Sick af

It said “vintage original sheen” when I bought mine 🤷🏼‍♂️

I'd argue that your rock gain tone sounded average because your guitar was slightly out of tune or not intonated that well, and your playing was a just a little bit sloppy as well. At 10:26 you're playing quite well and presto! - the amp sounds good all of a sudden. Funny that lol.

I’ve had one for years and I love it. I use the clean channel with pedals exclusively.

Tom ran this company into the ground. Sad.

Pafs? Nope. Single coils. It's a fender

Search KZbin for 'Hot Rod Deluxe x tone' )x being blues, funk or whatever) and you get nothing back but videos about how to tame it, how to mod it, is it really that bad and so on. No videos showcasing juicy tone. Concerning.

If someone gave me a relic I’d pay good money to restore it 😂😂😂

I used to be anti-relic but I've come around to the idea and have learned to appreciate the art form of creating a believable relic. Heck you might even find old video comments from me griping about them. I've heard and used the argument myself of just playing your gear for 30 years to achieve that look and feel. Well, I'm an an enthusiast weekend warrior musician like most and in my 50s now. Buying a modern poly finish guitar and playing every day until my hands fall off will never achieve a classic look and feel of a vintage nitro finished instrument. So just buy a vintage instrument? Well I don't have $15k+ just lying around to drop on a properly worn in pre-CBS Strat, Tele, P Bass, etc. Plus with an investment like that I probably wouldn't even want to play it out anywhere. So what does that leave? Relic reproductions. That's really the only option for an amateur musician at my age without gobs of disposable income to get an instrument like that. Over the years I've become pretty adept at assembling and setting up guitars and basses. I've dabbled in relicing as well, mostly hardware. MJT, Guitar Mill, Bloomdoom, etc make some pretty cool relic reproductions of classic Fender bodies at a reasonable price. Far cheaper than buying a Custom Shop instrument as well. To me it's a good honest way for the working musician to have a vintage style instrument at a fraction of the price. So yeah, count me as a relic convert I guess. For the naysayers, worry about your own shit. Don't touch it so it never gets a scratch, God forbid. Or else, play the Hell out of your plastic covered modern Ibanez RG series guitar until you achieve that look I guess. Different strokes for different folks. Let people enjoy what they like.

I don't like the aesthetics of them, but I would rather use my time and effort practising on a guitar I enjoy than bitching about one I don't even own.

Dude, this song is killer

So what amp would you recommend? Nice playing.

You actually lose gain by jumping channels. For max gain go high input of treble channel, presence maxed out, and hold on to your butts.

I love mine...you can get really punchy bass notes on a 6 string...and its reverb is just f'n awesome.

You might be able to fix it yourself.

Tuh huh... I get a great Metal sound from my Germino Lead 55; use a relative hot output pickup and it ends up, kids think I recorded with a Bogner. Preamp gain spoils the player and is lifeless compared to a cranked Plexi. Mind you, it is a 1968 spec Super Lead, so there is more than enough gain once you get accustomed to the amp's response. My EVH EL34 is now owned by a good friend, and my Soldanos are gathering dust. The VH I and VH II sound is what I have been chasing since I was a kid. Owning two Germinos is like Christmas day every time I crank it up.

I own this combo (USmade version) since 1996 and have to say it was one of the best amps available at the time (Eastern Europe). Its biggest advantage - it's very loud (and cutting easily through the mix at every setups, even on bigger stages or at a very loud bands) - sometimes could turn into a nightmare for band mates, if you don't pay attention. But the attenuator is easy solution!!! I usually used just clean channel with effect pedals or ef. processor in front of input. Experimenting with effect loop I found senseless (too many cabels on the ground) and it sounded perfect in this simple way. Nowaday it's different story, there is so many possibilities...

Cleans that won't cut, but leads honestly doesnt sound terrible. I can see the blues guys loving it. I can see why it is called generic, like the reverb is close but not there.

Sound wise the sound difference is super subtle I rewatched sections of each recording to sanity check both sound amazing to me either way, I lean a little towards the passives but not by much. Though, "it depends" is always the right answer in my guitar I've tried both and for me it's all about the passives though I have the Music Man Axis pickups in my baby and I love that classic tone, ultimately it's all personal.

