X’s New MT 15 Amp Day Video & 1st Thoughts!
- Thread starter X-Mann
- Start date
Thx Mr 13bats!!!! \m/
I’m getting crazy good Modern Rock tones & just got lost on the clean channel trying to figure it all out. Lol
I’ll have a much better video out by Friday if all goes as planned & there will be plenty of Drop-D too.....I’m going to try my hand at a SM57 mic on this next video for better audio quality.
I LOVE the RED channel & this amp in general. Playing leads on this channel is just plain FUN & it’s hard not to smile from ear to ear while playing.
I think that every once and awhile a near perfect piece of equipment is designed & released based on a persons needs. I think that this amp may be the product for me......
I’m enjoying this forum & all the great content here. I’ve always been an entertainer & positive person......My only goal is to get a laugh or two & bring some excitement to this amp release.
The cool/kind comments are very much appreciated......
Peace!!! X
Lol, I’ve wanted a full-on Mark Tremonti PRS Guitar for the longest time. If they had a Tung-Oil back of the neck option & Flamed Maple fingerboard, I’d already have one!!!You know you need a core Tremonti SC to go with that amp!
Don’t hate on me, but I’m 110% a Kiesel Guitar Guy & love the 5-piece necks they make.
The Fractal Audio FX8 is a big part of my sound as far as FX go. The FX8 has NO amp modeling or cabinet IR’s in it & just a ton of effects like drive pedals, Chorus, flanger, Delay, Reverb, tremolo, wah/wah & pitch shifter to name a few.
I run it in 4CM (4-cable) mode so I can have drives or wah Up Front at the amp input & Delay/Reverb & time base effects in the amps FX loop.
Plus I have a noise gate at the input & another noise gate block that I put just after the FX loop if needed.
I get amp channel switching one of two ways. There’s 2-Amp Relay (1/4”) jacks for standard guitar cables & midi CC changes.
All that can be programmed inside each preset that can also have up to 8-different scenes in it. Think of a Scenes as a snapshot of what FX and amp channel are ON or OFF at any given time.
I run the bottom 4-buttons as Scenes based on changes per song (Intro, Verse, Chorus & Solo) & always left to right in the order that they happen.
I use the top-4 buttons for individual FX that I may want to turn on/off at any given moment or if I just want to see the little lights that show what’s on/off FX wise. My normal layout (left to right) is DRIVE, Chorus or Phase 90, Delay & Boost. I don’t keep Reverb as a individually selectable pedal & usually only use a small plate or room turned way down to just thicken the tone is a more 3D way.
Just a small look into what I’ve found to work for me through a lot of trial and error over time.
The wireless is a Line-6 G10 w/ one of the best little receivers I’ve ever seen. It mutes on “Pull-Out” automatically too. This G10 unit was NOt designed to be on a pedal board or played out with....& was designed for a desktop/studio environment. There’s a small micro USB port that can easily break, so I permanently fixed this to my board so that it NEVER needs to be unplugged.
Plus I put my set-list in order & just click through each song in order at a show.....
Ok.....That’s a little more of “X’s MT15/FX8 Rig Run-Down”.....I will never be a big star, but that doesn’t mean I can’t just pretend to be!!!!
Peace! X-Mann
I run it in 4CM (4-cable) mode so I can have drives or wah Up Front at the amp input & Delay/Reverb & time base effects in the amps FX loop.
Plus I have a noise gate at the input & another noise gate block that I put just after the FX loop if needed.
I get amp channel switching one of two ways. There’s 2-Amp Relay (1/4”) jacks for standard guitar cables & midi CC changes.
All that can be programmed inside each preset that can also have up to 8-different scenes in it. Think of a Scenes as a snapshot of what FX and amp channel are ON or OFF at any given time.
I run the bottom 4-buttons as Scenes based on changes per song (Intro, Verse, Chorus & Solo) & always left to right in the order that they happen.
I use the top-4 buttons for individual FX that I may want to turn on/off at any given moment or if I just want to see the little lights that show what’s on/off FX wise. My normal layout (left to right) is DRIVE, Chorus or Phase 90, Delay & Boost. I don’t keep Reverb as a individually selectable pedal & usually only use a small plate or room turned way down to just thicken the tone is a more 3D way.
Just a small look into what I’ve found to work for me through a lot of trial and error over time.
The wireless is a Line-6 G10 w/ one of the best little receivers I’ve ever seen. It mutes on “Pull-Out” automatically too. This G10 unit was NOt designed to be on a pedal board or played out with....& was designed for a desktop/studio environment. There’s a small micro USB port that can easily break, so I permanently fixed this to my board so that it NEVER needs to be unplugged.
Plus I put my set-list in order & just click through each song in order at a show.....
