When your guitar and amp are a great match

[MIGAS79]

Recently I acquired a used Baja Telecaster (butterscotch blond) and I have been trying to come up with the right words to describe it. I was over-thinking it. The word is FUN! My other guitars needed everything just right to sound their best through my Fender Bassbreaker 15. This thing sounds sensational all the time. It is an outstanding guitar. Hard to beat it for the money if you look for a great used one.

Both the Broadcaster bridge and Twisted Tele neck pickups are very high quality. The 4 position switch gives you a ton of variety. Positions 2 and 4 utilize both pickups, one in series and one in parallel. Plus it has S1 switching. Just a ton of great sounds.

Super happy with my electrics. All 3 were great bang for the buck and do quite different things! Two sound good with my amp, but this Tele was made for that amp it seems! Multiple amps aren’t in my short-term plans, but I can imagine the Guild S-100 through the right amp would be outstanding. I got it for nearly half off but it’s worth its retail price.

It’s great when high expectations are exceeded! Turns out I’m definitely a Tele guy.

Would love to hear other examples of people discovering matches made in heaven.

[muscmp]

i'm one of those people who seem to continually find great matches. i freaked when i spent the $$ for a 58av but it has turned out to be an exceptional guitar that all my friends even love. it goes well with my ac15, 66 deluxe reverb and my favorite combo of 75 vibro champ and 76 champ. of course, i've also found that my two strats and les paul can be paired up with any combination of amps too.

fun sure is the magic word, here.

play music!

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Mich Novice

...Would love to hear other examples of people discovering matches made in heaven.

In no particular order:

• Bugera V22: my go-to gig setup with single-coils (Fender-style/P-90) or mini-buckers (Taylor/Gretsch), this one'll cover anything short of death metal credibly, with tone for days and enough power to handle a 600-700 seat house with no problem - not my cuppa tea with full-size humbuckers, though
• Bugera V5 Infinium: same guitars/same deal, but a bit more skewed toward the single-coil end of things - tonally reminiscent of a pre-Top Boost Vox, surprisingly loud for its size, and even with the simple controls I'm finding new subtleties of tone every time I plug in
• Fender '65 Super Reverb RI: the big kahuna for P-90's or big/small humbuckers, with power and tone to spare for any size gig - and if you've ever played one there's no further explanation necessary
• Ampeg Rocket R-12A (top-panel/no 'verb): bought this one brand-new in 1964, kept it in near-mint condition (still have the original tubes) and placed it in semi-retirement when I got the V22 in 2010 - Ampeg's answer to the brown Princeton, it's loaded with that classic "old-amp" mojo that makes any guitar sound like magic
• Randall RB-120: arguably the first solid-state amps with any kind of real tone, I bought this 1x15" combo as my gigging bass amp in the early-80's - while it has an old-school B-15/blackface Bassman feel for low-end duties, the no-frills independent guitar channel sounds amazing with my jazzboxes: thick, fat, and loaded with headroom and dynamic range
• Fender Frontman 212R: a visual near-clone of the blackface Twin but 30% lighter, if you're predominantly a clean player (country, jazz, classic R&B, etc.) doing medium- to large-size halls you need one of these, period - that sparkly, spanky Fender clean that compliments any guitar, in spades, and the surfer dudes who can't afford/haul a '65 Twin RI are driving the prices up beyond the original retail

[rwmct]

I have a mid 90s Mexican tele and a 65PRRI. They seem to go very well together to my ears.

[Jerry D]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Fender '65 Super Reverb RI: the big kahuna for P-90's or big/small humbuckers, with power and tone to spare for any size gig - and if you've ever played one there's no further explanation necessary

You bet, Steve (I have a '66). Sounds terrific with my Thinline Tele. I've never heard any other amp to compare to it. Just had mine "tuned up" (new capacitors, etc) and it sounds as good as when new, probably better. Now it's quiet as a mouse at "idle", which is a wonder in an amp that big.

[clintj]

My favorite two combos:

The Telecaster and the tweed Deluxe. Sparkling, swirling cleans and a raw, vicious overdrive all controlled from your guitar's volume and tone knobs.

