That balance of touch & volume is why I & likely other bedroom guitarists love small amps. And why "there own gig" musicians tend to say stuff like "40 watts is the bare minimum. for feel.". Situational awareness with tube amps is probably the most important thing when it comes to using them. I was having a comments discussion with Mick of TPS because I said John would be the perfect guy to get on the show & talk volume. The "at volumes that don't inspire me to play" comment just bolsters that opinion. Oh and that opening, some of the most beautiful playing I've heard from you. Luxuriating in the sustain & choosing those particular melancholic voicings. Leaning into some solo Andy Timmons stuff. Lovely.

No, you are right. There is a thing to playing a tube amp at volume. It doesn't need to be deafeningly loud but, especially through an actual cab, when you are loud enough that the interaction between pickups and speakers is there, it can be downright magical. When you have never experienced it, it's really hard to understand the difference it makes. When a tube amp is loud enough to cook and you play through a cab, playing guitar is a completely different experience than through modellers. Not doable everywhere these days, but in the studio it's awesome.

Like rats, you’re never more than six feet away from a John Nathan Cordy video. _disclaimer. This is a joke and I was created by a fan of 2009’s Devon Fingerer of the Year John Cordy. Please try to not get rattled_

I'm pretty much doing the same thing but with a Fryette ps100. I run any of my amps (usually one of my Marshall 100 watts) in 4cm with my QC with the use of the ps100. I split the effects return and the split has a cab block and goes out to my IEM rack or to FOH. I know most people use the QC as an "all in one" digital solution and I do that as well, it just depends on the situation. The ps100 is the most useful piece of gear I've ever bought, though not as sexy as a guitar or vintage Marshall LOL! You can do SO much with it.

The most beautiful playing in the intro and throughout- bravo! 👏🏻

Yesterday I did some Tonex captures of my Mesa Lonestar Special at very high volume. They came out great but nothing like playing the real thing. It’s like looking at a picture of the Grand Canyon vs being there. If I tried it playing at that level live I’d be unemployed immediately.

Love the thumbnail. "Am I crazy?" We're all a bit mad John. Each in our own way.

Now that is one freaking awesome and beautiful tone. If only I could replicate that on a modeller.

Gorgeous John. Fantastically haunting playing and tone. I love a great amp pushed! It's great the Fractal load box allows you to keep seemingly all the dynamics at a reasonable volume.

You're killin me! 😄 I'm an old guy and all we had back in the day were loud tube amps. I got yelled at by the sound man if I went past two on my master. I'm also a Tech so I can tell you you gotta push those tubes to get them "breathing". I designed my amp to drive the preamp, phase inverter and outputs to get every stage at the verge of instability. If you load down the dimed amp with a reactive IR box you have the best of both worlds.

Nice to hear you have found your sweet spot with this amp. I have used the CRS for many year swith an OX box doing similar things . I have also tried using an IR in my DAW but it wasnt as nice as the one in my OX.. Only thing to note is that if you use the Load box a load you will knock the stuffing out of your output tubes , so keep an eye on them !!!

There really is nothing like a Two Rock if you’ve ever played one then you understand turn up the volume prepare to have your eyes opened super wide and your jaw drop right on the floor. Absolutely stunning pallet of tones super inspirational fun to play and boot the guys that run the company are just good people great company. Love two rock

I picked up a reactive load box recently. For me, that really pushed things more towards having a proverbial Swiss army knife for guitar-centric audio when integrated with a modeler and a DAW. It also, in a sense, renews the value of the traditional pedalboard in the modeler+DAW world. Tone possibilities are even more infinite now ;-)

Always appreciated that this amp could be exactly as clean as you wanted at what seemed like any volume. I do only bother though if I can get the master over half

Sounded excellent 😎😎

John this sounds incredible, if you have the capacity, you should make some captures of this tone and upload them!

I played a Two-Rock at NAMM a number of years ago and it sounded superb. I almost bought one until I lifted it and considering I've already had 4 hernia surgeries I opted out. Great amps though. There's so many good clones out there now. I wouldn't even know which one to get if I were to get another tube amp. I do worry about getting tubes here in the states. They seem to be getting worse and worse. I also worry about using load boxes. I have a friend that blew up his handwired Marshall SLP 100 using one on a gig.

Slighty off topic. I normally use a telecaster into an orange or50 though a 2x12 cab. Played at studio where i had to use a 15w tiny terror into a marshall superlead cab with a strat. The tiny terror was on its knees and the output distortion from the el84s is something i still think about today. It was glorious. But honestly maybe too loud for functions or pub gigs, juat by the amount of air being moved. Love your channel, its a treat to watch and listen too.

