Best Clean

[theGeek]

my tele

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by Master Tang

Which guitar would you most likely be playing the clean tones on?

The Tele? or the Paul?

Tele.
I'm not a big fan of Les Paul cleans- I much prefer archtop clean tones from Gibson (like my ES295).

[rockstar_josh]

Dr. Zs have nice clean tone. Fender Reverbs of course. I really love the clean on my DC-5.

[lordmiguel]

some of the two-rock amps are ridiculously sweet clean tones to me.

[Evanskyler]

Ive been goin on about P-90s all the time (My poor tele never gets any attention). But the clean neck pickup on those things is woooonderfull so bitey and smooth at the same time.

I got a Reverend Roundhouse 290. It's kind of a Les Paul Special knockoff and its just killer through a DC-30.

I like some of the Carr stuff for clean.

But who am I kidding. Clean is for sissies and urban cowboys! CRANK THAT MOTHER!

[elambo]

Two Rock Custom Reverb Signature. Can't say I've heard a clean tone better than that. Use a strat, use a paul, your choice - they both sound incredible.

For extra drama points I'll add this - not only does a great strat through a Two Rock through their cab sound incredible, it's one of the most enthralling and interesting sounds of any kind that I've ever heard.

[eligit]

this is my fav (day one test):

YouSendIt - Send large files - transfer delivery - FTP Replacement

[FFTT]

If you're looking for a great clean amp, I'd go for the Reeves Custom 50 or Custom 100
or the CP 504 and CP103.

They are known for the Hiwatt piano like cleans and and excellent platform for pedals.

[commaKaze]

Fuchs "Clean Machine." Discussion closed! (lol) Fuchs Audio Technology - handcrafted tube boutique guitar amplification.

I nearly popped after playing this amp. It's absolutely INSANE, words can't express blah blah no exaggeration...

If ANY of you can get a chance to play this amp, even for 20 minutes, it'll be some of the best G.DAMN 20 minutes in your "clean" guitar playing life, and you'd ponder selling one of your offspring's kidneys, or even hooking to gather the loot for this amp...well, OK, i know, i know...but you get the point!

Seek out a shop that has one and do it. (No affiliation at all w/ Fuchs...but damn a boy can dream right!...just played one and nigh hit the floor...redwood-sized boner!)

I'm only 27, but I had to be helped down like an 88 year-old man on his last legs, sweating, crying, knees and back went out, my blood pressure spiked, breathing became shallow, suddenly became life threateningly diabetic and an ambulance was called for emergency insulin so I wouldn't erupt into a gran mal seizure, went into immediate dementia and started yelling out for my deceased wife Lois that I thought was still alive waiting out in the Buick thumbing through Reader's Digest, and I think I may even need a blood transfusion...UPDATE: I'm fine now...

OK OK...I'll stop the exaggerations. Really though it's simply Fcuking crazy...in context of course.

[GuitarRuss]

It really depends on what you are thinking of as clean. Are you thinking of "Riviera Paradise" by SRV type clean, Andy Summers type clean, Joe Pass type clean... Each tone is great for different kinds of music. Also, clean means slightly overdriven to some people, while to others it means totally clean.

Personally, I love fenders for clean, with the basic equation of the louder you want it without it breaking it up or overdriving, the bigger the amp. The two Deluxe Reverbs is a holy-grail type clean tone for me, and it's portable enough because they are easy on the back. That's what Eric Johnson uses at times. That way you can do stereo stuff, like leslie, putting a delay on only one side, etc. It's also nice to have a backup amp too for live gigs because sometimes they have problems.

I've heard AC30's sound beautiful in a kind of punchy and shimmery kind of way. Bonnie Raitt sounded fantastic live, through one of those playing slide.

For a chug-chug type clean tone (the clean section of a heavy tune) Hi-Watt's are really nice too.

I'm not a big fan of the Roland Jazz Chorus at all, but it has it's place for the right type of band and a thin sparkly type sound. I've heard some African guitar sound nice through that amp.

Mark Knofler plays through Soldano, and he sounds great live too.

