The New Tone Thread

[Tadpui]

Yeah minerman - assuming that was the guitar volume that was rolled down, that's pretty awesome - most of my guitars go really dark like that. I've tried fixing it by changing pots and capacitors with some success. Love the 65 - gotta get one



it's true I swear - OK pics or it didn't happen:

actually one of two guitars I have without truss rods - my 2 favorite acoustics:

Wow. How old are those guitars? That D-28 looks like a tasty vintage. Is that other one a Collings? Damn dude, nice collection!

I'm pretty ignorant about vintage guitars so I don't know when truss rods became ubiquitous. There aren't any hiding behind those front top braces are there? Careful not to lose your phone in there...I know how much I hate it when I drop picks in the soundhole

 

[minerman]

Greg: Thanks dude, seems I always get really bright tones...lol...I'm gonna have to try another guitar to see if my LP is really that bright, or if it's just the way I dial my amp/mic in....

Tadpui: Yeah dude, that's the guitar's volume rolled back....It's got orange drops in it, with coil taps, but I never use anything but full humbucking with this guitar....

On the e-kit, that's the same kit I've been looking at, but I'm glad you told me about the 2-level hi-hat...I'd want at least 3, possibly more if I could get 'em, so that's another thing for me to look into....I'm not worth a fuck as a drummer either dude, but I know I could bash out a song a lot better with a kit than with a keyboard, it just doesn't work for me....

Antichef: Thanks dude, love the 65, you really need to get one or two of 'em, they're in between a Greenback & V30 IMO, just the right blend of both for me....

Bob: What did you have to do to your amp dude??? Just wondering, as I'm always interested in hearing stuff like that...

 

[rayc]

Lt.
Making a rod for your own back!
Still, every time you curse about carrying it you'll know that it IS the right thing to do even if the punters can't tell.
Oh, for interest's sake the Guyatone Mosrite copy I posted a snap of a few months ago, (and again below) & with which I recorded my latest bit was built in 1968 - I was 11!
the bridge pickup isn't original. It came to me with a noname humbucker. I was going to replace it with something approaching the original but the luthier doing a bit of other work for me convinced me not to - he liked the range of tones the diff pickup gave the guitar.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Bob: What did you have to do to your amp dude??? Just wondering, as I'm always interested in hearing stuff like that...

simply replaced the rectifier diodes in the power supply ...... I took a pic so I'll put it up sometime tonight ..... tight now I'm getting ready to take 93 year old mom-in-law to her daily leg therapy which I will have to get up and take her to for the next 6 weeks!! ugh!

Anyways ..... the amp blew fuses ...... so the first thing you do is start pulling power tubes ...... often it'll be one of those ....... but no good. Still blew fuses ...... finally I had all the tubes out including the preamp tubes. Still blew a fuse immediately upon turning it on.
That down't leave a lot of possibilities ...... a tranny will usually give you some sign such as making your house smell of smoke forever.

So really ...... with a solid state rectifier it's, by far, the most likely cause so I replaced them.
Fixed!

 

[antichef]

simply replaced the rectifier diodes in the power supply ...... So really ...... with a solid state rectifier it's, by far, the most likely cause so I replaced them.
Fixed!

sweet - would love to see the picture - I know that's going to happen to me at some point

Wow. How old are those guitars? That D-28 looks like a tasty vintage. Is that other one a Collings? Damn dude, nice collection!

I'm pretty ignorant about vintage guitars so I don't know when truss rods became ubiquitous. There aren't any hiding behind those front top braces are there? Careful not to lose your phone in there...I know how much I hate it when I drop picks in the soundhole

The D-28 is vintage, but it's a couple years off of being really tasty -- it's from 1972 - they stopped using the Brazilian wood sometime in 1969 I think. I like to think that they were at the stage where they could select from the best of the Indian wood . Anyway, it was my uncle's, who died in '76 and left it to my dad, who didn't play. My dad had that one and a Silvertone - I destroyed the Silvertone by banging on it and incorporating it into forts and stuff, but somehow knew to stay away from the Martin, then started playing it when I was 15 or 16 (and banging it around, and moving it from high to low temperatures, etc. - but it's still in decent shape). It was really difficult to play until I had it set up about 4 years ago (doh!). There really is no truss rod. Before the setup there was a lot of neck bow, and I feared it was going to have to be disassembled and put back together, but the shop was able to make it play very well by using tricks like bridge and nut adjustment and some fret leveling. The Collings is the smaller OM1 model, and it's only a few years old, but indeed, no truss rod there either.

 

[Greg_L]

That's kick ass Lt. Fixing your own shit is the way to go! Fuck amp techs. They all suck!

