• Registered: 2010-09-30
  • Posts: 163

Topic: First Post... Thoughts on Germino Lead 55LV?

Hi All,

This is my first post here...

Over this past year, I've gone from not ever having heard Joe to becoming a HUGE fan! He's become on of my favorite players and I've being buying up all of his albums, picked up the Albert Hall DVD, his instructional vid, etc, and was able to see him live some months back when he came to Santa Cruz, CA. AWESOME!!!

As with many of you, I'm not just a fan of his incredible playing (and singing), but also his tone. This has caused me to be on the hunt for a new Marshall-type head and cab. I've always been a Boogie and Fender guy, so this is a new venture for me and I've been playing catch up quite a bit in that regard. I've learned a lot from reading through posts here from all my fellow fans and tone addicts. I was hoping to see if anyone here had thoughts on the Germino Lead 55LV head paired with a 4x12 with Greenbacks (the re-issues, not the Heritage).

Joe's tone on his instructional video during the "Gibson" segment is a good example of what I dig. Also, his tone on Live From Nowhere In Particular is another great example. Actually, all of his tones are pretty spot on!  lol

FYI, I'll be pairing this mainly with a '10 R9 Lester (picked up Gibson endorsement recently), but also some other guitars, and was thinking about doing the multi amp rig ala Joe with my Mesa Lone Star 2x12 and possibly my Blackface Super Reverb. I have some other amp options to pull from, but not sure if they would pair well for this type of tone (my other rig for heavy prog rock/metal--pretty DT sounding).

Any and all thoughts welcome... Thanks for having me here!  big_smile

Cheers,
-Matt

  • Registered: 2007-11-04
  • Posts: 404

Re: First Post... Thoughts on Germino Lead 55LV?

Hey man welcom to the forum.  You are in the right place to talk about tone.  We all suffer from Guitar Aquisition Syndrome here some more than others.

To address your questions, I've played Germino and I love the tone of Rose Hill Drive who plays that kind of amp I believe with a Les Paul.  That amp should pair well with any american voiced quality amp.  So a Lonestar or Dumble type amp like a Ceriatone ODS or Fender Super, or Two Rock, Fuchs, Carr should all get you close.  The key is to find the one that expresses your tone they way you want it. 

Thats the hard part. I dont think you can go wrong with a Germino though.  They sound great.

What band are you in?

  • From: Florida, USA
  • Registered: 2008-06-04
  • Posts: 1,420

Re: First Post... Thoughts on Germino Lead 55LV?

For the price of the Germino + loaded Greenback cab there are certainly some other options.  I'm not trying to take anything away from Greg's stuff because it's awesome.  I'm also a big fan of George Metropoulos's stuff too.  Have you considered a Marshall Jubilee of some sort?  Joe switches between so many amps yet the Jubilee remains the one core amp....

I've had the pleasure of playing Ken's (another forum member) Carol Ann OD2 and Budda Superdrive 45, both had the Joe tone in spades just marking different timelines for his sound.  The SD45 was totally the "Gibson" sound from his instructional DVD, whereas the Carol Ann is more representative of his current sound.  I've gotten great results from all kinds of amps ranging from a '68 Super Reverb, Ceriatone Overtone, Marshall DSL100, '65 Fender Bassman, anything really...

Some of the core elements of Joe's sound is the emphasis on midrange, his echo/reverb/chorus setup, and amp blending (nice but kind of a hassle IMO).  Welcome to the forum Zen, you'll be hard pressed to find a group of nicer tone hounds than around here.  Good luck on your tone journey!  cool

'67 and '74 Fender Twin Reverbs, '74 Marshall 1987 lead mkII, Metro Superlead 100. Pedals from TC Electronic, Ibanez, Dunlop, BK Butler, Electro-Harmonix, Fulltone, Maestro/Gibson, Loopmaster switching, VoodooLab, Boss. Gibson and Fender guitars, Dimarzio pickups.
  • Registered: 2010-09-30
  • Posts: 163

Re: First Post... Thoughts on Germino Lead 55LV?

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the kind welcome and the great info!  smile

jgalvan8804,

Thanks for turning me on to Rose Hill Drive. Always great to be hipped to new bands! They weren't on my radar before. The tone that their guitarist has happening is cool, but different, I think, than what I'm trying to achieve.