[johnwayne]

Originally Posted by peeder

I prefer cleans over anything else personally. I don't have an amp that can't do a good clean. Most good amps do a good clean. Rarely any chance of a good flavor if they can't do a solid vanilla.

My upgraded DRRI might be my favorite at the moment, though the hand-wired Marshall is very good clean too. Fat trebles on the Marshall.

To get a clean, everything has to be right with the amp, cab, and speaker. Tubes, etc. have to be very good. The speaker and cab are critical. Ironically, debugging a crunch tone may improve a clean...because exactly, the clean has to be great for the distortions to work well.

A lot of people have never heard what a guitar and amp can do (in person at least) because relatively few people know what to do to coax the best tone, even if it's just a few knobs total. They don't even seem aware of the tone knob on the guitar for instance. And many just don't have any taste, and their heroes don't have any taste either.

So True

[nickolo]

Fender Twin with JBLs - The top is clean and crystal like but with those speakers ,its a silly weight!!

[thegreatmortomer]

Hey everyone! You have yourselves another noob!

Anyway, I digress.
I know it's solid state, but...

The Fender Frontman series amps have the most incredible clean sound I've ever heard... Just throw a nice bit of chorus over it and WOW.

[theGeek]

Originally Posted by thegreatmortomer

The Fender Frontman series amps have the most incredible clean sound I've ever heard... Just throw a nice bit of chorus over it and WOW.

that the nature of solid state.. that's why the Jazz Chorus is so clean. The downside is often times SS gear sounds very cold and dry... not always but it happens

[claudemorrow]

Gibson GA30RVS - Beautiful Clean!

[chrispick]

Originally Posted by claudemorrow

Gibson GA30RVS - Beautiful Clean!

I think they only move out the GA-40-RVT these days. Around $850 new. Hand-built, point-to-point. Two-channel. Tube reverb and tremolo.

I have one of Gibson Lab's 5-watters, the GA-5 LP Jr. (discontinued, but pop up used or on clearance here and there). It does have a great clean tone; that's what I use it for in a recording setting. No verb or trem though.

[InstituteOfNoise]

For something a tad different, Red Iron Amps "MilSpec" is really special.

[latestflavor]

Tele with fralins can make a nice clean. and the obvious fender 12ax7 / 6L6 sound. I agree with you and like the tele clean better than the strat clean. P90 ain't bad but less sugar sweet.

If you need volume, the obvious choice is a vintage blackface twin reverb. Plenty of vintage units out there which are the real deal P2P handwired. Or a silver face w tag board replacing tubes, caps speakers and blackface tune up job. Of course, heavy backbreaker of a 2x12.

If you don't like vintage some of the twin reverb clones include Vintage Sound Amps,
Steve Allen amps, etc. The fender reissues aren't that great to me.

Actually, the cleans i do like with a Les Paul are with a Twin Reverb. And if you have a pedal you love it is so versatile. I keep coming back to these.

If you don't need the verb a Dual Showman.

Deluxe reverb is nice esp if you want the dirty breakup at higher gain. On the cleans it has that ever so sweet but smooth hint of distortion. Carr rambler?

The dumble clones are fantastic too, like somebody said with the two rock. Don't overlook the speakers though, so all in this is an expensive clean - especially since cleans are easier to get than anything else.

Gosh there are so many good cleans it would help if you have some songs / concepts as a starting point.

Don't overlook the speakers - alnico's (cel. blue or gold) if you're trying out different heads.

btw personally, i'm not really a fan of the jc120. its a little too much weather channel for me. it does have a nice clean, just lacking a little soul.

[phantom309]

My favorite is the silverface Super Reverb, followed by the AC30CC for completely different reasons, followed by the Kendrick Black Gold 35 for reasons different still.

I love the old 80s Roland JC120 as well.

[claudemorrow]

Originally Posted by chrispick

I think they only move out the GA-40-RVT these days. Around $850 new. Hand-built, point-to-point. Two-channel. Tube reverb and tremolo.

I have one of Gibson Lab's 5-watters, the GA-5 LP Jr. (discontinued, but pop up used or on clearance here and there). It does have a great clean tone; that's what I use it for in a recording setting. No verb or trem though.

