Forgive my ignorance but....

skaguitar

do all makes and models of amps sound the same or are they like guitars where one les paul for example may not sound the same as the next one off the line even though they have the same components..?

So would a fender twin reverb or lazyJ20 or AC30 all sound the same or do they differ from amp to amp..?

This may be a stupid question and if it is I'm sure someone will let me know...;)

richardhomer

Are you aware of the 'Parody Threads' section?

digitalscream

Do you mean "do all Fender Twins sound the same"? If so...largely yes, but there are differences. Particularly when you take replacement valves into account.

For example, Nuno Bettencourt used a Fender Vibrolux for most of the guitars on Waiting for the Punchline. Among other things, it had a microphonic valve in it; it finally died near the end of the recording, and after revalving it they could never reproduce any of those tones again.

skaguitar

yes...do all fender twins sound the same for example....

ICBM

Modern reissue ones will do, very closely.

'All Fender Twins' is not a sensible question really though, because there have been at least a dozen different amps called 'Fender Twin', some of which are quite similar and some of which are radically different from each other. It's a bit like saying that the Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car of all time…

Even among apparently identical amps, there can be differences - generally the older and more hand-made the amp, the more this is likely to be true. Component tolerance variations and wiring 'dress' - how neatly the wires are laid out inside - can actually affect the tone quite noticeably.

Something like a modern digital modeller will only vary if the speakers are slightly different - which they can be, even of the same model.

skaguitar

Ok...thanks for your answers...maybe 'fender twins' wasn't the best amp to ask about but it was just a general question.... maybe I should've said do all Carr Ramblers sound the same for example.

I think I will just go and try some out and see what I like best rather than buying off the internet...

mart

If you take a pair of Fender amps, will they sound the same? Yes if they're twins.

professorben

digitalscream said:

Do you mean "do all Fender Twins sound the same"? If so...largely yes, but there are differences. Particularly when you take replacement valves into account.

For example, Nuno Bettencourt used a Fender Vibrolux for most of the guitars on Waiting for the Punchline. Among other things, it had a microphonic valve in it; it finally died near the end of the recording, and after revalving it they could never reproduce any of those tones again.

My fave Extreme album. 

ICBM

skaguitar said:

Ok...thanks for your answers...maybe 'fender twins' wasn't the best amp to ask about but it was just a general question.... maybe I should've said do all Carr Ramblers sound the same for example.

Carr are an interesting example too - they're at the extreme end of the hand-assembled spectrum, with an apparently haphazard arrangement of components inside… but although I haven't compared pics of more than one example, I suspect there is some method in the madness and the layout is actually quite carefully fine-tuned. It's doubtful they will be as consistent as a fully PCB-built amp where there is no layout variation at all though.

thomasross20

That was Nuno's worst tone ever!

digitalscream

thomasross20 said:

That was Nuno's worst tone ever!

You're wrong, but I'll humour you...

guitarfishbay

Identical models of speaker do have variance.

Probably not enough that you'd mistake it for a different speaker, but if you have a cab with more than one speaker then more than likely you'll be able to hear a difference between them.

So it stands to reason that two identically spec'd combos could sound different and that this difference could be down to the speaker.

ecc83

I know for dead, bang certain they don't MEASURE the same! Even two identical models maybe just a few numbers apart can be a dB or two up or down at 100Hz or 5kHz.

Does this translate to audible differences? Yes, IF you have the facility to A/B them the HF difference can be spotted (need bloody good ears mind!) not so much at 100Hz. As IC said, this is down to component tolerances ("we" did not have a problem with lead dress, pretty consistent "looms" and in any case, signals tend to be moved about from low Z sources so capacitive shunting and coupling is minimal)

Guitar amps consist of several stages of "voicing" circuits. Each one gives attenuation/boost at various frequencies. Unless the response was "hand trimmed" for each unit they must vary a bit. But! The variations wrought by electronic component tolerance are as nothing compared to speaker inconsistences! Even in the hi fi industry it is VERY hard to keep pulp cones consistent batch to batch.

Dave.

Adji

As already stated component tolerance is one of the biggest contributors imo.
It's quite common in the studio world for engineers to favour certainly  channels on their desk for certain thins for exactly the same reasons. How far down the rabbit hole you want to go though is up to you.

In more modern electronics the tolerances are usually much tighter nut there will always be variation.

IvisonGuitars

I had 2 Matchless DC30's at one point, one was immense, one was a turd.

professorben

miserneil said:

I had 2 Matchless DC30's at one point, one was immense, one was a turd.

Wouldn't want to run em together then. 

IvisonGuitars

professorben said:

miserneil said:

I had 2 Matchless DC30's at one point, one was immense, one was a turd.

Wouldn't want to run em together then. 

Nope, the only running I did with the second one was straight to eBay with it!

57Deluxe

do all humans you talk to sound the same?

monkey42

I ran a twin and Mesa mark for many years. As soon as it had valves replaced it would sound slightly different. But in essence sounded like a twin and like a Mesa.

we could then talk about different venues and voltage variance etc . In other words so many different factors

skaguitar

57Deluxe said:

do all humans you talk to sound the same?

The most ridiculous statement..!!...plum

Babones

digitalscream said:

For example, Nuno Bettencourt used a Fender Vibrolux for most of the guitars on Waiting for the Punchline.

Vibroverb. One of the 90s '63 reissues I believe.