Hendrix "clean" at around 20 watts?

[Riscchip]

Curious about suggestions for something that can get close as possible (I know it won't be spot on) to that Hendrix clean sound. I know, it's not really squeaky clean. I'm thinking the tone on Axis (Castles Made of Sand & Bold As Love, especially). Interested in something that will work with my recording rig, which is setup for amps around 20 watts. I would probably be running an Eminance Red Fang with the amp in question, because that's what I have in my isolation cabinet for recording, and it sounds good with a lot of different amps in my arsenal.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Tag]

Bruno Cow Tipper 22.

 

[carlygtr56]

Originally posted by Riscchip
Curious about suggestions for something that can get close as possible (I know it won't be spot on) to that Hendrix clean sound. I know, it's not really squeaky clean. I'm thinking the tone on Axis (Castles Made of Sand & Bold As Love, especially). Interested in something that will work with my recording rig, which is setup for amps around 20 watts. I would probably be running an Eminance Red Fang with the amp in question, because that's what I have in my isolation cabinet for recording, and it sounds good with a lot of different amps in my arsenal.

Thanks for your thoughts.

You're picking a clean tone from an album Hendrix used Sound City amps on. To what degree he used them...nobody knows. Some of those cleaner tones don't strike me as Marshall or Fender, so one must summize it's likely the Sound City amps.

I'd look at a lower watt Marshall-type amp like a Germino Masonette or Aiken. Many more low-watt Marshall type amps around.

 

[markp]

The closest I ever came to Hendrix cleans is THD Flexi.and as far as a studio go's the Flexi will give a lot more than just a good clean.

 

[rwe333]

Marshall JTM45 (30 or so watts) or similar...

Have a Total-Tone built JTM45 repro here that just gets amazing Axis-type cleans through a Red Fang-loaded 1x12 w/ a G&L Legacy (Strat-style)...

Feel free to drop me an email if ya want more info...

 

[cold_fusion]

Originally posted by rwe333
Marshall JTM45 (30 or so watts) or similar...

Have a Total-Tone built JTM45 repro here that just gets amazing Axis-type cleans through a Red Fang-loaded 1x12 w/ a G&L Legacy (Strat-style)...

Feel free to drop me an email if ya want more info...

Wow...that sounds like an amp to lust after....do you have a link or pics...more nfo????

 

[rwe333]

Originally posted by cold_fusion
Wow...that sounds like an amp to lust after....do you have a link or pics...more nfo????

Drop me an email - he's considering building a few...
Have some pics/description...

rwe333 at yahoo.ca

 

[Tag]

Originally posted by carlygtr56
You're picking a clean tone from an album Hendrix used Sound City amps on. To what degree he used them...nobody knows. Some of those cleaner tones don't strike me as Marshall or Fender, so one must summize it's likely the Sound City amps.

I'd look at a lower watt Marshall-type amp like a Germino Masonette or Aiken. Many more low-watt Marshall type amps around.

I owned a 120 Sound City for a few years, (long ago) and a bass player I know still has the amp. ( I sold it to him) Extremely sterile sounding cleans. Maybe good for a PA amp. LOUD and clean, with very little gain. Sounded very average with any distortion box. The best word I can think to describe its tone is plastic like. Sounds strange, but thats what it sounded like! Lol!

Mine looked just like this but with different inputs....

 

[Member 1762]

Aiken Invader 18 watt

 

[cold_fusion]

The strat and the marshall clean to semi-clean bluesy...is a thing of beauty!!!!!! on par with a cranked marshall and a LP..humbucker unit....IMHO....a defacto tonal type that is in the all time classic "must have" heirarchy....tonal pallet.....along with a blackfaced Fender!!!!!!!!

 

[Leonc]

Here's my contribution.

 

[Swarty]

Originally posted by cold_fusion
The strat and the marshall clean to semi-clean bluesy...is a thing of beauty!!!!!! on par with a cranked marshall and a LP..humbucker unit....IMHO....a defacto tonal type that is in the all time classic "must have" heirarchy....tonal pallet.....along with a blackfaced Fender!!!!!!!!

