New amp makes Comanche sound like old Strat!?!

My new amp makes my Comanche sound like an old Strat!

I've been a happy player of a 2007 Comanche Studio VI since it was fresh off the line. I've practically memorized Boogie Bill's "Comanche for Dummies" post. I've loved the array of tones, and liked that the Comanche had its own voice within the broader "Stratocaster" category. The clean tones are sweet and sparkling. To me, the Z-coil is definitely a higher-fidelity pickup (more than an MFD in an ASAT or a P90 in a Les Paul) that allows for lots of tone shaping with effects (I use chorus, delay, phase, wah, overdrive, and distortion). But the Z doesn't give exactly that Strat neck pickup bell chime (think John Mayer's "Vultures" here, for one), and the in-between positions don't have quite as much quack as the Fender. Sometimes I long for that tone---so much so that I began thinking that a Skyhawk could get me closer.

My amp since 2006 has been an '83 MusicMan RD100 (solid state preamp, two 6L6 power tubes;), and second-string was my '65 Ampeg Reverberocket 2 (converted to 6L6 power tubes in late '90s; my first amp, bought 1980!). Both amps give great cleans (not identical); the MusicMan's were offset by unsatisfactory distortion tones, and I mitigated with pedals. But I longed for an amp endowed with great cleans AND a range of overdrive without ear-splitting volume.

I have tried the Comanche through other amps from Victoria, Carvin, Dr. Z, Swart, Sebago, Carr, Mesa, and others, but it usually retained its essential Comancheness.

Then one day this summer, while doing my regular browse for G&Ls in Guitar Center's Used Gear, I whimsically typed "Electroplex" and searched Amps. To my amazement, not only did they have one, but it was merely a 2-hour drive away. The Electroplex Rocket has been on my wishlist ever since I received Guitar Player magazine's Boutique Shootout issue in Feb. '97. [Review excerpted at bottom of post.] Of the 30+ amps reviewed, I thought it was right in my sonic sweet spot, though I couldn't conceive of the expense.

Long story short: I came, I saw, I played, I brought it home. It's an amazing, versatile amp and I love it, but here's the thing: It makes my Comanche sound extra sweet, chimey, bell-like---and OLD. The Rocket's clean side is akin to a (tweed?) Fender Twin, and it is amazingly sensitive to right-hand pick attack AND pickup height (I had to lower them below G&L spec to eliminate a low E "pop"). [EDIT: This turns out to have been an aged preamp tube problem, now solved!] The OD channel can be set up several ways. I have not found a bad tone anywhere on the dials. On both sides, the Mid knob is the dominant tone control (not the Treble as on many amps) and can greatly affect the tone. On the clean side, the Comanche sounds so richly textured, full, and extra sparkly!! And the amp just sings on the OD channel, even at conversation volume.

I've had to adjust my ears and my playing attack, but it's all for the good. I love my Comanche even more, because it sounds better than ever with more colors on its palette! What I learned is that a guitar's tone is not completely established---the amp builder's voicing can play a larger role than I had experienced. Will I ever long for my former Comanche tone?? And should the "Comanche for Dummies" be footnoted to talk more about amp options? )

Have you found that an amp greatly changed your guitar's tone? For better or worse?

______________________________
Review, Guitar Player, Feb. 1997: "The ELECTROPLEX ROCKET 50 is a 6L6-powered, 4x10 reverb combo with clean and overdrive channels, and independent volume and tone controls. The Rocket 50's 'green' channel offers volume (pulls for channel select), treble, mid, and bass, while the ballsier 'red' adds a gain control. Reverb and presence knobs affect both channels. Rear panel items include dual effects loops, channel footswitch jack, line level out, speaker jacks, and an impedance selector (4, 8, 16 ohm).

The Rocket 50 pumps out one heaping helping of wicked-sounding midrange from its four Eminence-made 10s. One tester dubbed it the Tyrannosaurus Rex of Bassmans, another a firehose of sound. We agree with both: the Electroplex's responsiveness is amazing. There's an overwhelming physical presence to this amp's tone, and something very three-dimensional about how the sound seems to leap from the cabinet. In practical terms, it does the Twin Reverb clean thing very well, but it also offers the carnivorous crunch of an old Marshall. It really gets it at lower volumes too; it sounds like an amp turned way up, even when it's not. Feedback is another of this amp's specialties. Even at moderate gain settings, you can just grab a note and dig the ride.

Among the best aspects of this baby's innards are its NOS Sylvania 6L6GCs, Switchcraft jacks and mostly CTS pots. Board-mounted preamp tube sockets grip four Chinese 12AX7s and one GE6201 (an industrial 12AT7). Do we like the Rocket? You bet. Terms like 'growling,' 'drippingly harmonic,' and 'toothy' were thrown about as we sampled its sonic wares. And, best of all, it has that open quality that seems to enhance playing, no matter what your style."

Last edited by tomanche on Fri Mar 28, 2014 2:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I would say amp and speakers do shape guitar sound and feel to a most significant degree. The RD-100 is an early solid state design (apart of the outputs stage that uses tubes but in a non-standard way) and compromised by tons of very cheap and mediocre (by today's standards) operational amplifier ICs and a 'cost effective' approach in general. I tried one many years back and was not thrilled about its rather boring and grainy sound, an uninspiring experience almost like plugging your guitar into a cheap home stereo via a DI-box and some EQ.

Any well designed tube amp will be miles ahead of this old SS stuff because it's (typically) a simple and short (== clean) signal path with well controlled ill-effects needed to make for a vidid sound signature. Overdrive character, compression, "speed" of attack and all these things. And that transparent and 3D "bigger than real" quality of a simple all-tube gain chain with quality parts.

Thanks George, for your comments. My experiences with the clean tones of MusicMans are different, so I'll respectfully disagree with that part. It's all good.

Yeah, tonal preferences are subjective .... plus that used amp I had been testing may have been in a less than stellar condition.

I love it when a guitar, amp, and player come together! What a love story. I think I've something in my eye......excuse me you guys...don't make fun.....


All the best,

Zippy

Ah, Zippy, the REAL lost love of my musical life is a Leo signature Comanche VI with a beautiful burst in the window of George Peacock music/repair in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood of San Francisco circa 1991. I even went in to the shop to ask Mr. Peacock about it ("It's an amazing guitar") but never played it because at the time I couldn't conceive of needing it. I wonder where it ended up. If you invent a time machine, I'm your first customer...
http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/George-Peacock-guitar-repairman-2457099.php