My amp

[gush]

Recently I purchased a used HDRX20 amp. Love it.

I wouldn't say it's a super lead or plexi clone but it's in that vein of amps without the harshness. Most every amp I have owned in the last 5 years has left me wanting and my most common complaint has been too harsh.

Oddly, the HDRX20 is the fourth prs amp i have owned but the only one I have bonded with. My tastes have changed a bunch in the last 5 years which has made my amp hunt more difficult but getting involved in a long term recording project made me realize I really needed a tonal overhaul.

On top of the amp issue I had been struggling settling on pickups too. I have realized that as my tone changed so did my opinion of the pickups I have loved.

Most of you know my frustration with 8515 pickups that I had in my McCarty. They didn't work out in that guitar but it was pointed out that those pickups were designed for 24 fret guitars....fair enough.

I agonized over the 8515/5815 pickups mostly because they are proven pickups and the comparison Tim Pierce did with the 594 and 59LP made me really think about my assessment.

Soooo.........8515 set went in my 97 ce24 today and I'm very happy. These pickups are balanced much better than they ever were in my McCarty. I put 5815LT set in my McCarty but wasn't in love with bridge PU so it got a 5708. Now that I'm using the HDRX20, LT bridge is going back in it.

I'm pretty happy right now and I have a burning desire to really dig into this set-up and see how much better it can get.

 

[SteveGlitch]

Hey gush!

I'm so sorry that I took too long to convince you with another video of the cranked Marshall JTM Studio. However, I'm happy that you got something you really love and can use. I heard nothing but great things about it. Maybe you can post videos of your new sounds sometime...

Cheers!

 

[gush]

Hey gush!

I'm so sorry that I took too long to convince you with another video of the cranked Marshall JTM Studio. However, I'm happy that you got something you really love and can use. I heard nothing but great things about it. Maybe you can post videos of your new sounds sometime...

Cheers!

Oh I'll still take your video......lol

 

[vchizzle]

Glad you’re getting it worked out. I still prefer the 5708 over the 5815LT bridge in most instances. Even when I’m playing a clean/edge of break up amp.

 

[andy474x]

I stumbled across and rewatched the video of Paul's most recent visit to Anderton's, and he mentioned that the HDRX is about halfway between a super lead and a JTM 45, which is very much the vibe I get from the amp. I've heard the Marshall SV20 (the little plexi) in person and that thing absolutely barks when turned up, but I could absolutely see it being very harsh on a cleaner sound. I'd imagine some has to do with the bright cap on the SV20, which has been tamed and put on a switch on the HDRX. That's one thing that I actually wish the HDRX 20 had, was the 3 way bright switch, just to get that extra bright setting back and see how much the amp can bark with it on, although it's not something I'd probably use the majority of the time. I've considered modding mine and putting the vintage plexi spec bright cap on the "bright off" position of the switch, because I always use the current "bright on" position, the off position is always unused.

Re: the 58/15LT and 57/08 pickups... an interesting thing happened to me with those. My core 594 has the LT set and they're awesome in that guitar. I bought a second set to put in my S2 594, and because of the differences in how the guitars sound, the bridge 58/15LT in the S2 was noticeably weaker, the core model has a big midrange kick that the S2 doesn't fully match and thereby just had a stronger overall output. So, I grabbed a 57/08 bridge pickup and it really helped to get that S2 into "the zone" where it needed to be. It doesn't make the tone exactly the same on both guitars, but got the output on both guitars in line with each other.

Kinda nice to have that S2 be different, though, it has a thicker tone than the core model. Still quite airy sounding (in a good way) compared to other guitars, but makes it a little more of a brawler.

 

[gush]

I stumbled across and rewatched the video of Paul's most recent visit to Anderton's, and he mentioned that the HDRX is about halfway between a super lead and a JTM 45, which is very much the vibe I get from the amp. I've heard the Marshall SV20 (the little plexi) in person and that thing absolutely barks when turned up, but I could absolutely see it being very harsh on a cleaner sound. I'd imagine some has to do with the bright cap on the SV20, which has been tamed and put on a switch on the HDRX. That's one thing that I actually wish the HDRX 20 had, was the 3 way bright switch, just to get that extra bright setting back and see how much the amp can bark with it on, although it's not something I'd probably use the majority of the time. I've considered modding mine and putting the vintage plexi spec bright cap on the "bright off" position of the switch, because I always use the current "bright on" position, the off position is always unused.

Re: the 58/15LT and 57/08 pickups... an interesting thing happened to me with those. My core 594 has the LT set and they're awesome in that guitar. I bought a second set to put in my S2 594, and because of the differences in how the guitars sound, the bridge 58/15LT in the S2 was noticeably weaker, the core model has a big midrange kick that the S2 doesn't fully match and thereby just had a stronger overall output. So, I grabbed a 57/08 bridge pickup and it really helped to get that S2 into "the zone" where it needed to be. It doesn't make the tone exactly the same on both guitars, but got the output on both guitars in line with each other.

