DG30: A 'Swiss Army Knife' Studio Amp
- Thread starter László
- Start date
Amazing guitars, to me, are WAY different than amazing amps. The guitars make it easier to express your craft and maybe add new dimensions. You're no longer fighting the instrument and can get down to the heart of the matter. An amp is on the opposite end of that scale. An amazing amp exposes all of your flaws...not just wrong notes, over-shot slides, or missed bends. It also exposes your inability to coax all that the amp has to offer. Sort of like a specialty horse or car. Just being a good rider/driver is great but unless you have the skills and exploit them, how would you know you had a barrel racer/club racer? An amazing amp will only be a great amp if you don't expand your horizons.
In 2.5 years, with my PRS amp, I've learned how to truly use a pedalboard to exploit the amp. I've also learned how to squeeze harmonic-rich dynamics from the amp every time, not just by accident. I found that good and accurate playing won't coax the über-coolness out of this amp. I also discovered that I have a long way to go to using this amp to its full potential.
This is so true! I figured out something about this amp, and why it exposes my playing, good or bad, more so than other amps.
A note feels like it's "swimming" in some amps. F'rinstance, in my HXDA, the note swims in what I call "caramel sauce." This comes in addition to the tone coloration. As with swimming, the water or sauce provides some resistance and "give" to the note as it pushes through. For me, that's great, because I can make those minuscule adjustments while still playing a note, and make it sound a little better.
But with the DG30, I think of it as skating instead of swimming. The note seems to be skimming the firm surface, and it's faster than swimming. It requires a little more precision, and there aren't seemingly as many milliseconds to fix a bad note. It's all happening too fast -- before you know it, that note is already gone, and you have to be ready for the next one. There's this warmth, but it's combined with speed that takes a little more attention to control.
So to use your race car analogy -- I used to race modded street BMWs in club style events before I got into recording for my thrills -- a modded street car is pretty fast if you want some fun, and it's more precise than a regular street car. But get into a real, purpose built race car, do a few laps, and you'd better have your wits about you every nanosecond! It's definitely more exhilarating and more fun, at the same time, it's more demanding. I realized this when I got into my brother's FF Lola, a formula single seater with exposed wheels, etc.
The DG30 is the amp equivalent of that FF Lola. Small block, very fast -- a highly tuned amp for a pro player. Very revealing of my suckage moments!!!
But also oh so great to play when I'm on.Edit:
Since I haven't pulled the trigger on an HXDA cab (I much prefer the DG30 with the DG cab I have on hand as the DG cab really doesn't mesh well with the other amp), by default the DG30 has become my main squeeze. So I've been tailoring my pedalboard to work with the DG amp/cab combination, and it's the amp I've been practicing with and recording for the past few weeks.
What's happened as a result is what you'd expect; a gradual adjustment my playing style to this amp's nuances and response. I'm thoroughly happy with the tone I'm getting, and while my playing still frustrates me sometimes, I have a strong hankering to concentrate on the DG amp for a while.
I'm actually surprised that I feel this way, as I still believe that the HXDA is the greatest amp of all time!!
I know - it's a paradox. What can I do.
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And there's yet another quandary: I need multiple pedalboards. And worse yet, I need multiple copies of several pedals. See, despite my efficiencies and blustering-on about economical guitar acquisition policies, I continue to find ways to make this hobby/passion/obsession more expensive. *sigh*
Since you've been partial to a boost only with several of your amps, I'm hesitant to introduce you to a friend of mine that has made one of the most compelling boost devices I've stumbled upon. Ah, but, oops...I just did so. Managed enablement services...I need to update my résumé. :biggrin:
PM me if interested.
That I'll never do; for me it'd be too much fuss, and a waste of resources.
My solution is to have one board with the Lehle splitter box as an option for connecting more than one amp. There's no reason I can't put pedals that work with one or both amps on the same board. I never run more than 5 or 6 pedals at once.
Lalalalala I can't hear you.
I love the name Troubled Rooster. LOL. Great!
I spent quite a bit of time this weekend experimenting with the relationship of the DG30 controls to the Xotic BB controls, to get various tones I hadn't found before. This has involved inching up the Volume (Gain as opposed to Master) on the amp, taking the bright switch off, and using the top cut on the back of the amp a little to shape the tone differently.
