Ampfest 2010.....Featuring the NATAS :)

[Mailman1971]

I know you guys are busting his balls about being a Janitor....

but there are days I would give ANYTHING to have that job. No pressure...no stress....
just empty trash....sweep and mop.
Some days at my job I feel like choking some people......

 

[carl roa]

Ralph, Harry, Steve, Scott, Kage ... thanks for the kind words about the playing. Always appreciated. Of course, you guy also played your butts off ... and Greg and Nick too. Sorry I missed Mike jamming out ... I know he can play as well! One of the coolest things about Mikes amps is how the amp can conform to each players style ... all the models are versatile. Can hear the subtleties of the guitars, etc ... cool stuff.

 

[carl roa]

What do the 6irth and 6rind knobs do on the NATAS ?

Hi Stephen,

The Girth and Grind knobs are similar to depth and presence, except they sit before the preamp. Thus giving you the option to EQ before all the gain stages. I believe Mike said the rest of the EQ controls sit either between or after various gain stages. Basically Girth and Grind are unique due to there placement in the signal chain. (Like running an EQ out before the amp)

- Carl

 

[benfartine]

carla here, my boobs are sore and this is my tenth different moniker in 2 days LOL. Too bad Im such a coward or else I would have driven 10min to back up all of my threats along with my playing in person at Dare on Saturday. Then again, Ive flapped my fat gums for 2 years about showing up at one of kages gigs when they were no more than 15 min away and I never made it once, even when I was calling up club owners asking about him LOL!!! So much for my crew ,my karate master friend, my guns, my dog, lawsuits blah blah blah

did I mention that my moobs are sore?

 

[DEWD]

The Natas isn't even 100% completed yet, and it STILL annihilated just about everything in the room for metal music, and DEWD, get your facts straight before you start shit talking like a pre-teen. Gary (thegame) is the one who inspired Mike to take on the Natas design, so the damn thing wouldn't exist if it weren't for him.

Oh, wow!

What facts is there to get straight? I could give a crap less who inspired it. You had an ampfest with an amp people have been wanting to hear for over a year and didn't think anyone would want to hear something....ANYTHING?

The one guy that does take a couple vids gets blasted for it because they don't sound professional and he didn't get permission. Give me a break. Also, please spare me your little girl temper tantrum next time.

 

[Ancient Alien]

Wrong phone # It's 631 587-0757 , but you knew that, right? You got any clips posted? I'll go clip for clip with you any time. Just say the word.
I think you're a pussy though and you won't take me up on it. I agree DARE is a dirty sounding room. I played there enough to know. Even the bass amps were humming and buzzing. Just offering my services, Jack. I would have got decent clips.


How long you playing? Maybe 5 years? You need to get your own style and a vibrato. It takes time though. In the meantime you sound like every other 12 year old in GC on a sat afternoon. Since you got my addy, feel free to to let me know if you want to demo decent amps (PT100, SLO, Bludotone) without the dirty power hangups, and oh, I'm available for lessons as well. For you, $50 a half hour. Clip for clip any time. I'll start the throwdown right now bitch. What do you got? Oh, and where are the Hendrix riffs I'm trying to play? LOL

Funny that not one of those clips was me playing.
As for your amps, I've owned and sold all 3 of them due to not liking them.
I far prefer Mikes amps along with many others that I have.
As for lessons, I'll think I'll pass.
If I took lessons from you I would regress as a player.
If I choose to take lessons in the future, I'd have to choose an amazing player like Mike Fortin, Carl Roa, Andy Wood, Andee Blacksugar or similar.
So get back to your tape recorded backing tracks and played out licks and have fun with yourself.
It's a shame you're such a lonely person.
Once again, I feel sorry for you Carl.

 

[stephen sawall]

How does the Natas do with in-between sounds ....edge of break up, blues, vintage crunch sounds, Stones type stuff, etc ?
How does it clean up / react with the guitar volume ?

What do the 6irth and 6rind knobs do on the NATAS ?

Hi Stephen,

The Girth and Grind knobs are similar to depth and presence, except they sit before the preamp. Thus giving you the option to EQ before all the gain stages. I believe Mike said the rest of the EQ controls sit either between or after various gain stages. Basically Girth and Grind are unique due to there placement in the signal chain. (Like running an EQ out before the amp)

- Carl

Thank you Carl

This makes sense with placement so close to the input on the face plate. So we are looking at tone / voice / shape control from input to output at several stages.

 

[Ancient Alien]

How does the Natas do with in-between sounds ....edge of break up, blues, vintage crunch sounds, Stones type stuff, etc ?
How does it clean up / react with the guitar volume ?

What do the 6irth and 6rind knobs do on the NATAS ?

Hi Stephen,

The Girth and Grind knobs are similar to depth and presence, except they sit before the preamp. Thus giving you the option to EQ before all the gain stages. I believe Mike said the rest of the EQ controls sit either between or after various gain stages. Basically Girth and Grind are unique due to there placement in the signal chain. (Like running an EQ out before the amp)

- Carl

Thank you Carl

This makes sense with placement so close to the input on the face plate. So we are looking at tone / voice / shape control from input to output at several stages.

