Pre-amp or saturation?

R

RAMI

Guest
Maybe it has been asked and answered a million times, but I still would like to know if there is a general consensus.

I have a Peavey Studio Pro 50, not the greatest rock amp, but it's clean sound is decent. It has "Pre" and "Saturation" knobs. I've been playing around and reading a lot the last couple of days and realized I was probably doing things wrong all along. For a rock sound, I was just turning the "Pre" up to anywhere from 8 to 10, and doing the same with the "Saturation". From what I think I'm beginning to understand, I don't want to overload the pre-amp that much, and should be using saturation for a fuller distorted sound.Is this generally good advice, taking into account every amp, guitar, room, song, player, etc...is different......

So, if I can simplify the question by just talking about the 2 extremes, is it better to have the Pre at 3 and the Saturation at 10, or the saturation at 3 and the pre-amp at 10, hypothetically speaking?

For those that aren't familiar with my amp, it's a solid state, not tube amp.
 
Not familiar with that model RAMI but I had a Peavey Renown many moons ago that had that set up, and I used the saturation over the preamp...

But back then I had not the vaguest idea about anything and I was probably wrong - so don't listen to me! I'm just sort of interested... so we'll see what the other bods say.:D
 
Well, what does it sound like when you compare the two alternatives? Which sounds the best? If you're going for a clean sound, I agree you should probably set the pre higher than the saturation, but again, you're ears are there all ready to tell you which setting is right.
 
For what you are referring to, the saturation is the main line of distortion in those amps. That being said, if you want more distortion that what is delivered with the saturation at 10, then you can roll the pre up some (and of course the post up/down to keep the master volume where you want it) and get more. Those amps are pretty solid, but I am like you and really do not want to puch the pre volume too far out on them. Hope this helps.
 
dainbramage said:
Well, what does it sound like when you compare the two alternatives? Which sounds the best? If you're going for a clean sound, I agree you should probably set the pre higher than the saturation, but again, you're ears are there all ready to tell you which setting is right.
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Yeah, I don't know how it sounds yet because I haven't had a chance to sit and twiddle knobs, but you're right, that will be the only way to answer my own question.

I asked the question hoping there would be some kind of flexible rule, like "Pre-amp distortion is brittle. Generally keep the pre-amp below clipping and use more saturation" kind of thing.

I'm not worried about the clean sound, I'm having a hell of a time with getting a decent distorted sound though.
 
JHudson said:
For what you are referring to, the saturation is the main line of distortion in those amps. That being said, if you want more distortion that what is delivered with the saturation at 10, then you can roll the pre up some (and of course the post up/down to keep the master volume where you want it) and get more. Those amps are pretty solid, but I am like you and really do not want to puch the pre volume too far out on them. Hope this helps.
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Yeah man, that helps a lot. Thanx. Sort of confirms what I was being led to believe iwith the minimal amount of research I've done in the last few days. I think I'm beginning to "get" the whole "Pre" and "Post" thing when it comes to guitar amps.
 
RAMI said:
Yeah, I don't know how it sounds yet because I haven't had a chance to sit and twiddle knobs, but I you're right, that will be the only way to answer my own question.

I asked the question hoping there would be some kind of flexible rule, like "Pre-amp distortion is brittle. Generally keep the pre-amp below clipping and use more saturation" kind of thing.

I'm not worried about the clean sound, I'm having a hell of a time with getting a decent distorted sound though.
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You gotta just play with it. With your amp being solid-state those controls act specifically to your amp and unless someone else has one there's really no telling what they do. For example, "pre amp" on a tube amp pretty much always means the same thing - it's the pre amp. Turning it up passes the signal through one, two, three, or more pre amp tubes that do different things, including gain. It's most commonly simply labeled "gain". For your amp, I'd assume that those two knobs simulate the two most popular tonal features of a tube amp maybe? Pre amp being gain, and saturation being power tube distortion? That would be my guess. If so, I'd think the saturation knob would be more useful.
 
Greg_L said:
For your amp, I'd assume that those two knobs simulate the two most popular tonal features of a tube amp maybe? Pre amp being gain, and saturation being power tube distortion? That would be my guess. If so, I'd think the saturation knob would be more useful.
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Yeah, reading up on my amp, that's exactly what those knobs simulate. I've been doing things backwards. I've been overloading the Pre-amp and using a little saturation. I'm pretty sure that once I have a chance to twiddle, I'll find that doing the exact opposite would have been the way to go a ll along.
 
I used to use clean SS amps with pedals in front back in my punk rock youth. It's not great. If you want to go that route, I think you'd do better with some kind of sim/processor thing like a POD and run it into your amp. But even then, just using the POD by itself would probably sound better.
 
I used to use, and still have a Yamaha DG Stomp. I used to put it in my Peavey and then mic the Peavey. But the thing died and now only the tuner section of it works, so it's my tuner. I think it sounded pretty good, but I don't really remember.
 
Rami, tube amp, man. :D

If you're still interested, check out Blackstars too. I should have mentioned those the other day. Good, affordable, brit voiced tube amps.
 
Greg_L said:
Rami, tube amp, man. :D.
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Yeah yeah, that's going to happen. But for now, I know that I can get a much better sound than I'm getting with what I got. Blackstars? Never heard of them, but what the hell do I know. :D I'll check them out too.
 
Also, am I right in saying that speaker movement is also important? In other words, even a Solid State amp sounds better when it's at a certain volume and the speaker is really moving air?
 
I'm surprised to read that you have a peavey SS amp. I haven't heard your latest track, but based on your previous recordings, I would've guessed you had a much better (no offense) guitar rig!
 
heatmiser said:
I'm surprised to read that you have a peavey SS amp. I haven't heard your latest track, but based on your previous recordings, I would've guessed you had a much better (no offense) guitar rig!
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Well, that's actually a bit of a relief. My guitar tracks are the one thing in my recordings that have always been hit and miss. I never really knew what I was doing, so I guess sometimes I got away with a decent track, but often the guitar sound was the weak link. I think I have a better understanding of it now and I'm pretty sure my tracks will be a little more consistent from now on.
 
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