rottingcorpse
Well-known member
IMO a rigs ability to stay tight at volume is a combination of the power section,speakers and cab design,and what you are doing to your guitar signal BEFORE it hits the front of your amp.
Cranked amps sound bad
- Thread starter anomaly
- Start date
Ya, scoop out a couple dB. at 250Hz and watch the mush go away a lot of the time.
PDC
Well-known member
Speakers. Soft, low wattage speakers that add their own compression to the overall sound and feel will likely over-compress at a certain volume level. Strong, high wattage speakers like EVs in the early Mesas and celestion Redbacks are likely to hold together more successfully as you crank things up.
Smashedguitaris⸸
Hack
Interesting. Haven't tried it
Lower 250Hz to remove mush and bump 2KHz (and sometimes a little 4KHz) if you need extra presence/sparkle.
Never need more than a dB or two if you already have a great tone. Definitely not meant to fix a meh tone.
Been doing this with both analog and digital for years. Use a ParaEQ with amps so the numbers aren't exact
but the results are the same. First in line in the FX loop.
nightflameauto
Active member
Rig dependent.
I had an Ampeg VL1002 that sounded like shit through a single 4x12 at anything over about seven on the dial, but through 2 4x12s you could push the master all the way up and use the pre gain to adjust the overall compression/volume and get glorious hard-hitting hi-gain tones.
I've also had amps that no matter what they were running through if you got them past about five on the master things would start getting dicey.
I do think a lot of Marshall types sound great full-out, even some of the higher gain ones. Though that will depend entirely on what speakers you're piping them through. A 1x12? GTFO. A 4x12? Maybe, depending on how tight the speakers are at ear-bleed levels.
There's a reason the old school hard rock and metal dudes loved their full stacks.
I had an Ampeg VL1002 that sounded like shit through a single 4x12 at anything over about seven on the dial, but through 2 4x12s you could push the master all the way up and use the pre gain to adjust the overall compression/volume and get glorious hard-hitting hi-gain tones.
I've also had amps that no matter what they were running through if you got them past about five on the master things would start getting dicey.
I do think a lot of Marshall types sound great full-out, even some of the higher gain ones. Though that will depend entirely on what speakers you're piping them through. A 1x12? GTFO. A 4x12? Maybe, depending on how tight the speakers are at ear-bleed levels.
There's a reason the old school hard rock and metal dudes loved their full stacks.
NewWorldMan
Well-known member
Modern high gain amps are more dependent on preamp gain than excessive volume from the power amp. They’re not designed to need glass shattering volume to sound their best like amps from 50 years ago. They usually do sound their best at moderate volumes (enough for the power amp to tighten it up), and anything above that is diminishing returns or flat out worse in some instances.
anomaly
Well-known member
Yes, I agree 100%. High gain amps are designed around their pre-amp gain, and pre-amp gain mixed with looser power amp saturation doesn't tend to sound that great in a high gain situation. It can, but usually it doesn't.
Smashedguitaris⸸
Hack
i have this exact pedal. I will try tomorrow
The Empress is a pretty incredible tool for fixing stuff. Usually takes just a little bit to make a difference.
I use the (1)boost gain on a band, (2) sweep to find either the boom or ice pick, (3) reduce gain as needed.
Only use the low and high bands and then ignore everything else on the pedal including the mid band.
I've sold off almost all analog gear but the Empress ain't going anywhere. That thing is gold.
The tighest Q setting is a must!!!