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I was inspired to start playing by Clapton's Disraeli Gears tone, but previously had primarily heard American (Fender) sounding amps.
Now, I'm still drawn to the Fender amp sound, more akin to Super Session.
I converted myself recently for british tones. Kinda Stones, early Clapton tunes. Bluesbreaker seems to be very helpful here but my Tweed Deluxe clone is awesome too
I grew up on 6L6 amps, and still use one as my primary rig.
That said, every time I plug into my 1982 EL34 2203 pushing a 412 it inspires me in a completely different way.
I choose…. Both.
Yeah, both. I LOVE the sound of just a guitar into a Fender and driving it to breakup. I also love the sound of just a guitar into a Marshall and driving it to breakup. I also love that same thing with my Vox clone and every other amp I have. Why settle on just one?
I always thought Disraeli sounded like a Fender and a fuzz - my Champ and Maestro MFZ-1 could pretty much nail those tones with a 335 or SG.
At this point I favor a smoothed out tweed or cleanish warm fat early Marshall. Both tremolo and reverb and with fuzz tones for leads.
I have become a modeling geek because those tones are plentiful and can be dialed up with ease and with every imaginable variation. Add in the availability of almost any other tone you can imagine... yep, geek, dork, no apologies.
In terms of listening, I've always been a Fender guy. Especially the silverface era. I love their sparkly, chime, bell-like cleans. Put a Les Paul in front of it just to the point of crunching up a bit, and to me, that sounds like heaven. I've done a lot of jamming with a guy with a '72 Princeton and its killer.
That said, I've never been one afflicted with GAS, and I've never gone searching. I got an R0 and a Blues Junior in 2006 and that's been my rig ever since. Wouldn't mind getting my hands on a Tweed Deluxe though...
Im feeling old here. I remember thru books Jimi had tried Orange amps very very briefly and videos still exist of Sabbath with Orange and Canned Heat also. Recently saw something else use O but cant remember who. Something that wasnt on my radar that long ago but I was quite surprised by the amp...who couldnt notice that color. Oh, my retirement papers came in the mail...lol... My vote goes for British and Ive fallen in love with my early Vox Night Train. No pedals needed but Ive been out of playing for 25 years until 4 months ago. I sound like Im still outta playing but I keep chugging away learning scales again.
Steve Martin once said (about smoking marijuana- rough from memory here) "Sometimes I smoke it in the morning, and a little in the evening, and a bit before lunch, and in the early afternoon, and in the late-morning, after mid-morning, and right after dinner, and just before bed, and in the early morning before I get up- and in the mid afternoon, and after lunch, and in the late-afternoon, early dinnertime- but never at dusk".
So my answer to the OP, yes.
Fender amps have always held a special place in my heart. Reason being is that in the mid-60's (when I wanted to learn) Fender amps were everywhere. Didn't play at the time, didn't know anything about gear but just seeing those amps added to the mystery and mystic of this whole new world I wanted to be a part of.
I remember around 1966 where I rode my bike up to the local music store just so I could look at the Fender amps they had in stock. Twin Reverbs, Deluxe Reverbs, Bassman's, Dual Showman's.....I was so taken in by it all.
Neighborhood bands were everywhere back then and you'd always see at least one Fender amp in the lineup which of course added more fuel to the fire. Sure, I'd see other amps such as Ampeg and Gibson but Fender seemed to pretty much dominate in my area back then.
Man, what a great time to have been around when it was all so new!
always loved the brit records, Clapton,Kossoff,Page,Beck we all know the names, but no matter what i always went back to pluging into a fender/blackfaceish something.