Carl Roa made that amp sing with light breakup and great volume work.
The amp reacted incredibly to the different guitars too.
Carls Suhr sounded fat and smooth.
I know the amp was a metal designed amp, but it covers a lot of ground.
I wish I had brought my G12H30 loaded cabinet to hear what they sounded like.
As for the Natas, it reacts very well to the guitars volume control and does excellent clean, low and mid gain.
Overall, it is a bit more modern sounding, but very full.
All the Fortins had the most amazing note clarity even at extreme gain settings.

 

[stephen sawall]

How does the Natas do with in-between sounds ....edge of break up, blues, vintage crunch sounds, Stones type stuff, etc ?
How does it clean up / react with the guitar volume ?

Carl Roa made that amp sing with light breakup and great volume work.
The amp reacted incredibly to the different guitars too.
Carls Suhr sounded fat and smooth.
I know the amp was a metal designed amp, but it covers a lot of ground.
I wish I had brought my G12H30 loaded cabinet to hear what they sounded like.
As for the Natas, it reacts very well to the guitars volume control and does excellent clean, low and mid gain.
Overall, it is a bit more modern sounding, but very full.
All the Fortins had the most amazing note clarity even at extreme gain settings.

Thankyou ...

I use these kinds of sounds a lot. I like a lot more low end than most people when using these flavors.

 

[thegame]

What do the 6irth and 6rind knobs do on the NATAS ?

To get technical, they are frequency selective gain controls. They add/subtract gain at predetermined frequencies, allowing the player to really fine tune the gain structure. Then the 6ain control determines the overall gain.

 

[thegame]

How does the Natas do with in-between sounds ....edge of break up, blues, vintage crunch sounds, Stones type stuff, etc ?
How does it clean up / react with the guitar volume ?

With the right guitar you can get tones suitable for those styles, but honestly the amp was not designed for that stuff. Personally I think the Bones/Meathead does those styles a lot better. Though if you want to absolutely nail Rolling Stones tones you're better off with a vintage amp IMO.

 

[thiswaythatway]

The Natas isn't even 100% completed yet, and it STILL annihilated just about everything in the room for metal music, and DEWD, get your facts straight before you start shit talking like a pre-teen. Gary (thegame) is the one who inspired Mike to take on the Natas design, so the damn thing wouldn't exist if it weren't for him.

Oh, wow!

What facts is there to get straight? I could give a crap less who inspired it. You had an ampfest with an amp people have been wanting to hear for over a year and didn't think anyone would want to hear something....ANYTHING?

The one guy that does take a couple vids gets blasted for it because they don't sound professional and he didn't get permission. Give me a break. Also, please spare me your little girl temper tantrum next time.

And it's threads like this that will probably cause an ampfest like this to be invite only and not advertised because no matter what you do, someone's gonna complain.

Guess you missed the whole fiasco with Larry's amp?

 

[stephen sawall]

What do the 6irth and 6rind knobs do on the NATAS ?

To get technical, they are frequency selective gain controls. They add/subtract gain at predetermined frequencies, allowing the player to really fine tune the gain structure. Then the 6ain control determines the overall gain.

How does the Natas do with in-between sounds ....edge of break up, blues, vintage crunch sounds, Stones type stuff, etc ?
How does it clean up / react with the guitar volume ?

With the right guitar you can get tones suitable for those styles, but honestly the amp was not designed for that stuff. Personally I think the Bones/Meathead does those styles a lot better. Though if you want to absolutely nail Rolling Stones tones you're better off with a vintage amp IMO.

Thanks ...

I have several vintage and vintage flavored amps, I was just more interested in the range and response of the amp.

I really like the idea that the amp has so much tone control.

 

[JTyson]

So, we have no ear candy of the NATAS?




I would have settled for anything really, I know cam mikes suck, and would have factored that in

 

[DEWD]

The Natas isn't even 100% completed yet, and it STILL annihilated just about everything in the room for metal music, and DEWD, get your facts straight before you start shit talking like a pre-teen. Gary (thegame) is the one who inspired Mike to take on the Natas design, so the damn thing wouldn't exist if it weren't for him.

Oh, wow!

What facts is there to get straight? I could give a crap less who inspired it. You had an ampfest with an amp people have been wanting to hear for over a year and didn't think anyone would want to hear something....ANYTHING?

The one guy that does take a couple vids gets blasted for it because they don't sound professional and he didn't get permission. Give me a break. Also, please spare me your little girl temper tantrum next time.

And it's threads like this that will probably cause an ampfest like this to be invite only and not advertised because no matter what you do, someone's gonna complain.

Guess you missed the whole fiasco with Larry's amp?

Yeah I don't know what you're referring to with the Larry amp.

