dsenoj
Old dude in a PRS T-shirt
I went to Music 49 today to try out a few guitars. I played them through an HX/DA. I want one bad now.
More Things To Love About The HX/DA
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It's a most addictive experience, isn't it?
I want to get a second one and stash it away in a vault so I'll never be without one, ever!
Sekunda
Music is life
I finally got to let my HX/DA loose with some volume along with drums and bass... wow! I was so impressed with the sound that I got goosebumps while I was playing. This was definitely the right choice in amps. The guys were amazed at the sounds I was getting with just slight changes of the guitar volume. Then when I kicked on my Keeley modded TS-9 Tube Screamer... ummm... let me just say that Ted Nugent entered the building for about 20 minutes. I can say that this is for sure the BEST sounding amp for classic rock I have ever heard, and the most exciting amp I have ever had the privilege to own.
Also, my whole question of using an attenuator was voided with a live band volume in a bigger room. Yes, I am a happy camper!
:cheers:
Also, my whole question of using an attenuator was voided with a live band volume in a bigger room. Yes, I am a happy camper!
:cheers:
Awesome!
Now THAT'S an endorsement! :rock: And I can't agree more with the Keeley TS-9. Secret sauce, baby! Congrats on the revelation.
Sekunda
Music is life
I've mostly been using the Custom 22 with Dragon 1 pups, but apparently the guys love the sound of the Stripped 58 better... it has more body (literally). It seems more appropriate for the Southern rock anyway.
Just added a Strymon El Capistan delay pedal as well... gorgeous sounds from this pedal!
Just added a Strymon El Capistan delay pedal as well... gorgeous sounds from this pedal!
TJIann
Some call me.... Tim
Now I'm real curious. Has anyone compared the HX/DA to the Original Sewell. If I recall, the Sewell was the basis for the 25th Anniv, which in turn was the basis for the HX/DA, correct? So, can an Original Sewell be modded to be an HX/DA?
Is the Strymon hissy when you turn the gain up on the HXDA? The TC Nova Delay can add a bit of hiss, and I'd like to eliminate that problem from my rig (although I like a lot of what the Nova does).
Sekunda
Music is life
I have the gain set at about 1:00 and there seems to be no noticeable noise so far... the bass gain is set at about 9:00. EQ settings are pretty much from the PRS video above: Treble 1/3, Mids 2/3, Bass 2/3, presence is very low. I'm still trying to dial that in... The El Capistan is an awesome pedal... I'm just using it for a solo sound with tempo tap at the moment, but it has multiple uses, even a looper if set properly. It is very clean just like the Flint. Every Strymon pedal I have tried has been top-notch. Its a very nice change to have an amp that shows all of the intricacies of quality pedals for a change. If you order the pedal straight from Strymon they have a return if its not what you want policy. I'm also thinking about getting the new Boss PS-6 Harmonist for some of our Southern rock harmony parts where 2 guitars just cant cover all the parts.
http://www.strymon.net
Sekunda
Music is life
I'm still messing with stuff too... being in a band situation helps tremendously for getting settings and effects set right. Once I get my sound where I want it, I will be trying the guitar/gain staging angle. Back guitar volume and tone off slightly and re-setting the amp to sound like it did originally. That will leave room for solo boost and also a little room to move on tone as well. This is something completely new to me and I'm really looking forward to trying it out. I just read a blog about this very thing from my Seymour Duncan eletter today. Looking forward to hearing my amp at practice is one of my favorite things... again.
Having been down this same road recently (and used the same line of reasoning), I can tell you that there's a big difference. The Super Dallas is also a Cinemag/EL34 amp and is also unique against those 2 amps. The HXDA was tonally more diverse and hit upon the key Plexi vibe areas for me (even order harmonics, note bloom, power stage saturation), where the 'H' played ball more in the modern/Mesa Boogie area. I like that too, but I already have a Boogie. In a fit of indecision, I threw a hail mary and went with the SD, but at some point I will also have an HXDA because they're complimentary amps.
Honestly, the HX/DA can sound so warm and creamy that I don't want to play anything else. But what's surprising is what a great clean sound it can produce. Roll back the guitar volume, split to single coils if you like, and turn up the amp volume and the cleans are gorgeous, shimmery, etc., and comparable in quality to some of my favorite clean amps, like Two-Rocks, etc.
To say I love this amp is an understatement. It's my favorite amp of all time.
To say I love this amp is an understatement. It's my favorite amp of all time.
Skeeter
New Member
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Get a THD Hot Plate, I use one all the time when I have my big rig at home. Allows me to use a Mark V at either 45 or 90 watts at apartment levels.
