Mo knobs, mo problems

[otisblove]

As I get older, I find that I prefer simple to complicated.

A few examples:

I prefer this...

To this...


And I prefer this...

To this...


I appreciate that these complicated contraptions can do myriad wonderful things, but I could easily get lost for weeks tweaking knobs and finding 500 different cool sounds rather than just finding one good sound and actually playing.

Let me know if you can relate or not. Any other examples of simple vs complicated are welcome.

 

[surfrodguitar]

Totally! I am loving my 5w Bugera, just a few knobs. But my Jag has a lot of options too. Pedalboard? I find it easier just to plug into the daw and pick a patch. Guitars? Trying to get it down to just 3 maybe 4.


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[Triple Jim]

You know one of my favorite amps, Otis.

 

[Count]

I have found that with any device with a myriad of knobs, pedal or amp, that I own, once I have got the sound I like, the knobs tend to stay set in the one position for ever.

 

[drewcp]

I prefer 5 knobs on amps. I have a few with more than that, but for me, I can get a lot done with just Gain Bass Mid Treble Volume.

I have to have a separate gain and volume option or things just get too loud in my little house. Tonight I ran a head set to 1W through an attenuator, and my Bugera V5 is usually on the 0.5W setting. The Bug only has 4 knobs, and that’s fine too.

Most of my favorite pedals are 3 knobs or less.

Built (assembled) a T-Style guitar for my dad once, just one knob (volume) and a three way. He likes it.

 

[Papa Joe]

When I won that Mustang II on TDPRI I went bonkers trying to manipulate all those controls..Never did find anything that was worth using..Sold it within a few days after getting it..
All I need is vol, treb, mid, bass, reverb, and trem controls..
KISS

 

[Rat cam 68]

If you can’t get any good sounds out of this, maybe you should be blowin a tuba

 

[blackspider57]

I relate, Completely!

 

[so1om]

I am somewhere in the middle. I like my Musicmaster bass amp, but just a volume and just a tone really don't cut it for me 40 years later. I like a little more shaping. Give me at least treble, mid, bass. Even better, active EQ of 3 bands. But more or even an EQ pedal would be too much. It's why I stay away from Blues Jrs and all that. One? Two knobs? For all that money, throw me a bone, people.

I can never seem to get a digital delay pedal to work for me. I mean I get it, but I am never please with what's happening. I do ok with echo though. 1, 2 knobs...that slight difference...…..

Reverb (reverb and trem are my #1!) I like reverb on my amps, but lately it seems I like a little more control and tailoring of the character -so dwell, mix, tone. Thus the FRV-1 or O-11 are good… but then there are some that just have way toooo much going on.

So I go with "i'm in the middle." More than a couple knobs, but not too many.

 

[so1om]

When I won that Mustang II on TDPRI I went bonkers trying to manipulate all those controls..Never did find anything that was worth using..Sold it within a few days after getting it..
All I need is vol, treb, mid, bass, reverb, and trem controls..
KISS

Right! I like my modeling amps to have one model -essentially Fender!

I don't need to have blackface, tweed, twin, Vox, Britsh, etc...

 

[Stratlover84]

Right! I like my modeling amps to have one model -essentially Fender!

I don't need to have blackface, tweed, twin, Vox, Britsh, etc...

On my Vox VT80+ and Tonelab ST all I ever use is the Fender Pro or Twin Reverb clean and Bogner Ecstasy gain. An overdrive pedal for boosting cleans or to drive the gain channel and a bit of reverb to give it some character. I get everything in one module and no need for so many pedals or messing with the other knobs.

 

[TimTheViking]

Right now, since I play a lot with music I grew up with, I like to get my tone to sound as close to the original as I can. Having a modeling amp helps a lot. But it also has a Manual switch that bypasses any of the effects. So I can choose the amp model U want and then have drive, channel volume, bass, mid and treble. I find myself using the Vox AC30 amp a lot as I grew up with the lads from Liverpool and that makes it easier to get that sound.

 

[so1om]

I must add for sure, the amazing things, pedals in particular, can do these days.. Just wow. While I don't use them myself, I certainly like checking them out as well as all the music that people are creating with them.

 

[daan]

What I think I want:


(I couldn’t find a pic of my Skylark, but it’s this complicated)
What I end up playing: my standard Tele, and I aalmost never use the Tone knob...

 

[duceditor]

Ah, @Rat cam 68 ... another Joyo Sweet Baby player!

One knob for volume. That's it! But oh, how sweet they are!

I'm not locked into that simplicity. My beloved DuoVerb has 17 knobs and four toggle switches -- every one of which is used and useful (and that's just on the front!) -- but if one does the trick as on the 'Baby I'm content with it.



-don

 

[wildelectric]

If every switch and knob has a purpose and fulfills that purpose well for certain sounds, I don't see any problem with having lots of them.

There is a point with a guitar, though, where too many can start to kill the look and make the instrument too heavy, IMHO. I can't imagine heaving this beast around for more than a few minutes:

 

[Luvs2yoko]

I can relate. Theses are currently my two favorites.I have a Surfy bear reverb and tremolo unit that I use with either of these.That and a telecaster are as simple as it gets.

 

[Triple Jim]

How's the Tweed Monoprice, Otis?

 

[otisblove]

Good @Triple Jim! Thanks for asking.
I put another 1/4” jack in the back and attached speaker wires, so I can have the monoprice 15 using the celestion blue or I can unplug it and use the blue in the 5E3 cabinet as a speaker cabinet for my new Fender Super Champ X2 HD.

 

[SquierTap]

It's weird... I think we all eventually come full circle... When I was younger I dug the gadgets... And all the knobs and lights... And as I get older I guess I know what I like and what fits me better these days...

I JUST recently finally got into tube amps... But they've gotta be DEAD SIMPLE... Something like a Champ, a Monoprice 15, or a Bugera V5 combo...
The less that can mess up, the better...

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Katana 100 combo, and all the insane things it can do... It's got virtually every sound that I could POSSIBLY EVER want... All the amp models are pretty dang close sounding (close enough for me, anyway) and it has virtually every Boss pedal ever made, built in... But I keep it (relatively) simple;
On my pedalboard I've got a Boss CS-3 (compressor/sustainer/soundgood-izer) a Kokko Tube Screamer clone, a Kokko Distortion, and my favorite, the Joyo Ultimate Drive...

But just to be honest, I could be totally happy and get just about everything I "need" for a gig with just a decent solid state Peavey amp and my Ultimate Drive... If you want ANY kind of tube sound, from warm and clean, to full blown saturation, that pedal does a fine job...

But you're 100% right... The older I get, the less I "need"...