The way I had everything set before, I needed to keep the volume of the McCarty Singlecut on the higher end of the spectrum. Now I have it set so that with the guitar volumes about halfway, I can just begin to get a tiny amount of crunch out of the amp, and as I open the guitar up, I get progressively more crunch and more treble.
Not needing the BB to push the amp for crunch lets me use the BB more as a true overdrive pedal with a wider range, and I've also inched its gain up to just a little less than noon.
I'm really digging it set this way, more than ever. It's really interesting how many different great tones this amp has on tap! I always come away with a ton of respect for what the guys accomplished with it. Also, the cab is sounding beyond great at these settings, so it's a perfect match for the amp.
I played it again for quite a while today, and stayed really happy with these settings.
The way I had everything set before, I needed to keep the volume of the McCarty Singlecut on the higher end of the spectrum. Now I have it set so that with the guitar volumes about halfway, I can just begin to get a tiny amount of crunch out of the amp, and as I open the guitar up, I get progressively more crunch and more treble.
Not needing the BB to push the amp for crunch lets me use the BB more as a true overdrive pedal with a wider range, and I've also inched its gain up to just a little less than noon.
I'm really digging it set this way, more than ever. It's really interesting how many different great tones this amp has on tap! I always come away with a ton of respect for what the guys accomplished with it. Also, the cab is sounding beyond great at these settings, so it's a perfect match for the amp.
I played it again for quite a while today, and stayed really happy with these settings.
Day three with these new control settings. And I know how anxious you guys are to find out if I'm still digging the rig.
I know, you're sick of me going off about this stuff. I don't blame you. But I'm not sick of this stuff, in fact, quite the contrary. So I'm posting about this verdammt amp again!
So today my fingers were roller-skating on the HOTG and I was humming along with my playing when suddenly The Tone Fairy came into the studio to check things out! Was I ever surprised. I have a hard time playing with an audience in the room, but The Tone Fairy was so happy with my tone that I immediately felt comfortable enough to play well. I like her. She's about the size of Tinkerbell, only not as hot. But to make up for it, she has a tiny PRS guitar. I don't know how she got it, but she has it in a tiny gig bag that she shleps around. I'm going to guess she bought the full-sized deal and magically shrunk everything.
Well, you can't have everything there is to have in tiny fairy-land, I guess.
Anyway, we talked about amps, pedals, cables, guitars, picks and other devices designed for Tone with a capital T, and I have to say it was a rewarding conversation. She really digs the DG30, and the matching cab. She said she liked the way I have everything set up, but she questioned my use of the PRS cables. She hadn't heard them, and wanted to compare them to some of her known standards. So I demonstrated the differences, and she seemed pretty happy in the end.
The Tone Fairy was happy that the amp is loaded with NOS tubes, and got so excited about the spare NOS EL84Ms I bought that she actually wet her pants and made a tiny little mess on the table she was sitting on. It was easy to clean up, I mean, the bladder of a Tinkerbell sized individual is small enough. But I felt sorry for her, because she had to disappear to go change, and that pretty much ended our conversation.
Fair warning: Do not show The Tone Fairy any NOS power amp tubes if you don't want to clean up a tiny little Tone Fairy accident.
I should hasten to add that The Tone Fairy liked my small Suhr buffer box a lot, and really wanted to buy it from me, but I told her I need it. However, if any of you dear readers happen to have one you want to sell, put an ad on TGP or VR as she's in the market.
I know, you're sick of me going off about this stuff. I don't blame you. But I'm not sick of this stuff, in fact, quite the contrary. So I'm posting about this verdammt amp again!
So today my fingers were roller-skating on the HOTG and I was humming along with my playing when suddenly The Tone Fairy came into the studio to check things out! Was I ever surprised. I have a hard time playing with an audience in the room, but The Tone Fairy was so happy with my tone that I immediately felt comfortable enough to play well. I like her. She's about the size of Tinkerbell, only not as hot. But to make up for it, she has a tiny PRS guitar. I don't know how she got it, but she has it in a tiny gig bag that she shleps around. I'm going to guess she bought the full-sized deal and magically shrunk everything.
Well, you can't have everything there is to have in tiny fairy-land, I guess.
