I've got a strong suspicion that a DG50 will be my next amp. But I will keep my current amps, since I use them all; it might take some time before I take action on it...or...I dunno. WTF.
Amp Feel: A Thing.
- Thread starter László
- Start date
I've got a strong suspicion that a DG50 will be my next amp. But I will keep my current amps, since I use them all; it might take some time before I take action on it...or...I dunno. WTF.
The Fight
Long Hair Demigod
Hey I noticed this thing with my Friedman I wanted to sare. There's this cool two layer thing going on, one layer is the bottom end that is tied in with the mid body of the sound, it's very steak and meat of the tone. But then there's this other interesting, more detailed layer to the sound thats tide in with the presence. I can't really explain what it is but only that it really comes out when I'm hitting harder or trying to to articulate, or it helps me articulate more. It's almost like the soul of the amp (pass the bong man..) all I can say it that I'm happy that it's there. Having a good 2X12 Emperor cab loaded with vintage Ev12L just adds to the amazing experience. I've never experienced this with any other amp, but know that I'm hooked. Also when using different guitars w/ different pickups just widens this dimension or mby gives it a slightly different color.
What you're describing is really that certain harmonics are brought out as you hit the amp's tubes with a bit more signal.
I definitely get this with my HXDA and DG30.
The Fight
Long Hair Demigod
Yeah, itsdefinitely a tube thing!
It's almost that thing that ppl miss when they're trying to nail Eddie Van Halen's tone. And it's probably the same reason that Angus Young finds it necessary to hit those strings so hard. Actually I think VH hit his strings pretty hard as well, just digging in.
I just found this thread. Some great points for sure.
It's just me, but I have found that the higher the amp's RMS wattage, the stiffer the amp has felt to me.
I played 180 Diezel Herberts and 120 watt Diezel VH4's in commercial dance bands. These amps were extremely over-powered for what I needed, and the feel I was getting was just immovable due to having to keep the volume down. I fixed this by replacing the EL-34's with 1 watt RMS Smicz TADS. At 4 watts, these amps were definitely loud enough, and I was able to get the right amount of power tube and preamp tube saturation that I preferred. These amp's have great tonal flexibility, so while the wattage was way over-kill, how I was able to get around that allowed me to enjoy everything the amps were capably of delivering, only at usable volume levels.
The amp's feeling softened up just enough to feel more natural. I currently play on a Marshall JMD-h50 and a 1x12 Marshall cab, and the amp has a very natural feeling to it. It is not too saggy or too hard at any volume.
My picks are custom made V-Picks which are 5+mm thick and my strings are 7-32 gauged. Normally this would give most players a very plinky tone, but the way I have my amps set, the guitar sounds and feels like it has 10's on it.
To me, feel is as important as tone. One without the other, for me, means my mind is side-tracked by something that is taking my mind away from the music. For this reason, I seem to prefer 30-50 watt amps as a starting point, although, I have played some 15 watters that I enjoyed as well.
Before needing the ultra light gauge strings, I could really enjoy playing 100 watters, if I was able to crank them enough to get the tubes working as they should.
It's just me, but I have found that the higher the amp's RMS wattage, the stiffer the amp has felt to me.
I played 180 Diezel Herberts and 120 watt Diezel VH4's in commercial dance bands. These amps were extremely over-powered for what I needed, and the feel I was getting was just immovable due to having to keep the volume down. I fixed this by replacing the EL-34's with 1 watt RMS Smicz TADS. At 4 watts, these amps were definitely loud enough, and I was able to get the right amount of power tube and preamp tube saturation that I preferred. These amp's have great tonal flexibility, so while the wattage was way over-kill, how I was able to get around that allowed me to enjoy everything the amps were capably of delivering, only at usable volume levels.
The amp's feeling softened up just enough to feel more natural. I currently play on a Marshall JMD-h50 and a 1x12 Marshall cab, and the amp has a very natural feeling to it. It is not too saggy or too hard at any volume.
My picks are custom made V-Picks which are 5+mm thick and my strings are 7-32 gauged. Normally this would give most players a very plinky tone, but the way I have my amps set, the guitar sounds and feels like it has 10's on it.
To me, feel is as important as tone. One without the other, for me, means my mind is side-tracked by something that is taking my mind away from the music. For this reason, I seem to prefer 30-50 watt amps as a starting point, although, I have played some 15 watters that I enjoyed as well.
Before needing the ultra light gauge strings, I could really enjoy playing 100 watters, if I was able to crank them enough to get the tubes working as they should.
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
Finding the right balance of power has been a challenge for me.
Started with 2x100w (stereo power amp), went to 15w (too wimpy), 30w (felt awesome, too mushy in the mix), 140w (too stiff, felt lifeless), 50w (kind of meh, but it was the amps fault and not the output), 120w, 100w, 30w, 50w, 90w, 100w.
