I have to admit about 1/3 of my enjoyment of guitar is simply experimenting with different gear (pedals/amps/guitars/modelers/midi). I used to think this was a distraction from playing, but I've come to realize it's an aspect I enjoy all on it's own and there's nothing wrong with it. (And yes, some days I do just go straight into the amp).
Yes yes yes! Totally agree. And of course it helps me justify all the ropey man maths I’ve relied on over the years for yet another distortion or fuzz pedal.
Saw this, and got reminded of the mod vs no mod guitar challenge you did a while back, and remembering that Lee said he wasn't sold on the idea of modding a guitar vs just spending the extra on a better guitar to begin with. One of the things with that challenge was Rob putting in some higher output pickups that Lee didn't like. What I'd love to see was a challenge where the goal was to get a similar or better tone, but with two different starting points. So maybe taking a Squier Classic vibe, setting it up, getting new pickups, and then comparing it to a guitar that has the same price as the end result, and maybe even a higher spec'd model to see if the higher price point is actually a "better" deal.
I have the gold glory Jared James Epiphone- and the first time I plugged it in, I played 3.5 hours straight. I was playing the first songs I wrote as a 15 year old (36 now 😫)… point is- something about less is more. It really revives your passion and focus. Now, I LOVE my mountains of gear and more complex guitars lol… but this comparison really resonates with me
Same here! My wife surprised me with the same guitar. I put an old mini humbucker in it, polished the body and neck, and swapped knobs, but it’s my #2 all day behind my Wizz loaded Les Paul Custom. It’s a seriously great guitar!
I'm older (71) and I've been looking at those JJN models and wanting one. I don't know anyone who has one to ask about it! With 1 Seymour Duncan, if the guitar is built correctly it should be great! As usual, I fully expect to spend 4 hours on the neck. Level/crown/polish, bevel the edges, properly cut/check the nut. It seems like a great price for what you get!?!? Have you found any major issues? Materials? I love larger necks (fat neck), but most are too small? Is that ~ .90 - 1.00 or so? Thanks much!!!
@@gtr1952 mine needed no tweaks when my wife and I went to pick it up from Dave’s Guitar Shop. I’m not sure if they did any work to it prior to me receiving the guitar. It’s a phenomenal player! You won’t regret buying one! The neck is fat. I love big necks, and this one feels great in hand. I don’t have any measurements, but I would assume it’s in the area of 1.00”. It’s a baseball bat neck for sure. It’s also reasonably light for a Les Paul, but I’m sure that varies. The only reason that it’s my #2 and not #1 is that I’ll probably be buried with my Les Paul Custom.
I used to be all about more is more. I’d create these giant soundscapes with my effects pedals and do crazy stuff. But the melody always got lost. As I improved as a guitarist I’ve gone the other route. Oddly enough, that’s when I got the Helix. However, I finally had amp tones I was happy with. It’s as if I was covering up for my lack of tone and ability. In the end though, it’s all about what inspires you. Hopefully you can figure that out without spending a bundle on something you don’t need.
For everyday music, Pete's setup is ideal... For coverband, obviously, you need more... But we can all agree that both setups are very good sounding ! The clean at 27:24 is oustanding ! And the Magnatone amp, what a delight !
On the topic of the "one pickup thing" I had the pleasure of seeing Julian Lage live a couple months ago. He played a tele with a p90 in the neck. Whole show was on that p90, never touched the amp, volume or tone knobs and the sounds and DYNAMICS he got of that rig were incredible. I couldn't believe the dynamic range.
I saw him in Boston a couple weeks ago, He's the best in my opinion. It's all the fingers man. Effects are cool, but once you've found an instrument with a sound you like, the rest is about making music, which is done with the fingers not the gear.
Amp on the light edge of breakup, guitar volume on 7, 2 pedal gain stages, tremolo, chorus, flanger, octave reverb, dual delay(halo), HAPPY DAYS! Pretty much anything is available short of heavy sounds. Great video! Thanks guys!
Marshall nailed it with the JVM. There was a JVM stack as in house backline at a gig I worked, it always sounded amazing, any guitar any player any style. Top tier amp
For me it’s both. I have a stripped back vintage setup I use and I have a complex modern setup that keeps expanding. Both inspire me, both give me huge amount of fun and joy. I think the simple answer is it’s what we feel comfortable with and what we’re looking for. Some days a tele, a Les Paul and a fender amp is enough to drive me, other days it’s an Ibanez into a palladium and a black star with noise gates, delays, reverbs etc. the only thing is it always starts with those basics for me, if I sounds good on a strat, tele or Paul into a Marshall or fender then it’s gonna sound good when built on
I know this is about not needing a bunch of gear or money to sound good, but Lee's tone is buttery, creamy, and ridiculously good! Love the videos as always and Merry Christmas to everyone!!!
I personally get distracted if I have too much going on with a pedal board. That said, it’s nice to have options. An OD, chorus, and wah are just about all the effects I need. I own multi-channel amps, but I tend to stick to a light overdrive that I boost with a pedal. Clean tones can be dialed in with the guitar’s volume and tone pots.
The P90 is a killer. I've heard Keith Richards in a live situation use his les paul junior, straight in to the amp and it is incredible. Keith has fantastic tone and I think these days is not well known by the younger generation. You can see him use it live on youtube playing Midnight Rambler.
To me it's about the right tool for the moment. When I haven't played in a while, I can sometimes write riffs without the guitar being plugged in. But if you've been bashing your head on the same part for days trying to get the right sound, sometimes having a modeler with a million different amps and effects to try out can prove useful.
I’ve always been with the Yngwie camp where “more is more”. Just having the options available is incredible in terms of creativity. You don’t have to use everything but should always have the options available.
I have a complex rig with loop switcher, midi controlled eq, reverb, delay (and soon modulation), into a three channel amp that I can get any sound imaginable. I was late for practise one day so just grabbed a Strat (usually play HH) and used the studio valvestate Marshall. It was some of the best and most fun guitar I've played in years.... I think while the "more" side is fun vs can do everything, it can be a bit of a crutch and can stop you focusing on your own sound and technique....
what inspires me more is freshness. I change my board and guitar pretty often. Sometimes it's sparse, sometimes it's complicated. Sometimes I'm straight into an amp with a bit of crunch, sometimes I like a huge pedalboard with an ungodly amount of reverb and delay. Keeping things fresh and changing up regularly is key for me.
