Legend amps, why aren't they more sought-after?

[Jbird]

I just watched a video where the guy claimed that Billy Gibbons used a Legend amp to record basically everything on Eliminator. Then went on to say you can still find Legend amps online relatively cheap.

So I did a quick search, found some for $600, $700, +

Doesn't sound like that's too bad for an amp that has a solid wood cabinet like the old Mesa Boogies. And those amps go for $1,000s don't they? So why are these Legends cheap? Just not all that good?

 

[jelloman]

They never caught on, were there and gone in just a year or two...

Another one was Bedrock, used by Aerosmith on the Permanent Vacation album...

 

[Lerxst]

IIRC they were all hybrid amps; tube pre and SS power at a time when most SS amps were kinda janky, with some notable exceptions.
No real endorsers/visibility and the Billy G thing didn't get much traction until the company was long gone.

Today, maybe it's just my perception but no one is chasing the Eliminator tone to the degree that would make these a hot property.

 

[Knox in Box]

They never caught on, were there and gone in just a year or two...

Another one was Bedrock, used by Aerosmith on the Permanent Vacation album...

I remember some guitarist in an interview ( some guitarist that was basically hilarious which makes me think it was Reb Beach or Dave Sabo) talking about being on tour with Aerosmith, seeing them in rehearsal as rock dinosaurs and they have amps that say "Bedrock" on the front.

 

[jrockbridge]

$600-$700 is more than I would pay for one of those amps. I can buy a brand new, 50 watt, hand-wired head, based on a Dumble circuit, for $999 new, $799 used.

 

[mongooz]

IIRC they were all hybrid amps; tube pre and SS power at a time when most SS amps were kinda janky, with some notable exceptions.
No real endorsers/visibility and the Billy G thing didn't get much traction until the company was long gone.

Today, maybe it's just my perception but no one is chasing the Eliminator tone to the degree that would make these a hot property.

this ^^
i've played two of them, in different stores, and the O/D is pretty bees nesty.
not something i was looking for.

 

[Modern Saint]

No different that Michael Schenker (UFO days) recording the Lights Out album with a Pignose.

 

[Jbird]

They never caught on, were there and gone in just a year or two...

Another one was Bedrock, used by Aerosmith on the Permanent Vacation album...

Didn't those Bedrock amps have nicknames, like Barney & Fred? Wilma & Betty?

 

[Wyatt]

I looked into these over the years. Legends have a very mixed reputation, some praised them, others called them the worse sound amp ever.. Not sure if their tone is polarizing, or if they were inconsistent, or if selling out to Norlin early on ruined them. Either way, buying one with trying or having a generous return policy might be rolling the dice.

The ZZ Top rumor goes back to the '90s but seems either inconclusive if not long-since debunked. There is a lot of conflicting theories around ZZ Top gear all the way back to First Album.

 

[Bob411]

I looked into these over the years. Legends have a very mixed reputation, some praised them, others called them the worse sound amp ever.. Not sure if their tone is polarizing, or if they were inconsistent, or if selling out to Norlin early on ruined them. Either way, buying one with trying or having a generous return policy might be rolling the dice.

The ZZ Top rumor goes back to the '90s but seems either inconclusive if not long-since debunked. There is a lot of conflicting theories around ZZ Top gear all the way back to First Album.

I remember hearing that ZZ Top used a Crate, was that true or, BS?

 

[jelloman]

I remember hearing that ZZ Top used a Crate, was that true or, BS?

I think the deal with them was it was all about stage decoration...I remember an article in Guitar Player where they showed a bunch of Crates on the stage, but behind the stack was a rack with a Marshall MP1 preamp and the matching 80 watt stereo power amp running to the cabinets...according to the article and Elwood himself that rack was with them since the 80s right up until the present day...

 

[Wyatt]

Billy Gibbons rig and its spare, from probably 20-ish years ago.

What I heard it the amps he promotes like ZT, Magnatone, etc. are used for his sound on stage, but the JMP1's go to the PA.

 

[DinoMikeSr]

Billy Gibbons rig and its spare, from probably 20-ish years ago.

What I heard it the amps he promotes like ZT, Magnatone, etc. are used for his sound on stage, but the JMP1's go to the PA.

Last rig run down said his sound is programed so each guitar sounds the same no matter what it is.

 

[jp_nyc]

Last rig run down said his sound is programed so each guitar sounds the same no matter what it is.

Billy literally has warehouses full of guitars in Europe and the USA but makes them all sound alike. That seems to defeat the purpose.

 

[GomezAddams]

Billy literally has warehouses full of guitars in Europe and the USA but makes them all sound alike. That seems to defeat the purpose.

What Gibbons does (from what I've read) is to strum an open G chord on Pearly Gates and Elwood makes note of the frequency distribution on a spectrum analyzer. Gibbons then comes up with an EQ profile for each guitar such that strumming an open G on that guitar more or less matches the frequency distribution of Pearly.

That's not going to make them sound exactly the same - you'll never make a tele sound like a LP by using EQ. But it gets all his guitars in the same sonic range.

Then again, who knows. Gibbons is a notorious bullshitter who loves obfuscation and misdirection.

 

[mongooz]

What Gibbons does (from what I've read) is to strum an open G chord on Pearly Gates and Elwood makes note of the frequency distribution on a spectrum analyzer. Gibbons then comes up with an EQ profile for each guitar such that strumming an open G on that guitar more or less matches the frequency distribution of Pearly.

That's not going to make them sound exactly the same - you'll never make a tele sound like a LP by using EQ. But it gets all his guitars in the same sonic range.

Then again, who knows. Gibbons is a notorious bullshitter who loves obfuscation and misdirection.

aint that^^ the truth.
if you scoure YT, you can find him doing interviews where he says the exact opposite of what he said in a previous interview.
the story about how BB King turned him on to use .008's is nonsense.

 

[GomezAddams]

aint that^^ the truth.
if you scoure YT, you can find him doing interviews where he says the exact opposite of what he said in a previous interview.
the story about how BB King turned him on to use .008's is nonsense.

Sometimes it's BB King, other times it's Jeff Beck. I remember one Guitar Player interview where he claimed to use guitar strings that were made from melted down Cadillac bumpers.

 

[xStonr]

Promotional fees to ZZ Top and Aerosmith killed their overhead.