I started playing guitar at age 30, and finally after 14 years, decided to buy my first tube amp. It was one of those “how long are you going to wait before you buy the gear you REALLY want?” situations, and after lusting over the Express series for a while, I pulled the trigger and purchased the 5:25 1x10. It was one of the best decisions I ever made, but nevertheless, I went through my own growing pains and thought I would share some of these with those of you who are perhaps on the cusp of making a similar decision.
1. Don’t read too many forums! This may seem contradictory because hey, where am I again?... but it’s true. If you do, soon after your purchase you will want to swap your tubes and speakers, or exchange for the 1x12 or the 5:50. While these may be the correct moves for you (I have the Celestion Gold speaker now which I LOVE), until you really know your amp, it’s too soon to make those decisions. Which brings me to my next point…
2. Get to know your amp! The Express series has such a wide variety of tones, and unless you maneuver around these a lot, you are not doing the amp justice. I started out on Clean, went to Crunch, and am now on Blues as my base channel, and after 1.5 years now feel like I have a good handle on these settings. I have yet to master Burn, but there’s time. Also, your amp is not going to sound the same in your basement at a low volume as it will out at your local pub with your buddies. Please don’t judge your amp solely by one environment – which in turn brings us to…
3. Play your amp out! You will never know just how great these amps cut-through without surrounding yourselves with other musicians playing at a decent volume. I was amazed at how well my Express sounded and just how distinct that sound was. I even let some of our other local musicians jam through it so that I could hear it from a distance and get that perspective – and it flat out rocks! I know a lot of you may not be ready to jam in front of an audience, but you can’t tell me you don’t have friends that get together and throw down. Join them so you can truly appreciate what you have.
Hopefully this helps some of you, and perhaps will send you to your local guitar shop to make that big purchase you’ve been holding off on making. Don’t wait too long because if you do, you may run into physical limitations that come with old age that will have you cursing the fact that you didn’t do it sooner. After you do, I hope these tips will help you along the way.
Happy New Year Boogie Boarders! -Joel
1. Don’t read too many forums! This may seem contradictory because hey, where am I again?... but it’s true. If you do, soon after your purchase you will want to swap your tubes and speakers, or exchange for the 1x12 or the 5:50. While these may be the correct moves for you (I have the Celestion Gold speaker now which I LOVE), until you really know your amp, it’s too soon to make those decisions. Which brings me to my next point…
2. Get to know your amp! The Express series has such a wide variety of tones, and unless you maneuver around these a lot, you are not doing the amp justice. I started out on Clean, went to Crunch, and am now on Blues as my base channel, and after 1.5 years now feel like I have a good handle on these settings. I have yet to master Burn, but there’s time. Also, your amp is not going to sound the same in your basement at a low volume as it will out at your local pub with your buddies. Please don’t judge your amp solely by one environment – which in turn brings us to…
3. Play your amp out! You will never know just how great these amps cut-through without surrounding yourselves with other musicians playing at a decent volume. I was amazed at how well my Express sounded and just how distinct that sound was. I even let some of our other local musicians jam through it so that I could hear it from a distance and get that perspective – and it flat out rocks! I know a lot of you may not be ready to jam in front of an audience, but you can’t tell me you don’t have friends that get together and throw down. Join them so you can truly appreciate what you have.
Hopefully this helps some of you, and perhaps will send you to your local guitar shop to make that big purchase you’ve been holding off on making. Don’t wait too long because if you do, you may run into physical limitations that come with old age that will have you cursing the fact that you didn’t do it sooner. After you do, I hope these tips will help you along the way.
Happy New Year Boogie Boarders! -Joel
