What's the chimiest, jangleist, cleanest, shimmeriest amp of all?

something by matchless maybe. Or a DrZ. perscription or stingray.

 

The answer to that question may not be as simple as naming an amp. The guitar being used, the strings, cables, et al. must all be taken into account, along with the person playing.

There will probably be various boutique amps, and of course Vox amps that come close, but depending on the guitar being used, the jangle may not be as pronounced as you desire.

Be sure to have a Rick guitar handy when you make your tests.

 

Gretsch penguin into a DC30 into an alnico blue probably.

 

Sorry, you've never actually heard of them. All who have one are sworn to secrecy. What is known is that they are deep in the mountains of Humboldt county in California, by a Zen Buddhist nun who used to be a stripper and Voodoo priestess in New Orleans. She learned her secrets from the lost diaries of Nickolai Tesla himself, which she discovered while doing her post-doctoral work on quantum physics and abnormal psychology at Miskatonic University. The waiting list is... problematic. She only releases amps under the light of a blue moon, and a goat must be sacrificed to consecrate the speaker (although dark rumors abound that it is something other than a goat).

The transformers are wound in pure silver by her handmaid nuns, all virgins who have taken a vow of silence. The cabinets are pure hardwood from a secret valley in Katmandu that is rumored to be the ruins of Xanadu. Tubes are handblown glass, filled with circuits designed by the cloned children of mad Soviet scientists. The tweed covering is recycled from Chuck Berry's suits. The chassis is reshaped sheet metal from a 1957 Chevy hood. There are rumors that a precious drop of Jimi Hendrix', um, manly fluids are used in the glue.

The circuit design is unknown. The boards are layered in a special epoxy that dissolves into acidic ruin at the touch of a human hand or unconsecrated tool. This doesn't seem to be a maintenance issue, as none of these amps have ever broken down. The special properties of the circuit were explored by a former owner, who sadly was torn apart by wild beasts in his Seattle apartment one night before he could document what he learned.

Keith Richards owns one.

 

DC30 or a Lightning.

 

Fender Twin Reverb loaded with JBLs

 

alnico blues are a must though, if you want that sound.

 

I have to side with Matchless. I've owned a lot of amps, but the cleans I get out of my Avalon 35 are unreal. Very shimmery and chimey.

 

I've had many early AC30s and a few were about as "jangly" as you'd want. But I had a '64 AC10 and THAT was really chimey/jangly.

BTW, FWIW, in my mind, "jangly" is not purely clean, but created by some OD in certain high-mid frequencies.

 

I would love to hear this !

 

Nolatone Chimey Limey is one of them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDQBmFw2-jk

 

I think "Jangly" certainly falls within the edges of what we think of as clean. The human ear actually finds pure clean (no distortion at all) notes unpleasant. It's a proven fact that the most appealing clean tones are have their sharpness slightly diffused by a touch of overdriven frequencies. So, "jangly", to guitar players, is mostly clean, just pushed a bit, creating some harmonic complexity, hence, jangle.

OK, that's enough boring useless info for now.

 

See, I can tell that amp has a chimey quality to it, but they way he is playing makes it sound not so chimey. Too muted and jazzy.

When I think of chime, I think of this:

http://www.valvetechamps.com/sounds/hayseed/Clean P90s.mp3

http://www.valvetechamps.com/sounds/hayseed/Gretsch Top Boost.mp3

Or any of the samples on this page really...
http://www.valvetechamps.com/reviews.htm

 

I think some late 50's Tweeds can really get into the chimey territory as well, depending on the guitar and player.