Post by vaughn4380 on Aug 26, 2013 13:48:50 GMT -7
How would a Stangray combo with the single 12 inch Celestion Gold compare to a Carmen Ghia combo with a Vintage 30 or a ’59 Fender Bassman reissue with the Jenson P10R speakers?
The reason I ask is I currently own a Carmen Ghia combo with the vintage 30 and use it as my main amp for everything. I use the amp as a clean amp with the volume around 9 o’clock and the tone around 2 o’clock. I use my pedal board for OD and boost and really like how everything sounds together (I play a strat if that matters). For our indoor events it is a really nice package with resonable volume and great tone. Recently we have been booked for larger events with bigger outdoor stages and I am finding the Carmen Ghia is no longer giving me enough clean volume without the need to run it through the stage monitors.
Some of these events have not been good about running my amp through the monitors and just asked me to turn up instead, which starts to overdrive the amp on its own and no longer gives me the clean sound I want. So I started looking for a Stangray thinking it would be a larger Carmen Ghia, but when I called my online vendor of all things Dr. Z, the salesman said they are not very close in sound and some owners find the Stangray does not take dirt pedals well at all. So I put that purchase on hold and started looking at the Fender reissue Bassmans. I really like how they sound and was able to test one out locally with my pedal board. It is not exactly like my Carmen Ghia, but close and sounds good with my pedal board. I do not have a local shop to try out the Stangray so I have no idea how that sounds with my pedal board.
I also like the size and weight of my current amp, I think the Stangray with a single Celestion Gold is about the same size and weight. The Bassman is actually a few pounds lighter but slightly bigger, but still an easily managed size and weight. I do not want to step up the seperate head/cab route, or 80+ pound twin combo.
Any amp I buy will be ran through the front house speakers and I only play at churches, revivals (outdoor), church retreats (sometimes outdoors), and local festivals. But I cannot guarantee a good monitor feed and need to be able to hear myself on stage. I am pretty sure both of the amps I am considering will be plenty loud. My dirt pedals are a Paisley drive and Box of Rock if that helps. Thanks!
The reason I ask is I currently own a Carmen Ghia combo with the vintage 30 and use it as my main amp for everything. I use the amp as a clean amp with the volume around 9 o’clock and the tone around 2 o’clock. I use my pedal board for OD and boost and really like how everything sounds together (I play a strat if that matters). For our indoor events it is a really nice package with resonable volume and great tone. Recently we have been booked for larger events with bigger outdoor stages and I am finding the Carmen Ghia is no longer giving me enough clean volume without the need to run it through the stage monitors.
Some of these events have not been good about running my amp through the monitors and just asked me to turn up instead, which starts to overdrive the amp on its own and no longer gives me the clean sound I want. So I started looking for a Stangray thinking it would be a larger Carmen Ghia, but when I called my online vendor of all things Dr. Z, the salesman said they are not very close in sound and some owners find the Stangray does not take dirt pedals well at all. So I put that purchase on hold and started looking at the Fender reissue Bassmans. I really like how they sound and was able to test one out locally with my pedal board. It is not exactly like my Carmen Ghia, but close and sounds good with my pedal board. I do not have a local shop to try out the Stangray so I have no idea how that sounds with my pedal board.
I also like the size and weight of my current amp, I think the Stangray with a single Celestion Gold is about the same size and weight. The Bassman is actually a few pounds lighter but slightly bigger, but still an easily managed size and weight. I do not want to step up the seperate head/cab route, or 80+ pound twin combo.
Any amp I buy will be ran through the front house speakers and I only play at churches, revivals (outdoor), church retreats (sometimes outdoors), and local festivals. But I cannot guarantee a good monitor feed and need to be able to hear myself on stage. I am pretty sure both of the amps I am considering will be plenty loud. My dirt pedals are a Paisley drive and Box of Rock if that helps. Thanks!