In terms of my band... I lead two projects. Unfortunately, both are in a state of transition (ah the joys of being in a band, eh? LOL). One is a modern heavy progressive rock/metal band, Zen by Numbers. The other is a blues band (kind of a mix of modern blues ala Robben Ford, John Mayer, and of course, Joe), Matt Pinson and the The Blue Mile.

stratpaulguy86,

The Metropoulos amps have been on my consideration list for a while. I'v e-mailed with George back and forth a bit and he seems to be one of the nicest guys in the world (very much like Greg Germino). Of course, insanely knowledgeable as well (also like Greg). I had the opportunity to try out a 12000 series a while back (had  PPIV MV and fx loop), but the conditions weren't exactly optimal. Not my personal guitar, not the ideal cab/speaker pairing (a 1960B cab with V30's), and some poor studio wiring causing lots of hum/noise. Seemed like it had the potential to be a very cool amp, but it wasn't gelling with me at the time. I think if I had more time with it and in more ideal circumstance, I might have dug it more. I don't think it got a fair shake. However, I think that that may have been the wrong year/spec Marshall for what I am after (wondering if I might like the Drake more than the Dagnall). I was planning on going to the LA amp show this weekend to check out all the Metro goodness, but wasn't able to make that happen, unfortunately. Anybody here going?

The Germino clips that I've heard seem to resonate a bit more with me and I hear a little something in these that I haven't in other places. As always, hard to tell with clips, but my mojo detector seemed to detect something, if that makes sense.

I would love to check out a Silver Jube... Joe makes his sound unreal (in a great way), lots of other clips I've heard from others, not so much. Of course, I get the feeling that Joe could make Peavey Backstage 50 sound incredible!  lol  So hard without getting to play these things for yourself, isn't it? As you know, these have been pretty pricey and a bit hard to find. I'll admit that I'm also a little hesitant as I haven't always had great luck with 2nd hand amps... Went to try out what looked to be a 67 Super Bass and matching pinstripe 4x12 yesterday and it was flatlined. Bummer.  sad

I'll have to look further into the SD45 if that is the main contributor to the "Gibson" clip. I LOVE that tone!

I'm kind of holding off on the Dumble types for now... I know that will be a later obsession. My fav Dumble tone is Robben Ford's, so I would probably chase that for that style amp. Not deep enough pockets to do it all at one, you know?  wink

I'm just being really picky as I already have some nice amps that sound great to my ears (just nothing Marshall-y)...

Mk IV, Dual Rec Solo, Triaxis/2:90, Lone Star, Blackface Super Reverb, and also an Axe-Fx (for direct recording when micing isn't possible)

My Lone Star kills for blues/classic rock tone, as does my BFSR, but neither do the Marshall thing. I'll sometimes run an OCD on HP in front of my LS and this adds some British flavor, but it's not the same. I'm thinking that, based on the recommendations given here, that my LS and a Marshall-type using Joe's echo + wet amp technique would yield good results.

Sorry, for the long post... It's nice to talk with others about this stuff!  big_smile

Cheers,
-Matt

  • From: Florida, USA
  • Registered: 2008-06-04
  • Posts: 1,420

Re: First Post... Thoughts on Germino Lead 55LV?

Zen Guitar wrote:

I'll have to look further into the SD45 if that is the main contributor to the "Gibson" clip. I LOVE that tone!

Actually that clip was the Jubilee and Superdrive 30, but I feel that the Superdrive 45 does that even BETTER than the SD30.  The SD30 is loaded with EL84s, so you get a little more of that chimey Vox thing.  The Superdrive 45 is loaded with KT66s....more balls and Marshally.  Hey man if you are hearing "Marshall" in your head then go get you a Marshall!  FYI I'm thinking about selling my Ceriatone HRM100 (100w Dumble HRM ODS clone) so if you are interested, send me a PM.  Very "Marshall flavored Dumble", more teeth and rock attitude than Robben Ford.  GREAT for the Joe stuff.  Check my Youtube stuff to hear it in action.

'67 and '74 Fender Twin Reverbs, '74 Marshall 1987 lead mkII, Metro Superlead 100. Pedals from TC Electronic, Ibanez, Dunlop, BK Butler, Electro-Harmonix, Fulltone, Maestro/Gibson, Loopmaster switching, VoodooLab, Boss. Gibson and Fender guitars, Dimarzio pickups.