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Im sure that Fender and Marshall amps and Fender and Gibson have always been mainstays of rock music, but in the 70's what were some other brands being played a fair amound, both guitars and amps, hell...even fx. I mean the ones that dies off by the 80's and the ones that might still be going strong today...

thanks


Originally Posted by the guy who invented fireIm sure that Fender and Marshall amps and Fender and Gibson have always been mainstays of rock music, but in the 70's what were some other brands being played a fair amound, both guitars and amps, hell...even fx. I mean the ones that dies off by the 80's and the ones that might still be going strong today...

thanks

Ric guitars
Univox Guitars and amps...All you NY guys will remember the Univox stuff...
Vox
Ampeg
West Amps
Sunn Amps
Orange Amps
Hiwatt Amps
Earth Amps
Kustom Amps
Traynor(Made great Fender/Marshall circuit copies)

I'll think of more also...

Music man amps! If you find one, grab it up GREAT tone....Joe

How big did Silvertone ever get?


Originally Posted by bungalowbillMusic man amps! If you find one, grab it up GREAT tone....Joe

Great amps! Clapton was using them and I owned one also....

some of these I expected, some I didn't!

Keep them comming guys!

Startdeluxer covered most of these, but ...

Hiwatt: I owned a DR103 head, run through an Altair power attenuator into a pair of Ampeg V-4 cabs. Without the Altair, this rig was loud. I'm pretty sure I saw my old head on EBay a few years ago, but the seller couldn't send me a picture that would confirm it.

Traynor: Used a 60-watt bass head from the rental pool once when my silverface Twin was in the shop. I now know that it was a pretty good amp.

Univox: We used to laugh at a guy who had a giant (3-15quot;?) bass rig 'cuz it was blue. 30 years later, I've developed a somewhat unnatural attraction for these amps (see link in my signature).

Sunn: these were really common. I had a couple of cabs come and go, but never played a Sunn amp. Since they came in 100-, 200-, and 300-watt varieties, I'm guessing they were loud.

Ampeg: Lots of people had Ampegs back then. VT-22s, V-4's. No master volume, so you had to crank them to get a tone. Geez, the 70's must have been a very loud decade, huh?

One of the weirdest amp lines was one my favorite local music store carried: GBX. They had a solid-state, preamp-only head that came with a manual showing you how to set the knobs to immitate all your favorite amps/artists/styles. Then, you plugged your preamp into their cabs (choose 4-10quot;, 4-12quot;, or 2-15quot;) each of which contained a 90 watt SS power amp. Add more cabs to attain the required volume. I remember the manual had warnings in it saying that you might damage your hearing if you hooked up more than 4 or 6 cabinets.

For guitars, the 70's were the time of the lawsuit clones. Ibanez, mostly. I had a Bradley SG that was pretty good, but it wasn't a Gibson, so I traded up. These were much better guitars than we gave them credit for at the time, and have quite a loyal following these days.

Effects: MXR was king in the seventies. I had the requisite Distortion , a guy I played with had a Phase 90. Also Foxx, Mutron, ElectroHarmonics and Univox were big. And who could forget those cute little Dan Armstrong boxes? I'm gonna build me an Orange Squeezer clone one of these days.

Sunn-Cabinets
I had the 6*12quot; and the other guirist had the 6*10quot;- Thought the 12s were superb sound for a plexi 50 and he got a great sound on the 10s with an old bassman- We could just fit one in the back of a 71 mercury- u would need a truck to move them today-

Lab Series- L7
Biggest mistake I ever made was selling that amp- Had an incredible, big clean chorus sound- More sparkle and low end than a Rolland 120 and mixed with the marshal I could get just about every sound in the Rush or later Trever Rabin catagory.

Yamaha G212-
Les expensive version of L7 and great sound but less flexibility

Univox- had a 2hum strat style before I knew any better

Yep, MXR chorus, cry baby wah also had lots of boss gear

I used an Ampeg VT-22 twin with a pair of 12quot; Altec Lansings. I had a half-power switch installed and used an attenuator (just a big old resistor that looked like something from the 50's) to keep it from splitting eardrums in the next county. It was also an extremely heavy beast. Things were loud indeed, but seldom mic'ed through a PA like it's done these days. I used an Ibanez LP clone and a Guild S-300. Ovation electrics were around then, too, but not very popular. Les Pauls tended to rule the roost where I played in the Northeast, with Strats coming on strong as the 80's hit. People had a very low opinion of Gibson and Fender products during the mid to late 70's, which opened the door for lots of other brands, especially from Japan.