A similar concept to photography, you can have all the gear in the world but ultimately a great practiced photographer with a really simple cheap camera can still take a gorgeous photo. Having less knobs and settings to tweak makes you use your head and your hands a whole lot more!
I rock a single channel Magnatone Super 15 with a single knob single switch wampler db plus boost pedal, along with a 1961 Les Paul jr. I must say it's definitely an inspiration to play that rig
@@alexwoolridge94aw I bought a small 5w valve amp. I use it with a bluesbreaker clone, and an Ibanez AG85 while I get the tele moded. It has 2 mini hambuckers and it sounds amazing, I mostly use the neck, playing with the volume and the tone. I m very happy indeed. Mini humbuckers have some punch too.
I think Pete had too much gear he could have gone so much less taken his pedal away give him an air guitar and let natural tone of his fingers carry the music .
I bought a Gordon Smith with just a bridge pickup for this very reason. It really is a learning curve on how to get the best tones with just the amp controls and volume/tone pots. In some ways it is very liberating. Still love a pedal or two though!!
I grew up playing a P-bass, and the first UA-cam music channel I subscribed to was Fretted Americana, with Phil X playing a les paul Jr double cutaway and a bad monkey overdrive. I guess one pickup, two knobs, and tune the amp to the room always made sense to me.
Having started playing guitar back in 1966 and professionally by 1973 plugging directly into an amp was the norm! In fact it was rare to see anyone with more than one effect like a fuzz tone or a wah till the late 70’s or 80’s. Some the best tones are guitar straight into a tube amp or maybe even a solid state old school one! No surprise. Pedal boards! That was an unknown concept till maybe late 80’s as far as I remember…
I agree the musicians I listened to Pete Townshend and Rory Gallagher only had one pedal Pete had the fuzz into the hiwatt and Rory used the treble booster with the baseman and that was the rig.
@@realgoodmind Depends what sort of amp and music you're playing. If, for example, you want to play tight, chugging, heavy rhythm through a Dual Rec, you're going to need a Tubescreamer or similar in front of it. There's no other way to tighten up that flabby Boogie bass.
The JVM410c is a superb and extremely versatile amp - does the full range from super clean to having ALL the gain - pair that with a PRS Modern Eagle V (if you want a LOT of pick-up tonal options) or a Special Semi-Hollow and you can pretty much get ANY tone. There is something to keeping it 'simple' and using only what you have to make music, but sometimes, that limited range of options just isn't wide enough to get the sound you wanted. Each to their own and I think it really depends on the 'musician' and what they want/need.
I like having quite a few overdrives and other various pedals on my board, plus different guitars and amps for inspiration. I post guitar videos to Instagram almost every day and I need that selection availability sometimes to spark some creativity if I am in a funk BUT I also own three Les Paul Juniors. I love the simplicity of those guitars and I am also a telecaster guy so I think it is horses for courses really! Interesting video guys! Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Wow man, Lee’s playing has improved so much throughout the years. Maybe you should make a video on how you did that Lee. How did you improve your playing, what did you study?
This is going to be controversial but the best tone danish pete had in this video was with the klon of and the tremelo and reverb on. When he dug in it was the perfect sound for solos and when he played lighter you could hear the tremelo work
ive recently been plugging straight into a deluxe reverb without anything and its been amazing. that paired with an ODRC and a decent guitar is tonal nirvana
I remember thinking if Eddie did it that way, there has to be something in it. When I bought a Kramer i realised that even though it's just 1 pickup and a volume knob, it demanded more from me as a player. Buying that guitar early on really shaped the player I am today.
2023 WhooHoo ! ALL the 'Kudos' in this 'vid' have to go to Pete ... He can make a matchbox, lollipop stick and rubber band play a tune ! I am in awe at Pete's in depth understanding, talents / skills ! (A tot 'o rum for Pete) ! 🤠...
Put your money into a good tube amp first before spending it on a solid state amp and a ton of pedals. In the long run you will be glad you did. Pete touched on a essential skill that is lost on a lot of people simply because they don't know or aren't taught. Plugging straight into a tube amp...driving it hard...and controlling the dirt with the guitar volume knob. My two channel tube amp w/ built in reverb...a overdrive pedal...delay pedal...and a compressor...gives me 99% of the tones I would ever want or need. From clean to blues to crunchy rock to metal....a good tube amp and about three pedals can take you a long way.
I got a JVM410H and a V30 loaded over sized 2x12 cab from you guys, I literally was looking at selling the head and getting something else and even called up Andertons to see what the trade in price would be… I think I’m gonna keep it… it’s a great amp and maybe what I should remember is it may have more sounds than I need but I don’t have to use them all…
I have been all over the place. I started pretty basic and the once I got into a band I got a boss multi-fx to have all my sounds in one place. Thinking back though I still only used my amp sounds and a delay. I then decided I wasn’t focused on playing enough and I got rid of everything and just got a 2 channel tube amp (no master volume) and no pedals whatsoever. That period I grew the most and got my chops up “surpassing” a lot of my friends (their words not mine). After that I felt a bit of a rut coming on since I could only crank my amp for the nice OD sound I liked so I went and got an HX Stomp pretty soon after it launched. I tried desperately for the last few years to expand my pallet of sounds but, I just decided last week to only take an amp and an ODR-1 to practice and I started a improvised jam that was the most creative thing I have done in the past year at least… I realize I am a simplistic guitar into amp guy but, I am desperately trying not to be as my inspiration tends to come from people using wild sounds. I think I am starting to settle though that my sounds just come from hands on strings and weird bends and time signatures. I am not a pedalboard guy as much as I’d like to be 🤷🏽♂️
Thank you for this. I'm a less is more person. Great concept, maybe a series? Minimalistic for each genres of music. Maybe not, as many videos is not really minimalistic. 👍🏼
Lukas Nelson (Willie's son) plays his 1956 Les Paul Junior through a stereo rig of two Magnatone stereo amps. Occasionally uses an overdrive pedal. One of the most magical guitar tones I've ever heard live.
