Favorite amp blend

Mesa Rectifier and anything else. I've had good results with a Rivera Knucklehead, Mesa Stiletto, Bogner Uberschall, and my Verellen Skyhammer. My guitarist is using the Rectifier and Uberschall profiles in his Helix for his live rig. The Rectifier to me is the perfect all around amp to blend in with anything else, especially "British voiced" amps.
 
I've been a two amps in a mix guy for a long time...currently I'm getting great results with a 101B XTC and the SLO. Briefly used a Friedman with the Bogner and that was a nice match too.
 
Philhouse said:
Yeah, its def easy to hear after going from a brighter amp like a Marshall, Wizard or a Mesa Mark to the VH4, much less top end. I believe thats the inherent tuning of the circuit from Peters ears, he doesn't like too much high end sizzle in an amp. Blended with those other amps it's a great fit and I can see why Jones and Hetfield do it. The Hagen is less compressed and more open on its own.
I've got Gold Lion KT77's in one and 6L6's in another. I feel I can get closer to a crisper top end with the 6L6's than the KT77's, nothing new there but I can confirm for myself that's what hear. If I had the choice now I'd prob just stick to 6L6's in the VH4. I've read that 6550's are fantastic by many accounts, but not recommended by Peter to run.
I love running the VH4 and my MCII at hefty volumes, but I soon need an ear break. Running the Marshall Super Lead and two VH4's, with one VH4 out of phase wrt to the other is unreal too. Swapping in a dual recto into a VH4 spot is another great one.
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Hell ya ! Good mixes. I feel ya on the ear fatigue. My wizard is just loud from get go. I do need to get the 6l6s In Vh4 . Definitely
 
You summed it up perfectly. With just two out of phase it thins out the tone with way less bass and really widens the sound stage as opposed to the very focussed centralised sound of two amps in phase. Much more relative high end sound, if that effect is what someone wanted by doing, but I don't know why. I'm using a Radial Shotgun to split and swap phase on each line as needed

"I'm thinking if two amps are in phase and one is out, then the effects of the one out of phase amp is minimal and mainly serves to provide a 'swirling' texture, or a different series of harmonics that subtlety blends in with the others."
Exactly how I found it works for me. All three in phase is brutally loud and punchy but switching one VH4 out of phase brings back some more top end clarity, a little different to just having the top end that the Super Lead brings to the mix. It seems to also accentuate the flanger and chorus pedals when they're on as they aren't as lost in a huge bass heavy mix as before.
I'd read there was some kind of out-of-phase effect wrt to his sound and gave it a go and I think it could be what's going on. You can still hear something is switched out-of-phase but its not in the same negative sense like with just two amps. I'm just trying to test my theory of why people state they can hear it in the room when they hear his rig up close.
I've always wondered why he always runs three amps live, esp with both VH4's set virtually the exact same. I don't think it's just a back up for redundancy purposes. Most people agree his core tone is primarily from the Marshall with the VH4/Recto mixed in to taste. Why does he run a third amp (exact same or similar) upfront onstage and not have just his backup amp just sitting behind ready to go like most people. Is the VH4 more likely to fail?, and importantly why doesn't he have a back up amp for the Marshall ready to go if that's the real big hitter for his tone?
He could play any gig with just the Marshall and still sound exactly like him just like in the earliest days. The Diezel/Mesa is the icing on the Marshall cake.

It's all just guesswork anyway for those not on his inner circle and it's just a fun puzzle to decode. I enjoy the journey of working it out rather than trying to just be Adam as the sole end goal. It's fun to be able to fire up the rig, blast out some tunes with a sonically close tone, as I can get at home, and then move on to a different amp set up and then go enjoy that. There is only so much drop D riffing you can do in a day before it gets tiring. I mostly love warming up the hands and tones on some Andy Timmons' tunes and going on from there.
 
I probably follow a different path when it comes to blending. I like blending a crunchy amp with a clean amp. My favorite blend so far was a 2204 mixed with a 67 Bassman. I’d put a little chorus and delay on the Bassman, Marshall dry. Very Lifesonesque.
 