Amen! In addition to old 100s and 50s, I have a couple of '69 Marshall 20s and with a strat with the amp turned up to about 5-6 you get big cleanish plexi tones at reasonable volume. With Marshalls it is all about the attack, play gentle and stay clean, dig in and get mean. The nice thing about buying an old Marshall, aside from stellar tone is that they just keep going up in price...buy today...sell in a few years for a lot more than you paid. I've watched them triple in the last 10 years.

 

[cold_fusion]

Leonc...loved that playing and tone ...wow...very nice and soulful!!!!!

Swarty: That the beuaty of playing a vintage amp today....buy it, dump some money into it to make it sound cherry without altering it too much..and let apreciate in value while you have it and basically play it for free!!!!!

 

[Den]

Aiken Tomcat gets there ... IMHO.

 

[fakeox]

i would look for a 100watt tube amp with 2X12s (detuned in a 4X12 box & use a 20 watt amp for leads with an a/ab footswitch.

 

[cameron]

Originally posted by fakeox
i would look for a 100watt tube amp with 2X12s (detuned in a 4X12 box & use a 20 watt amp for leads with an a/ab footswitch.

He was looking for suggestions for a recording setup. No one needs a 100 watt amp in their home studio. Very few people need one to gig with.

 

[John Phillips]

Originally posted by Tag
I owned a 120 Sound City for a few years, (long ago) and a bass player I know still has the amp. ( I sold it to him) Extremely sterile sounding cleans. Maybe good for a PA amp. LOUD and clean, with very little gain. Sounded very average with any distortion box. The best word I can think to describe its tone is plastic like. Sounds strange, but thats what it sounded like! Lol!

Mine looked just like this but with different inputs....

The 120, and all the later Sound City amps, are really quite different from the ones Hendrix used. They have a completely different preamp design with an active tone stack, and do sound very sterile and plastic! I completely agree with you on this one . The original 50W and 100W models with passive tone controls actually sound very nice though - IMO somewhere between a Marshall and a Hiwatt - although they still don't have a lot of gain.

Ironically, the later Sound City 50+ (with active tone controls) is beginning to go up in value because Jimmy Page used one on at least one of the later Zep albums. It does have a unique, almost fuzz-sounding overdrive, it's true...


For Hendrix tones at 20W levels, I'd definitely start with a Marshall PA20 (or the HW reissue) though, unless you can find an early Sound City - they did a 20W version as well, in a little metal PA-amp housing.

(Andy H. - I can't remember, is that one of yours a Sound City? If not, it's probably basically the same amp inside.)

 

[carlygtr56]

Originally posted by Tag
I owned a 120 Sound City for a few years, (long ago) and a bass player I know still has the amp. ( I sold it to him) Extremely sterile sounding cleans. Maybe good for a PA amp. LOUD and clean, with very little gain. Sounded very average with any distortion box. The best word I can think to describe its tone is plastic like. Sounds strange, but thats what it sounded like! Lol!

Mine looked just like this but with different inputs....

Wondering how your Sound City might equate to the highly documented FACT that Hendrix used Sound City on the Axis album? Roger Mayer, who was there, as were others stated many times that SS amps were used.

I also had a SS amp, and the cleans were GREAT...so there you go.

 

[Moods]

Deluxe Reverb...

I'm guessin' Jimi used a lot of Fender tones in the studio for the clean stuff. Try and you'll see.

<M

 

[carlygtr56]

Originally posted by Moods
Deluxe Reverb...

I'm guessin' Jimi used a lot of Fender tones in the studio for the clean stuff. Try and you'll see.

<M

Yeah he did. Great example is Rainy Day, Dream Away.
Check that and then listen to those tunes mentioned from Axis. Not even in the ballpark, IMO. Fender is cleaner....

Can run down a huge list of amps...........what's the point? None are going to get that tone........it's unusual cause it wasn't Fender or Marshall.
I got some live shows where the Sound City stack was mixed in with his Marshalls. It was a bright/dirty tone, IMO....much like those tracks on Axis.