Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Gary,

A good, affordable vintage tone can be had with a SF Princeton, Princeton Reverb or even Deluxe Reverb. I prefer the former.
My new MG 360 (6 string) sounds good clean or slightly overdriven through my 1965 BF Princeton. Remember the Princeton Reverb has one extra gain stage, hence more overdrive capacity. Someday I might even get a Weber AlNiCo speaker patterened after the Vox Blue-Dog to get more "Mersey"-ful with my tone! Remember: 6V6 Fender amps. Try one.

Larry

Thank u guys for your insight. Now I have 2 routes from which to choose. Bite the bullet and buy the AC 30 or first check out the SF Princeton or Valvetronix modeling amp. With a boy in college and another college-bound in 2 years, I'll start another "amp" fund. LOL
Thanks, Gary

WOW!!!! Exclamation mark alert!!

Gary, my new AC-30CC1 is absolutely awe-summ!! I've only spent a couple of hours with the 330/6 plugged in, but I am amazed at the flexibilty and power of this thing. It's the loudest 30 watts RMS I've ever heard! Makes the little Roland Cube 30 seem like a 5 watt pocket amp!

It's got everything - from as clean as a shaved peach to as tight and crunchy as Terri Hatcher in a leather cat suit!!!

It comes with a card that gives you four sample settings - clean, classic, overdrive and crunch.
Clean is exactly that - pure, unadulterated and sweet.
Classic gives you a bit more low end with a hint of overdrive.
Overdrive is what it says - much higher pre-amp output with classic 60s distortion.
Crunch is stunning! If you wanna do that CSI Miami thing (can never remember the name of the Who song!), this is the one..... crikey!! I even sounded (for 3 seconds) like Pete Townshend!

The tremolo is classic, with the speed and depth controls and the reverb is brilliant, with heaps of variations through the dwell toggle and tone and mix controls.

I reckon you could play with this thing every day for a year and still not discover all the possibilites - the variations seem endless - from subtle to massive!!

I haven't put the Tonelab SE through the effects loop yet but I'll get to that in the near future.

Please do yourself a favour and try one out, Gary. Listening tests favoured the AC-30CC1 over the CC2 - the single 12" Celestion Neo-dog produced a richer sound with more 'grunt' than the twin Wharfedales in the CC2 (and about 15 pounds less weight).

When you take the price into consideration, its even better!!

Cheers........ H

I'd be interested in how the ToneLab sounds through the AC-30CC1. I've tried all I can think of and can't get a decent sound with my SE and an AC-30TBX. I gave up and got an Atomic...

Depends what you mean by 'decent sound', John. What are you looking for?

Well the ToneLab has a bunch of great models, I guess I wanted to use some of the sounds live: a good clean, a good overdrive, etc. I really like the Fender Twin, the Dumble clean, the JTM-45, and the Bassman sounds on the SE. Through the AC-30, they sounded like an AC-30 with some overdrive... I ended up using the SE as a pedal board, switching the amp and cab simulators off.

With the Atomic, you can get a better use of the SE IMO. The AC-30 sounds through the Atomic are close enough. I may get the 2x12 when it comes out...

You over-equipped yourself, John, with the SE. It's a tinkerer's paradise, but it sounds like you know what you like, and it's a half-dozen very specific sounds. The SE is a very expensive pedal-board!

John,

I wouldn't run a Tonelab through an amp. You're putting unwanted tonal coloration onto the sound. Run it through a clean power amp and from there into a cab.

Yes Kevin, agreed! That's pretty much what the Atomic is - it is a tube power amp/combo with no pre-amp. It is designed for these modelers (POD, ToneLab, etc), and is about the same dimensions as an AC-30...

The hatch on top is actually where the POD or other modeler would fit. They sell various shaped inserts to nest your modeling device.

I do use my SE with an amp, and run it on its "clean tube" setting so the modeler can do its thang. A good pair of headphones is all the SE really needs, though.

Those Atomic setups are sweet looking, but they forgot about us bassists! Now if they'd just come up with a 4x10 cab, I'd be in...

In the meantime, I'm looking for a good, transparent power amp. Any ideas?

"I'm looking for a good, transparent power amp. Any ideas?"

Let's see...Aragon, Jeff Rowland Designs, Krell, Mark Levinson. Oh, you mean for your bass rig? SWR, QSC, Stewart...

Jeff...

I'm looking for something to run my Pod through. I've really grown to love the sounds that I get from it and running it as a DI serves me great for recording, but I've finally gotten back in contact with the best drummer I've ever played with so I'm looking for ideas.

QSC amps look good and the price range is livable... all I want out of a power amp is wattage and an utter lack of it's own sound.

Would you recommend a chorus amp for a Rickenbacker? I tried an older Fender Princeton Chorus and the clean sound was superb to my ears.

Well folks,
I took a positive step toward tone. I bought a tube amp. It's not the Vox AC-30, but something affordable for me at the present time. The Fender Blues Jr. is a great "starter" tube amp for me.... lightweight, cool looking grill, and Tubes! It'll do for the time being. The Ric sounds fine with this little gem. My son's strat-style Ibanez solid body sounds pretty mean thru it too.
I prefer the clean tones and the reverb, but have the option to crank the dials around to add a little distortion.
Thank you all for your suggestions. When I become a better player I may invest in the other amps some of you have suggested.