How to get AGGRESSIVE with an Archon

[elvis]

I've been playing with the lead channel tone and gain controls for a while going for heavy, aggressive, punchy tone that is not too mid-heavy or too big on the lows, which is tough on the Archon given that it is all about the huge lows.

So I went back to the advertised "everything on noon" settings and tried just tuning the depth and presence. If you're brave enough to go almost all the way up with presence, and use depth to trim and tighten the lows, you get this:

 

[toothace]

Well I'll just have to give that a try! Nice playing!

 

[elvis]

Thanks! That is with a PRS 25" Singlecut in drop D With BKP Cold Sweats and 0.010-0.046 strings.

It is totally sick with my Tremonti.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Yep, that's it! In the other thread about plexi tones I tried jacking presence way up and depth way down, but had the gain way down as well. Rolling up the gain makes things get wild in a hurry. After the plexi run, I went high gain. I ended up depth at 9:00, bass at 10:00, Mids to taste (I think 11:00 or so was my favorite for high gain rhythm tones, noon or higher for leads) Treble 1:00 gain 12:00 Presence 3:00. Bright switch on. With the PRS cab it's modern high gain with some warmth (the cab). With the Mesa 2x12 vertical recto cab, its just modern high gain badazz. With a combo of Governor and Private Jack, it sits in the high gain boutique M type tones, and bit more vintage/less modern despite the gain. I'd love to hear it with a 1960a!

 

[bodia]

\m/ Sounds sweet!

Crazy! Babies!

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Yet another experiment that shows A) why I love the Archon so much, and B) how versatile it is. I think you "cab" this thing towards your tone preferences and then just dial it in. Really is that simple. Get the cab that most closely matches the tones you want, then dial the amp and you're golden.

I think it's worth noting again, that the Friedman cabs use one V30 and one Greenback and many people LOVE that cab. Mixing these two speakers gives a mix of modern and vintage and many people feel it gives a bit of the best of both. If you want pure aggressive, go two V30s and pure vintage go two greenback variants.

 

[elvis]

Agreed. I've tried a HUGE assortment of cabs and speakers over the last couple of years. Played through a 2x12 with a V30 and a creamback h75 for a while, but always go back to a recto 2x12 with V30.

 

[elvis]

I find the greenbacks are beautifully raspy, but not so great with clean tones. And they turn a 120W 2x12 into a 50W 2x12.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Agree they aren’t as sparkling on clean tones. I don’t prefer actual greenbacks but Eminence Private Jacks, and while I haven’t had either in my room, I’m sure Creamback are better and Scumbacks are probably better still. If I was Greening up the PRS cab, I’d get Scumback M probably 50 watters.

 

[flux]

Fantastic stuff @elvis , thanks for posting.

 

[elvis]

Thanks flux!

 

[elvis]

Agree they aren’t as sparkling on clean tones. I don’t prefer actual greenbacks but Eminence Private Jacks, and while I haven’t had either in my room, I’m sure Creamback are better and Scumbacks are probably better still. If I was Greening up the PRS cab, I’d get Scumback M probably 50 watters.

Sadly I didn't try these in my great speaker experiment. What is your take on private jack vs scumback?

My biggest issue is that if I pair two different speakers, only one gets the mic. I hate that. How do people handle that?

 

[elvis]

This is essentially what I was trying to get out of my JP-2C, so I finally sold it.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Sadly I didn't try these in my great speaker experiment. What is your take on private jack vs scumback?

My biggest issue is that if I pair two different speakers, only one gets the mic. I hate that. How do people handle that?

I haven't tried one at home, but had a friend who had a Scumback and he preferred them over everything. He had tried a few more speakers (Tone Tubbys, Celestions, and Eminence) than I had and ended up always going to the Scumback for any model he wanted, so M vs Greenback, J vs V30, H vs. H etc. He did all that before the Creambacks came out though and most think they are a cut above the standard Celestions. He also did his testing before Warehouse was popular and they have some models.

That's a great point. The two blend out in the room but you have to mic the one you want in the PA if you only mic one. I've asked people who blend and their answers are mixed.... "the V ads cut on stage but I like the tone of the greenback in the PA" vs "I need the cut in the PA mix so I mic the V30. Band/style dependent, I'd say. For your band, I'd be inclined to mic the greenback... unless you do more clean stuff than I heard when I check out the band stuff a while back.

 

[Boogie]

My biggest issue is that if I pair two different speakers, only one gets the mic. I hate that. How do people handle that?

Depends on the situation. If we are self amplifying, completely or partially, then the blend can be cool to my ears. If we were 100% FOH, no way. I’d choose a cab with the same speakers. This is what drove me to load one 2x12 with C90s and leave the other with an EV+C90. The EV mic’ed alone sounded terrible, to me.

That sounded great, btw.

 

[elvis]

I bet the ev sounded terrible. They sound big, but that's about it.

 

[Deleted member 5962]

??? Talk to me... I was thisclose to getting a EVM 12L to put in my Thiele Boogie cab, but since I’m selling the Mark V and maybe the Mark V25, I was hoping it would be great with the Archon.

 

[elvis]

They have tons of headroom, very clean and clear. You'll never get one to break up.

 

[Kevster]

Sounds Sick ! Do you have the bright switch engaged ?

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Yeah, knew that. Supposedly one of the truest reproducers of your amps tone, with no or very little coloration of their own. Which, could work well with a really good amp.