I’m not hating on relic guitars, but in my opinion, I’d like to just keep my guitar spotless free from any cosmetic damages. But I’m also aware that these things come within time. I’ve had my telecaster from Japan since 2010 and it still looks brand new since I like to keep it in its case and clean it and exchange the strings every 2 to 3 months.

Where’s the Hagstrom? Was waiting to see you play it.

I've been saying for 20 years these amps sound terrible.

They're terrible. Harsh, ice pick, wolly, swamp reverb, the tones don't do much. All harsh mids.

Great demo! What do you use for the drums for your songs?

Come on man, no sample clean (ish) tones on the bridge??? Wonderful tones otherwise 👌

Because people are daft enough to pay it.

ZERO REASON to spend that money. ZERO. I got a 200 dollar Grote 335 off Amazon, changed out the pickups, gave it a set up (300 more buckaroos) and it plays and sounds as good as my 61 dot neck, AND, I can drive it like I stole it. You try showing up to a gig in Liverpool with a 5 grand guitar and see how that works out. If you're filthy rich get what ever you like, but you will NEVER HEAR THE DIFFERENCE IN THE MIX. Anyone who pays any more than a 1000 bucks on a geet is getting played like a banjo. Nice playing though brother.

This guy appears knowledgeable enough when it comes to amps and sounds but to make this a little more rounded review, either a Strat/or Tele should be added. Gibson Les Paul's can sound muddy at the best of times. Humbuckers are not a Fender "thing" so why demo with a Les Paul only. Also some of the comparisons to other valve amps such as a blackface (more expensive) are a little harsh and a comparison with a competitor in the price bracket (say Marshall DSL40) would be more applicable. When I play my Strat through the hot rod deluxe at gigs through the clean channels it absolutely excels and sounds great. The gain 1 (low gain) Channel also sounds more than decent. People will rave about Marshall's but they can also sound not great in terms of clean's, but maybe better with gain (if that is your taste). One persons decent sound can be another persons bad sound. Depends what your taste is.

I bought mine in 2010 and still rocking

everything you played was so awesome - not even thinking about the pickups after hearing it lol

if someone is playing good like you than even the guitar doesnt matter :D

I absolutely love the Timeline. It's one of those pedals that every time i try to replace it to try something new it doesnt take long for it to get put back on my board. I do need to dive deeper into its capabilities though. I barely scratch the surface on what its capable of doing

What the hell is this dude on?! Lovely amp!

You could not be more wrong about most of the things you said, & the fact that you really didn’t buy a Chibson & find out for yourself speaks volumes about you. Obviously, your opinion is not based on personal experience. I’ve purchased probably a dozen Chibsons over the last 12 years, & I can tell you, none of them were poorly made guitars. A few of them did have some issues, but nothing that wasn’t fixable. My very first one I bought 12 years ago is still in great shape. As far as buying them to fool people, well I realized most sellers will build you whatever you want, so I’ve been having my Chibsons custom built, with my own custom logo & “Made in China” on the back of the headstock. My last custom built, a J-200 copy is absolutely fantastic. It is very well made, it’s beautiful & it sounds great. Every luthier & player that has seen it cannot believe how great it is. As far as the Chinese being overworked, underpaid & denied employee benefits that most of us in the free western world enjoy, welcome to communist China. Yes, people get scammed, but I don’t know anyone who buys Chibsons from Aliexpress or whatever & believed they’re actually getting a real Gibson. Some working musicians don’t want to take their $3000 Les Paul to a bar or club gig & will get a Chibson, upgrade it & set it up nice so they can gig with it without having to worry about it getting damaged or stolen. And yes, there are many other legit brands like Firefly or Harley Benton that offer great instruments at roughly the same price as a Chibson without the risk or being to upgrade anything. And yes, I own real Gibsons as well. Chibsons are great modding platforms as well for someone who wants to learn how to do guitar work. Maybe you should actually put your money where your mouth is & try one out, but I can tell by your smugness that you won’t admit you’re wrong even when proven so. Sounds like the snobbery is all on you man. I really hate when people talk about something like they know about it, but don’t know what they’re talking about.

