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Okay I 'll chime in on this one too. I am a huge endorser of cheap
ass gear - well, semi that is.
first an observation: BF showmans in Europe simply cost more then
twice as much as in the states (unless you're a lucky bastard like
Jerry - hey man you desevre it! ) so the thing IS different here.
Nonetheless, I am on a tight budget, and have other priorities like a
family to care for, that simply come first. So I have adopted
the "law of diminishing profit" or whatever it's called in english.
Meaning that every next $100 your spending yields less material
profit then the former.
My dreamrig would be US strat and/or JM, fender tank - BF showman -
1x15 tonering cab. - vintage or pre-cbs where esp. desired. average
cost on ebay in europe total is about 2500 Euro, with average prices,
not top of the line prices.
What I have is a squier (plywood, no less) strat with a SD in the
middle and jap jag pups in the outer positions (thanks to Jerry
himself who sold them for a reasonable price - thanks man) - into a
cosmoverb tube reverb tank, into a '71 SF bf'd bassman into a
homemade fender style cab with JBL D140F - total cost: around 1200,
about half of 'dreamrig'. i recently bought the crate block
advertised here, which is a bit different, but about as satisfying,
surftone wise as the bassman and in some respect (tight and clear low
end) beter, which would knock off another E250, bringing the total
under the E1000 mark.
The point, my half price rig gets me, to in what to my experience is
90% of my personal tone-heaven. common sense IN MY SITUATION dictates
I not spend the same amount again for the next 10 %. I am very happy
with my sound at this moment, though I will imidiatly agree that it's
not the full 100%
Now, to be sure, lots of respect for those who do have aquiered the
dough, or are willing to give up on other priorities, to get the
extra 10 percent - I love to see it, I love to hear it, I drool over
it, and on a bad day, some jealousy might be involved, I'm not afraid
to admit. incedently, when I was 19, I sold my car to buy a '78 black
Paulie I fell in love with. been there.
So, imo, it's not so much about "cheap ass gear vs. paying out of the
ass" -it's about finding that point where you, with your desires,
feel that spending more money to get closer to the walhalla is just
not worth the sacrifices any more.
WR
--- In , "Jerry" <jerry.soetewey@b...>
wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> OK. I'll chime in.
> I started out with cheap ass gear and it was pretty o.k. at that
time
> since it served my needs. The only thing Fender I got by that time
was a
> Japanese stock Jazzmaster.
> O.k., so now I evolved and bought some better gear, including
a "pimped
> up" (hope it's safe to use this MTV generation word) MIJ
Jazzmaster, CIJ
> Jaguar. a restored Fender Showman, tube reverb etc....not that I
shelled
> out the big bucks, just with some carefull purchasing a selling off
and
> trading other gear I got this far. And the help of some kind people
with
> more knowledge of Fender amps then me.
>
> As for the verdict...I still like cheap ass gear, since it makes you
> more inventive with your sound, but nothing sounds like a tube
reverb
> and sometimes you need reliable gear.
> Depending on what you are playing. I a kind off choose both
options. I
> still use non standard gear in one band and the trad gear in
another.
> But as far as amps go, I really like the old Fender BF amps, since
they
> sound amazing (for many types of music) The reverb is a personal
taste.
> I don't like digital verb that much, although there are some amazing
> units out there, but a tube reverb or a solid state reverb tank with
> real springs serve my needs. as for guitars, I settled with the
Japanse
> Fenders, rugged, very well build reliable and much cheaper then the
US
> counterparts. All the above mentioned came used, some at very neat
> prices. So, I guess I'm in between.
>
> I like vintage guitars, but I don't see why I should pay around 2K
for a
> guitar, if a 500 buck guitar is what serves me. The amps are
different
> imo, the tone of the older amps is hard to recreate. Although, I
think
> modren amps are picking up.
>
> but in the end it's an evolution. I swore with Flat wound strings
for
> quiet a while now, but I'm experimenting again with round wound
strings.
> It's like sarching for you personal grail. If it's holy or not is
> something you got to decide for youself. And lets face it, It nice
> spending time on your pc looking thru the on line used gear
adds.....
>
> -Jerry S.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
