Show us your HXDA's!!!

A couple of years ago, I'd have told you all that Blue looks dumb on musical instruments. Not any more...

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I really love the HX/DA, and clearly it's a favorite for folks looking for classic tones. On top in the pic above....with the MDT below. If it's possible, I like the MDT even more...
 
That red would match my Custom 22 in Dark Cherry Burst... Love it! I got the smoke burst because it was all that was available at the time... but I still like it too :)

Really diggin' the blue as well... These are just some extremely beautiful amps!

Also, since there were a few settings posted before, here is how I was running mine in the Southern Rock cover band that I recently left:

 
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Sekunda, I run mine absolutely identical for the most part, maybe at times I put the presence a tiny bit higher depending on guitar/day/mood/.

The pic of my front panel posted earlier, with the mids and bass lower, isn't how I usually set the amp up.
 
That red would match my Custom 22 in Dark Cherry Burst... Love it! I got the smoke burst because it was all that was available at the time... but I still like it too :)

Really diggin' the blue as well... These are just some extremely beautiful amps!

Also, since there were a few settings posted before, here is how I was running mine in the Southern Rock cover band that I recently left:


Just curious, with just the first switch in DA vs HX here, what does that do? Lower the gain a tad? I play mine in HX mode with about the same settings maybe the presence up a bit with the fat switch engaged.
 
Just curious, with just the first switch in DA vs HX here, what does that do? Lower the gain a tad?

It lowers the gain a little, and it also causes the amp to be voiced a little huskier in the low mids, and less tilted toward the upper mids.

I sometimes run the second switch in DA mode as well, leaving only the third switch in HX, especially with my Sig Ltd. It also warms up the amp a bit. There are a lot of options voicing the amp using the switches in various combinations. Costs nothing but the flick of a switch to try it!

First thing I do when I get an amp is try every single control one at a time to see what it does. I also take each gain stage, tone control, and presence control through its range. I figure that's important in getting the most out of the amp. But after trying the controls out, sometimes it's easy to forget to experiment, and to leave them set where they seemed to sound good on the first day, which isn't always the best policy.

So someone observed David Grissom playing one set DA-HX-HX, and I figured I'd try it for more than a ten second, "hey, what does this switch do?"

It's quite nice to use the switches for getting certain tones. You can control the tonal tilt of the amp, and change how it responds in interesting ways. With the Sig Ltd's 408 pickups, I kind of like it DA-DA-HX, sounds great for that "edge of breakup" kind of clean tone with the guitar volume around 5, and then I bring the guitar volume up for more gain. Can get spanky clean below 5.

A pro audio company called Tonelux makes a tube rack gizmo called a tilt control that is really simple and brilliant. Turn the control to the right, and you not only increase the treble, but you decrease the low frequencies at the same time. To the left, and the bass frequencies are emphasized, as the treble decreases. It's a bonehead simple control, and it's cool to use on various tracks instead of a standard EQ because it's very musical. And sometimes the opposite of what you think will happen with it, happens. Like...on kick drum I'll sometimes use it to reduce the bottom, and suddenly the whole mix opens up and the bass is not masked by the kick drum sound, and it's much more powerful, not less powerful. Just goes to show ya...

The switches on the HXDA kind of perform this feat. The more DA is switched in, there is a gradual tilt toward warming up the sound. The more HX is switched in, there is a gradual tilt toward brightening the sound and reducing bass. And as classic treble boost users know, increase the treble, and you add grit and gain plus whatever else is going on with those switches.

Of course, the HXDA gives you the ability to then add global HX or DA gain, or both, and increase or reduce them, plus tone controls, etc. There are so many sounds that this amp can do that I'm constantly impressed with it.

I just have to keep reminding myself to actually, you know, use the freakin' knobs and switches!
 
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can u pick the color of the amp? and whats the price range on say a 40 watt or less. ty
 
can u pick the color of the amp? and whats the price range on say a 40 watt or less. ty
Ty that can be done, but you have to order through the CAD Custom program..
 
Heres my CAD HXDA in violin amber with a paisley 4x12 v30 cab...and my 2001 PRS Singlecut in violin amber. I also had an effects loop installed on the amp.


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