Anyway, we talked about amps, pedals, cables, guitars, picks and other devices designed for Tone with a capital T, and I have to say it was a rewarding conversation. She really digs the DG30, and the matching cab. She said she liked the way I have everything set up, but she questioned my use of the PRS cables. She hadn't heard them, and wanted to compare them to some of her known standards. So I demonstrated the differences, and she seemed pretty happy in the end.
The Tone Fairy was happy that the amp is loaded with NOS tubes, and got so excited about the spare NOS EL84Ms I bought that she actually wet her pants and made a tiny little mess on the table she was sitting on. It was easy to clean up, I mean, the bladder of a Tinkerbell sized individual is small enough. But I felt sorry for her, because she had to disappear to go change, and that pretty much ended our conversation.
Fair warning: Do not show The Tone Fairy any NOS power amp tubes if you don't want to clean up a tiny little Tone Fairy accident.
I should hasten to add that The Tone Fairy liked my small Suhr buffer box a lot, and really wanted to buy it from me, but I told her I need it. However, if any of you dear readers happen to have one you want to sell, put an ad on TGP or VR as she's in the market.
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Don't tell Les, but I think someone slipped some psychotropics into his Wheaties this morning.
You know, I was looking at the BB Preamp again today. There's a good chance I'll like that in front of the SuperD. I need to pick up a used one pronto. Just look what you did, Les. *sigh*
You know, I was looking at the BB Preamp again today. There's a good chance I'll like that in front of the SuperD. I need to pick up a used one pronto. Just look what you did, Les. *sigh*
Woundtight
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Kerry, PM sent.
I never eat breakfast.
The devout who, without finding fault with my teaching, always act according to it, are also freed from the bondage of karma.
-- Bhagavadgita
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And thru the coolness and generosity of Mike, I will get the opportunity to evaluate the BB. You rock Mike! Huge thanks.
But that's the most important meal of the day? The problem may have been low blood sugar.
If the conclusion of insightful deduction is a purchase, then so be it. :rock:
Here's my take on the BB pedal, Kerry:
It's a very transparent pedal that gets more Marshally and begins to compress as the gain is increased. However, it never compresses the way, say, a Tube Screamer does. The lower midrange bump that adds the Marshall flavor is not pronounced, it's more subtle. Keep the gain below 11 o'clock and it adds some grit without much compression or coloration.
The pedal's tone controls are powerful and actually useful. The BB tends to remove a little of the bass set flat. That can be a good thing with some amps, but with the DG30 I don't want to remove bass, so I set the bass tone on the pedal to about 1 o'clock, and that sounds pretty natural.
The BB also works very nicely as a clean boost.
In terms of the pedal's gain, above 1 o'clock, it really starts to soar for solos. The grain of the distortion isn't fuzzy or buzzy, it's a fine grain.
It's a very transparent pedal that gets more Marshally and begins to compress as the gain is increased. However, it never compresses the way, say, a Tube Screamer does. The lower midrange bump that adds the Marshall flavor is not pronounced, it's more subtle. Keep the gain below 11 o'clock and it adds some grit without much compression or coloration.
The pedal's tone controls are powerful and actually useful. The BB tends to remove a little of the bass set flat. That can be a good thing with some amps, but with the DG30 I don't want to remove bass, so I set the bass tone on the pedal to about 1 o'clock, and that sounds pretty natural.
The BB also works very nicely as a clean boost.
In terms of the pedal's gain, above 1 o'clock, it really starts to soar for solos. The grain of the distortion isn't fuzzy or buzzy, it's a fine grain.
I should've titled this thread, "Les' Excellent DG30 Adventure."
Gradually, I've gone from trying to re-create HXDA type tones to really appreciating the DG30 for what it is. What's most addictive about the amp is the unique edge-of-grit/crunch tones sounds it gets without a pedal or boost. Then one works from there with pedals.
In terms of tone-shaping, the controls, are very powerful, especially the bright switch, that can change the tone of the amp the way a mode switch does on a Mesa, not like a typical bright switch at all. I've learned to use it in my work quite a bit.
For a long time, I liked a clean channel without much coloration, something the Two-Rocks gave me, more or less a "hi-fi" sound. While that's a nice option, 99% of my recording with TRs was done on the dirty channel, even at low gain settings. Once I got the HXDA it dawned on me that I really like my cleans with more edge, and less hi-fi. The DG gives me that, too, but the guitar always still sounds like itself. The dirt surrounds the note on the high end, but you always hear the note clearly in front of the dirt. There's something to that I find fascinating.