Not really. I like the Steamboat guys I've been using, but I'm not going back to them unless it's a total calamity. I've learned that with some patience and the google, I think I can fix my stuff myself. I need to reality check myself though. My head is swimming gearing up for this Plexi build. I've been thnking about doing a tube/SS switchable rectifier. That's probably way above my pay grade. Another tweak I'm thinking about is making the amp switchable between a Lead and Bass circuit. That could be cool. And an effects loop. Lol. I don't have any parts and haven't even built a functioning amp yet and I'm already super-designing this thing. It's gonna be a disaster.

 

[antichef]

It's gonna be a disaster.

ha - good luck - I'll be following along with interest. I often dream of a build like that, but I'm kind of afraid i'd get killed

 

[JDOD]

Happy New Year gents; may your metal always be heavy.

Right, I need some tonal surgery. This is the tone I have been playing my tele with, one of them nice tones that is nearly clean when you strum gently but quite distorted when you hit a little harder. Sounds OK on my Technics headphones, mixing, sounds shit on my stereo but nice on ear buds in the supermarket. Right... just gotta work out how to post an MP3

OK, this might work:
<a href=http://www.filedropper.com/finally><img src=http://www.filedropper.com/download_button.png width=127 height=145 border=0/></a><br /><div style=font-size:9px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;width:127px;font-color:#44a854;> <a href=http://www.filedropper.com >online backup</a></div>

Eh, no

Does this work:
https://soundcloud.com/brother-number-one/finally

 

[Greg_L]

Happy New Year gents; may your metal always be heavy.

Right, I need some tonal surgery. This is the tone I have been playing my tele with, one of them nice tones that is nearly clean when you strum gently but quite distorted when you hit a little harder. Sounds OK on my Technics headphones, mixing, sounds shit on my stereo but nice on ear buds in the supermarket. Right... just gotta work out how to post an MP3

OK, this might work:
<a href=http://www.filedropper.com/finally><img src=http://www.filedropper.com/download_button.png width=127 height=145 border=0/></a><br /><div style=font-size:9px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;width:127px;font-color:#44a854;> <a href=http://www.filedropper.com >online backup</a></div>

Eh, no

Does this work:
https://soundcloud.com/brother-number-one/finally

I'm hearing two guitars? It seems the lower, slightly left guitar sounds pretty good. It's got some low end to it and sounds clean and plucky. The more prominent jangly guitar is a little thin and kind of harsh to me when you're getting down on it. It might just be how you're playing it with those jangly chords, and it being a Tele might have something to do with it also. Maybe use a darker mic placement, or tame some of the highs from the amp. Dropping it in the mix a little could help too.

 

[Lt. Bob]

That's kick ass Lt. Fixing your own shit is the way to go! Fuck amp techs. They all suck!

fixing the Blue Angel cost .... are you ready? ..... $1.40 .... ..... diodes were 35 cents apiece .... what would a tech have charged?
A lot more than $1.40!
It took a full evenings worth of time sitting in front of the TV. Big deal.
A shop would have charged for that time but I was gonna be there anyway!

As for your build ...... if you get plans as clear as that huge schematic you put up earlier then it's not gonna be hard even if you have all those features.
I'm pretty sure you'd do best to go the kit route though ..... more complete instructions and parts already selected .... and get a kit from someone you can call on the phone and talk about parts and such first.
One thing I really LOVE about Mesa is I can get a tech on the phone anytime I need one.

I'm betting you're gonna have little trouble because you already have a background in doing detailed work where it HAS to be right. Block an oil hole and your engine trashes as soon as you start it ..... so you're used to reading manuals ..... checking and double-checking before installing that part or cranking something up.
It just seems mysterious because our friend Mr 'lectricity is lurking in the background but it's not really any scarier than Mr gas explosion hanging around the car shops.

 

[JDOD]

Its purely down to the chords and the mix I think. They are actually the same guitar with exactly the same tone. I could probably do with lowering the left guitar in the mix slightly. Fuck, now you've pointed it out, it's annoying the hell out of me.

It's not really a tele - it's made by Fender and it's tele shaped but it's more like a Les Paul. Although in the mellow bit I switch the left guitar to the neck and coil tap it. Before putting it back on the bridge humbucker. The right guitar is on the bridge humbucker all the way through.

The other track on my Soundcloud is my old Washburn, very loud through my Bandit, a shit mic (Stagg I think) and a lot of cocking about.

 

[Greg_L]

fixing the Blue Angel cost .... are you ready? ..... $1.40 .... ..... diodes were 35 cents apiece .... what would a tech have charged?
A lot more than $1.40!
It took a full evenings worth of time sitting in front of the TV. Big deal.
A shop would have charged for that time but I was gonna be there anyway!

As for your build ...... if you get plans as clear as that huge schematic you put up earlier then it's not gonna be hard even if you have all those features.
I'm pretty sure you'd do best to go the kit route though ..... more complete instructions and parts already selected .... and get a kit from someone you can call on the phone and talk about parts and such first.
One thing I really LOVE about Mesa is I can get a tech on the phone anytime I need one.