I have a Two Rick CSR too, 100% agree that it’s the touch response and feel that differentiates real amps compared to modellers . I also have an FM9 and they tonally get very close for day to day playing

Tube amps are class A. If i'm not mistaken, that means they're always at full power. I would think playing loud wouldn't hurt them any more than playing quietly..not considering vibration from the cab.

Another stunning OPENING, you can hear the NOTE BLOOM, which rhymes with Amp in Room. LOL.

This is my favorite amp right now. It's like the most idealized version of a Fender Twin Reverb and then some. Combined with a Matchless C-30, it makes the ultimate stereo amp clean platform for effects and drive/dirt pedals. Tell me if there is better because I haven't heard it yet!

I love the convenience and versatility of my helix but it just cant make a sound like what it seems like your are hearing in that room. You convinced me to go plug into my lonestar special and crank it. Electric guitar is so much more satisfying when playing by yourself when it moves you physically. Great musical ideas and excellent delivery BTW.

U sir have my dream amp. Congratulations!!! Sounds great in the way u recorded it. I would love to hear it in person. A Two Rock Classic Reverb and a Matchless DC30 is my end goal for amps, but i doubt i will ever be able to afford either one.

Yes is the answer.

Running at high levels will eat tubes faster, but it may be worth it to you. Sounds great! Have fun!

Those amps are made to run on those settings. No worries!! My TR are 100w and I run them like that with no attenuation at a rehersal studio. They get warm but that is completely okay they’re made to withstand it. Sometimes I actually think the touch sensitivity improves when the amp has been cranked up for a couple hours. Probably placebo. Tube life expectancy reduced is all. I agree with your take on volume - it can be too much when the amp is in the sweet spot and you’re practicing alone. In a live band setting though it is awesome… provided your band is loud/dynamic and you’re playing at a venue that suits that. It’s only a 3-5 times per night that I’ll have the guitar volume on 10 and going full out volume assault! For practice: I have my amps mic’d up and I run everything (guitar, some reverb, some backing tracks) through a mixer that runs into my in-ears. This way I can avoid the fatigue from the volume but still keep the amp-guitar interaction going. I’ll sit right near the amp and with the in ears I can play for a long time comfortably and be confident that I am not damaging my hearing.

That intro was Eric Johnson epic ❤

They sound good, and they have a dynamic range that other stuff can't do.

First, Beautiful playing John! Tone was really cool in the very beginning with the Box. I tried a 2 Rock in a boutique store, so clean and freakin loud...I stupidly thought with Matt schofield OD I could get close to his tone or a tone I was happy with ...Nope. Were you using any OD etc in the video? Settings? Thank you John, keep them coming. I would be interested in your review of the Badcat Jet Black.

sweet lookin' blahaj

What overdrive are you running in intro? It’s good to have details

In a few of your videos I’ve watched recently, I’ve noticed your pick a little more. Are those Black Ice picks you’re using?

Sounded a lot more fuzzy than your usual Eric Lead or Dumbleish tones - at least on my Cambridge Audio ear pods compared to usually listening on my home monitors. No difference there is there?

I do feel like there is a different sound on this recording. The amp (loudly) does seem to make a difference….more depth. But, as usual, it is (obviously) harder to hear the difference through an online recording as opposed to being there in the room (live). I have been using a Fender Tonemaster Super Reverb at certain venues and it’s interesting how different it sounds when I use the power attenuation (set to a lower wattage) and then push the amp. Just wondering if John has done that? Cheers to all!

Sounds great, certainly in Dumble territory imoho. There’s a reason people buy Two Rocks. The Classic Reverb Sig should handle regular playing with high volume and gain settings without electronic failure. It’s well designed and well built. Tubes are a wear and tear item though, and they wear out sooner when that type of demand is regularly put on them. But great tone is what it’s all about. If playing loudly and with more gain gets you the sound you want then budget for tube replacements…as amplifier-using rock guitarists have done for 60+ years. A main benefit of modelers is consistency in many areas. Among other things, you never need to change tubes. You don’t have to deal with the normal slow degradation of tube amp tone, having to decide if it’s just an odd day, room, gig or session…or if it’s time to change tubes. A modeler consistently sounds as good as it ever will with a given preset every time you turn it on. But does it sound as magical as a great tube amp, cranked?

There is definitely more kick (punch) whatever you call it, and the overtones ring out better. Nice sustain as well.

