What would your setup be???

[blusman]

I have been learning the blues for a little over a year and am interested in refining my sound. Most of my "outside of the basement" playing is at jam sessions and there is alway a multitude of pedals and such. I just bought a Zendrive Overdrive Pedal and I play with a PRS SC245 w/hb's and a Chandler "Tele" with a P90 in the neck and sigle coil bridge pu. My amp is a Crate with one 12" speaker , a clear and dirty channel!

I'm looking forward to hearing from you experienced blusmen...or bluesladies. Thanks so much!

 

[Guinness Lad]

I play in two bands, one is blues/original music. I use a Matchless Clubman with Scumback speakers, Ethos overdrive, and assorted guitars (Hamer Standard is the hot gal of the month right now).

Here's some possible rigs I'd consider based on price:

$600 to $1000 - Peavey Classic 30 or Crate VC 1x12, Fender Mexican strat or tele, or Epiphone LP, Boss Blues Driver or Bad Monkey

$1000 to $1500 - Fender Bassman LTD, Fulltone Fulldrive, same guitars as above or possibly used G&L or Hamer maybe a 335 style guitar (Ibanez perhaps) if buying all items used

$1500 to $2200 - Fender Bassman LTD, Fulltone Fulldrive, Timmy, or some other things (fuzz, delay, etc) same guitars as above

$2200+ - what I have or another 3 or 4 thousand possible combinations.

 

[gillibi]

Is your Crate solid state? If so, the only thing you should think of upgrading would be your amp. Go to Guitar Center and try out a bunch of them, settle on something that is you!

 

[rawkguitarist]

Check out the Peavey Classic 30 for a great, versitile tube amp.

If you want to *really* upgrade, check out a TopHat Super Deluxe in either 1x12 or IMO 2x12.

BTW, doesn't seem that your guitar or OD collection needs much help.

 

[blusman]

Is your Crate solid state? If so, the only thing you should think of upgrading would be your amp. Go to Guitar Center and try out a bunch of them, settle on something that is you!

No...The Crate is a tube!!

 

[blusman]

The Zen is my only pedal...for the blues should I add any other pedals or effects without getting crazy? I am very happy with my guitars and amp!

 

[joesl8]

Hmm, I guess I would say it's a matter of how loud you need to get. I prefer BF Fender tones so I'd say an Allen of some sort but I dig a lot of BF Fender amps. Tweeds sound a bit muffled or compressed to my ears. I've bought quite a few Crate amps, Blackheart, etc. but never jive with them but the Peavey Classic 30 gets a lot of great press. I'd check one out. Sounds like you have the guitars covered, time to upgrade the amp and you should be set.

 

[Waxhead]

Been playing blues for 25 yrs.
Gear wise any good tube amp & guitar will get you in ball park. Add a classic tubescreamer pedal too.

Then it's all in your fingers. You need passion, heart & soul in spades. Look at any Stevie Ray Vaughan DVD and you'll see what i mean

 

[Lolaviola]

Assuming you've got an amp and guitar that you like, (and heart n soul,) then I'd suggest:
wah pedal (quite a challenge to operate effectively)
a tremolo (old combo amps almost always came w/ trem)
a delay (slapback, possibly analog,)
a chorus (easiest way to get that rotating speaker/organ sound)

 

[Greiginoz]

I'd say you were covered in the OD department, the Zendrive and On-board OD sounds good. Guitar wise it's all good too. Perhaps you might want to extend the effects a bit just to give you more options. Personally I would go for a Wah pedal and a delay then really your pretty sorted. Depending on budget I personally would go for a Vox V847 Wah which are pretty inexpensive and an MXR Carbon copy which you can probably pick one up on the emporium for a good price.

 

[gillibi]

No...The Crate is a tube!!

Well then you have a solid blues setup already. I'd suggest maybe adding a "dirty" boost to your arsenal. You don't need a whole lot of effects for blues music, unless you were going in the blues/rock genre where a wah would come in handy. Also, think about a rotating speaker style pedal such as the Rotosphere/Rotosim/Rotomachine/etc.

What kind of blues are you playing?

 

[blusman]

Well then you have a solid blues setup already. I'd suggest maybe adding a "dirty" boost to your arsenal. You don't need a whole lot of effects for blues music, unless you were going in the blues/rock genre where a wah would come in handy. Also, think about a rotating speaker style pedal such as the Rotosphere/Rotosim/Rotomachine/etc.

What kind of blues are you playing?

Classic blues stuff...Freddie , Albert BB..Albert Collins SRV and hopefully at some point some Robben Ford !

 

[blusman]

Thanks for all of your suggestions guys!

 

[gillibi]

Classic blues stuff...Freddie , Albert BB..Albert Collins SRV and hopefully at some point some Robben Ford !

Stick with the setup you have man, you can cover those tones with it already. Maybe just mess around with tubes, pickups, etc. until you're really happy with the tone.

If you're going to do some Robben, maybe you should get a delay for slapback since he uses that often.

 

[89strat]

I played an ES 335 through a Fender Twin Reverb a couple of weeks back. Man, that was pretty.

 

[blusman]

Thanks all for the solid advice!!!

 

[arthur rotfeld]

I think you're set with effects. Put money toward a great amp. Guitar into amp will give you the gutsiest, most traditional sound. I'd add a overdrive if needed for a push, but that's probably it.

I'm pretty happy with my Dr. Z Maz SR for blues. There are almost endless options though. Can't go wrong with the various Fender designs.... I like the old Supers and Twins. The Vibro King is a great blues amp. Check one of those if you can.

 

[Craise]

I agree with arthur...put most of your money into a great amp.
You get what you pay for. There are great deals to be had on vintage fenders these days...with the bad economy. check Craigslist for deals in your area. Look for silverface fenders like a Deluxe or Princeton reverbs for under a $1000. I've seen some PRs for $600 these days. Another route would be a kit built tweed deluxe. You can find them new for around $650 and sometimes less used.
Really going to depend on how much you have to spend.
Good luck!

 

[arthur rotfeld]

I might add that if you are looking at vintage bargains, a cap job and new tubes should be figured into the cost on ($200-500, depending on the amp, replacement parts, labor.)

Reminds me of the '66 Ampeg I bought a few years back. The caps started smoking as soon as the guys took it off standby. A $400 amp became $125 on the spot.