I think I’m falling out of love with my amp. I have a Marshall Valvestate VS265. My friend Larry owned one and it had a feature that I absolutely drooled over. Three switchable channels. One clean, two distorted. That’s not too unusual, but the part that I thought kicked ass was that all three channels had their own separate volume. Meaning I could use one channel for rhythm and another for leads and the leads could be at a significantly louder volume and not get buried in the mix. Abso-freakin-epically-lutely awesome.
I bought it in 2003 before my first gig with Break Even. At the time I felt it was a little toppy, but Steve the other guitarist played a little bassy and the two tones meshed together fairly well.
Today? I’m sick of being so trebly. I can’t seem to find any bottom end no matter what I do. It’s making me fall out of love with my amp. So what do I do? I’m considering buying a distortion pedal and only using one channel. If I can get a fatter, warmer sound that way, it might be good. The alternative is a new amp. I spent the evening watching sales videos for Fender Twin Reverbs. Yes they are usually on the top heavy side, and I’d need a distortion pedal, but something about it is making me want want want. Sadly I don’t have $1500 lying around.
Gear… My kryptonite.
Inside the Red Head's Head 