Amplifier Tone - Another Fascinating Jim Lill Video
- Thread starter smitty_p
- Start date
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
Definitely one of the cooler videos I have seen in a while.
OP
Yeah, I got a kick out of it, too. It was an easy statement to miss, but one of his comments near the end indicated that the video was the result of 10 months work on this. It wasn't some haphazardly concocted video.
I’m going to watch in a few minutes…but I looked at the full video description…
He put a year into the endeavor….a lot of work, and some dedication.
Nice job! Interesting video indeed!
Yeah, but maybe think of your Kemper as a version of his Tackle Box….with other stuff sprinkled in.
dmatthews
Ambassador of Birds
Maybe sorta kinda... but I was thinking more of my PRS H and Custom 50 combos, which I can agree sound a bit similar, but dayum they don't sound like my Hot Rod Deluxe!
The speaker/cab is the killer app overall, but I'm still on the fence with the amp/tone stack.
eclecticsynergy
Ambassador of Electric Synergy
I appreciate the amount of time and effort Jim has put into his various explorations.
Still, I disagree with some of his judgements about what's irrelevant - bias, rectification, tube types.
IMO playing an amp live at volume would reveal some characteristics that feeding it a three second loop in the studio does not.
And I sorta doubt he brings that Tackle Box to sessions and gigs.
A similar problem happens in attempts to evaluate the various contributors to the tone of guitars. For objective comparisons, it's necessary to eliminate most of the dynamic factors that make them behave differently - and to ignore any consideration of feel because it's subjective.
This leads to things like Stratocasters made from cardboard or cement. Sure, they might sound Stratlike in a test.
But I defy anybody to gig one and then tell me it sounds and feels the same their favorite Strat.
Still, I disagree with some of his judgements about what's irrelevant - bias, rectification, tube types.
IMO playing an amp live at volume would reveal some characteristics that feeding it a three second loop in the studio does not.
And I sorta doubt he brings that Tackle Box to sessions and gigs.
A similar problem happens in attempts to evaluate the various contributors to the tone of guitars. For objective comparisons, it's necessary to eliminate most of the dynamic factors that make them behave differently - and to ignore any consideration of feel because it's subjective.
This leads to things like Stratocasters made from cardboard or cement. Sure, they might sound Stratlike in a test.
But I defy anybody to gig one and then tell me it sounds and feels the same their favorite Strat.
Way too much time to spend on something that is so subjective.
Read the last line, "i dont think our heroes ever did that..."
Exactly...they were busy making music.
Seems like a genuinely cool guy. God bless him. He did a good job on this video.
I just could never justify his expenditure of time unless there was real money on the table.
I plug into a Marshall and i like what i hear.
I plug into a Fender or Mesa and i dont like what i hear.
I don't think beyond that.
OP
He didn't exactly say they were irrelevant. He did clarify toward the end that if some things only affect the sound 1% or 5%, but other things are more like 80 - 90% of an influence, maybe we should expend less attention to those things that have less of an effect and more attention to those things that have more of an effect (my paraphrase).
OP
There is money on the table.
It's not in the form of money to be earned, but money to be saved.
His videos potentially spare other people from spending money by chasing features which have minimal real value on a sound, and help them focus on those things that matter more.
OP
That statement implies there is some mutually exclusive relationship between taking the time to do what Jim does in his videos and playing music. Understand, I'm not stating that is your intention, however.
He is also a professional touring country musician and is active on other musical fronts.
He states in his videos what his purpose is. They will usually start with some comment to the effect that he wants to find out where some aspect of sound comes from in guitars and amps. Basically, he is curious and tries to cut through the internet noise. Frankly, I'm glad he's so upfront and honest when he says the results of some test were not what he was expecting. That's actually refreshing.
I somehow doubt that. You can even see here, in this forum, the blind loyalty to a given theory or practice, even though i think TTR has an extremely well educated member base.
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Good guy, no doubt, as previously mentioned, and I'll stipulate to his skill level. God bless him. I dont post on any other music forums, and only a few posts on Facebook.
From my perspective, i spent a lot of time analyzing this and that, and quite frankly, i wasted a lot of time and money trying to understand why a particular scale length sounded a certain way or why a certain tube sounded this way or that.
There's nothing wrong with doing this, but it was a HUGE waste of time on my part.
I know that if i plug a LP into a Marshall, i will dig it. No testing or analysis required or needed. This realization saves me a lot of headaches and time.
Today, i played on a CM recording for hire - a $300/hour commercial studio project. I played a Tele through a Twin Reverb and it sounded like total
z to me.....but, i got paid handsomely and there is no danger of me developing any emotional attachment to country music or their artists.But, my focus has recently changed. I don’t care about all the backstory and research. I want to make money. Lots of it and no analysis is needed. Money allows my famiky to have fun, go places and do things.
In my stupidity, i took a job with Fender for a pay reduction and that was foolish. Now, i need to recoup 9 months of $$$.
Of course, this is my personal view. If this dude has time to spend a year on this kind of thing, then God bless him.
Maybe he has plenty of money and just wants to make videos, and that's cool too...but im a hungry shark. I have a self-serving agenda and we get more accomplished in 6 hours than some people do in two weeks. The pace in SoCal is super fast too...maybe in Nashville, not so much.
TBTH, i found my time posting on TTR was costing me money and i axtually worked it out to a cost per minute in lost income.
I throttled way back on my TTR time after that realization.
OP
Sure, his videos may not help some, but that's always gonna happen. It's a risk anytime unconventional ideas are proposed. That doesn't negate the value in providing the information, though. Just because some won't listen doesn't mean no one will.