I keep thinking about this statement, and it surprises me – a Tele (single coil, as I’m considering) can bring a fiercer tone than a Strat? I guess I believe you but I’m still surprised – is it the extra body weight on a Tele? I don’t really recall any rocker (say, UFO style) that used a Tele, but maybe I wasn’t paying attention.
Well… I really don’t see myself jamming, but I guess anything can happen. I’m a 46 (today!) year-old guy who works at home and noodles on the guitar while my C++ is compiling, and that’s fine. I love playing the instrument again, under any circumstances, but I’m not sure I can see playing out. But I guess it doesn’t hurt to have an amp, I just want something that won’t be heard in the next county, a leetle combo, and not one that only gets good tone if I have it up to 11.
OK, I’ll take that under consideration. I just hated those guitar amps in the late 70’s and its hard to get past that; I feel like they owe me for all the mud-guitar I had to listen to back then.
<checks Peavey web site…> OK, I feel better, they went to tubes finally, so maybe Peavey is getting their act together. Back in the day they were all transistor, which just didn’t work well.
I can’t bring the designer to mind (Wait, was it Pyotr Belov?), but the guy that designed the C30 is a serious hard-hitter of an amp designer. He has designed a lot of really wonderful amps for a variety of companies.
The C30 is a 4 EL84 tube amp, like a Vox AC30. You will find NO mud in the C30, I guarantee you. It’s really a great little amp, and the price is nice as well.
Let’s be clear about this: The single biggest difference between Tele’s and Strat’s, as they say in the biz, is balls. Tele’s are hard tails - i.e., no tremolo/whammy bar - so the sound is harder-edged vs. a Strat (with a Strat’s whammy set to function, one end of the Strat’s string is anchored to a floating point - that allows it to vibrate, softening the tone a tad). Also, the Tele bridge pickup has a brass plate underneath which also brightens up the tone. What’s key is that this extra edge stands up really well to rolling the Tone off on the guitar - you can dial it down, take the biting/twangy signature Tele highs out of the tone and end up with 100% balls.
A few harder guys play Tele’s (often with a humbucker in the bridge - but it doesn’t change the fundamental Tele tone) and they are popular with Mall Punk - trust me, they can take gain.
If you want a bedroom amp, you probably need to go lower than a Blues Jr, which can be used at smaller gigs. You probably want something in the 5 - 10 watt range - perhaps a Fender Champ - especially if you can get a old Silverface, which to my knowledge are still affordable. **Ogre ** is spot on - Classic 30’s flat-out rock - but are WAY too loud for your needs…
Hmm…you may be right. I missed the part about not wanting a loud amp. The C30 will tear down the walls. I wonder if you can find a used C20 somewhere. Those were great as well. I’ve no idea why they discontinued them.
But that may be too loud as well.
I have a new Fender Champ for sale, if you want it. I can offer you a good Dopers-only deal on it. I haven’t really bonded with it, since I like a louder, smoother amp. But there ain’t nuthin’ wrong with it.
Uh, spam aside, WordMan’s got it. 5 watts is probably plenty for you.
Oh, and WordMan and I have different tastes as far as guitars go. He favors humbuckers, while I prefer single coils. I tend to think of telecasters as the end-all, be-all of electric guitars. They can do anything. And those noiseless pickups (which can be described as stacked humbuckers, with only one of the coils actually contributing to the tone) will keep you happy and hum-free.
Ah, I wasn’t considering the floating wang-bar bridge, that makes more sense to me, thanks.
Hmm, funny how a 30watt car stereo is a POS, but a 30watt guitar amp will blow your head off. I guess I’ll play the amps and see. I can make quite a bit of noise out here in my office, its separated from the main house by a breezeway. But I don’t want to have to play balls-out loud to get a fun tone, so its a balancing act.
Not quite - I am a single coil guy, but I love P-90’s in Les Pauls and Tele’s - I find that type of LP and Tele are closest in feel. Strat’s and Humbucker Les Pauls are the farthest apart. The key is that I love a thick, thick sound - but the articulation of a single coil, which is why I like soapbars and Tele’s with the Tone rolled off a lot…
**squeegee ** - absolutely no pressure, but you might check out a Champ - **Ogre’s ** may be the way to go (again, with a little gain pedal to broaden what it can do…)
Nah - you remembered that I am a Les Paul kinda guy - for the most part, that means humbuckers. You really should hear my Black Beauty someday - thick as a humbucker but super articulate. I have yet to find myself even remotely interested in a humbucking guitar these days - I get what I need. Same thing with a Strat - after living with one for years, at this point, while I think they are one of the coolest looking, sounding and playing guitars, period, I don’t see myself ever playing one again. Square peg, round hole.
