Tone

i was just reading a thread under the "Ask Skip Simmons" forum about amp choices...and decided to share a recent experience which seemed pertinent:

i recently heard Ian Collard play a small venue, outdoors. He was using a Blues Jr, borrowed from the guitarist in the band. i cant guarantee it was stock, but it was a guitarists amp. Ian was using a mic from Chuck Gurney

4 days later i heard a local player (a good local player, with well over 3 decades of gigging behind him) playing through a spanking new Sonny Jr Avenger, using one of the mics Sonny Jr sells.

this left me in absolutely no doubt that good tone is in control of the player, not the gear. Ian C sounded wonderful "he makes a harmonica sound like a saxophone" i heard from more than 1 listener. the guy with the sonny jr amp sounded great too, but not the same league. he also could sound like a sax, but he used a sax to do it...and to be fair, it was the 1st time he had gigged the amp.

this wont stop me trying to get a good amp happening of course. and i believe it takes some experience to learn to get the best from your gear. i'm not saying gear doesn't make a difference just that its a relatively small part...