I've always fallen on the minimal side of things even when playing live. Often I would run into my DSL100 with just a TS9 and NS2 when playing live with footswitches for channel and reverb. I think if you have a half decent amp and some reasonable pickups you can get a lot of tones. I think I must be similar to Pete as I don't touch the volume and instead use my picking fingers to modulate the volume. Captain, your playing in the outro jam was amazing. You keep getting better and better!
I definitely suffer from option paralysis. I was so excited for the katana stuff a few years ago and have had two of them, but then went back to a valve amp and a few pedals. Now I have a victory v4 amp and make boards of around 4 simple pedals and I'm very happy. Although.... The GAS always gets you in the end.
I think enough is more. It’s good if you choose your items of the signal chain conscious, if there is a lot of stuff that confuses you or gives you option paralysis shrink that thing. Just use stuff that is essential for you, inspires you and doesn’t get in the way. For me this results in one amp(setting), one guitar, and a sometimes big, sometimes small pedalboard always having at least one reverb and one delay pedal.
Marshall amps are cheap in the UK, 1,599 GBP for a JVM 410C, same amp in Canada is $4,699 CAD ( 2,852.79 GBP ). I thought the Captain made a mistake when he said the price of the JVM. $3699 USD at Sweetwater in the USA ( 3,052.74 GBP )
I'm finding my happy place is a couple quality but less complicated guitars and amps, but then add the complexity in the pedalboard. Nice blend of both worlds. Your end points are stable fixed variables so much of the tinkering is just with the middle bit.
That PJD guitar looks so much like what I'm looking for. I want a Les Paul Special, bolt on all roasted maple neck, with like an Explorer headstock. Maybe some comfort carves. Basically a modern version of a Les Paul. That's like the closest thing I've seen. I have an Epiphone Les Paul Special in the meantime, but that's the dream at the moment.
Ever since I got my single P-90 LP Junior DC, I find that I now play my old LP Standard far less often. I find most of the time I just want a great RAW overdriven rock tone, and too many 'tonal options' just makes me feel like I could have it adjusted better... So you end up fiddling with switches instead of just 'rockin out'!
Imho, tone is ultimately in the fingers, it has the core sound of the player, pedals can add effects and ambience etc, but an expressive player can add so much more. I would say look at Brian May, all he has in a basic rig is the Red Special, a treble booster and a cranked Vox AC30. He himself said that it’s his “voice”. Its always up to the individual to “find” their own sound, however that is achieved, and what works for them 👍 Awesome channel, keep up the good work 👍
I had the JVM 215C at home (2 channel 50 watts single speaker). And honestly it was just too much. Gave it back, got a Blues Junior and get every Gain Tone through pedals and I LOVE it. I think I will never go for a big out there Amp again.
John Klon Van Damme! 😂 That junior and magnatone are all you need though. What a sound when you turn down the volume and tone and finger pick. 😮 I am by far one of the less is more guys. So much more inspiring and you spend less time messing with crap and more time playing!
For most modern music you really don’t need much(maybe a delay compressor). In the 90 I played in a number of noise/grunge/metal-ish bands and I always used a jcm900 a cable and my Gibson sg. pretty high gain and I used the volume to get a Cleanish tone. I later moved to a jmp-1 due to weight. I alway liked when ppl asked me how do I get such a full tone.
Midway through my last gig the pedal board cut out. I didnt have time to troubleshoot so i just plugged straight into the amp and toggled between my rhythm and lead tones with my volume knob. It was refreshing to not worry about what i needed to switch on for which songs and at which parts.
Less was best for me. I have found after 30 years of playing, that the less distractions the more music I end up playing. That's how it works for me, and it worked for a ton of the greats too.
I totally agree. I have recently gone to a LP Standard straight into a Super Reverb, or Suhr Hombre and just using the guitar’s volume to adjust tones. I’m much more comfortable and only focus on playing.
i play les paul juniors with one humbucker installed (hate p90's). this (through a marshall or mesa) will play every song in my set list and has done me just fine for over 50 years :) ymmv
For me, less is more. I like using my SE on the bridge pickup (99% of the time, unless I'm soloing) with nothing interfering with my signal chain. I have a digital amp so I can get all of the effects I want (usually just some reverb, delay, and distortion) and for me, it works.
One of the best players I’ve ever seen live was a guy named Tab Beniot, he had an old FenderTwin Reverb and a couple Tele Thinline Deluxe that he plugged straight into the front of that old Fender and he dimed everything that was the night I learned that those old fender amps would break up at stupid loud volumes. I saw him at the House of Blues in New Orleans and he was a bad ass and my ears are still ringing 10 years later lol .
It all depends on the Player....and what they are given (Or grabs for that "moment") as to "what" gives you inspiration. Personally, I get a lot of inspiration lately from stacking delay pedals & reverb along with some modulation to get some really cool Ambient sounds. For that type of a sound.... ya gotta have MORE stuff! ...but I can also be inspired by the ultra simple setups for most other types of playing by very simple means... a guitar straight into an amp!
That is why you need more than one rig! But I feel that if you just want to lay down some tracks, it is easier to go fast with a simple setup, one pick up, volume tone, one amp with some eq possibilities and that can get some gain...
Great concept for a vid. Despite the thousands of people that do so much with a single pickup guitar, Every time ive tried it ive always sound that missing pickup to feel.... missing.
Great sounds, gentlemen! With that said, I really wasn't a fan of the minimalist rig; it seemed totally uncontrollable in a lot of circumstances. In contrast, the PRS into the JVM sounded absolutely amazing with pretty much any of the settings Lee tried, and it looked like he wasn't even using his board much, just the tones from the amp and the guitar. I'd really love to hear what Pete can do with that combo of guitar/amp. Also, Lee's playing during the end jam was absolute fire! Disclaimer: the JVM410 is home base for me so it may just be what my ears naturally want to hear.