Back to the whole Mesa vs PRS discussion, I love my Mesa for the flexibility when gigging and you can really learn something new about it every day. Plus it helps to have drastic eq, gain changes handy on the fly as you go through different styles of music. My current situation requires me to do the old pedal dance as I'm constantly adding textures and switching between channels...
But I'm really intrigued by the HX/DA and MDT. They sound so organic and creamy....and just amazing. I wish I was in some kind of straight ahead situation with a blues or jazz combo, where I could really just focus on the one pure foundation tone and vary it just by the guitar volume and tone. For now, such amps are on my "nice to have list" and hopefully I can one someday!
The MkV is a great amp, too. I recently had one, and dug it a lot.
I do think the HX/DA is "more me," so there's that, but I have nothing but respect for the Mk V.
Seriously considering getting one of these. I have played the "H" and was fairly impressed with the quality, and even the SE 30 is a very good amp for the money.
I actually went to Guitar Center a few weeks ago with the intention of buying an Orange Rockaverb 50, but didn't like what I got out of it. The clean was okay, but the crunch just sounded all over the place and very, well, muddy. That surprised me because I've heard so much good about Orange amps and they seemed pretty cool in the videos I've seen. In all fairness, I had the volume pretty low and the Rockaverb may be an amp that sounds like crap until you have it roaring. But that's one of things I liked about the PRS amps I have been able to try -- they had a good sound even at low volume. That's important to me, as I hate practicing on a cheap, nasty-sounding amp.
The only real question is whether I want to get the HX-DA and make that my only amp, or keep my JVM410H as well. Anyone had the pleasure of playing both? If so, how do they compare? (yes I know they're fairly different kinds of amps).
I actually went to Guitar Center a few weeks ago with the intention of buying an Orange Rockaverb 50, but didn't like what I got out of it. The clean was okay, but the crunch just sounded all over the place and very, well, muddy. That surprised me because I've heard so much good about Orange amps and they seemed pretty cool in the videos I've seen. In all fairness, I had the volume pretty low and the Rockaverb may be an amp that sounds like crap until you have it roaring. But that's one of things I liked about the PRS amps I have been able to try -- they had a good sound even at low volume. That's important to me, as I hate practicing on a cheap, nasty-sounding amp.
The only real question is whether I want to get the HX-DA and make that my only amp, or keep my JVM410H as well. Anyone had the pleasure of playing both? If so, how do they compare? (yes I know they're fairly different kinds of amps).
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I honestly think that really comes down to what style of music you play, and the kinds of tones you like.
The HX/DA is more open and 3D when played clean, and sounds like what it is - a high end boutique amp. With the gain up, it's more liquid and seems to hold onto a note, where I'd call the JVM sound more dry. And of course, HX/DA has a very vintage vibe. So the two amps are really suited to different kinds of work.
If you put on some good headphones or monitors, and listen to the clips on the HX/DA on the PRS site, that honestly is what you get with the amp. I get those tones in my studio, no problem.
The HX/DA is more open and 3D when played clean, and sounds like what it is - a high end boutique amp. With the gain up, it's more liquid and seems to hold onto a note, where I'd call the JVM sound more dry. And of course, HX/DA has a very vintage vibe. So the two amps are really suited to different kinds of work.
If you put on some good headphones or monitors, and listen to the clips on the HX/DA on the PRS site, that honestly is what you get with the amp. I get those tones in my studio, no problem.
Sekunda
Music is life
So... been playing the HX/DA for several months now and it just keeps getting better! Our other guitar player is playing a Strat through an older Marshall tube 1x12 amp and I was having problems dialing a sound I liked with my Custom 22 to blend well with the Marshall... So I went back to the Stripped 58 and messed with it during practice Saturday. Set all the amp controls back to where I started from the PRS demo video, except I turned the preamp gain down some and turned the master volume up to compensate. Then I backed the volumes off on the guitar slightly (about 8) and played in the middle position for a while... very clean and punchy if you lay back, yet very gritty and punchy if you dig in some. Then kick in the Keeley TS-9 for some dirt and solo boost and wow... Love it all over again! SInce we are playing a lot of Allman Brothers songs this sound is pretty much dead on the Fillmore Concert sound... the guys were blown away with the sound, and actually so was I. We were playing "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and some Santana and it just sings... I went to the bridge pickup for "Whipping Post" to get a little more grit and bite... it sounded just like the album again. I think I have finally found that sound I was looking for... And what a difference a great sound makes on your playing.
