My Richter 5E3 amp has made me a "Strat Man"

[johnnyqb]

I now realize that the reason I never liked strats as much as teles all these years is that I never played one through the right amp. A buddy of mine bought over his G&L Legacy (ok, so it's not really a strat), and as great as my teles sound through my Richter 5E3, the Legacy tone was in another world. We each literally got goosebumps from the tone. Everything I dream about in strat tone, like the ultimate Mark Knopfler tone (with none of that silly effect called "Reverb"), just dripping and ringing like a bell from that little amp. WOW!!!!!

[GenoBluzGtr]

I have to agree somewhat... I have always been a "strat man", but I frequently had amps that didn't make me very happy when playing a strat. Some amps, particularly ones with solid state rectifiers, stiff speakers and cleans that were 'too clean' made some of my strats sound almost sterile. They were better with hotter pickups or humbucker guitars, but the strats wtih vintage-type pickups just didn't sound their best through those amps.

"softer" amps with a bit of sag and hair seem to bring out the best in a strat.

[Greentone]

I know! Its like hearing a Strat for the first time.

[shg]

The first time I played a nice Strat through a Univalve with a nice complement of valves, my jaw just hung open.

[farlowhigh]

I had a similar experience with the Swart AST...I love the sound of a strat through it, and in fact, I am not all that much of a fan of humbuckers with the AST...

[gtrshow]

Never turn your back on a Tele.

[Trout]

Originally Posted by johnnyqb

I now realize that the reason I never liked strats as much as teles all these years is that I never played one through the right amp. A buddy of mine bought over his G&L Legacy (ok, so it's not really a strat), and as great as my teles sound through my Richter 5E3, the Legacy tone was in another world. We each literally got goosebumps from the tone. Everything I dream about in strat tone, like the ultimate Mark Knopfler tone (with none of that silly effect called "Reverb"), just dripping and ringing like a bell from that little amp. WOW!!!!!

Do you think the amp is getting better as it breaks in or is it more getting used to the control interactions?

I know mine seemed like at about 50 hours it really started to sing to me, Not sure if its the speaker breaking in or just everything burning in, But after over 200 hours its just plain wows me with my strat.

Trout

[johnnyqb]

Originally Posted by Trout

Do you think the amp is getting better as it breaks in or is it more getting used to the control interactions?
Trout

I definitely think each of those are factors. Using vol. 1/2 to regulate low end richness was a revelation that took me a few weeks to really grasp. I do think there is a break in though, too, as I know it didn't sound THIS good when I first brought it home.

[johnnyqb]

Originally Posted by gtrshow

Never turn your back on a Tele.

Wise advice. And I certainly will not. One will always be there in my two-electric guitar stable. Although I just bought this Legacy this morning, because I MUST have that tone through my Richter.

[Dale]

I had that experience with a tele and my Richter! I just loved it.

[AJ Love]

I love the sound of my Strat through my Richter. Beautiful tone

[Zim]

Yup, My Richter made me decide to get the Strat too!