Personally, I feel like there's a bit of a balance to this. I need to restrict myself in one way, but have options the other. If I'm using one amp, I want my guitar to have a good few options, and I always have 3 massively different types of picks on me. But I don't want to be fiddling with the amp too much aside from turning the reverb/delay on or off. Inversely, when I'm playing a guitar with just 2 humbuckers, no fancy switches or anything, I feel most creative when I can switch between 2 or 3 amp settings. To put it simply: in the chain of guitar - effects - amp, you need to strongly limit one half of it while enabling the other half in order so you both have options, but are fundamentally needed to either be using your fingers to get the tone you want, or to be fiddling around with the effects/amp to get what you want. Alternating these is great, too. I love just spending some time fiddling around with the options I have, then turning all of it off and have it just be me and my guitar. Especially the latter is how you get something worth recording.
l had a guitar teaching studio in the 90's. We bought 4 new fender red knob Princeton Chorus amps. We bought them b/c they will rock, metal, clean, hi z input for acoustic, have reverb and chorus. l still today have two of these amps. One that has been eminence speaker swapped w/ 2 x 10''s. l have a trick l do w/ the chorus where l set the rate on 0 and the depth on 10 and get a stereo spacial effect. When l take this amp out in smaller venues un mic'ed l may or may not bring a wah and l swear people tell me all the time how good the amp sounds next to 20 watt tubes amps dimed throwing ear screeching amounts of middle to cut thru a mix. People l tell this too think lm crazy until they hear the amps.
I think it depends on the player. If you have a bunch of options and never use them, then there's not a point to have it all (like I have a Code 50 currently and after maybe half a year of initial twiddling I have ended up only using a clean and a pedal for distortion, so I've been looking at getting a better amp with fewer options). But I've found on guitar I like having two pickups with individual volume and tone to set independently, with coil splits to get more S-style tones out of it. I don't use the coil splits often but when I do it is normally in the middle of playing something (I'll start out with a thinner S-style tone, then push the coil split off and go humbucker for added emphasis). Only way to switch that quickly between those two is with additional coil splits. I used to consider modding my guitar with phase shifts, coil taps, and Seymour Duncan Triple Shots for fine control over the coil splitting. I realized a lot of those were just different ways to make a humbucker sound more single-coily, and I preferred the coil splits the most since they shut off one of the coils and effectively turns the humbucker into a single coil pickup, and seems to create the most authentic single coil tone, hum and all.
To me...Less is more. I used to have about the same amount of gear as you guys show on your set. I sold off about 70% of it. Now the gear I still have seems way more dear to me. (Of course I kept the cream of the crop) I'm more creative and I play way more often. Love the show.
Do love these kind of videos. Robert Johnson and Leadbelly used department store acoustics and are still remembered and listened to 90 years later! The less approach does make you look for tome in your guitar settings and the amp volume control.
Which is absolutely indistinguishable from someone using midi to control their tone. The ppl listening don't care how you get the tone you get- they just want to hear good music.
@@rexrathtar3893 That ridiculous man- to try and compare playing with pedals to playing with backup music- really? How ridiculous. Get real man, address my actual argument and I'll address your argument- right now you don't have one. Of course, ppl want to hear live music if that's what they paid for- like I said, pedals don't play for you.
ahh, the memories. Best guitar buy was over 10 years ago...."75.00 for a HSS S Type. Fender FM212. Killer tone in like 10 seconds, yes, The HB. Long story.Lucky enough to have an LP Jr,,Epi. It's awesome. Now, DS 1 and a F CT BF Semi Clean. Sounds good.
It all depends on what sound you're going for. Sometimes I'm running 5-6 pedals into a dirty amp, whilst running two reverbs. And sometimes it's just one drive pedal into my amp. Or just my EQ in the amp.
It seems like the older I get the less stuff I "need" to get a good sound. My recording sound is an SG into a Marshall or Friedman style amp with a noise gate and an EQ. A little reverb or extra gain for leads is all I ever add to it anymore.
I think that the upshot of this video is that a good guitar player can maximize the effectiveness of whatever rig he chooses to play. Of course, said guitarist must learn every aspect of every piece of gear the guitarist is using in order to get this maximum effectiveness, so it may suit that player to have fewer pieces of gear, gear that is more simple, or some combination of the above -- to wit, a few choice pieces of simple gear. This presupposes that the player is only trying to play original music. The player in a cover situation usually tries to emulate the sounds recorded into music that's already popular. In that situation, the player will need more versatility. Here, more is more. It all depends on what the player is trying to do.
Leslie West is said to have chosen the Gibson les Paul jr, with its sole p90, to get the best possible tone he could. Though its a dog ear p90 on those guitars.
I have to admit about 1/3 of my enjoyment of guitar is simply experimenting with different gear (pedals/amps/guitars/modelers/midi). I used to think this was a distraction from playing, but I've come to realize it's an aspect I enjoy all on it's own and there's nothing wrong with it. (And yes, some days I do just go straight into the amp).
I totally agree!
some days you just gotta go straight into an amp
same here
A new piece of gear can give you completely new inspiration, and ideas you haven't had before.
Yes yes yes! Totally agree. And of course it helps me justify all the ropey man maths I’ve relied on over the years for yet another distortion or fuzz pedal.
This concept is super interesting, I'd love to see more of it in the future! Minimalist music setups certainly have their advantages!
Watch 5 Watt world on youtube, some really good stuff on there about getting the most out of minimal gear.
Saw this, and got reminded of the mod vs no mod guitar challenge you did a while back, and remembering that Lee said he wasn't sold on the idea of modding a guitar vs just spending the extra on a better guitar to begin with. One of the things with that challenge was Rob putting in some higher output pickups that Lee didn't like.
What I'd love to see was a challenge where the goal was to get a similar or better tone, but with two different starting points. So maybe taking a Squier Classic vibe, setting it up, getting new pickups, and then comparing it to a guitar that has the same price as the end result, and maybe even a higher spec'd model to see if the higher price point is actually a "better" deal.
That’s a great idea!
Love that idea!
I have the gold glory Jared James Epiphone- and the first time I plugged it in, I played 3.5 hours straight. I was playing the first songs I wrote as a 15 year old (36 now 😫)… point is- something about less is more. It really revives your passion and focus. Now, I LOVE my mountains of gear and more complex guitars lol… but this comparison really resonates with me
Same here! My wife surprised me with the same guitar. I put an old mini humbucker in it, polished the body and neck, and swapped knobs, but it’s my #2 all day behind my Wizz loaded Les Paul Custom. It’s a seriously great guitar!
I'm older (71) and I've been looking at those JJN models and wanting one. I don't know anyone who has one to ask about it! With 1 Seymour Duncan, if the guitar is built correctly it should be great! As usual, I fully expect to spend 4 hours on the neck. Level/crown/polish, bevel the edges, properly cut/check the nut. It seems like a great price for what you get!?!? Have you found any major issues? Materials? I love larger necks (fat neck), but most are too small? Is that ~ .90 - 1.00 or so? Thanks much!!!