Just a note on that: you do realize that you’re not comparing apples to apples? A 30 watt car stereo operates effectively by delivering clean signal - no distortion. That means that if a radio is rated at 30 watts, you can only tax a small percent of the capacity of the amp - when you get past a minority percentage of the total capacity, the signal can begin to distort and that’s bad for a tool intended to faithfully play what was recorded on a CD. That’s its “clean headroom.”
A guitar amp is ALL ABOUT the distortion. You are pegging the needle - the opposite of what is required from a radio. If the amp is rated at 18watts - typical for a Fender Tweed Deluxe, or its legendary decendent, the Deluxe Reverb, reputed to be “the most recorded amp in the world” and I wouldn’t argue the point - you are probably pushing it closer to 30 watts if you dial in a hairy tone at about 7 on the dial. That sucker will easily get over drums - but no one even remotely wants a clean signal, like a radio; you want so much signal pushed through the tubes that they clip and deliver the warm distortion which is pleasing to our ears. So a 30 watt amp is good for a medium sized club. I gig with a 35 watt, 4xEL84 amp (similar in rating and tubes as a C30) and play outdoor street fairs with hundreds of people in an open space. I have it dialed up to, oh, maybe 5 in that situation. Through a 1x12 cab - if it was a 2x12 or half stack - fuhgeddaboudit.
Thanks, I shall, and thanks for listening. And thanks again for all the guitar geekiness, Wordman, as well as to the other contributors to the thread. Very much appreciated.
BTW, I never quite got an answer to one thing in the OP:
I’ve been googling for this answer and my google-fu isn’t up to the job. I’ve found a boatload of stuff on dating vintage Fenders, not so much on new ones. I’d bet I was missing something obvious when looking at the Fenders in GC that showed the origin, but even the sales person (and he was a good kid and reasonably knowledgeable) wasn’t sure.
Guys, I’m an American Standard strat player, turned 46 this year, and have lusted after a tele for years. Just sticking my head in to say I’m lovin’ this discussion, and to ask Squeegee to make sure he closes the loop and lets us know what he ends up with. I really empathise with him - for the longest time I just recorded direct with a groove tunes preamp and a sans amp stomp box and it’s been years since I’ve plugged into an honest to goodness amp. Now y’all have got me wanting again…
The CA town is Corona - Fender was started in Fullerton, but moved inland to Corona some time ago. I haven’t looked in a hardcore way in a bit, but I seem to recall that all Made In Mexico Fenders say, strangely enough, Made it Mexico (well duh) on them - I remember seeing it in very small letters right underneath the “Fender Tele/Stratocaster” decal on the headstock - the MIM was part of the same decal. Same with Squire and other lower-priced versions - it was either part of the front-of-headstock decal, sometimes it was on the back of the headstock in a separate decal (just like you will sometimes see “Fender Custom Shop” decals on the back of some higher-priced models). The neckplate stamp I have mostly seen with the Japanese-made ones. There is some geekiness associated with whether is says “Made” in Japan vs. “Crafted” - oh, we geeks care about that stuff, we do…
If you need me to, I can bop over to the local GC and really scope out a Tele Deluxe - the model you are most interested in; assuming they still have one…
**BACI ** - this is a golden era for gear. Newly-made guitars and amps are some of the best made ever - seriously. But, as with all things, 95% of everything is crap, so you have to choose carefully. But you could buy a Fender Champ (hey, if **squeegee ** doesn’t snap up Ogre’s, maybe you should! ) and get a small but toneful little amp…
Oh - and squeegee: I should be in Pacific Grove this August; who knows, maybe I can check out your rig when I cruise through Gilroy, aka “Garlic Town”…
I haven’t really bonded with it, since I like a louder, smoother amp. But there ain’t nuthin’ wrong with it.
) and get a small but toneful little amp…