Mr. Willy said:
I probably follow a different path when it comes to blending. I like blending a crunchy amp with a clean amp. My favorite blend so far was a 2204 mixed with a 67 Bassman. I’d put a little chorus and delay on the Bassman, Marshall dry. Very Lifesonesque.
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That does rule . I be tried that and it brings a cool cut to the mix
 
tonesfoyobones said:
2006 Engl Savage 120 & 1984 JCM800. Christ was that tone haunting!!
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That sounds crushing
mhenson42 said:
My favorite I think I ever had was a blend of a Diezel VH4 and a Fryette UL. I've used a Herbert too. I think of my MTLs as an UL on steroids so it would work in it's place too. The Diezels fill in the smooth darker low mids, satruation and compression where the MTL or UL gives it the higher mids, punch and agressive grind.
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thats exactly my thinking with my blend . To a T
 
BeZo said:
Mesa Rectifier and anything else. I've had good results with a Rivera Knucklehead, Mesa Stiletto, Bogner Uberschall, and my Verellen Skyhammer. My guitarist is using the Rectifier and Uberschall profiles in his Helix for his live rig. The Rectifier to me is the perfect all around amp to blend in with anything else, especially "British voiced" amps.
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They do blend well . I got a rec too for adding chunk
 
I'm really curious to see how a tightened 5150 mixed with a flubby H@K amp would sound!

How do you mix two amps together to be in a recorded mix? Pan one left and one right? What if you have two guitarists who each want to blend to different amps each for their own sound. How does that work?
 
Metalhex said:
I'm really curious to see how a tightened 5150 mixed with a flubby H@K amp would sound!

How do you mix two amps together to be in a recorded mix? Pan one left and one right? What if you have two guitarists who each want to blend to different amps each for their own sound. How does that work?
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You can each record two of your own tracks with the amps you want .then one players two amps left then other guys amps on right . If you listen to Anthrax Sound of White Noise album he played 6 tracks . 3 on each side . Using 4 to 6 amps . To me that’s a bit much and I think it made thst tone a little stiff . Though it’s cool to listen to
 
Techdeth said:
You can each record two of your own tracks with the amps you want .then one players two amps left then other guys amps on right . If you listen to Anthrax Sound of White Noise album he played 6 tracks . 3 on each side . Using 4 to 6 amps . To me that’s a bit much and I think it made thst tone a little stiff . Though it’s cool to listen to
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I recall it was a 3 amp blend as suggested by Dave Jerden the producer. A Matchless/Big Muff fuzz combo for the low end, his usual JCM800 for the mids and a Bogner fish preamp/VHT power amp for the highs. The rhythm tone changes track by track, probably due to different blends for each song. I really love the tone on Room for One more and Burst.
 
Cool, thanks for the detailed explanation Philhouse. I'm certainly not chasing that overall tonal concept for myself, as that huge of a sound wouldn't work for my style, thrash metal. But I love discovering how unconventional tones are achieved nonetheless.
 
thegame said:
I recall it was a 3 amp blend as suggested by Dave Jerden the producer. A Matchless/Big Muff fuzz combo for the low end, his usual JCM800 for the mids and a Bogner fish preamp/VHT power amp for the highs. The rhythm tone changes track by track, probably due to different blends for each song. I really love the tone on Room for One more and Burst.
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Potters field time rule’s although it’s not what I’d like for self . But it’s just so cool and different
 
Techdeth said:
I always blend two amp heads for my tone . Recording or live . My fav blend is a Wizard MTL2 with a Diezel Herbert mk 1. I have a mk 3 and a vh 4 but I like the mk 1 best .The wizard is almost perfect to me but the Diezel low end and compression fills it out . Any how I was wondering what your all favorite amp blends are . Any 2
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Techdeth said:
I always blend two amp heads for my tone . Recording or live . My fav blend is a Wizard MTL2 with a Diezel Herbert mk 1. I have a mk 3 and a vh 4 but I like the mk 1 best .The wizard is almost perfect to me but the Diezel low end and compression fills it out . Any how I was wondering what your all favorite amp blends are . Any 2 .
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Mesa Rec and the OG 5150. It just DESTROYS. Oddly the Duel and Triple Rec on their own to a lot of people are crushing but a bit compressed or “flubby”. The 5150 is noisy as hell and has a snarl some love (or hate). But in a recording environment with good mics and mic placement the combo is just massive.
Techdeth said:
I always blend two amp heads for my tone . Recording or live . My fav blend is a Wizard MTL2 with a Diezel Herbert mk 1. I have a mk 3 and a vh 4 but I like the mk 1 best .The wizard is almost perfect to me but the Diezel low end and compression fills it out . Any how I was wondering what your all favorite amp blends are . Any 2 .
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Markmetalguitar said:
Mesa Rec and the OG 5150. It just DESTROYS. Oddly the Duel and Triple Rec on their own to a lot of people are crushing but a bit compressed or “flubby”. The 5150 is noisy as hell and has a snarl some love (or hate). But in a recording environment with good mics and mic placement the combo is just massive.
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I could definitely picture this . Definitely cut through the mix
 
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