@@gtr1952 mine needed no tweaks when my wife and I went to pick it up from Dave’s Guitar Shop. I’m not sure if they did any work to it prior to me receiving the guitar. It’s a phenomenal player! You won’t regret buying one! The neck is fat. I love big necks, and this one feels great in hand. I don’t have any measurements, but I would assume it’s in the area of 1.00”. It’s a baseball bat neck for sure. It’s also reasonably light for a Les Paul, but I’m sure that varies. The only reason that it’s my #2 and not #1 is that I’ll probably be buried with my Les Paul Custom.
I used to be all about more is more. I’d create these giant soundscapes with my effects pedals and do crazy stuff. But the melody always got lost. As I improved as a guitarist I’ve gone the other route. Oddly enough, that’s when I got the Helix. However, I finally had amp tones I was happy with. It’s as if I was covering up for my lack of tone and ability. In the end though, it’s all about what inspires you. Hopefully you can figure that out without spending a bundle on something you don’t need.
For everyday music, Pete's setup is ideal... For coverband, obviously, you need more... But we can all agree that both setups are very good sounding ! The clean at 27:24 is oustanding ! And the Magnatone amp, what a delight !
On the topic of the "one pickup thing" I had the pleasure of seeing Julian Lage live a couple months ago. He played a tele with a p90 in the neck. Whole show was on that p90, never touched the amp, volume or tone knobs and the sounds and DYNAMICS he got of that rig were incredible. I couldn't believe the dynamic range.
I saw him in Boston a couple weeks ago, He's the best in my opinion. It's all the fingers man. Effects are cool, but once you've found an instrument with a sound you like, the rest is about making music, which is done with the fingers not the gear.
Amp on the light edge of breakup, guitar volume on 7, 2 pedal gain stages, tremolo, chorus, flanger, octave reverb, dual delay(halo), HAPPY DAYS! Pretty much anything is available short of heavy sounds. Great video! Thanks guys!
That is a pretty big rig though my dude 😂 one I wholeheartedly support, but far from minimalist
@@tommystratpaul lol, right. So much stuff I had to take a break reading all the pedals.
Marshall nailed it with the JVM.
There was a JVM stack as in house backline at a gig I worked, it always sounded amazing, any guitar any player any style.
Top tier amp
Magnatone is my favorite clean tone amp of all time. Just ridiculous how good it is.
You spelled "expensive" wrong Sir.
It is Totally Amazing in Every Way though
Clean channel of a Mesa Lonestar is fantastic as well, but that Stereo trem on the big Magnatone 2x12s indeed is to die for :-)
4:58 that harmonic feedback thing was absolutely amazing
For me it’s both. I have a stripped back vintage setup I use and I have a complex modern setup that keeps expanding. Both inspire me, both give me huge amount of fun and joy. I think the simple answer is it’s what we feel comfortable with and what we’re looking for. Some days a tele, a Les Paul and a fender amp is enough to drive me, other days it’s an Ibanez into a palladium and a black star with noise gates, delays, reverbs etc. the only thing is it always starts with those basics for me, if I sounds good on a strat, tele or Paul into a Marshall or fender then it’s gonna sound good when built on
JVM is an amazing amp.
Could have done with a noise gate.
Sounds awesome
I know this is about not needing a bunch of gear or money to sound good, but Lee's tone is buttery, creamy, and ridiculously good! Love the videos as always and Merry Christmas to everyone!!!
I personally get distracted if I have too much going on with a pedal board. That said, it’s nice to have options. An OD, chorus, and wah are just about all the effects I need. I own multi-channel amps, but I tend to stick to a light overdrive that I boost with a pedal. Clean tones can be dialed in with the guitar’s volume and tone pots.
The P90 is a killer. I've heard Keith Richards in a live situation use his les paul junior, straight in to the amp and it is incredible. Keith has fantastic tone and I think these days is not well known by the younger generation. You can see him use it live on youtube playing Midnight Rambler.
To me it's about the right tool for the moment. When I haven't played in a while, I can sometimes write riffs without the guitar being plugged in. But if you've been bashing your head on the same part for days trying to get the right sound, sometimes having a modeler with a million different amps and effects to try out can prove useful.
I’ve always been with the Yngwie camp where “more is more”. Just having the options available is incredible in terms of creativity. You don’t have to use everything but should always have the options available.
I have a complex rig with loop switcher, midi controlled eq, reverb, delay (and soon modulation), into a three channel amp that I can get any sound imaginable.
I was late for practise one day so just grabbed a Strat (usually play HH) and used the studio valvestate Marshall. It was some of the best and most fun guitar I've played in years....
I think while the "more" side is fun vs can do everything, it can be a bit of a crutch and can stop you focusing on your own sound and technique....
what inspires me more is freshness. I change my board and guitar pretty often. Sometimes it's sparse, sometimes it's complicated. Sometimes I'm straight into an amp with a bit of crunch, sometimes I like a huge pedalboard with an ungodly amount of reverb and delay. Keeping things fresh and changing up regularly is key for me.
A similar concept to photography, you can have all the gear in the world but ultimately a great practiced photographer with a really simple cheap camera can still take a gorgeous photo. Having less knobs and settings to tweak makes you use your head and your hands a whole lot more!
I rock a single channel Magnatone Super 15 with a single knob single switch wampler db plus boost pedal, along with a 1961 Les Paul jr. I must say it's definitely an inspiration to play that rig
Just a p90 on the bridge right? I love those LPs
@@Lalairu yes indeed. Single p90 that roars. It's a crazy guitar
@@alexwoolridge94aw I bought a small 5w valve amp. I use it with a bluesbreaker clone, and an Ibanez AG85 while I get the tele moded. It has 2 mini hambuckers and it sounds amazing, I mostly use the neck, playing with the volume and the tone. I m very happy indeed. Mini humbuckers have some punch too.
@@Lalairu very nice brother.
@@alexwoolridge94aw keep rockin' 😁
Merry Christmas to you guys! Thanks for all the great videos...keep em coming.
I think Pete had too much gear he could have gone so much less taken his pedal away give him an air guitar and let natural tone of his fingers carry the music .