Ok.....That’s a little more of “X’s MT15/FX8 Rig Run-Down”.....I will never be a big star, but that doesn’t mean I can’t just pretend to be!!!!
Peace! X-Mann
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andy474x
Knows the Drill
Thx Andy & I’m glad that your rehearsals & gigs went well w/ the MT 15 amp.
Where are you volume wise? & or how does it compare to your previous amps wattage?
My only concern from my initial (quick) test and review before adding FX, was the clean channel. I thought it had to be set much higher volume wise then the Red channel. This was due to not having the Treble Pull-Boost OUT & active. This balances everything & gives it so much mores (& equal) volume.
I’m getting truly great tones on both channels with no compromise!
Are you liking the clean channel & or using the pull-Boost feature?
I did an a/b with my 50-Watt amp & really liked what I heard. Getting the MT15 cooking & up volume wise only makes it sound bigger & better.
I like how interactive the tone controls are & that there is room on both sides of the sweet spot & that extreme settings arn’t needed.
Let me know how it goes & if you learn anything that I need to know bro!
Peace! X
PS - I luv being part of the PRS/Tremonti Club too!
On the red channel, if I’m in the PA, I’m at 10:00-ish on the MV. We play with a cracking drummer, so it’s enough to get a little volume from the amp, but not so much that it’s trying to be louder than the monitors. I’ve found that noon is about where the volume ceiling is on that channel, the rest is just more power amp saturation. But, speaking of that, when the power section starts to break up, it does so in a beautiful way, for a high gain amp. Lots of other amps get a “softer” tone at that point, but the MT15 keeps all the characteristics we want it to have - tight, present, defined. It just gets a second layer of breakup on top.
I love the clean channel. You’re definitely right that the volume on the red vs blue are not equal, in terms of how much volume there is at equal master settings. I do think the blue is as loud as the red, it just has to be set much higher, I usually have mine at 3:00 or so, pull boost off. It’s fantastic for dirt pedals, I run a Dirty Shirley into mine and it absolutely sings.
My other gigging amp is a Custom 50, which is a heck of a loud amp for 50 watts, and the MT15 is almost as loud, if not as loud. And the MT15 clean channel is very close to the Custom 50 tonally, which is a good thing, it’s the best pedal platform clean tone I’ve used.
Try a Klon type pedal into the lead channel sometime. The mid push and tight bottom will wreck you! I use a Tumnus, and it does all that in a way that a TS doesn’t - tight and focused but doesn’t gut the lows and make the sound piercing.
I love taking this amp out of the house, it’s so small and portable. And, it just sounds so right. I really can’t believe how good it is, for such a nice price - I would’ve been happy with it had I paid what an Archon costs. It has the potential to become the new industry standard in the affordable amp game, for its genre, IMO.
SO......MUCH.....WIN....in this response brother!!!!
Thank you! I feel we are on the exact same page & talking the exact same language too.
People that know me think that I like everything I try out. That’s not true at all, I just research the heck outnumbered of products before I buy, then spend a lot of time with them after. Lol
When something does work in my world, I shout it from the rooftops!!
You make a good point (ok, several) & I’ve found that I can’t turn my 50 watt amps to their sweet spot at gigs due to stage volume. The MT 15 may fix that issue a bit, but it’s still LOUD as F#%$!!!
I am testing out some drive pedals for a few in-between tones where I don’t need the High Gain to Melt Faces!!!!
I’m going to read your response a few more times & let it all soak in man!!!!
X
I’m also going to update one of my 2x12 Carvin V30 loaded Legacy-3 cabinets w/ a new painted grill (Black & Redl) w/ an “X” on it to match the colors of the MT15 head.
It will look great with my color controlled lights too!
Don’t change that dial kids, this thread ain’t done yet!!!!
X
It will look great with my color controlled lights too!
Don’t change that dial kids, this thread ain’t done yet!!!!
X
Vexed73
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2017
- Messages
- 59
Just got one yesterday! Love everything about it except the hum but just keeps me playing. Lol
https://flic.kr/p/299ambs
https://flic.kr/p/299ambs
Congrats Vexed73 & nice set-up/rig bro!!!! \m/
Are you only getting some hum on the Red Channel? Mine had a little amp noise, but the noise gates on my Fractal unit took it away.
I also use a Hum-X on the power plug too.
X
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Ok, good to know!
I only had what I consider normal amp noise on the RED channel,due to all the High Gain. \m/
That’s gone now due to the Noise Gate on my FX unit.....
X
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brokenromeo
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2018
- Messages
- 28
I just got mine, I love the tones and the form factor...mine appears to be plenty loud for gigging and rehearsing with my rock band (will find out for sure tonight). I too have some idle noise/hum when the amp is taken off standby with nothing plugged in...sounds like transformer hum to me...it is not loud, but noticeable in a quiet environment. This is not a noise that is affected by a noisegate in the the loop. Will have to find out how normal this noise is...
