The New Tone Thread

Greg_L said:
Knowing you, I'm gonna guess it's something by Limp Bizkit.
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You know I'd never tread on such hallowed ground.

In other news I finally got to try out a Victory V30 yesterday.
They come with either 6L6s or EL34s, I tried a 6L6 loaded one.

The clean channel sounds great, goes from quite a spanky clean to a bluesy crunch.
The gain channel also sounds great but has far more gain than I would need, I found it useable as far as about 12 O'Clock. Its a really warm smooth sound. The EQ on the amp is great too, you turn the mid-range knob and it you can really hear it sculpting the mids - basically, the EQ knobs seemed really well positioned in the freq range - this is the main drawback with my Blackstar.

Started off with the master volumes (there's a master for the clean master and a gain channel master) going up to about 9-10 O'Clock, this was already pretty loud. Played for a while then I realised I was in Low mode. Switched it into high mode and there was a fairly large jump in volume. Was actually starting to get a bit of ear fatigue playing through this for 10 minutes.

I didn't realise when I left the house yesterday that I was a) gonna be passing near Andertons and b) that I'd have time to stop anyway so I didn't have my guitar or board with me. I tested it using a Gibson Explorer which wasn't my cup of tea at all!

The main drawback for me with this amp is that I would very rarely get to use it in High power mode.
 
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rayc said:
Long vid but a REAL eye opener as to live sound generation.
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Their setups tickled all of my sweet spots. I mean, the amps alone....Malcolm/Stevie's rig is comprised of real rare vintage museum pieces and they have a stockpile of them. I've always wondered exactly how Angus monitored since he doesn't wear in-ears and is never anywhere near a monitor wedge. Now I know - he has five triple-stacks blaring on stage. Lol. No pedals or fluff. Blowing up amps regularly. All good stuff. And I echo what the interviewer guy said, their live sound was the best I've ever heard for a live band in a huge arena.
 
JDOD said:
You know I'd never tread on such hallowed ground.

In other news I finally got to try out a Victory V30 yesterday.
They come with either 6L6s or EL34s, I tried a 6L6 loaded one.

The clean channel sounds great, goes from quite a spanky clean to a bluesy crunch.
The gain channel also sounds great but has far more gain than I would need, I found it useable as far as about 12 O'Clock. Its a really warm smooth sound. The EQ on the amp is great too, you turn the mid-range knob and it you can really hear it sculpting the mids - basically, the EQ knobs seemed really well positioned in the freq range - this is the main drawback with my Blackstar.

Started off with the master volumes (there's a master for the clean master and a gain channel master) going up to about 9-10 O'Clock, this was already pretty loud. Played for a while then I realised I was in Low mode. Switched it into high mode and there was a fairly large jump in volume. Was actually starting to get a bit of ear fatigue playing through this for 10 minutes.

I didn't realise when I left the house yesterday that I was a) gonna be passing near Andertons and b) that I'd have time to stop anyway so I didn't have my guitar or board with me. I tested it using a Gibson Explorer which wasn't my cup of tea at all!

The main drawback for me with this amp is that I would very rarely get to use it in High power mode.
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So are you back to the drawing board, or do you still want one of those amps?

It might be out of your budget, but you might like the Marshall mini-Jubilee. It has a great clean channel and probably the most wide-ranging mid knob on the planet. And it's really like a three channel amp with it's rhythm clip feature.
 
Greg_L said:
So are you back to the drawing board, or do you still want one of those amps?

It might be out of your budget, but you might like the Marshall mini-Jubilee. It has a great clean channel and probably the most wide-ranging mid knob on the planet. And it's really like a three channel amp with it's rhythm clip feature.
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Not sure actually, I liked it a lot, but not sure I want to spend 850 quid on an amp that I'll mainly use in 7W mode. I think I need to get my cabinet built and see what that does... I'm also gonna bite the bullet and use an EQ pedal in the loop like Ecc83 suggested originally.

I've got the process of actually miking a speaker and capturing a tone as good as I need it (for now) - Miking the right part of the speaker, distance from the cab, decent quality recording etc. I just need to get better at describing what I'm hearing to myself so I can learn more about how to get the tone I want. I can hear what I'm getting, hear what I like and what I don't like... I just don't know how to listen to that and work out where in the freq spectrum the problems are and what to do about it. That'll just take practice.

The tones I'm getting are good enough (though not ideal) for recording the sort of punk and grunge that I'm working on right now - there's currently 5 songs in the same sort of style as "No Choice". I think my best course of action in the short term is to build myself a nice large cab, get an EQ pedal to learn more about sculpting my tone and carry on practising my singing and learning more about mixing while working on the punk tracks I currently have. I'll end up gradually writing more tracks during this process without even really thinking about it.