Love these guys, so honest and genuine!
I bought a Gordon Smith with just a bridge pickup for this very reason. It really is a learning curve on how to get the best tones with just the amp controls and volume/tone pots. In some ways it is very liberating. Still love a pedal or two though!!
I grew up playing a P-bass, and the first UA-cam music channel I subscribed to was Fretted Americana, with Phil X playing a les paul Jr double cutaway and a bad monkey overdrive. I guess one pickup, two knobs, and tune the amp to the room always made sense to me.
Having started playing guitar back in 1966 and professionally by 1973 plugging directly into an amp was the norm! In fact it was rare to see anyone with more than one effect like a fuzz tone or a wah till the late 70’s or 80’s. Some the best tones are guitar straight into a tube amp or maybe even a solid state old school one! No surprise. Pedal boards! That was an unknown concept till maybe late 80’s as far as I remember…
I agree the musicians I listened to Pete Townshend and Rory Gallagher only had one pedal Pete had the fuzz into the hiwatt and Rory used the treble booster with the baseman and that was the rig.
@@realgoodmind Depends what sort of amp and music you're playing. If, for example, you want to play tight, chugging, heavy rhythm through a Dual Rec, you're going to need a Tubescreamer or similar in front of it. There's no other way to tighten up that flabby Boogie bass.
The JVM410c is a superb and extremely versatile amp - does the full range from super clean to having ALL the gain - pair that with a PRS Modern Eagle V (if you want a LOT of pick-up tonal options) or a Special Semi-Hollow and you can pretty much get ANY tone.
There is something to keeping it 'simple' and using only what you have to make music, but sometimes, that limited range of options just isn't wide enough to get the sound you wanted. Each to their own and I think it really depends on the 'musician' and what they want/need.
Yeah JVM's are great if you can stand the weight.
I like having quite a few overdrives and other various pedals on my board, plus different guitars and amps for inspiration. I post guitar videos to Instagram almost every day and I need that selection availability sometimes to spark some creativity if I am in a funk BUT I also own three Les Paul Juniors. I love the simplicity of those guitars and I am also a telecaster guy so I think it is horses for courses really! Interesting video guys! Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Wow man, Lee’s playing has improved so much throughout the years. Maybe you should make a video on how you did that Lee. How did you improve your playing, what did you study?
This is going to be controversial but the best tone danish pete had in this video was with the klon of and the tremelo and reverb on. When he dug in it was the perfect sound for solos and when he played lighter you could hear the tremelo work
Tremelo?
this video is more important than most musicians will ever realize!
Love the JVM series. Had the combo and now have the 410H head. Love em! So versitle. I have Machless & Dr Z heads. I keep going back to my Marshall.
Me. All used gear. Dearmond LP junior £130. BS HT5 £110. Celestion 12" in home made cab. Eq, sweet cream, both about £20. Inc strap, leads, plectrum
ive recently been plugging straight into a deluxe reverb without anything and its been amazing. that paired with an ODRC and a decent guitar is tonal nirvana
I remember thinking if Eddie did it that way, there has to be something in it. When I bought a Kramer i realised that even though it's just 1 pickup and a volume knob, it demanded more from me as a player. Buying that guitar early on really shaped the player I am today.
Depends. But I think having a toolbox and using what you need. And give me the Klon!
2023 WhooHoo ! ALL the 'Kudos' in this 'vid' have to go to Pete ... He can make a matchbox, lollipop stick and rubber band play a tune ! I am in awe at Pete's in depth understanding, talents / skills ! (A tot 'o rum for Pete) ! 🤠...
Peter, you said “volapyk”…love it!
Put your money into a good tube amp first before spending it on a solid state amp and a ton of pedals. In the long run you will be glad you did. Pete touched on a essential skill that is lost on a lot of people simply because they don't know or aren't taught. Plugging straight into a tube amp...driving it hard...and controlling the dirt with the guitar volume knob. My two channel tube amp w/ built in reverb...a overdrive pedal...delay pedal...and a compressor...gives me 99% of the tones I would ever want or need. From clean to blues to crunchy rock to metal....a good tube amp and about three pedals can take you a long way.
I mean that's good advice only for those genres you mention. For anything else you're gonna need more headroom and tools than a volume knob
@@ileutur6863 You might....I don't.
I got a JVM410H and a V30 loaded over sized 2x12 cab from you guys, I literally was looking at selling the head and getting something else and even called up Andertons to see what the trade in price would be… I think I’m gonna keep it… it’s a great amp and maybe what I should remember is it may have more sounds than I need but I don’t have to use them all…
Get a different cab like an EVH 412, I found V30's a little harsh with that amp.
I have been all over the place. I started pretty basic and the once I got into a band I got a boss multi-fx to have all my sounds in one place. Thinking back though I still only used my amp sounds and a delay. I then decided I wasn’t focused on playing enough and I got rid of everything and just got a 2 channel tube amp (no master volume) and no pedals whatsoever. That period I grew the most and got my chops up “surpassing” a lot of my friends (their words not mine).
After that I felt a bit of a rut coming on since I could only crank my amp for the nice OD sound I liked so I went and got an HX Stomp pretty soon after it launched. I tried desperately for the last few years to expand my pallet of sounds but, I just decided last week to only take an amp and an ODR-1 to practice and I started a improvised jam that was the most creative thing I have done in the past year at least… I realize I am a simplistic guitar into amp guy but, I am desperately trying not to be as my inspiration tends to come from people using wild sounds. I think I am starting to settle though that my sounds just come from hands on strings and weird bends and time signatures. I am not a pedalboard guy as much as I’d like to be 🤷🏽♂️
Bought my JVM210c for $1600 AUS from my local music store when it was closing down. Owned it for 6 years and still love it
Thank you for this. I'm a less is more person. Great concept, maybe a series? Minimalistic for each genres of music. Maybe not, as many videos is not really minimalistic. 👍🏼
I love this concept! How minimal can a rig be?
Lukas Nelson (Willie's son) plays his 1956 Les Paul Junior through a stereo rig of two Magnatone stereo amps. Occasionally uses an overdrive pedal. One of the most magical guitar tones I've ever heard live.
Air guitar.
@@Oilid The imagination is the best amp and pedalboard.