Its hilarious how so many guitarists think they are the arbiters of what everyone else should or shouldn't like. Buying a relic'd guitar is no different from buying something because you like the colour or anything else about how it looks. And we all buy with our eyes. Stop being snobs

I dont know this guy what are you talking! All musical instrumental should be free! Only evil land, custom shop… put prices on things in nature created by God.

I was given an ibanez rg721rw for free from someone whose partner smashed it to pieces and snapped the neck in a meth rage. I built a new neck for it as close to the original as possible and it plays like a dream. I did swap the pickups for some cheap ebay ones as the stock ones had fallen in battle lol

I love the Gibson Les Paul guitars!!

The 1st mistake a person can make is to care what other people think. Do what you like, F them

THE DIFFERENCE I FEEL BETWEEN A GIBSON OR A VINTAGE IS VERY, VERY SMALL...SO GIBSON IS OVER PRICED.

I've never had active pickups simply because I don't want to have to deal with having yet another battery to change.

It's phony posing to me. I'd rather earn the wear and tear but there's the issue. People always want the easy way.

The problem is that adjusting for inflation, a mid/late 50s gibson would be about 4,000 usd. 50's Gibsons would be closer to custom shop prices than would Gibson USA models-- In reality, we should look at the custom shop as GIBSON and Gibson USA as a new budget line

Great video! I just purchased my first relic, a cheap relic. What do I think of it compared to my other, more expensive guitars? It's fun to play, and it's a nice addition to my small collection. Because it's fun to play, I play it. Which, in my mind, is the point. Buy a guitar that looks at you when you aren't practicing and entices you to pick it up every day. Heritage, Gretsch, Tele and Strat. They all feel, sound, and play differently. I love that about guitars. Match your mood for the day and pick the one that feels right for the moment.

Here is my take on relic instruments. If you like it and it makes you play that instrument more then rub some more dirt on it and do your thing. However, regardless of how that instrument makes you feel, it will make the audience feel a certain way too. That is not an opinion, its a fact, it will elicit a very predictable reaction. When a non musician sees a relic instrument they think they are seeing an instrument with a story to tell. An instrument that has seen countless gigs, countless repairs, has been played for decades, the audience thinks that the guitar has years of stories to tell etc. That impression gives the player credibility by that person. Think about when you see a guy like Chris Stapleton, Stevie Ray Vaughn play his guitar, it makes you feel a certain way right? There is a certain warmth and connection you make with a player who is playing something road worn and used. So when you are paying for that fake road wear you are not being honest when you share that with the audience. That connection is fake. That story is false. The only thing that guitar has seen is a rasp and a heat gun. If you think this take is gatekeeping you have to understand that just because you don't like it, it does not mean its not true. If my opinion offends you or you think I am insecure you may want to look a little deeper inside your self. When someone calls me fat, it only hurts because I am fat. Not every negative opinion is "gatekeeping", that is an absurdist view point and the way this video is laid out is an actual logical fallacy. Arguing that people with negative opinions about something you like are gatekeepers while justifying your opinion (aka your insecurities) by calling those that disagree with you insecure is the actual definition of a red herring argument. I think it goes towards a deeper problem in society where people want to appear like they have put the time in but they also want the twenty plus guitar collection on the wall because new shiny things make them happy.. or in this case... faked wear and tear makes them happy. I just do not think that is a healthy thing. You can clean up a neck and fret board and do a matte sanding job and still have a new finish on it to make it feel "worn in". lol.

People rarely mention the REAL reason it's so popular. On the clean channel, it will cut through the band and put you where you should be no matter what you do to it. For pedal people of course.

Guy proceeds to sound incredible while crapping on the amp.

This is the problem when a guitarist is also audiophile. (Only looking for negatives) My MkII sounds gorgeous. I bought it new in 2004 because it blew away anything else in the shop.

I have a really nice set if headphones and listened to both multiple times. I prefer the active pups for a couple reasons. They blend together better not mudding each other out. They have better mid and treble than the passive ones and better harmonics as well. But it is really personal preference. Emgs are better in a live setting as well.

Next trend...relic your new car...rusty metal ..pealing chrome...faded and scratched paint jobs...cracked dashboards...hey! Feels broken in! ( I'm just poking fun at the argument...I like my guitars to tell my story when it comes to dings and wear...just a personal choice. In the end, do what gives you great joy! It's like buying torn blue jeans to me.)