Sorry about the rambling post - think I was working out what I want myself then as I was writing it! But it seems like a decent enough strategy to move forward with writing and recording songs to a listenable standard!

EDIT: Is the mini-Jubilee the 20W silver thing? Sort of like a Marshall in "Rectifier-Drag"? If so I think I tried one and didn't like it.

I definitely need to get better at assessing what I am hearing and sculpting a tone before I go dropping a lot of money on an amp.
 
Yeah the Jube is the silver one. I don't like them much myself, but thought maybe you'd get along with it.

An EQ in the loop is a godsend sometimes. I have an MXR 10-band just for that. I don't use it often, but it's good to have when you want it. And you can also use it in front as a clean boost or a sculpted boost. It's a very versatile pedal. I blew mine up a while back by accidentally connecting it to a speaker jack. Lol. But I got it fixed and all is good.
 
Greg_L said:
Yeah the Jube is the silver one. I don't like them much myself, but thought maybe you'd get along with it.

An EQ in the loop is a godsend sometimes. I have an MXR 10-band just for that. I don't use it often, but it's good to have when you want it. And you can also use it in front as a clean boost or a sculpted boost. It's a very versatile pedal. I blew mine up a while back by accidentally connecting it to a speaker jack. Lol. But I got it fixed and all is good.
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I've looked at the MXR 10 band - its pretty expensive but seems good. Their 6 band only goes up to 3.2k and I think I want to go higher than that as some of what I am lacking with my amp seems to be "presence" so I've been looking at the Boss 7 band, which is cheap and goes up to 6.4k. https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/BOSSGE7/eq-pedals/boss-ge-7-graphic-equalizer-compact-pedal

Aside from being handy for clearing up some of the parts of my tone I'm not happy with I think I it might be a good "teaching tool" too.

haha, that's a full on wally-brain thing to do.
 
Get your ass on limey ebay and find a used 10 band. They go for pretty cheap over here. I got mine new for, I think, around 65 US freedom peace-through-force-or-else dollars.
 
Greg_L said:
Get your ass on limey ebay and find a used 10 band. They go for pretty cheap over here. I got mine new for, I think, around 65 US freedom peace-through-force-or-else dollars.
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There's one 2nd hand one on eBay in the UK for £52 hollow imperial promise pounds - I'm watching it.

Basically though, after trying loads of amps and looking for an "answer" all I've realised is that I don't know the question yet. An EQ pedal in the short term will probably make my next amp purchase more successful and will be a handy addition to my board anyway
 
JDOD said:
There's one 2nd hand one on eBay in the UK for £52 hollow imperial promise pounds - I'm watching it.

Basically though, after trying loads of amps and looking for an "answer" all I've realised is that I don't know the question yet. An EQ pedal in the short term will probably make my next amp purchase more successful and will be a handy addition to my board anyway
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Yup. Knowing what you want helps. Lol. For me it was easy. Pretty much every single guitar sound I like from every band I like came from two places - Marshall and Fender amps. No brainer. I wish I could say that my approach is unique and well thought out, but it isn't. Plug a Gibson into a Marshall and I can get on with it. Your musical influence seems to be more diverse and you can't be blaring loud all of the time so I can see where it'd be harder to really nail down what you actually want. Bubba will come in and yell at you for being so picky. Lol.

If you find a used MXR 10, make damn sure you get the power cable with it.
 
Greg_L said:
Your musical influence seems to be more diverse and you can't be blaring loud all of the time so I can see where it'd be harder to really nail down what you actually want. Bubba will come in and yell at you for being so picky. Lol.

If you find a used MXR 10, make damn sure you get the power cable with it.
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haha, I haven't heard from Bubba in a while; I guess he'll be back when he hits a good creative vein again. I'm generally happy with what I have, even though it can sound a bit dark/boxy so learning to get the best out of it is probably my best bet for now - its certainly cheaper too! Maybe its partly me trying to cover too many bases with one amp. I want a clean channel, a metal chug, a dark grungy heavy tone and great rock n roll tone that works for punk.. out of one amp.

I don't think I'll get to record much this weekend so I'll look out for a 2nd hand MXR on eBay for now and buy the Boss one at the end of next week if nothing comes up.

EDIT: Oh, that riff a page or two back is a cover of Chase The Devil by Max Romeo. I've finished the first pass at the music, just needs me to humanise the drums a bit, add a few lead embellishments and put the vocal on.
 