It's called an acoustic.
Tube amp + good attenuator + guitar. Awesome sound, low clutter.
I've always fallen on the minimal side of things even when playing live. Often I would run into my DSL100 with just a TS9 and NS2 when playing live with footswitches for channel and reverb. I think if you have a half decent amp and some reasonable pickups you can get a lot of tones. I think I must be similar to Pete as I don't touch the volume and instead use my picking fingers to modulate the volume. Captain, your playing in the outro jam was amazing. You keep getting better and better!
The Magnatone amp is incredible.
Precisely why I tore the neck p'up out of my Tele and throw it through a Big Muff Pi. It simply rocks!
I definitely suffer from option paralysis. I was so excited for the katana stuff a few years ago and have had two of them, but then went back to a valve amp and a few pedals. Now I have a victory v4 amp and make boards of around 4 simple pedals and I'm very happy. Although.... The GAS always gets you in the end.
Magnatone and T-H-A-T tremolo...heavenly! I am so glad that I was ready to grab the short lived, handwired Evil Robots when they were around.
Lee's metal skills are starting to show 👌
🤘
My answer is yes. Lol. Both rigs are amazing and either one would inspire me differently.
I think enough is more.
It’s good if you choose your items of the signal chain conscious, if there is a lot of stuff that confuses you or gives you option paralysis shrink that thing. Just use stuff that is essential for you, inspires you and doesn’t get in the way. For me this results in one amp(setting), one guitar, and a sometimes big, sometimes small pedalboard always having at least one reverb and one delay pedal.
Marshall amps are cheap in the UK, 1,599 GBP for a JVM 410C, same amp in Canada is $4,699 CAD ( 2,852.79 GBP ). I thought the Captain made a mistake when he said the price of the JVM. $3699 USD at Sweetwater in the USA ( 3,052.74 GBP )
One of my favorite less is more combos… Is a LP Junior and a Fender Pro Jr… Crank it up and go… It sounds amazing..
I'm finding my happy place is a couple quality but less complicated guitars and amps, but then add the complexity in the pedalboard. Nice blend of both worlds. Your end points are stable fixed variables so much of the tinkering is just with the middle bit.
That PJD guitar looks so much like what I'm looking for. I want a Les Paul Special, bolt on all roasted maple neck, with like an Explorer headstock. Maybe some comfort carves. Basically a modern version of a Les Paul. That's like the closest thing I've seen. I have an Epiphone Les Paul Special in the meantime, but that's the dream at the moment.
Ever since I got my single P-90 LP Junior DC, I find that I now play my old LP Standard far less often.
I find most of the time I just want a great RAW overdriven rock tone, and too many 'tonal options' just makes me feel like I could have it adjusted better... So you end up fiddling with switches instead of just 'rockin out'!
Imho, tone is ultimately in the fingers, it has the core sound of the player, pedals can add effects and ambience etc, but an expressive player can add so much more. I would say look at Brian May, all he has in a basic rig is the Red Special, a treble booster and a cranked Vox AC30. He himself said that it’s his “voice”.
Its always up to the individual to “find” their own sound, however that is achieved, and what works for them 👍
Awesome channel, keep up the good work 👍
Great idea for a video! I guess we all could benefit from doing this exercise 😅
Pete's rig sounded stunning.
I had the JVM 215C at home (2 channel 50 watts single speaker). And honestly it was just too much. Gave it back, got a Blues Junior and get every Gain Tone through pedals and I LOVE it. I think I will never go for a big out there Amp again.
John Klon Van Damme! 😂 That junior and magnatone are all you need though. What a sound when you turn down the volume and tone and finger pick. 😮 I am by far one of the less is more guys. So much more inspiring and you spend less time messing with crap and more time playing!
For most modern music you really don’t need much(maybe a delay compressor). In the 90 I played in a number of noise/grunge/metal-ish bands and I always used a jcm900 a cable and my Gibson sg. pretty high gain and I used the volume to get a Cleanish tone. I later moved to a jmp-1 due to weight. I alway liked when ppl asked me how do I get such a full tone.
Midway through my last gig the pedal board cut out. I didnt have time to troubleshoot so i just plugged straight into the amp and toggled between my rhythm and lead tones with my volume knob. It was refreshing to not worry about what i needed to switch on for which songs and at which parts.
I dig the Magnatone amps, but I have dug Marshalls my Whole life! Great video!
There aren't enough single-pickup guitars out there - awesome demo!
That JCM is GREAT
Less was best for me. I have found after 30 years of playing, that the less distractions the more music I end up playing. That's how it works for me, and it worked for a ton of the greats too.
I totally agree. I have recently gone to a LP Standard straight into a Super Reverb, or Suhr Hombre and just using the guitar’s volume to adjust tones. I’m much more comfortable and only focus on playing.
@@linkdavies3098 strat into Marshall DSL 40c set to use just one channel in a 800ish mode.
i think with experience one can appreciate the concept of less is more more
i play les paul juniors with one humbucker installed (hate p90's). this (through a marshall or mesa) will play every song in my set list and has done me just fine for over 50 years :) ymmv
THAT CLON IS KIN AWESOME OH WHAT.
My heaviest item of gear was an Ashdown ABM810 delivered in a flight case. Nearly gave myself a hernia trying to pickup just one-end!
For me, less is more. I like using my SE on the bridge pickup (99% of the time, unless I'm soloing) with nothing interfering with my signal chain. I have a digital amp so I can get all of the effects I want (usually just some reverb, delay, and distortion) and for me, it works.
Strip..! Cheers from Newport Beach, CA. 🌊🤙🏿
How can less be more? More is more. - YJM
Snowy White always said he'd be happy with just a Les Paul and an AC30. And he would still sound amazing.
One of the best players I’ve ever seen live was a guy named Tab Beniot, he had an old FenderTwin Reverb and a couple Tele Thinline Deluxe that he plugged straight into the front of that old Fender and he dimed everything that was the night I learned that those old fender amps would break up at stupid loud volumes. I saw him at the House of Blues in New Orleans and he was a bad ass and my ears are still ringing 10 years later lol .
It all depends on the Player....and what they are given (Or grabs for that "moment") as to "what" gives you inspiration. Personally, I get a lot of inspiration lately from stacking delay pedals & reverb along with some modulation to get some really cool Ambient sounds. For that type of a sound.... ya gotta have MORE stuff! ...but I can also be inspired by the ultra simple setups for most other types of playing by very simple means... a guitar straight into an amp!
