Got My Tube Amp!!!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter marshall409
  • Start date Start date
ya im loving the clean

definitely. the fenders and peaveys i tried out while window shopping sounded much better clean than any marshall. im thinking im leaning towards getting another of the same amp, just not this floor model. the clean is to die for, and i think i was expecting too much out of the distortion. what do you guys think about distortion pedals. i know there is alot of guys out there who swear by just there amp but sometimes i thnk im gonna need to oush this thing a little farther than its overdrive. should i use something to push the lead channel over the top or just use a pedal on the clean channel?

Adam
 
a lot of people use that green thing -the ibanez tube screamer! My deville has a clean and a drive channel ,I also use a pedalboard for heavy distortion and echo and chorus and volume pedal but I bypass that a lot to just get that TUBE THING.
 
Analize me

marshall409 said:
definitely. the fenders and peaveys i tried out while window shopping sounded much better clean than any marshall. im thinking im leaning towards getting another of the same amp, just not this floor model. the clean is to die for, and i think i was expecting too much out of the distortion. what do you guys think about distortion pedals. I know there is alot of guys out there who swear by just there amp but sometimes i thnk im gonna need to oush this thing a little farther than its overdrive. should i use something to push the lead channel over the top or just use a pedal on the clean channel?

Adam

I was a stomp box guy, but now I think less is more:
Guitar + (EQ) + Amp

The bets you can do, if you don't like your amp , is to think about what do you want to do with it. DO you want powerfull distortion? Do you want great clean tones? Are you using it for gigs? Are you gonna use it for recording? A lot of players use two different amps for playing beacuse you can't get everythin from one single unit.

I put myself as an example: I play death metal and I'm planning to record my music. So I needed and amp that could deliver powerfull and warm distortion without mudding the sound. A solid state amp is cheaper but the gain is terrible. A valve amp was the solution. Which brand? Peavey or Marshall? Peavey sound more bassy and punchy for death metal, and Marshall are brighter and thinner for heavy and trash sounds. So I choose the Peavey. It also has an effect loop, very useful for recording purpouses (external signal procesing)

Now, analize your own situation, you'll see it's a lot easier when you have things clear in your mind. Good luck.

PD: Avoid stomp boxes for recording. try to use the amp sound. For live situations get a Boss DS2, it's a very standard distortion.
 
Well...

i like to be able to cover a wide range of tones. the amp covers most all styles for me, except sometimes the distortion just doesnt fit for punk/heavier stuff. i will look into a DS-2, ive also been thinking about building something of the sort. a booster pedal before the amp will increase the distortion, correct?

Adam
 
Scotty, we need more power to the tubes!

I doon't think she'll 'old out mooch longair Captain!
 
Effect loop

Outlaws said:
Thats the terrible advice IMO.
First, what does IMO means?
Sencond, don't get me wrong, I'm talking about distortion. Is best to get the gain from the amp insteadof a stomp box. In ths way your chain is cleaner without stoping. If you still want to use some effects you can put'em in the effect loop (like a delay or chorus) The idea is to alter the signal after the preamp and no before the preamp, that should remain untouched.
 
Good job.

I've played a couple of those and i was amazed at the price. My favorite was the 1x15 version.
 
Hey marshal409, my ampw as doing some noises. I took it to a luthier and he told me the fan inside the map was malfunctioning. Maybe youmshould take your amp to a technical service too. Just a question, does your amp have spring reverb?
 
killthepixel said:
First, what does IMO means?
Sencond, don't get me wrong, I'm talking about distortion. Is best to get the gain from the amp insteadof a stomp box. In ths way your chain is cleaner without stoping. If you still want to use some effects you can put'em in the effect loop (like a delay or chorus) The idea is to alter the signal after the preamp and no before the preamp, that should remain untouched.


IMO = in my opinion

An effects loop generally doesn't work well with stomp boxes, as loop gains are at line (~ 0 dB) level and most floor units are designed to operate at instrument (~ -60 dB) level.
 
killthepixel said:
First, what does IMO means?
Sencond, don't get me wrong, I'm talking about distortion. Is best to get the gain from the amp insteadof a stomp box. In ths way your chain is cleaner without stoping. If you still want to use some effects you can put'em in the effect loop (like a delay or chorus) The idea is to alter the signal after the preamp and no before the preamp, that should remain untouched.

For live playing I personally do not like stompboxes for distortion. But for recording, I have found virtually none sound cheap, and almost all provide a useable texture for something. Take a Big Muff for example, that has been on so many recordings you wouldn't believe. Same with the Rat and the $30 BOSS DS1. What about Jimi and the Fuzzface? Randy Rhoads and the MXR Distortion+. And don't even get me started on the Rolling Stones....those guys have used every distortion, fuzz, and overdrive pedal on the market.
 
ya it has spring reverb. non switchable as far as i know :( but no big deal there. im going to the store in a couple hours, i think im going to listen to the other valvekings and if they dont make this noise (which i really dont think they will) then ill exchange, otherwise maybe look at something else. what im worried about is not being able to get a equal amp for this price.
im only getting 460 back cuz it was onsale at the time, marked down from 500 plus tax.
Adam
 
FWIW, I have had Fender, Mesa, and Marshall amps for 35 years, and typically I throw both switches together. The only time I have my amp on "standby" is during breaks when I want to keep it warm but need it to be absolutely silent. YMMV, but I have never suffered any ill effects from doing this.
 
Here's the million dollar question:
My tube and doesn't come with an standby switch. Is it possible to built a switch in the back of the amp so it won't be noticeable and ruin the aeshetic of the amp?
 
so i just got back from the store i got it from. the guy convinced me its not anything abnormal, just natural amp noise. i figured that......

oh well

now i need a noise suppressor :p

any suggestions?

Adam
 
killthepixel said:
Here's the million dollar question:
My tube and doesn't come with an standby switch. Is it possible to built a switch in the back of the amp so it won't be noticeable and ruin the aeshetic of the amp?

Don't worry about it. I wouldn't mod the amp just for that.
 
marshall409 said:
i dont know man. when i first got it it never hummed and just last night i powered up and this humming started.....fairly prominent.
What kind of guitar are you using. I have a Fender Blues Jr. and one time I heard humming and I made the amp really loud then switched between pickups on the guitar (Ibanez RG) and the hum changed pitch and intensity with each pickup so, could it be your guitar? or maybe you've set the amp too close to something electrically powerful that is humming through your amp. I don't know. Just some suggestions.
 
marshall409 said:
now i need a noise suppressor...any suggestions
If it is the amp, I don't think they make anything for that. If it's anything before the amp, Boss makes a noise suppressor. I've never used it but if I needed one, I'd get that one simply because I'm a boss man. Plus it's only like $89 I think. I don't know. Check www.sweetwater.com
 
marshall409 said:
but the hum is bugging me because its so loud. if i turn it on, with nothing plugged in, and volume ALL the way down, the volume of the hum is still the same.

Yeah a noise suppressor won't help that. Its time to do some exprerimenting with your amp. Try it in different outlets around the house and see if the hum changes or goes away or gets worse. Maybe even try it at a friend's house and see if there's any improvement.

The issue could be the wiring/grounding in your house, or it could be a defect in the amp. Did you plug the amp in at the store when you brought it back? If so, did it hum there as well?
 
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