High gain amp that doesn't sound harsh?

[garey77]

Peavey 6534+

 

[godgrinder]

What pickup do you use?

 

[Skeeballcore]

What pickup do you use?

Primarily the hfs in an old PRS CE model.

I'm not familiar with the Peters stuff so I'll have to check it out. Anyone point me to some good examples of it in action?

 

[maddnotez]

What pickup do you use?

Primarily the hfs in an old PRS CE model.

I'm not familiar with the Peters stuff so I'll have to check it out. Anyone point me to some good examples of it in action?

They seem pretty awesome to my ears and not harsh.

https://youtu.be/_NHIj3iFPmM


https://youtu.be/beU8cVzR6wo

https://youtu.be/cc37Dsepckw

 

[sg guy]

-this thread epitomizes the need for some kind of "standard-definition" translator/slide rule....

-if someone steals this idea I get 10% off the top!!-

 

[godgrinder]

What pickup do you use?

Primarily the hfs in an old PRS CE model.

I'm not familiar with those pickups, but if you find every amp you've owned so far sounding harsh, there might be something with the pickups.

I do recommend Peters amps too though. They are clear and smooth without sounding too "polite".

 

[lowmantotempole]

I got sick of flipping amps so I started collecting pickups. I'd start there... Definitely cheaper.

 

[thisguy]

What pickup do you use?

Primarily the hfs in an old PRS CE model.

I'm not familiar with those pickups, but if you find every amp you've owned so far sounding harsh, there might be something with the pickups.

I do recommend Peters amps too though. They are clear and smooth without sounding too "polite".

Another common factor might be speaker cab. Did the OP use the same speaker cab for all of those amps.

BTW
I have an old PRS with the HFS and it doesn't seem harsh to me. Mine is from the 80s though so I don't know if the newer ones are different.

 

[jsp]

If you couldn't get a Mark IV or V to not sound harsh, it's probably your cab, and, I've heard one of FourT6and2's Peters and it is an excellent amp all around.

 

[Mudder]

You might also try standing in different places in the room compared to where the cabinet is. There's a wide variation sometimes from just a couple feet.

 

[squank]

Use most any of those heads listed and patch a parametric EQ in the loop. Sweep around until you find the harsh frequency and make a deep cut. Then, narrow the width of the cut until only the harsh part is gone.

A graphic EQ can work also, but is limited to fixed frequencies. Fortunately, you will find harshness at the standard freq's: 3.1k, 4k and so on.

george

This is awesome advice.

Exactly right. This technique is so effective, it can be used to dial out the harshness of Line 6 high gain patches and make them sound really good. Not that I'm suggesting Line 6 is the path the OP should go - just that the para EQ trick is amazingly effective. 5153 50w head and the EQ and you would be set. Also, it's probably your most economical path to the tone you seek.

Also, OP, have you considered it might be your speaker?

Finally, in your price range, you simply cannot do better than a used Engl Powerball II. Simply amazing out of the box, and you won't even need to EQ out the harshness.

 

[gtrwun]

Harsh=V30 speakers to me. The very first thing I would try is buying a pair of broken in (used) Celestion M25 watt speakers (greenbacks) and sit back and hear what a huge difference this makes. Once your ear grows accustom to the tone of these speakers, there's no going back to a V30. I know some guys swear by the V30 on here, and I admit I used them for years in an old Recto cab I had, and they were ok, but I didn't know what I was missing with the older Celestions. The H30's are good too, although a bit brighter to my ear. You can start flipping amps all you want, but when you start getting into speakers, it a whole new game. Certain amps just perform at their best with certain speakers.

 

['63-Strat]

There's a lot of recto going on with the bands you mentioned. I agree with Elric that you can definitely get very good recordings with recto's too. I just picked up a '95 tremoverb combo for $399 and the thing sounds great. It's certainly different from my xtc classic but it's just as good in a lot of ways IMO. They're known for being a little warmer than the standard solo heads though.

What is your signal chain like before the recto? Guitar/pickups/pedals etc.