That dark/boxy thing isn't your fault. That's fucking Blackstar. livrong has that sound too, but it's not as bad probably because his cab is better. He posted someone's album made with a Blackstar HT20 or something and it was mushy ass muck city. Lol. But to each his own. My problem with Blackstar is my own. I've just never liked them. If you like it, then rock on with it. I think an EQ will help you get closer to all those different tones you want from one amp.
 
Greg_L said:
That dark/boxy thing isn't your fault. That's fucking Blackstar. livrong has that sound too, but it's not as bad probably because his cab is better. He posted someone's album made with a Blackstar HT20 or something and it was mushy ass muck city. Lol. But to each his own. My problem with Blackstar is my own. I've just never liked them. If you like it, then rock on with it. I think an EQ will help you get closer to all those different tones you want from one amp.
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Yeah, my hunch with Blackstar is that the EQ is all slightly too low. Bass being very low, mid encroaching on the upper end of the bass and the treble covering some of the upper mid.
 
Greg_L said:
You're a scientist, mod that shit!
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Hopefully Ecc83 will log on in a bit and give me some EQ tips. He's given me tips on EQ pedals in the loop before but I was initially dismissive about it and now I can't find the threads where he was tell me about it.
 
JDOD said:
Hopefully Ecc83 will log on in a bit and give me some EQ tips. He's given me tips on EQ pedals in the loop before but I was initially dismissive about it and now I can't find the threads where he was tell me about it.
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I think it was this thread. Go back about 3-4 weeks.
 
Damn now I want an eq pedal. Btw, since I got that BDRI I now run both amps through an a/b/y pedal and going from the Blackstar clean to the Fender clean is a huge difference, the Fender being the better of the two. The Blackstar just seems thin and lifeless in comparison. A lot of my issues with the Blackstars dirty channel is recording technique I think because the sound in the room is much better than on recordings. Still not exactly what I want though. Maybe next year I'll try out a Runt 20 and see how that is, until then I should try an eq in the loop as well. Wondering though, should I put that before or after my verb and delay? Also thinking out loud here i really only want it for the dirty channel so I guess it doesn't matter too much.
 
liv_rong said:
Damn now I want an eq pedal. Btw, since I got that BDRI I now run both amps through an a/b/y pedal and going from the Blackstar clean to the Fender clean is a huge difference, the Fender being the better of the two. The Blackstar just seems thin and lifeless in comparison. A lot of my issues with the Blackstars dirty channel is recording technique I think because the sound in the room is much better than on recordings. Still not exactly what I want though. Maybe next year I'll try out a Runt 20 and see how that is, until then I should try an eq in the loop as well. Wondering though, should I put that before or after my verb and delay? Also thinking out loud here i really only want it for the dirty channel so I guess it doesn't matter too much.
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Cool, well I'm currently researching cheap Chinese alternatives to MXR EQs and Fuel Tank power supplies!
 
JDOD said:
Cool, well I'm currently researching cheap Chinese alternatives to MXR EQs and Fuel Tank power supplies!
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Fuck, lol! I need a pedal power supply too, the one spot isn't cutting it. I want the Fuel Tank as well because I like how the power plug is attached so I can attach the unit to the inside of my pedal board and remove the plug when moved. I built a board and ended up putting an outlet inside and putting an iec socket/switch on the outside but like I said the one spot sucks. It's fine for like one or two pedals but then add a couple more and it gets noisy.
 
liv_rong said:
Fuck, lol! I need a pedal power supply too, the one spot isn't cutting it. I want the Fuel Tank as well because I like how the power plug is attached so I can attach the unit to the inside of my pedal board and remove the plug when moved. I built a board and ended up putting an outlet inside and putting an iec socket/switch on the outside but like I said the one spot sucks. It's fine for like one or two pedals but then add a couple more and it gets noisy.
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Have a look at my "EQ Pedals" Thread and feel free to spam it with your suggestions/research. After trying pretty much every amp in the country under 1000 quid I've decided to try and get the best out of what I have before moving on to something else.
 
liv_rong said:
Fuck, lol! I need a pedal power supply too, the one spot isn't cutting it. I want the Fuel Tank as well because I like how the power plug is attached so I can attach the unit to the inside of my pedal board and remove the plug when moved. I built a board and ended up putting an outlet inside and putting an iec socket/switch on the outside but like I said the one spot sucks. It's fine for like one or two pedals but then add a couple more and it gets noisy.
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I got a Voodoo Labs power supply a few months back. It's great. It tucks right up under my board, quietly powers all my shit, and the power cord is detachable.
 
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