Stratocaster Build - From Scratch

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks Greg. I was thinking of a Fender Super Champ XD or X2. I don't play gigs so all I need is something for around the house. I've seen videos and it seems like a nice little amp with lots of voices. I was originally focusing on a Marshall DSL 40C but I've heard it at the store and online and it's twice the price of the SC. Besides, I'm not that good.

I just finished assembling #1. I finally admitted to myself the screw up with the pegholes was never going to stop haunting me until I built a new neck. I think I'm close on a new head design. After it was assembled, I played it a bit. I haven't set it up yet but it sounded pretty cool. That switch to turn on the neck pickup adds some very interesting sounds. All the pups are single coil so there's the Strat hum but once you start playing, you don't even hear it. Don't tell Brian, but I think it plays better than his Tele.

[Ted Calver]

Julie,
I have the SuperChamp X2 and have been very pleased with it.

[george wilson]

Keep on trucking,Julie. You WILL get somewhere. I know you will.

I have owned about 24 amps over the years. Vox,Bedrock,Fender Bassman,vintage Supro,vintage Gretsch, Matchless,Peavey,Crate,I can't recall them all. Now I have the greatest amp combination I ever had. It is a new Standel L25 15(or something like that). I haven't played much at all because my worn out right thumb joint is just terribly painful,from playing finger style guitar since 1952.

I bought the Standel a few years ago hoping it would sound so good that I'd get back into playing. It DOES,but the thumb is just too bad. It is an exact copy of only 50 originals made back in the 1950's. Anyone who was anyone as a guitar player had one. It has incredible tone,but will make any mistake stand out more than any other amp will. I play clean Chet Atkins style. This is not a rock and roll amp. I jack it into my Roland jazz chorus 120,and the tone is just unbelievable.

This is probably a lot more money than you'll want to spend. The Standel is about $3500.00. The Roland JC 120 no longer is made with the aluminum dome speakers,which is a terrible loss. Those aluminum domes put out the real high notes.

If you could find a used one,you can easily see the shiny domes through the grill cloth. It is not an attractive amp. I always meant to make another cabinet for it. But,even without the Standel,it is the best OTHER amp I have had. The distortion section is bad,use a pedal. It is a heavy amp,though. The Standel is,too,with the 15" J.B. Lansing original vintage speaker,it weighs 65#. The Roland weighs more. You would be spoiled if you ever tried one IF you play CLEAN,and the Standel would spoil you worse.

I can't offhand think of a great small amp. I had a little Mesa Boogie that was very nice,but not in the Roland class. My Fender Bassman reissue was good until I heard the Roland.

What you want depends upon what style you want to play. If you want growl,grind,and that rock style,I am not experienced in rock and roll. I never could play rock. Standel went out of business because they did not want to make distortion amps. They listened to their technicians instead of the musicians,and music changed(for the worse,in my opinion).

[John Coloccia]

The Super Champ isn't a bad little amp. The effects are a little cheesy, but not horrible. I'd personally try to find one used before paying $400 for it. In the $400 or $500 range, I'd be looking used for some different amps.

[george wilson]

John,I am not a pedal expert at all.I only use a reverb pedal. But,regardless of the amp,can't you get whatever you want on terms of effects out of a pedal? Like the pedal you just invented.

[Julie Moriarty]

The Super Champ isn't a bad little amp. The effects are a little cheesy, but not horrible. I'd personally try to find one used before paying $400 for it. In the $400 or $500 range, I'd be looking used for some different amps.

Suggestions?

[Julie Moriarty]

Julie,
I have the SuperChamp X2 and have been very pleased with it.

I've never heard it live (they didn't have it at Sam Ash) but have listened to it through many YouTube videos and liked what I heard. Using just the XD amp - no pedals - one guy was able to do some pretty nice Pink Floyd licks.

I've heard the X2 is a bit more digital than the XD. One video mentioned how you can go into the amp with Fender software and change the voices to whatever you want. Not bad for $380.00

[John Coloccia]

John,I am not a pedal expert at all.I only use a reverb pedal. But,regardless of the amp,can't you get whatever you want on terms of effects out of a pedal? Like the pedal you just invented.