Experimenting with pedals has added another dimension that I'm enjoying. The matching cab sounds perfect with the amp. I can really hear the NOS preamp tube tone quality, it's never shrill, peaky, glassy or shrieky like modern preamp tubes can sometimes be. There's none of that metallic ringing sound some amps have. Instead it's always round and warm. And this is with recent-production power tubes. I have a set of NOS 1980s EL84Ms for down the road, but I'm digging it enough with the stock power tubes that I'm not ready to change them out until they go bad.
Since it can do so much, the DG has become my go-to recording amp before I try anything else. I never thought I'd say that! I'm very glad I was patient enough to work with it to get what I want, 'cause I'm really, really happy with it.
I also have a pedal plan; as time goes on I'm going to add a couple of the Suhr pedals, the tremolo and the compressor, and for my delays and other modulations, a Fulltone Deja Vibe and an Eventide H9.
Gradually, I've gone from trying to re-create HXDA type tones to really appreciating the DG30 for what it is. What's most addictive about the amp is the unique edge-of-grit/crunch tones sounds it gets without a pedal or boost. Then one works from there with pedals.
In terms of tone-shaping, the controls, are very powerful, especially the bright switch, that can change the tone of the amp the way a mode switch does on a Mesa, not like a typical bright switch at all. I've learned to use it in my work quite a bit.
For a long time, I liked a clean channel without much coloration, something the Two-Rocks gave me, more or less a "hi-fi" sound. While that's a nice option, 99% of my recording with TRs was done on the dirty channel, even at low gain settings. Once I got the HXDA it dawned on me that I really like my cleans with more edge, and less hi-fi. The DG gives me that, too, but the guitar always still sounds like itself. The dirt surrounds the note on the high end, but you always hear the note clearly in front of the dirt. There's something to that I find fascinating.
Experimenting with pedals has added another dimension that I'm enjoying. The matching cab sounds perfect with the amp. I can really hear the NOS preamp tube tone quality, it's never shrill, peaky, glassy or shrieky like modern preamp tubes can sometimes be. There's none of that metallic ringing sound some amps have. Instead it's always round and warm. And this is with recent-production power tubes. I have a set of NOS 1980s EL84Ms for down the road, but I'm digging it enough with the stock power tubes that I'm not ready to change them out until they go bad.
Since it can do so much, the DG has become my go-to recording amp before I try anything else. I never thought I'd say that! I'm very glad I was patient enough to work with it to get what I want, 'cause I'm really, really happy with it.
I also have a pedal plan; as time goes on I'm going to add a couple of the Suhr pedals, the tremolo and the compressor, and for my delays and other modulations, a Fulltone Deja Vibe and an Eventide H9.
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Les, the BB Preamp acts just like you described. Woundtight/Mike sent me a loaner and I was instantly mesmerized. Straight to the amp I knew it was a unique OD. But put it on my board and swap out the Lovepedal Kalamazoo Gold with it and BAM! As much as I totally love my K'zoo, with my already well massaged rig, it took it in the right direction for me. It is NOT a Klon-like OD in any way. With the EP Booster after it, cranked, it sounds so good for my Marshall stuff. Kick in the Boogie Monster in front of it and my leads have been transformed again. The Super Dallas has massive bass, so having it tamed a little won't hurt, but honestly, at noon, the BB doesn't attenuate enough bass for me to notice.
Thanks Les, and especially Woundtight for his generous loaner. I'm sold!
Thanks Les, and especially Woundtight for his generous loaner. I'm sold!
Glad you agree! Xotic make some really fine pedals, don't they?
I'm still working out a few ideas on my pedalboard these days, and should have another iteration to post soon. I'll keep ya posted!
D
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For reference (since it's what I use similarly) have you compared the BB to a Timmy?
I haven't done so in a side by side comparison, but just based on what I've heard in friends' tracks, the BB has more tone coloration and distortion on tap. Where the Timmy is more neutral, the BB is designed to give more of a Marshall flavor, hence its name - BB stands for Blues Breaker.
Think Beano tone.
I think the two pedals serve different purposes and both would work well on the same board.
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