actually made. Price is just on the edge of my resources, but only 18W??

The Mesa might need some serious tracking down (second-hand). I had a Laney for a while, though I didn't have the LP or the POD at the time, and it was the first one that I thought of myself - very clean and natural - and since it falls well enough inside the budget, it or the Fender 212 may be what I end up with - (the Thunder, though it comes with freakonaleashx's "personal guarantee", would qualify me for trial separation quicker than you can say "and you wouldn't let *me* buy those lovely shoes???" - you can't imagine the discussion that went on before I got the guitar!).

The Epiphone Junior - once you get over the name - wouldn't break anybody's bank, but has it enough punch? I don't know, I'll have to hear it. Maybe keep it as a second or something, once I've found out if voodoo_child is serious about having a second-hand Mesa for sale???

Thanks to everyone for the invaluable assistance, it's really very much appreciated.

Kenny_D

18 watts was good enough for Clapton

nohshow

Then maybe I should reconsider - again. It looks the biz, it looks like it sounds the biz, and EC has been in this business a lot longer than I have - what am I talking about, he's been in the business, full stop!

david

18 watts all valve is very very loud with a 12" speaker, them atomic amps are supposed to sound excellent with modellers too, im tempted to get one for my vox tonelab. My ENGL is 50w all valve snd rarely gets past the 9 o clock position when gigging, its extremely loud.

Kenny_D

Sure look at the Marshall 18w. One of the most legendary amps ever made. Some consider it THE holy grail in tone. You wont be able to buy an original but people make them themselves. Point is, 18watt tube should be loud enough. My 2 watt micro cube hardly gets turned up full (on the heaviest channel), and thats solid state

deaddonkey

18 watts tube is plenty

(I have 50 watts tube in my bedroom and wish I had a lot less because I can only play properly when my family are out.)

JMArr

What is your 'main' amp that u have presently ?? I'm not a santana expert but his tone is like thick n creamy with loads of sustain right?...so your epi LP should be able to approximate on neck p/u with tone rolled off prob(?) but if u find its getting muddy /doesnt sustain long enough could be you need better pickups rather than another amp as it will still be muddy & weak sounding through ANY amp..?? Will another amp give u more sustain & tone if your guitar cant produce in the first place? just a thought ...the stock pickups in most epi lps are pretty weak imo (I dont have much good to say for them anyway) ..u may need seymour duncs or a better grade mahogany guitar with SD's and it will sing through any amp I'd say...prob bring your epi into musicmaker and try out next to a Santana SE or PRS through the same amp ...you will hear if its the amp or guitar...!

noh showband

Yeah, JMArr, take your point, as someone who has only realised he could afford to get a better guitar, the Epi was about the limit of my financial range, tho'. You're bang-on with the p/u and tone control combination, though, which benefits (for some styles of playing) with the addition of the bridge p/u. A little more sparkly without getting too bright.

The Maine I mention is a twenty year old amp, 30 or 50 watt (I reckon, must have a look at the back again some day) with a couple of 12-inch 8 ohm speakers that are getting a little ragged and there's distortion coming from somewhere that I haven't asked for, even with the guitar backed off. There's also a hard edge to the sound that doesn't immediately lend itself to the kind of mellow tone I'm striving for, and to be honest I figure the Santana sound is more like a starting point for me until I discover my own, personal sound. (Damn! I said 'to be honest' instead of tbh. What will people think!). With the guitar through the POD as a di option for recording, it sounds pretty good, I have to say (after a week of tweaking and fiddling) but the amp just roughs it up a little more than I like.

As for the guitar itself, I have no complaints, but my experience is probably a little more limited than yours. It sounds warm and the sustain is better than I'm used to with my aged Washburn Eagle. The pick-ups are powerful, though not as powerful as the Eagle (which was a test for any input pre-amp I ever used it with) and the tone is rich all the way up the fretboard (again, the poor old Eagle gets a bit thin after the twelfth fret).

Okay, it isn't my quite dream guitar (which is a LP Supreme) but it's as near as I can justifiably afford.

And it's a lovely colour.

Thanks for your ideas, though, I've been interested in the Seymour Duncans for a while and might get around to trying one out some day.