Really like the tone. Not sure it’s obviously different to listen to (but I am listening through iPhone speakers while I hang out laundry!). Main thing is probably how it feels for the player. (Tone does have a ‘fatness’ to it - not sure that’s always there)

Sounds outstanding like MIck's TPS, Gibson 345 Guitar DEMO, those Guitars do so much, I was not aware of the stereo/Phase issues and changes. So learn something new everyday no matter how old you get. Elodie is getting used to and likes DAD's Playin for sure. She will be the Future Legato QUEEN perhaps. one never knows, might be the next TORY SLUSHER, who stuns with every video.

I couldn't tell if it was a Tube Amp, Solid State, Modeler, Capture, Plugin, Profile, Sim, etc. or how much any of them might have cost. I can say the tone sounded much like ones I've heard from a variety of sources. If it's what you wanted, and you're happy with it, then it's a win. 🤷

I have noticed that you got a new guitar what guitar is it?

2:41 is crazy pretty

If you haven't already (i have to peruse your videos), please talk about your chordal work.

At three thirteen... stating the obvious... in such a humble manner that it's already sounding like fodder for your stalker/bot!😊 That's the problem with rock music, you can't civilise it for the neighbour's sake! Obviously I have a clever plan to get around that.. using loads or attenuation to bring everything to line level so you can rule the dust ( to quote Roy Harper). Being overly controlling is a deep psychological fear based on unconscious feelings of insequrity and it feels better to assert oneself over nature and weigh every molecule of a sound. This is fear-based and not recommended for the sensitive creative type ( guitarists in general) who always over-compensate by dialing in more and more aggression, but it's only Sabre rattling ( Musicman), and no matter how beautiful a sound can be be, to inspire your output, like words, the sense they convey is more important than the appael of the font, and real rock,( like any real art) comes from the side effect or backwash of the trail you cut revealed as art by representing ones escape or transcendance from life's inevitable suffering, but then again I can't talk, I just purchased a harmonising vocal effects processor to give me artificial backing when solo, so sculpting these tones to within an inch of their life can have it's everday charms and on the principle that if it feals good... Do it!, why nit have hours of fun tweaking sounds, if you get cool results it was worth it on that level alone, and after all, it's only rockand roll, but I like it. Let those natural-sound whole-toned vegan dry sound activists do their thing and just help yourself to a dollop of reverb, again, who doesn't like tomatoe sauce on everything. Seriously love your playing; you could be a serial killer and I'd still listen to your videos! Remember not to get too serious though,pop-music has to be fun to actually exist at all, because otherwise it's just someone playing in their room, and if nobody but them hear it , no music has actually happened, because if Helen Keller fell over ( sounds like a punk ballad already), in a forest, would anyone hear anything at all?🎸👍

Didn't Jeff Beck do a somewhat similar thing in the early 70s also -- convert to a line out from a Fender Champ or Princeton and run that thru a larger amp or in your case here a DAW for recording? If so, in the end you're only as crazy as Jeff Beck was back then best as I can tell. That you're using a much more powerful amp from the start that you then must attenuate down seems beside the point.

I still don't feel like I've ever heard the level of harmonics and richness of a good amp in an IR/Cab Sim yet. Some good approximations but the high ends are particularly harsh OR cut short of feeling natural in an effort to avoid the harshness.

Whether its a Hammond organ or guitar, tubes are always going to sound better to the ear - and you really need to put the suds to it them to make them sing. I'm biased because of the ugly, flat sound that would come out of a solid state amp in the early days. Think of the pearly shiny sound of a B3 going through the 40 watt rms tube amp of a 122 or 147 Leslie playing Whiter Shade of Pale. Try that with a solid state amp. So I'm a dinosaur/curmudgeon ... I know it.

I miss the bot!

The magic of tube amps lies in the feel and the tone in the room. Soundwise, I enjoy modellers. There's something special about hearing a tube amp through its speaker, though. I'm not talking about 4x12 cabs and crazy loud volumes. A decent tube amp is still worth it IMHO. I don't even own a Two-Rock and I never will. I am a happy owner of a Fender Bassbreaker 30r and for mw it does the job

Use a 50 watt flat out and you’re in business.

Wouldn't an OxBox solve the issue?

With all the modelers out there what are they attempting to mimic? A REAL TUBE AMPLIFIER 99% of the time!

This sounds insanely good but I'm gonna be that guy and say that you could make any modeler sound just as good and save us all the heartache of not owning a Two Rock lol

What a bummer that sounding so good comes with so much baggage.

Sounds great but it's Two Rock. Too expensive for regular gigging, wayyyy too expensive for most musicians..

Meh…..