dude ranch amp head and cabinet suggestions?

[Dygrizzly]

hi ive been searching through the the internet for about 3 hours now trying to find a ampeg vl1002 amp head or a ampeg 502 amp head they are really rare and i cant seem to find one in thew uk is there any suggestions on what i should get to mimic that tone? i already have a dmarzio x2n angled 

[daveyjones]

On 6/5/2020 at 3:12 PM, Dygrizzly said:

hi ive been searching through the the internet for about 3 hours now trying to find a ampeg vl1002 amp head or a ampeg 502 amp head they are really rare and i cant seem to find one in thew uk is there any suggestions on what i should get to mimic that tone? i already have a dmarzio x2n angled 

they totally come up on reverb from time to time:

https://reverb.com/p/ampeg-vl-1002-2-channel-100-watt-guitar-amp-head

two listed now, one of which will ship. sure, it's pricier to the UK i'd imagine (US shipping is listed at $70), but totally worth it IMO.

here's mine, with my delonge strat:

[Q182]

Just keep an eye out for them, sometimes you’ll get them for a deal. It really is worth waiting to find one! It’s a Marshall on steroids with a dedicated clean channel making it super versatile. Especially if an actual Marshall is out of your price range which was my case. 
 

@daveyjones the rig is looking great! I see you have the green spectraflex cable as well! 

[daveyjones]

5 minutes ago, Q182 said:

 

@daveyjones the rig is looking great! I see you have the green spectraflex cable as well! 

yup, green from the head into my pedals loop. blue out from the tuner to the guitar. just like tom in 96.

[blinkstillrules]

I got mine from Music Go Round for $250 (fantastic shape. I may as well have stolen it). I've seen them pop up on Facebook Marketplace. Just be patient you'll find one.

And don't over pay (unless you're ok with that). I'd probably pay $550-600 tops and it better be in fantastic shape.

 

[mil182]

I totally get that specific gear can be hard to find in the UK, as my friends who live there have expressed to me. Shipping can be very expensive as well. 
 

If you aren’t having any luck with finding an Ampeg, I would suggest a Marshall JCM 900 or 800. I’ve been able to dial in some great dude ranch tones with a Mesa Dual Rec as well as a Peavey 6505+. Really, you can get close with settings, the right pickup and playing the songs as tight as possible. 
 

As for a cab, you can go Marshall, Mesa, Orange (Ampeg if you can find one), there’s a lot of good options out there. The speaker break up will vary based on what you get but you should be able to get close with either Celestion V30s of 75s etc. I’m assuming you won’t be cranking the volume insanely high. 
 

I’m going to be Posting some tones I made for dude ranch soon. I figured by focusing on settings and play style, I can hopefully help some folks out since not everyone is able to get the same gear. 

[daveyjones]

@Q182 / @blinkstillrules it looks like the original blink logo plate had an underline on it, which you couldn't see as it was blocked on the amp by the frame. see this tweet:

 

[Q182]

Just now, daveyjones said:

 it looks like the original blink logo plate had an underline on it

And its two colors! 

[blinkstillrules]

8 minutes ago, daveyjones said:

@Q182 / @blinkstillrules it looks like the original blink logo plate had an underline on it, which you couldn't see as it was blocked on the amp by the frame. see this tweet:

 

Whoa awesome. So Tom gave it to a fan.

[blinkstillrules]

12 minutes ago, daveyjones said:

@Q182 / @blinkstillrules it looks like the original blink logo plate had an underline on it, which you couldn't see as it was blocked on the amp by the frame. see this tweet:

 

That guy tweeted Tom back on April 15. He wants to get it back to Tom.

[daveyjones]

1 minute ago, Q182 said:

And its two colors! 

isn't that odd? i looked back at my reference photos a bit closer, and what i thought was glow is totally a diagonal line:

 

this appears to be painted, with the text and underline as either stencil or white vinyl:

so when i made two different blue plates, based on the lighting in the photos i had, i was splitting up what was actually a two-tone job. i might think about trying to do one of these with the actual diagonal now...

[Q182]

6 minutes ago, daveyjones said:

i was splitting up what was actually a two-tone job.

That's crazy. And we thought that the green was from the bulbs when the amp was on. who'd have thunk it 

[daveyjones]

i checked my illustrator file against the pic of the original plate at 1:1. looks like i was spot on with the size and position of the lettering:

[daveyjones]

the lettering was totally hand done. the characters are stretched this way and that out of proportion. here's my adjusted art:

[luisbootlegs]

On 7/27/2020 at 11:23 PM, daveyjones said:

so when i made two different blue plates, based on the lighting in the photos i had, i was splitting up what was actually a two-tone job. i might think about trying to do one of these with the actual diagonal now...

Just for curiosity, are you selling this type of blink logo plate? - I might buy one if you do

[daveyjones]

1 hour ago, luisbootlegs said:

Just for curiosity, are you selling this type of blink logo plate? - I might buy one if you do

i have a few left of the plain blue. a few darker, a few lighter:

[luisbootlegs]

On 7/27/2020 at 11:23 PM, daveyjones said:

isn't that odd? i looked back at my reference photos a bit closer, and what i thought was glow is totally a diagonal line:

 

Is it me or the plate seems to be illuminated by some sort of light in the background? 

I know it's a dumb question, I'm not a guitar expert at all.

[blinkstillrules]

1 hour ago, luisbootlegs said:

Is it me or the plate seems to be illuminated by some sort of light in the background? 

I know it's a dumb question, I'm not a guitar expert at all.

The Ampeg VLs have light bulbs behind the logo that light it up.

[daveyjones]

39 minutes ago, blinkstillrules said:

The Ampeg VLs have light bulbs behind the logo that light it up.

this.

[luisbootlegs]

14 hours ago, daveyjones said:

i have a few left of the plain blue. a few darker, a few lighter:

Fantastic! - Just a few more questions: 

Are you selling them on eBay/Reverb? if so, can I get a link please?

Are you planning on creating a new version that replicates the diagonal shape as the original plate? If so, I think I'll wait until you have them ready

Are your current plates from the picture above transparent? (i.e. Do they also illuminate as the original one when the background light is on or are they fully opaque)?