Who is your overall favorite guitarist?

Isochronism---Regarding tone, small amps cranked up is the key. In '69 I was a teenager in a band with a guitarist who, like many teenage guitarists at the time, had Eric Clapton as his role model. He therefore had a burgundy Gibson SG, plugged into a Fender black face Dual Showman (nobody in San Jose had a Marshall yet). When the rest of us complained about his excessive volume, he explained that to get good tone, he had to crank up the volume knob on his Showman. Kids didn't yet know that it was over-driven tubes that made good tone, and that if you used a lower-powered amp you could get it at a lower volume. It took seeing the pics on the inside gatefold of the 2nd Band album to realize a Fender combo amp was the way to go. He soon had a black face Deluxe Reverb, which is a favorite amp of a lot of good guitarists, Evan Johns and Bill Pitcock IV being just a couple.

It was when I started hearing the original Blues and Rockabilly guitarists from the 50's that I really saw where the early R & R guitar sound came from. Paul Burlinson of The Rock 'n' Roll Trio (Johnny Burnette) is a particular favorite of mine, though it's not he on their version of "The Train Kept a Rollin". Now THAT'S great tone!

Bdp,

I think we agree on a lot:

I'm with you on the beauty of overdriven, low output amps. I don't play a ton of electric guitar these days, but when I do it's either thru a 12 watt (dual 6v6) Nolatone Rotten Johnny or a 20 watt Swart AST (same output tube config). Give me that creamy, overdriven 6v6 sound and I'm happy.

My issue with Fender amps is the one you ID'd: They're usually too loud to get the tone I want at the volume I want. The low powered Fenders that I've played have usually been equipped with EL-84s, which work great for rhythm parts IMO, less satisfying for lead. The classic 6L6 equipped Fender amps usually have too much power/headroom to get the break-up I want at reasonable SPLs.

These days I just usually stick to my acoustics.

There is one Fender combo amp I hope I never have to play with again---an early silver-face Twin Reverb. OMG what an obnoxious amp! I auditioned with a band in '71, the guitarist of which had that amp facing me with a Guild Starfire plugged into it. The audition included some pretty long jams (in the literal sense, not like kids use the term now), the last one maybe an hour long, ending just as the sun came up. I was shocked and then terrified when the guys started talking, and I couldn't hear a word they were saying. My ears had closed down to protect themselves from the piercing brightness of that guitar/amp combination. I have moderate tinnitus from a lifetime of nights like that (I started wearing protection---custom molded plugs with attenuators---in my early 30's, but by then a fair amount of damage had already been done).

Luckily, I was soon playing with guys who had Telecasters and Deluxes (though an even smaller amp, like the Vox AC15, would have been even better), and now play Martin acoustics (even a bass!). The guitar I want now is a Gibson J-200, a great acoustic for chords/rhythm.

I would wager the actual sound (not the rated watts) of an AC-15 is louder than a Fender Deluxe. I have owned both.

If you're looking for a J-200, you should try to find a Kopp Trail Boss to compare. Kevin Kopp is an ex-Gibson guy who makes great (and unfortunately very expensive) variations on the standard Gibson models. The Trail Boss is his take on the J-200, but he adds a 12 fret neck. It ends up sounding like a (very beautifully finished) J-200 on steroids. You do give up some upper fret access, tho. Either way, if you can find one to try (and that's tricky given the very limited distribution) the Trail Boss is a very cool instrument.

BTW, Rainsong does something similar in carbon fiber body. Not nearly as cool looking, but a great sounding guitar at not much more than half the price of a J-200.