Hi everyone. Well, I've stopped buying guitars now. I can't think of a better combination than the two I have now....though a JP7 and Y2D may be coming one day...
Anyway, still got a bad case of GAS and now think I need a better amp. Thanks to family constraints and a job that involves a 55-60 hour week, the likelyhood of gigging is pretty low, so I need a neat combo with masses of warm, smooth tone. The problem I'm having is finding something versatile to do the Luke and Axis justice. I've tried pretty much everything in the £700-£1800 price range now and no joy.
At the moment I have a Marshall AVT150 combo and, in many ways, I love the tone. The clean is lovely and very Larry Carltonesque through the Luke, with e nough jangle left on the Axis to cover the country and blues side of things. The OD1 channel is near perfect for my Luke tone, and the OD2 suits the Axis very well, coming close to the brown sound. The only problem is that the bass is a bit too muddy for my likinga dn notes tend to find it hard to be heard individually. Glorious tone higher up the register, but those lower octave notes just tend to fudge together on both guitars. The AVT is also near useless to add an effects board to as everything suddenly turns horribly glassy and thin, and VERY digital.
The top favourites I've tried are the Mesa Boogie F50 and Lonestar, and the Rivera Clubster 45. However, the F50 sounds a bit to compressed when the gain is up high...a bit too "modern" for my tastes. The Lonestar sounds superb with the Luke, but the Axis sounds muddy on the drive channel, whereas the Rivera is a perfect match for the Axis but makes the Luke sound too harsh and fizzy when driven...glorious clean channel for both guitars though.Going to try and ENGL and VHT later today but anyone recommend anything else (that can be found in the UK). Happy for either a 1x12 or a 2x12, but must be lower wattage, or switchable, to allow home use.
At this rate, I might end up test driving amps forever more and saving the cash whilst keeping the AVT.
Anyway, still got a bad case of GAS and now think I need a better amp. Thanks to family constraints and a job that involves a 55-60 hour week, the likelyhood of gigging is pretty low, so I need a neat combo with masses of warm, smooth tone. The problem I'm having is finding something versatile to do the Luke and Axis justice. I've tried pretty much everything in the £700-£1800 price range now and no joy.
At the moment I have a Marshall AVT150 combo and, in many ways, I love the tone. The clean is lovely and very Larry Carltonesque through the Luke, with e nough jangle left on the Axis to cover the country and blues side of things. The OD1 channel is near perfect for my Luke tone, and the OD2 suits the Axis very well, coming close to the brown sound. The only problem is that the bass is a bit too muddy for my likinga dn notes tend to find it hard to be heard individually. Glorious tone higher up the register, but those lower octave notes just tend to fudge together on both guitars. The AVT is also near useless to add an effects board to as everything suddenly turns horribly glassy and thin, and VERY digital.
The top favourites I've tried are the Mesa Boogie F50 and Lonestar, and the Rivera Clubster 45. However, the F50 sounds a bit to compressed when the gain is up high...a bit too "modern" for my tastes. The Lonestar sounds superb with the Luke, but the Axis sounds muddy on the drive channel, whereas the Rivera is a perfect match for the Axis but makes the Luke sound too harsh and fizzy when driven...glorious clean channel for both guitars though.Going to try and ENGL and VHT later today but anyone recommend anything else (that can be found in the UK). Happy for either a 1x12 or a 2x12, but must be lower wattage, or switchable, to allow home use.
At this rate, I might end up test driving amps forever more and saving the cash whilst keeping the AVT.
