War_in_D
Well-known member
I recently picked up a PRS McCarty 594 with the stock 58/15LT pickups in it. Everyone raves about these pickups, especially about the "vintage" tone they have.. yada, yada, yada. Played the PRS through my little 1x12 tube practice amp and it sounded really chunky, with great sustain. Granted, the practice amp is a Peavey Ultra 112, which I believe has the "active" EQ like the Utra Plus head. Settings on this amp rarely change from one guitar to another, just pretty much plug and play. I say this about the EQ section because it plays a role in what's to follow.
First thing I did, was run the PRS through the Kemper. Sounded great! But, the Kemper isn't a "real" amp, so I started running the 594 though the tube rigs with the 4x12 cabs (22w QR, 100w QR and the Nitro) and to say I was dissapointed would be an understatement. Lower regrister chords sounded OK, but anything within the higher range like single note stuff and especially chords or voicings with the open B/E strings just sounded wrong. It was ice picky and had this weird, almost dissonant tone to them. Sounded a lot like an out of phase kinda thing going on. This happened through all three amps, so I figured it had to be the guitar. I thought maybe something weird happened to the tuning, so I checked that, all good. Did the intonation suddenly get out of whack? Checked that, all good. So, I started turning down the treble. More and more.. and more. Then I remembered a thread that @311splawndude had posted about running Splawns with the treble on zero. So, I zeroed out both the treble and presence and there it was! That sound I had been looking for! Did a little tweeking with the presence, but the treble stayed on zero and there was that throaty almost cocked wah like tone that hear in my head that makes me smile. I was a bit rushed, so I didn't get to try any of the other guitars yet with this "treble on zero" thing, but I'm going to try to get around to it maybe this afternoon.
Oh, and BTW... I'm really digging the newer UK production 25w Greenbacks with the Splawns now. Sound very similar to the 1975-76 Blackbacks I have, but just a hair more clarity and bite to them.
First thing I did, was run the PRS through the Kemper. Sounded great! But, the Kemper isn't a "real" amp, so I started running the 594 though the tube rigs with the 4x12 cabs (22w QR, 100w QR and the Nitro) and to say I was dissapointed would be an understatement. Lower regrister chords sounded OK, but anything within the higher range like single note stuff and especially chords or voicings with the open B/E strings just sounded wrong. It was ice picky and had this weird, almost dissonant tone to them. Sounded a lot like an out of phase kinda thing going on. This happened through all three amps, so I figured it had to be the guitar. I thought maybe something weird happened to the tuning, so I checked that, all good. Did the intonation suddenly get out of whack? Checked that, all good. So, I started turning down the treble. More and more.. and more. Then I remembered a thread that @311splawndude had posted about running Splawns with the treble on zero. So, I zeroed out both the treble and presence and there it was! That sound I had been looking for! Did a little tweeking with the presence, but the treble stayed on zero and there was that throaty almost cocked wah like tone that hear in my head that makes me smile. I was a bit rushed, so I didn't get to try any of the other guitars yet with this "treble on zero" thing, but I'm going to try to get around to it maybe this afternoon.
Oh, and BTW... I'm really digging the newer UK production 25w Greenbacks with the Splawns now. Sound very similar to the 1975-76 Blackbacks I have, but just a hair more clarity and bite to them.