The Stratocaster and the tweed Bassman. There's something magical in the voicing of the Bassman that brings out every positive attribute of the Strat, and it especially fattens up that bright bridge pickup without muddying up the neck one.

[M Sarad]

I have two tweed Deluxe amps, a Fender from the late 50s and a Victoria from the late 90s.

I mainly use the Fender with my Brondel Strat, SG with Throbaks, ‘64 Melody Maker with PAFs, ‘58 Les Paul Jr., PRS McCarty with Soap Bars, or PRS SE with three Dimarzio Super Distortion Humbuckers.

No matter which guitar I use, the tweed Deluxe is my amps of choice.

[Johnny K]

My G&L ASAT thinline Bluesboy & Fender Hotrod DeVille 410 seem like a match made in heaven. Even better after I switched out the strings to Elixir OptiWeb 10-46's.

I am going to do some mods to my DeVille to improve it even more.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by clintj

My favorite two combos...

The Stratocaster and the tweed Bassman. There's something magical in the voicing of the Bassman that brings out every positive attribute of the Strat, and it especially fattens up that bright bridge pickup without muddying up the neck one.

When Dhani Harrison first took up guitar he was allowed a Strat, cable, and tweed Bassman, period - and I'd tend to think Papa George knew a little something about electric guitar tone...

[DukeX]

Two guitars: '62 Tele RI and ES335 (Epi Dot w/SD Antiquities).
Three amps: 5e3 Tweed Deluxe, Princeton Reverb, Vox AC4HW1.

The Tele loves all three. So does the Dot, except for me, it requires more tweeking with the T-Deluxe.

I haven't had GAS for electrics or amps for years--except I wouldn't mind have a P-90 guit one of these days.

[clintj]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

When Dhani Harrison first took up guitar he was allowed a Strat, cable, and tweed Bassman, period - and I'd tend to think Papa George knew a little something about electric guitar tone...

So do Buddy Guy and SRV. The former is a long time user of that pairing, and Stevie recorded the album "In Step" with it.

The Tele and Vox AC30 or AC15 is another sweet pair.

[RoyBoy]

I have a partscaster with similar configuration to the OP-twisted tele in the neck and broadcaster in the bridge. This guitar absolutely loves my DRRI with the Jensen alnico speaker. The cleans are incredible!

[Dru Edwards]

My Gibsons (Les Pauls, SGs) into my Traynor YCV-50 (blue). I started using my Marshall JVM again and they sound fantastic there too, especially with the 4x12 cab. Volume doesn't need to be cranked either.

[StevenL]

American Deluxe Strat HSS with a Mesa Express 5:25. Weber Blue Pup ceramic internal 10" speaker and 12" extension cab with an alnico Blue Dog. What a sound.

[stevecuss]

Man, that Baja Tele is an incredible guitar in so many respects. I'm glad you're loving it.

I have an Am Std Strat with CS '54 pickups that I absolutely love. Plays and sounds like a dream. I currently play it through a home made Marshall Plexi 18 watt clone that I built a few years ago and I really like it, but I'd love to pair it with a Princeton or Bassman or a classic Fender Tube tone one day

Originally Posted by Mich Novice

Recently I acquired a used Baja Telecaster (butterscotch blond) and I have been trying to come up with the right words to describe it. I was over-thinking it. The word is FUN! My other guitars needed everything just right to sound their best through my Fender Bassbreaker 15. This thing sounds sensational all the time. It is an outstanding guitar. Hard to beat it for the money if you look for a great used one.

Both the Broadcaster bridge and Twisted Tele neck pickups are very high quality. The 4 position switch gives you a ton of variety. Positions 2 and 4 utilize both pickups, one in series and one in parallel. Plus it has S1 switching. Just a ton of great sounds.

Super happy with my electrics. All 3 were great bang for the buck and do quite different things! Two sound good with my amp, but this Tele was made for that amp it seems! Multiple amps aren’t in my short-term plans, but I can imagine the Guild S-100 through the right amp would be outstanding. I got it for nearly half off but it’s worth its retail price.

It’s great when high expectations are exceeded! Turns out I’m definitely a Tele guy.

Would love to hear other examples of people discovering matches made in heaven.