Congrats on your new MT15 & “Welcome” to the club as the kids say!!!!
My amp only made regular amp noise on the High Gain channel & it was removed w/ a noise gate, so mine must be a good one.
There’s SO much WIN in this amp & I hope that yours works out too!
Again, congrats!
X
brokenromeo
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2018
- Messages
- 28
I just finished my first full band rehearsal (loud rock band) and there were no issues whatsoever keeping up with the band volume and hard hitting drummer, both clean and dirty. I used my TC G-Major II in the loop for effects and switching with a Ground Control Pro, all through my Splawn 2X12 with a vin30 and creamback mix...everything worked and sounded great. The amp hum I have was not noticeable at all in a band setting...but I still want to know what the deal is with the noise issue on some of these amps.
Rig Pic or it didn’t happen!!!!
Great report & I’m glad that the volume worked so well. What are you doing for your “in-between” tones? Are you just rolling the volume down on the Red channel or using a different pedal?
I do hope that your noise issue gets fixed.....
Congrats!
X
andy474x
Knows the Drill
I also find that a lot of the perceived noise also goes away in a band setting. For me, I think it has to do with that red channel volume taper. I turn it up to not even 9:00 at home, and it’s got some hiss. What I have to remind myself, is that’s like noon on my other amps, the signal to noise ratio is huge and in that context, the hiss really isn’t that bad. For example, when I record mine, the mics don’t even pick the noise up noticeably, because they’re set for such a loud signal.
That is one critique I have of the amp, the lead channel master is extremely finicky at low volumes. A lot of guys are asking if this is a “bedroom” amp, and the answer is a resounding “NO.” When it’s past bedtime at our house, I have to cut the volume using a pedal in my effects loop, which I think changed how the signal is hitting the PI and power tubes, and loses some feel and tonal fatness. I would like to see a volume pot with “at home” levels up to 9:00, and hitting full volume at 3:00 or so. Then again, honestly, these days I think “bedroom” playing is best served by a small Boss Katana or Yamaha THR, something that’s actually intended to perform at those quiet levels.
That is one critique I have of the amp, the lead channel master is extremely finicky at low volumes. A lot of guys are asking if this is a “bedroom” amp, and the answer is a resounding “NO.” When it’s past bedtime at our house, I have to cut the volume using a pedal in my effects loop, which I think changed how the signal is hitting the PI and power tubes, and loses some feel and tonal fatness. I would like to see a volume pot with “at home” levels up to 9:00, and hitting full volume at 3:00 or so. Then again, honestly, these days I think “bedroom” playing is best served by a small Boss Katana or Yamaha THR, something that’s actually intended to perform at those quiet levels.
I think you may be my long lost brother from.......well......You know!
Again, you are SPOT on in my eyes w/ your Red channel noise assessment & the “This is not a practice amp” thought on the MT 15. Having said that, if you’re not looking for great tones at a very low volume, you can practice on anything!!!!
Not to de-rail my own thread, I just recently got a Yamaha THR10X due to a series of interesting incidents & was BLOWN away by it!!! I play & practice at least 25% more now because of it....& it’s my go to home practicing rig. It puts the focus on playing or learning & not fiddling.
Ok, for those of you who are bored or like entertaining threads about guitar gear........Here’s my Yamaha THR10X discovery thread.....You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll kiss 5-minutes goodbye!!!!
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/i...-party-again-stellar-product-alert-m.1971903/
Note: I only know how to do one kind of thread & that means LOTS of picture, Audio, video & my bad attempts at humor.....
X
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brokenromeo
New Member
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- Oct 10, 2018
- Messages
- 28
Rig Pic or it didn’t happen!!!!
Great report & I’m glad that the volume worked so well. What are you doing for your “in-between” tones? Are you just rolling the volume down on the Red channel or using a different pedal?
I do hope that your noise issue gets fixed.....
Congrats!
X
I'll take a pic the next time I'm at the rehearsal studio!! I have my gain set to about 11 o'clock on the red channel, which is plenty for the music I play, when I need a more classic rock or in-between gain tone, I use the volume knob on my guitar...I also have a volume pedal on my pedal board which controls the guitars input, which I use if I am playing something where I can't get to the volume knob conveniently. I am used to playing hot rod marshall style amps primarily, so to me the MT15 has a lot more low end going on...as a result I am finding that I am running the bass pretty low on both channels and boosting the mids, treble and presence to get closer to the tone I go for. As for the idle 60 cycle hum noise (not typical gain hiss) I am thinking that some level of that is normal for these amps, it varies from amp to amp because of the particular preamp tubes installed, power, environment, etc...and I think some people are just more sensitive to it than others.