The the end, my solution was an amp with switchable power options (Dual Rectifier, and I had a Mark V up until recently). With it I can run my crunch channels in 50w, my clean and high gain channels in 100w, and my clean and lead channel can use a tube rectifier while my rhythm channel uses a solid state rectifier.
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
I"m having fun playing with the Mark V 45 v 90 watt settings now, as well as tube vs SS rectifier and Pentode/Triode on channel 3. Oh, and Variac vs. full power. LOTS of "feel" options on that amp. And I haven't even hardly messed with the 10 watt class A power stages.
[QUOTE="clasbtenn, post: 283188, member: 11101"To me, feel is as important as tone. One without the other, for me, means my mind is side-tracked by something that is taking my mind away from the music. [/QUOTE]
Yeah, this encapsulates precisely how I feel. Definitely.
Yeah, this encapsulates precisely how I feel. Definitely.
The Tweed setting at 10 watts was my absolute favorite on the Mark V when I had one. With a little work, I could get it to sound pretty authentic. I can do it on the Lone Star, too.
Not that it's my usual tone thing, but when you need that sound and vibe, it's there. Not a bad thing to have!
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
I wished that the Mark V had two lead channels. One that I could run in IIC+/45w/triode for lead, and the other I could run in Mk IV/90w/pentode for rhythm.
The Tweed setting at 10 watts was my absolute favorite on the Mark V when I had one. With a little work, I could get it to sound pretty authentic. I can do it on the Lone Star, too.
Not that it's my usual tone thing, but when you need that sound and vibe, it's there. Not a bad thing to have!
My favourite thing about the Lone Star Special was simply cranking the volume and driving the piss out of it. I never used the lead mode... channel 1 with the gain set low, and channel 2 set to "clean" with the gain nearly maxed.
I got the optional leather covering instead of tolex, so it's a good thing my amp doesn't have any piss in it.
I wouldn't have enjoyed the stains or the smell.
dkilpatrick
Makes guitar faces
Have you tried their two channel eq and drive pedals? you can set them up to act like another channel for the amp as well as a solo boost.
dkilpatrick
Makes guitar faces
Same here, I shut the cooling fan off once for silent recording and it instantly started to smell like burning leather.I got the optional leather covering instead of tolex, so it's a good thing my amp doesn't have any piss in it.
I wouldn't have enjoyed the stains or the smell.
I leave the fan on now...
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
I have had a bunch of fun running C3 in Extreme (which is much more open and punchy) for gainy rhythm tones and C2 in Mark I mode for leads. That can be a killer combo! Mark 1 is a fire breathing animal.
Dusty Chalk
alberngruppenführer
What's funny is that Watts aren't necessarily a linear correspondence with...power/strength/rigidity/wimpiness/whatever you want to call it. Something like a Mesa/Boogie with power options is the right direction.
D
Deleted member 5962
Guest
It's true that Mesa with it's many amps featuring power stage options has struck a chord with many. I keep saying how cool my TA15 was, and how awesome the 5 watt SE Marshall setting was for home playing. And HOLY CRAP cool with my Fulltone 69.
I still want an Archon 50 though. I have 3 Mesa's now.
I still want an Archon 50 though. I have 3 Mesa's now.
Screamingdaisy
(O)))m
I tried that route for a bit. It was great, but we didn't jive. I used that Mark as my main amp for 5 years and put every mode through it's paces at one point or another... but, in the end I'm happier now that I'm back to using a Recto.
I have the Tone Burst, Grid Slammer and Flux Drive. I like using drives with the Recto but don't like boosting Marks. Marks already have enough gain/compression on their own... they don't really need any help.
Amen! Unless using a totally clean tone, the Marks don't like slamming the input buffer. Never sounded musical to me. It was just, too much...and out of character for the amp.
Exactly. My 30 Watt DG amp is LOUD. In fact, it's easily as loud as the Lone Star set to 50 Watts. While it doesn't quite shake the floor like the Lone Star set to 100 Watts, I think there aren't many gigs it'd have trouble handling.
On the other hand, the 30 Watt HXDA is not as loud as the DG30.
When my son was in town for my daughter's wedding this past weekend, he picked up his old Valve Jr. 5 Watt amp that I got him many years ago; he'd loaned it to a friend. Just for grins, we hooked it up to my PS 2x12 Big Mouth cab, and that little thing sounded great and got pretty darn loud!
Talk about the bargain amp of the century...
I think I paid about $125 for it new back in the day. Go figure. He was flying to Omaha yesterday to catch up with his band's tour, checked his bag, and the Valve Jr. was his carry-on luggage!
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squirrel211
New Member
After just watching the luggage getting loaded on my plane (in flight wifi!) it's a good thing he carried it on!
