Clean to Mean Rack Tones 12/27/25

[mentoneman]

Lately I have been liking my Synergy stuff into the poweramp of my SLO modded JCA head better than my rack poweramps like the Mesa 2:90. It just sounds bigger. I think it is because it has more sag and is chuggier with a lot of headroom. Both of my rack tube poweramps are much tighter.

my vht 2-90-2 is the tightest of my 3 power amps. it has kt88s and has a punch.

the randall RT2/50 is the most vintage saggy and probably makes my mid gain and classic tones like jtm, ac30, fender dirty sound the most authentic. i have 2 6L6s and 2 EL34s in that one.

but my fave is the boogie 2:90 for biggest low end and sweetest highs and with my mark III fx return running middle dry into my matching vintage halfback 4x12 it’s a great overall sound.

 

[Dave L]

Yeah, my 2150 also runs KT88s and tracks very fast. I love it with the X99, but I prefer running more Marshall-ish preamps thru my OD100 SE+. It´s got the same EL34 and "plexi" transformer set-up as the OD100 Classic and Classic+, so probably not miles away from the modded Marshall mentioned above in that regard. Variable negative feedback is a nice feature on it, too.

 

[Shask]

my vht 2-90-2 is the tightest of my 3 power amps. it has kt88s and has a punch.

the randall RT2/50 is the most vintage saggy and probably makes my mid gain and classic tones like jtm, ac30, fender dirty sound the most authentic. i have 2 6L6s and 2 EL34s in that one.

but my fave is the boogie 2:90 for biggest low end and sweetest highs and with my mark III fx return running middle dry into my matching vintage halfback 4x12 it’s a great overall sound.

I have a Mesa 2:90 and a Duncan KTG2100, which is a VHT inspired KT88 power amp. They both sound big and are tight. The JCA poweramp though is more like a SLO/5150 poweramp, so it sags more, which I like. I like the big chuggy low end. I lose the stereo though when I use that instead.

 

[Little B]

forgot to ask..
is there some function the 0050 or 0144 controllers offer you that you can’t easily achieve with the RST, besides sampling/looping?

sure would be cool if you, @Anje and @ChurchHill posted video/audio rig rundowns! i’d love to hear what you folks are cooking up these days!

Good question.
Besides learn,on/ off, ( i may be wrong on this but)I believe you can access any of the " assign keycode list" on pg 9.5 in the manual using the key code # as assigned to the 0050.
For instance,I have 1 switch programmed to increase feedback ,1 for last preset, 1 for output phase,etc.
Of course the 0144 is the king,as it can be used as an ordinary midi pedal or switched into 0050 mode so to speak.
It's almost like 2290s assign key code and special # list was a prehistoric version of cc# control.idk.maybe lol.

 

[ChurchHill]

It's almost like 2290s assign key code and special # list was a prehistoric version of cc# control.idk.maybe lol.

No clue if that's true or not, but I've always thought the same thing. For 1986, that was really ahead of its time. The manual's a good read or at least it gave me a ton of ideas about ways I could use it.

 

[Anje]

I have to confess that thread is a serious gas hazard

I bumped into that legendary video few days ago, never gets old & gives me some serious old Boogie brainstorm:

 

[mentoneman]

No clue if that's true or not, but I've always thought the same thing. For 1986, that was really ahead of its time. The manual's a good read or at least it gave me a ton of ideas about ways I could use it.

had the gforce lived up to what we all hoped it should have been; stereo 2290 with dual delay times and lfos, 1210, graphic and parametric eq, pitch shift, compressor, and reverb with the sound of the older units, it would have been the ultimate!

 

[mentoneman]

I have to confess that thread is a serious gas hazard

I bumped into that legendary video few days ago, never gets old & gives me some serious old Boogie brainstorm:

i wish Landau had done one of these in the heyday. This audio clinic is about as close as we’re gonna get unless Bob has a secret stash of videos he’s sitting on…

 

[Anje]

Yes 100%
Too bad Mike didn't do that kind of thing back in the days; from what I've read/heard, I'd be surprised Bob has more detailed stuff archived, especially video wise. He even said he wish he'd have more basic rig photos as he was not really documenting them in details once builds were done as he was so busy.

That being said I'll say it again here: I would so wish Bob would do a book compiling all his history & work & people stories he worked with; with as much details/diagrams/sheets/photos etc. as possible.
I would even offer my support in any way that would help make that happen; and would definitely pay a premium for such book.