Unlike the guys putting fake curl on a plain board (), you can only do so much with amps. They act like a filter. The SC, for example, is a 10" speaker, I think. There's only so much you can do with a 10" speaker in that style of non-tuned cabinet. It's always going to sound a bit mid-rangy and thin. Very popular recording amp, especially for country, by the way. As a general amp? I'm not so sure. The Super Champ circuitry itself is a bit bright for my tastes too. Like I said, there's really nothing wrong with the amp. It just really wouldn't be my very first choice for a generic amp.

I happen to play through a Blues Deluxe these days. Again, that wouldn't really be my very first choice for a do-all amp, but it suits my style pretty well I guess. I've owned quite a few different amps over the years. I sold off most of them, including my beloved JCM800, and my Fuchs ODS50. I kept the Blues Deluxe, and I have a Red Knob "The Twin". The Fender Twin is MONSTEROUSLY loud...unmanageably loud, actually, even on the 25W setting. It's ridiculously heavy too.

I'll think about it for a bit, Julie. There are a lot of great amps out there these days. The Roland Cube 40 really isn't a bad little amp. Still a 10" speaker, but it sounds very good. No tubes. That might be an advantage for around the house, actually. Crate and Peavey are making some nice amps. You might be best off sticking with solid state for now. You'll never get it loud enough in the house for the tube amps to start sounding good unless you get a 1W amp or something like that. You really need to drive the tubes a bit to get it sounding right.

edit:
BTW, that video DOES sound nice, Julie. Like I said, it's a bit lacking in low end, but it's really not bad. If you like it, go ahead an pick one up. You can probably get it through your local Guitar Center. That's not my favorite place in the world, but they have a pretty good return policy, and also may very well have one kicking around used. Given Fender and Gibson's absurd stocking requirements, most mom and pops just can't carry the brand anymore so you're often stuck shopping at GC.

[george wilson]

If Crate is acceptable(they could be built a little better,you have to take the back off to get to the fuse),I had 2 of them. One was a single 12" speaker class A tube amp. Used EL84 tubes,one of my favorite tubes. The other was a 2-12" Crate.

The 1-12" speaker amp had real good tone(so does the 2-12),and class A tube amps do put out the best tone. You'd have to ask the dealer if a tube amp is class A,or some other class. I can't recall offhand WHY a class A amp sounds the best,but to me,and a lot of others they do.

Actually,I still have the 2-12" Crate. I forget what all I have piled in my back room!! Just haven't played much at all for years because of my thumb.

[Julie Moriarty]

Check out the Fender Fuse website. I was just looking at it. While I don't completely understand all it can do, I do know certain Fender amps can be linked to the software and you can download band tracks and presets. The presets can be loaded into your amp, or you can customize your own. Also, the X2 can be bought as a combo or as a head alone. But the head and 12" cabinet speaker would bump up the $380 combo price (with the 10") another $120.00. I want to have fun with this but I'm kinda picky on sound quality so I don't want to buy something I'll soon regret. I've learned over the years when price dictates the purchase, regret too often sets in later.

I'm now wondering how many other amplifier manufacturers have download and preset capabilities.

[Julie Moriarty]

Julie,
I have the SuperChamp X2 and have been very pleased with it.

Ted, do you use the Fuse software with your amp? If you do, how do you like it?

[Julie Moriarty]

I finished spraying coats 4-6. After about 5 minutes had passed, I decided to take a picture, hoping it would still be wet. It wasn't. The first few pics were w/o a flash and I was getting the low light warning. So I turned on the flash and held the camera up as high as I could and took the picture.

No, a fog didn't roll in. That's a lacquer cloud.
It wasn't visible to the naked eye, but once the flash hit all the little particles - YIKES! Anybody got a match?

[george wilson]

I recommend the Crate 12" single speaker tube amp. It will sound a lot better than those others. I know nothing about down loading stuff through the amp though.

[Jerrimy Snook]

Julie,

I have been riveted to this thread and I don't even play guitar!

One of the musicians in our worship band has a Line 6 Pocket Pod that will emulate many different amps and has stock and downloadable tones from many different guitar and bass musicians. You can listen with headphones or input to any amp. I don't know how it sounds compared to the real thing but it may be an option.

Jerrimy

[Ted Calver]

Ted, do you use the Fuse software with your amp? If you do, how do you like it?

I have not yet used it Julie. I got distracted by an acoustic electric and a little Fishman LoudBox Mini.