Kinda nice to have that S2 be different, though, it has a thicker tone than the core model. Still quite airy sounding (in a good way) compared to other guitars, but makes it a little more of a brawler.

I gambled and bought the LTs late last year then finally got them installed. I still felt the bridge pickup was the weakest link in that equation and really struggled ditching it because bridge split is very good and middle position is very good. I feel I lost both of those good points when I put 5708 in. This was BEFORE HDRX amp purchase.

The 5707 sounds ok but I think with this amp the LT will sound better.

We shall see.....I also picked up a wrap around bridge with brass inserts and I have a set of brass post locking klusons to go on AFTER LT goes back in.

 

[gush]

I stumbled across and rewatched the video of Paul's most recent visit to Anderton's, and he mentioned that the HDRX is about halfway between a super lead and a JTM 45, which is very much the vibe I get from the amp. I've heard the Marshall SV20 (the little plexi) in person and that thing absolutely barks when turned up, but I could absolutely see it being very harsh on a cleaner sound. I'd imagine some has to do with the bright cap on the SV20, which has been tamed and put on a switch on the HDRX. That's one thing that I actually wish the HDRX 20 had, was the 3 way bright switch, just to get that extra bright setting back and see how much the amp can bark with it on, although it's not something I'd probably use the majority of the time. I've considered modding mine and putting the vintage plexi spec bright cap on the "bright off" position of the switch, because I always use the current "bright on" position, the off position is always unused.

Re: the 58/15LT and 57/08 pickups... an interesting thing happened to me with those. My core 594 has the LT set and they're awesome in that guitar. I bought a second set to put in my S2 594, and because of the differences in how the guitars sound, the bridge 58/15LT in the S2 was noticeably weaker, the core model has a big midrange kick that the S2 doesn't fully match and thereby just had a stronger overall output. So, I grabbed a 57/08 bridge pickup and it really helped to get that S2 into "the zone" where it needed to be. It doesn't make the tone exactly the same on both guitars, but got the output on both guitars in line with each other.

Kinda nice to have that S2 be different, though, it has a thicker tone than the core model. Still quite airy sounding (in a good way) compared to other guitars, but makes it a little more of a brawler.

I have the studio jcm800 and I HAD studio plexi for a short while.

To me the plexi was ridiculously harsh and I found myself living on the bass side but in the end it was too much. Sold it for a little more than I paid for it. Thought abought modding the bright cap but decided to not entertain that rabbit hole.

I too leave bright switch in on position 100% of the time on my HDRX, I also have bass set very low.

The tones I'm getting feel really good under my fingers.

 

[gush]

I stumbled across and rewatched the video of Paul's most recent visit to Anderton's, and he mentioned that the HDRX is about halfway between a super lead and a JTM 45, which is very much the vibe I get from the amp. I've heard the Marshall SV20 (the little plexi) in person and that thing absolutely barks when turned up, but I could absolutely see it being very harsh on a cleaner sound. I'd imagine some has to do with the bright cap on the SV20, which has been tamed and put on a switch on the HDRX. That's one thing that I actually wish the HDRX 20 had, was the 3 way bright switch, just to get that extra bright setting back and see how much the amp can bark with it on, although it's not something I'd probably use the majority of the time. I've considered modding mine and putting the vintage plexi spec bright cap on the "bright off" position of the switch, because I always use the current "bright on" position, the off position is always unused.

Re: the 58/15LT and 57/08 pickups... an interesting thing happened to me with those. My core 594 has the LT set and they're awesome in that guitar. I bought a second set to put in my S2 594, and because of the differences in how the guitars sound, the bridge 58/15LT in the S2 was noticeably weaker, the core model has a big midrange kick that the S2 doesn't fully match and thereby just had a stronger overall output. So, I grabbed a 57/08 bridge pickup and it really helped to get that S2 into "the zone" where it needed to be. It doesn't make the tone exactly the same on both guitars, but got the output on both guitars in line with each other.

Kinda nice to have that S2 be different, though, it has a thicker tone than the core model. Still quite airy sounding (in a good way) compared to other guitars, but makes it a little more of a brawler.

When I first put 8515 set in McCarty I was absolutely blown away by the neck PU. Absolutely the best neck pickup i every played! Couldn't get enough of it but that bridge pickup was a huge disappointment. I was using more gain back then so there's that but I tried several bridge PUs in hopes of finding a balanced solution. I even found a squabbin D1 but I'd turn bass down to tame neck and end up with thin sounding bridge.

It was frustrating.