 

[Dave L]

Yeah, from what Bob says on Facebook when he posts something I get the feeling he has sort of misplaced most of the few photos he had over the years. Probably isn´t a shred of video, and I guess the diagrams is what he has most readily available. We´ve seen plenty of those here and there, sure, but with the internet as a searchable source of info and such getting worse everyday it would be good to have them collected once and for all.

 

[Dave L]

The loss of the full HRI basically is the library of Alexandria burning down for old school rack building, I don´t know where you would go to pick up that stuff in proper workable detail now.

 

[Anje]

Agree, in my experience nothing can replace documenting with the direct first hand contribution of the actual person who did « it » and « were there » in the first place.

 

[ChurchHill]

I would so wish Bob would do a book compiling all his history & work & people stories he worked with; with as much details/diagrams/sheets/photos etc. as possible.
I would even offer my support in any way that would help make that happen; and would definitely pay a premium for such book.

Yes and FWIW, me, too.

One thing I've never understood is why many people don't stop to consider where something came from, what can be learned from that, and then applied to something new. In this case, a book like that from the Master would be absolutely invaluable to people trying to learn how to put signal chains together in modelers or how to build pedalboards, or how whatever equipment one's using can and should be a source of inspiration and not just a means to the end of trying to sound exactly like anyone else.

 

[mentoneman]

Yeah, from what Bob says on Facebook when he posts something I get the feeling he has sort of misplaced most of the few photos he had over the years. Probably isn´t a shred of video, and I guess the diagrams is what he has most readily available. We´ve seen plenty of those here and there, sure, but with the internet as a searchable source of info and such getting worse everyday it would be good to have them collected once and for all.

he did allude to having a trove of videos he shot while on the road in japan with landau during the burning water era, and he has been posting older rig pics on instagram.

i get the impression that even though he’s done fairly recent stuff for Mayer, and puts occasional high dollar rigs for the stars together, his volume has slowed and his oldest closest clients have moved on. would be a great time to document what he remembers in words, pics, and rig diagrams. really dig into his CAE stuff.

 

[mentoneman]

Agree, in my experience nothing can replace documenting with the direct first hand contribution of the actual person who did « it » and « were there » in the first place.

that experience is what a person pays for when Bob wires a client’s rigs. optimized cable type and length, routing logic, impedance matching, phase coherence, proper grounding, and world class sonic end results and tour grade reliability from decades of refinement in real world applications.

i wish he’d parlay this into a CAE online membership with premium access to his library of information and zoom meet ups kinda like Robben Ford does with his online Guitar Dojo membership.

 

[Anje]

Agree; we need a task force to help him document all that. Seriously.
(if he's willing to of course)
I volunteer

 

[Little B]

He did a part 1 video recently,I believe a part 2 was mentioned.Its a long watch,but all good.i can't remember if that was a utube vid or something else.
Tom Sholtz would be another one to share his documents.Guys like Bob and Tom are a wealth of info that actually deserve to have full production documentaries.

 

[Little B]

had the gforce lived up to what we all hoped it should have been; stereo 2290 with dual delay times and lfos, 1210, graphic and parametric eq, pitch shift, compressor, and reverb with the sound of the older units, it would have been the ultimate!

.....and have that imagined Gforce in the brain of an updated g system.I had a lot of fun with a ib modified one( last revision). Dang,if it just would've had more and better loops,a exp.pedal,and maybe a board layout along the lines of a cae,axcces,or rjm board,I think it might be a good sell.

 

[Dave L]

Thought I´d step in here and mention I tried a program in the GTR4000 that supposedly is similar to what you´d get out of a AMS 15-80S. Sort of a competitor to the older Harmonizers, I think. As always is the way with the GTR4000 it was buried away in some random preset register way in the back, but I have to say the "AMS Guitar" preset is very cool. I gather it´s two modulated pitch shifters with a bit of feedback for extra swoosh, and it´s real thick.

 

[Anje]

The old AMS 1580 I had was one of the best sounding effect units I’ve ever played through, period; just amazing. Should have kept that one

The H3000 platform introduced some great algos that can recreate what you can do with one and more, especially leveraging cross-feedback paths.
From memory Michael Thompson for example is using one of those presets/algos for his wide « modulated delays »; demonstrated it in an old interview at his studio w/ Tim Pierce & Pete Thorn.