My favorite pedal back then was a DOD 250 preamp/OD, which I still have. I also picked up an EH Memory Man Deluxe at the end of the 70's, but I didn't use it much. Earlier in the 70's I had an EH Big Muff Pi, but I grew tired of it, and a Cry Baby wah that finally broke (tossed it out -- not as many good techs back then it seems). I actually made some of my effects (phaser, comp, talk box) with the help of Craig Anderton's book and GP columns. They worked pretty well, but they never seemed to hold up for very long. Good times...

Oh, one point to add is that the little Mesa Boogie combos started hitting the scene during the latter half of the decade, and they sounded pretty amazing.

I remember being a roadie for my older friend Steve in Long Island in the early 70s....They used Kustom heads and bottoms(The Tuck and Roll)ones....
Steve used an Earth head into a black Kustom bottom....The other guy had a Univox head plugged into another Kustom bottom and was using a fuzz face as his only effects pedal...It was so cool being the roadie for my friend's band at one of the school's Battle Of The Bands...I was like 12 at the time,but it sure left a lasting impression on me...

It was also very cool to be listening to them playing classic rock down in the basement...Gosh how I miss a basement!

Speaking of Kustom and Earth tuck and roll...what about PLush amps, I belive some (maybe all, I don't know) were tuck and roll...where those anygood?

Also, can I assume that even when they werwe new, you guys knew that CBS Fender and Norlin Gibson were just not up to par so to speak?

I've got a '72 black tuck and roll Kustom 150 combo with four 10quot; speakers. Still sounds great. Bought it at Sam Ash in Hempstead.

Kelsy-
quot;I actually made some of my effects (phaser, comp, talk box) with the help of Craig Anderton's book and GP columns. quot;

Did the anderton stuff as well- ever single bit of ee knowledge I had preweb came from that book- Guess custom ICs have replaced those days, but boy was that a lot of fun-


Originally Posted by Dangerine49I've got a '72 black tuck and roll Kustom 150 combo with four 10quot; speakers. Still sounds great. Bought it at Sam Ash in Hempstead.

We used to get on a bus from Seaford where we lived and spend an entire day at the Hempstead Sam Ash...They used to have these glass cases that they'd keep all the highend guitars in...You had to ask a sales person to get it down for you..I also remember a seperate and incredible used gear room where they had these complete Marshall stacks and all soughts of incredible used stuff....Talk about an experience... Those were such fun days...I remember riding my bike from Seaford to Massapequa for 1 set of strings....


Originally Posted by STRATDELUXER97Ric guitars
Univox Guitars and amps...All you NY guys will remember the Univox stuff...
Vox
Ampeg
West Amps
Sunn Amps
Orange Amps
Hiwatt Amps
Earth Amps
Kustom Amps
Traynor(Made great Fender/Marshall circuit copies)

I'll think of more also...

1

Westbury, Hagstrom and Kay guitars.
Electro Harmonix Pedals.
Ovations.

I had a brand new Marshall 100 watt stack and a Les Paul Custom CSB in 1979. Thanks Pop

bump...there are more guys on right now! I love hearing these stories!

Don't forget the original Mesa Boogie.

How big did Silvertone ever get?

Silvertone was always considered crap. I always thought it was a Sears brand [dunno though], the only place I ever saw them was in the Sears catalog, which is where my first electric came from. It was a Silvertone, the amp was built into the case. Sears also sold Harmony, that was my second electric, which wasn't too bad actually. It was a 335 type, had a Bigsby and everything.

My favorite pedal back then was a DOD 250 preamp/OD, which I still have.

I still have mine too, in fact I still use it. Very effective for kicking a Marshall into high gear. It worked well back then with my Super lead and it works well with my 2204 now.


Originally Posted by bungalowbillMusic man amps! If you find one, grab it up GREAT tone....Joe

What about Music Man guitars! I learned on a Sabre I, and still have it. It's a great instrument.