I'm betting you're gonna have little trouble because you already have a background in doing detailed work where it HAS to be right. Block an oil hole and your engine trashes as soon as you start it ..... so you're used to reading manuals ..... checking and double-checking before installing that part or cranking something up.
It just seems mysterious because our friend Mr 'lectricity is lurking in the background but it's not really any scarier than Mr gas explosion hanging around the car shops.

No doubt, a tech would have charged you at least 100 bucks in just labor. Maybe more with having to deal with the board and shit. Nice work dude.

For me, I'm not worried about the electricity. I've become the master of draining filter caps. Lol. My worry is nuking my fresh new transformers at start up. I don't think it will happen, but you never know. The "kit" I'm planning is a Metro kit. Everything will be top quality and the turret board will be pre-dilled, I'll just have to install the parts and wire it all together. Metro Plexis are killer, so if I do it right, it should kick major ass right off the bat. I've been practicing twisting my wires and sticking things together. I do need a better soldering iron though. My old snap-on iron is way too heavy duty, and my cheapo radio shack 30 watter is too weak and clumsy. I'll need to get a nice one for accurate trouble-free soldering.

In other news, the tweaks on my 2204 continue, and it keeps getting better. Actually, I've removed most of the tonal stuff I've done, totally fixed the EL34 conversion, and have settled on one little parallel cap mod to the first gain stage. All that other dropping resistor stuff is back to stock. Clips to come later.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Metro doesn't seem to offer a kit anymore ..... so you're just gonna buy the parts thru them?

 

[Greg_L]

Metro doesn't seem to offer a kit anymore ..... so you're just gonna buy the parts thru them?

Sort of. It's a Metro "kit" through Valvestorm. Metro specs, Metro parts, Metro assembly guide, etc...but through some side company. They have everything ready to go. I need to decide on transformers, choke, and caps, but I'm gonna stick to Metro spec stuff. I'm just about ready to send them some emails and see how they respond. It will be a little more expensive than a Ceriatone or some other clone company, but I know Metro shit rocks vaginas, and their specs and layout seem to be the most accurate and period correct. Metro stuff is very highly regarded as far as I can tell. The sound clips and videos are just fucking awesome. If I'm gonna do it, might as well do it the best I can and have no regrets.....unless I turn the thing into a puff of smoke.
50 Watt Build Checklist | ValveStorm

 

[Greg_L]

Well, I've been back inside my JMP 2204, and hopefully it's in it's final version after tweaks. You see, what had happened was, I think all I needed to do was fix the 6550 > EL34 conversion that was previously done half-assedly. In a nutshell, they didn't change all the resistors that needed changing. And some of my other tweaks were just too much. So I've got one cap across V1 cathode, a proper EL34 conversion, a little hotter bias, moved the neg feedback to the 8 ohm tap, fresh electrolytics, and the rest is proper bone stock 1979 JMP 2204. This thing kills now. Raw, biting, aggressive. Chords ring big, low end is tight and controlled, single notes pop and jump cleanly. It's never sounded this good. I know I keep saying that, but every little thing keeps making it better.

Les Paul Traditional - Burstbucker 3 bridge pickup
Marshall JMP 2204
Presence - 3
Bass - 7
Mid - 7
Treb - 5
Preamp vol - 7
Master vol - 7
Marshall 1960B - Vintage 30 - single SM57 on axis, on grill, just outside dustcap (same as previous clip)
No EQ or effects in DAW
Ace of Slop 2

 

[rayc]

Slop 2.
None to sloppy at all.
As Nick Cave would say, "Sex, Vampire, Bite."
The final feedback chord says it all.

 

[rayc]

JDOD,
I like the janglier guitar (I would, wouldn't I?) but think it's a little too forward in the mix.

 

[Greg_L]

Slop 2.
None to sloppy at all.
As Nick Cave would say, "Sex, Vampire, Bite."
The final feedback chord says it all.

Ha, thanks Ray. This amp has been a project since I got it. I've always liked it, but it's always had something off about it, and it's finally coming into it's own. It's sounding killer. With the tube conversion fixed and improved low end, this thing seems much tighter, louder, and punchier in person. That clip was ridiculously loud since the amp doesn't mush out anymore.

 

[JDOD]

JDOD,
I like the janglier guitar (I would, wouldn't I?) but think it's a little too forward in the mix.

Cheers, it's weird how you don't notice things until someone else points them out. Will probably finish that song off later tonight or tomorrow - don't want it to me long - just one more verse and a weird bit. Gotta have a weird bit.

 

[JDOD]

Here's a nice heavy biting tone:
https://soundcloud.com/brother-number-one/time-for-a-change
Can't wait to unpack my Washburn and have it there waiting for when I am in this mood!