That is why you need more than one rig! But I feel that if you just want to lay down some tracks, it is easier to go fast with a simple setup, one pick up, volume tone, one amp with some eq possibilities and that can get some gain...
Great concept for a vid. Despite the thousands of people that do so much with a single pickup guitar, Every time ive tried it ive always sound that missing pickup to feel.... missing.
Pete’s guitar is messin with my head. A Gibson body with a Tele neck. It’s a sweeet thing!
Great sounds, gentlemen! With that said, I really wasn't a fan of the minimalist rig; it seemed totally uncontrollable in a lot of circumstances. In contrast, the PRS into the JVM sounded absolutely amazing with pretty much any of the settings Lee tried, and it looked like he wasn't even using his board much, just the tones from the amp and the guitar. I'd really love to hear what Pete can do with that combo of guitar/amp. Also, Lee's playing during the end jam was absolute fire!
Disclaimer: the JVM410 is home base for me so it may just be what my ears naturally want to hear.
Personally, I feel like there's a bit of a balance to this. I need to restrict myself in one way, but have options the other. If I'm using one amp, I want my guitar to have a good few options, and I always have 3 massively different types of picks on me. But I don't want to be fiddling with the amp too much aside from turning the reverb/delay on or off.
Inversely, when I'm playing a guitar with just 2 humbuckers, no fancy switches or anything, I feel most creative when I can switch between 2 or 3 amp settings.
To put it simply: in the chain of guitar - effects - amp, you need to strongly limit one half of it while enabling the other half in order so you both have options, but are fundamentally needed to either be using your fingers to get the tone you want, or to be fiddling around with the effects/amp to get what you want.
Alternating these is great, too. I love just spending some time fiddling around with the options I have, then turning all of it off and have it just be me and my guitar. Especially the latter is how you get something worth recording.
l had a guitar teaching studio in the 90's. We bought 4 new fender red knob Princeton Chorus amps. We bought them b/c they will rock, metal, clean, hi z input for acoustic, have reverb and chorus. l still today have two of these amps. One that has been eminence speaker swapped w/ 2 x 10''s. l have a trick l do w/ the chorus where l set the rate on 0 and the depth on 10 and get a stereo spacial effect. When l take this amp out in smaller venues un mic'ed l may or may not bring a wah and l swear people tell me all the time how good the amp sounds next to 20 watt tubes amps dimed throwing ear screeching amounts of middle to cut thru a mix. People l tell this too think lm crazy until they hear the amps.
I’d love to hear Pete’s rig with the Klon cranked and his or Lee’s Les Paul plugged in!
I love the Magnatone Amp ❤
I think it depends on the player. If you have a bunch of options and never use them, then there's not a point to have it all (like I have a Code 50 currently and after maybe half a year of initial twiddling I have ended up only using a clean and a pedal for distortion, so I've been looking at getting a better amp with fewer options). But I've found on guitar I like having two pickups with individual volume and tone to set independently, with coil splits to get more S-style tones out of it. I don't use the coil splits often but when I do it is normally in the middle of playing something (I'll start out with a thinner S-style tone, then push the coil split off and go humbucker for added emphasis). Only way to switch that quickly between those two is with additional coil splits.
I used to consider modding my guitar with phase shifts, coil taps, and Seymour Duncan Triple Shots for fine control over the coil splitting. I realized a lot of those were just different ways to make a humbucker sound more single-coily, and I preferred the coil splits the most since they shut off one of the coils and effectively turns the humbucker into a single coil pickup, and seems to create the most authentic single coil tone, hum and all.
To me...Less is more. I used to have about the same amount of gear as you guys show on your set. I sold off about 70% of it. Now the gear I still have seems way more dear to me. (Of course I kept the cream of the crop) I'm more creative and I play way more often. Love the show.
I love a simple rig. Get bored of fiddling with knobs very quickly. So I play with a gretsch into a vox, with a wah and an eq pedal for solo boost.
Do love these kind of videos. Robert Johnson and Leadbelly used department store acoustics and are still remembered and listened to 90 years later! The less approach does make you look for tome in your guitar settings and the amp volume control.
Which is absolutely indistinguishable from someone using midi to control their tone. The ppl listening don't care how you get the tone you get- they just want to hear good music.
@@rexrathtar3893 That ridiculous man- to try and compare playing with pedals to playing with backup music- really? How ridiculous. Get real man, address my actual argument and I'll address your argument- right now you don't have one. Of course, ppl want to hear live music if that's what they paid for- like I said, pedals don't play for you.
Capt Lee is on his game today! Pete brings it!
ahh, the memories. Best guitar buy was over 10 years ago...."75.00 for a HSS S Type.
Fender FM212. Killer tone in like 10 seconds, yes, The HB. Long story.Lucky enough to have an LP Jr,,Epi. It's awesome.
Now, DS 1 and a F CT BF Semi Clean. Sounds good.
Love the Magnatone. But, it will have to remain on the wish list a little longer.
It all depends on what sound you're going for. Sometimes I'm running 5-6 pedals into a dirty amp, whilst running two reverbs. And sometimes it's just one drive pedal into my amp. Or just my EQ in the amp.
that old amp made me feel something. It was amazing
It seems like the older I get the less stuff I "need" to get a good sound. My recording sound is an SG into a Marshall or Friedman style amp with a noise gate and an EQ. A little reverb or extra gain for leads is all I ever add to it anymore.
I think that the upshot of this video is that a good guitar player can maximize the effectiveness of whatever rig he chooses to play. Of course, said guitarist must learn every aspect of every piece of gear the guitarist is using in order to get this maximum effectiveness, so it may suit that player to have fewer pieces of gear, gear that is more simple, or some combination of the above -- to wit, a few choice pieces of simple gear.
This presupposes that the player is only trying to play original music. The player in a cover situation usually tries to emulate the sounds recorded into music that's already popular. In that situation, the player will need more versatility. Here, more is more.
It all depends on what the player is trying to do.
Leslie West is said to have chosen the Gibson les Paul jr, with its sole p90, to get the best possible tone he could. Though its a dog ear p90 on those guitars.