Oh yeah I know they stopped makin' 'em, I didn't know he meant amps that are in current production only. My Bad

[Milliken]

Can't say I've tried everything but being a fan of a Fender Twin and Super Reverb I would have to say the Tony Bruno Cowtipper 90 is an awesome amp. I also like the John Mayer tones I have heard from his Two Rock. I own the Bruno UG30 which does the AC30 thing better than any amp I have ever heard. It really is everything people say about it. His Cowtipper Blackface stuff and Tweed stuff is just as amazing. The Cowtipper will definitely be my next amp. Then I'll throw my RI twin in the trash. I also like Marshall clean tones and would have to say that the reissue handwired plexi, superlead stuff might be cool but not built to the boutique handmade spec that I would be looking for in an amp that costs 2-5 grand.

[FFTT]

I've experienced some very nice cleans from each of my amps, but
nothing touches the clean headroom of the 4 KT88's in my Reeves 225.

The Reeves version of the Hiwatt DR-201 circuit delivers cleans with a depth and clarity
I've never heard before.

A bit more drive and it breaks into a textbook vintage crunch that only this circuit can deliver.

With humbuckers or single coils, this amp is the real deal in cleans.


'

[the donal]

The guitarist in an old band I was in got a stunning sound out of a Les Paul Studio and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. It just had this sublime sparkling, chiming sound.

I can get a similar sound out of my Nomad 45- but then it is really a hot-rodded Fender sound anyway- just a little tighter than the HR Deluxe. Sadly, few of my guitars have the pickups to really take advantage of it...

[CapnMarvel]

Although for loud cleans the Roland Jazz Chorus might be just what the doctor ordered.

[popvulture]

6V6 high headroom amps, the golden standard obviously being a Twin. I love the Deluxe and lower wattage Fender amps for sure, but that's because they add some breakup into the signal.

For pure clean, I don't think anything beats a Twin. The tubes have a rounder, more open low end, and the highs beautifully avoid any of that harshness that comes from plenty of other amps.

[Yuri Kogan]

We just took delivery of a Diamond Amps Spec Op. We basically got it for the gain. But the clean channel on this rivals our vintage DeluxeRev and Super Rev, and even the DrZ amps we have (we have 4 DR Z's: Route 66, Maz38, StangRay and Mazeraty GT). Its really great and much better then all the Mesa's, Bogners ....we have.

Yury

[CrankyRayHanky]

I have big hopes for my new "LoneClean" Randall MTS mod being shipped from Salvation
check it out!
MTS Forum :: View topic - Salvation LONECLEAN mod

I also have a PeteBlackface which is truly a killer Fender tone, he tweaked to it to match his amp

MTS rules!

[BadJones]

The fender twin is the obvious choice for clean, but everytime I hear the two rock reverb custom signature, mind you I never heard it in person but just clips on the web, It just sounds like butter melting. I wish it wasn't so expensive. I know the web isn't a good place to judge an amp, but I can just hear that magic thru bad mp3 encoding and all.

[byoungman]

My '66 BF Super Reverb is hands-down the best clean amp ever.
It has period-correct Eminence speakers, which have much more high-end response than the stock Fender speakers I've heard in others. Would love to have a vintage SR w/factory JBL's.

I have a late-60s Fender Twin that has always sounded a bit "harsh" to me...it has the original speakers, RCA power tubes, and preamp tubes are RCA 5751's... so nothing technically "wrong" with it, just not the same quality of "clean" as the SR.

[Lebstaler]

Cheapest, best sounding clean amp (since you mentioned something about having a tech friend?) is get a silverface Deluxe Reverb and mod it to blackface specs. If you get a late 60's silverface then it is really only like two little changes away from being identical in circuit to the coveted blackface. If you can't stand the look of the silverface plate, then buy a black one - 30 bucks from mojotone. I bought a '67 silverface DR for 650 bucks, modded it to blackface, swapped in a nice Celestion from the crap stock Fender speaker that was in there, and for less than half of what I would have paid for an original blackface I've got that tone. I then sold my Twin and forgot put those days of back pain far behind me. Past that, accomplish what you want with your guitar's volume knob.

Also, even at 22 watts, my DR can compete in volume just fine with any drummer I play with.