If you read the first few pages of this thread everyone is saying they are going to take a ton of video and make clips. Then it doesn't happen for whatever reason. IMO it can only help boost interest in Fortins amps by putting stuff like that up even if it wasn't recorded under ideal conditions but whatever. I saw the clips before he took them down and they sounded A LOT better than some of the other ampfest type vids I've seen. I guess I just don't see the point in forcing the guy to take them down when he is the only one that bothered to record anything of an amp people have been talking about for over a year. I have a feeling if this was some new Mesa or Marshall metal amp prototype, a lot of you would be pissed that no one recorded clips.

 

[lolzgreg]

Again, there will be official clips in December/January. You can count on that one.

 

[stephen sawall]

Yeah I don't know what you're referring to with the Larry amp.

Larry felt his work was represented in bad light ..... I had forgot about this myself.

I guess we all have seen people judge amps after watching someone else use them in a way they did not like or make claims about amps based only on clips they have heard. For most of us this is ridiculous .... but we have all seen it.

If it was me I guess I would let Mike see the clips and ask his thoughts on the subject ...

 

[ZMAN]

Whats Cookin everyone ?

I made it back to NC safe and sound ... The drive took longer than expected ..14 hrs !! Thanks to Washington DC doing late nite road work , teenage daughters needing to stop , me needing to stop for a smoke since I wont smoke in the car with my girl and her daughters . I would have posted sooner but the cell reception at my dads sucks. So, getting internet on the lap top and phone was a no go . Then I was delirious from being up at 9 am then leaving at 9 pm then driving and stopping and driving and stopping etc. for 14 hrs killed my ass for a day or two .

I am very thankful i drove my ass up to NY and got to Hang with all of my friends . It was a great experience being part of a piece of Fortin History . All of Mikes work is becoming Epic for Metal Heads . The 5150 was huge for all new style of metal players . Now Fortin amplification can crush all comers . I hope Mike become new flavor in Metal

The NATAS is so focused . The guy tuned to G with a bottom string of .072 didnt flub in the least bit . If being tuned to G ( ) and no loose flubbery , that was pretty amazing . The guys sitting on the floor were jumping up saying that it was vibrating their balls !!!!!!!!

Mike you are truly amazing at what you do !! Everything ive played or heard so far is like a dream come true ... I think of a tone that would be amazing and there it is coming from the speakers attached to your Amp ...

I like the cab that 4thlastone brought the best , the Mills with the V30s . I liked it the second it got plugged in .

For anyone who missed out , YOU MISSED OUT !!! Not only on Mr. Fortins alchemy of tone but on The level of talent of the guys who played through those amps . These guys made those amps sing , grind , thump and scream !!! Mike was the wizard from the wizard of oz but not hiding behind a curtain . He showed us what his work is capable of by tweaking each amp for every style of player that was there . From Ralph's amazing singing shred to Carl Roa's violin like playing , Gregs sick chest thumping tight rythmical jack hammering ... Then Scotty tore up on his Most amazing freak of a Cali Mod , Stevie Just showing his beginnings of an addiction to the Meathead's pure tone of the Amp gods . Kage you said you took time off from playing ?! Sure didnt sound like you were rusty or missed a beat brother , you sure you werent sneaking in play time ? Mike you shocked everyone / thread !!!

H ... I am pissed ... I was outside when you were playing . When I came back in all I heard from everyone was "did you hear how that guy just tore that amp up?" ... next time . And a HUGE thank you for once again being my coach and watching over me , I felt SOOOOOOOOOOO nervous playing in front of the 20 or so talented people that were there . Funny thing ... if you look at the pic of everyone covering their ears ... look who is playing ... id say it was from my horrible mindless wankery instead of that volume ... c'mon everyone fess up !!! That pic is so EPIC anyway you want to take it ... Looks like a bunch of Parents standing around while some kid is making those awful screeching sounds on a violin !!

The worst thing of the day .. was saying good bye to everyone .. I really hate good byes but , I know ill see everyone again in the future . Hopefully the near future !!

Ralph .... thank you thank you thank you thank you . I was like a leech that didnt want to let go and go back to NC !

Steve thanks for picking me up and taking me back ... reminded me of when we were kids in the 80's drivin around in the old nova !!

Joe

 

[killertone]

What do the 6irth and 6rind knobs do on the NATAS ?

To get technical, they are frequency selective gain controls. They add/subtract gain at predetermined frequencies, allowing the player to really fine tune the gain structure. Then the 6ain control determines the overall gain.

The Evil Pumpkin has these controls. Having had the amp for almost a year, gigging and rehearsing it with it constantly, I can say that these controls are extremely useful. Just like thegame said, they target specific frequencies and add gain at those frequencies, then the gain knob controls the entire gain, including the gain that was added by the girth and grind. Think of them as frequency specific pre-gain gain controls, if that makes any sense. They are very sensitive and you can dial in a ton of sounds just by adjusting them.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Good morning everybody.