MadAsAHatter
Well-known member
No shitty weather yesterday so I got to play a good bit.
First off, if you can't find a tone you like with this amp, it's not the amp's fault. Even with the shared EQ there's more than enough flexibility that most people could land on a tone they like. While there is flexibility to find tones of several genera, I think a Rock/Metal tone would be it's forte. Though I may be biased in that since I'm a Rock/Metal player.
My Initial impressions of the BA-100 from the OP carry over to the BA-300. The main difference is the BA-300 holds the low end better and is bolder sounding.
Going a little deeper with knob turning and switch flipping...
The BMT EQ has a good bit of range without being extreme. That meaning you can crank the bass or treble to max and not have a bunch of fart noises or icepick respectively. With the mid knob you can get a nice scooped or mid forward tone. I landed on the 6, 6, 6, setting. The other part of the tone setting is the Presence knob. It's not overbearing and mostly gives a bit of airiness depending on where you set it. I like it between 4 & 6.
The channels and switches are where I think you get a lot tonal variation.
Depending on the pickups you use Ch1 stays clean up to about 5 on the gain knob. After that you start rolling in a hint of grit. Gain maxed you can have a nice overdrive sound without being overly saturated. The bright switch only works on Ch1. Use it to your liking.
Things get a bit interesting on Channel 2. It has a similar tone to Ch1 and of course this is your overdrive channel, but you don't have to use it as overdrive. Max the Ch2 volume, keep the gain set low and up the Master Volume for overall loudness you can get a relatively clean sound that's a little bolder than Ch1. Ride the volume knob on the bass to ride between a full clean and hint of grit sound. Then from there you can flip to hotrod for more dirt.
Channel 2 used for overdrive as you "normally" would, 2-3 on the Gain picks up around where Ch1 left off with Gain maxed. From there just crank the gain to your taste. Use the Hotrod switch to send saturation over the top.
For the Hotrod switch, it does change the tone. It cuts/tightens the bass and adds some high end. Depending on the EQ settings you may want to roll back the Treble when the Hotrod switch is engaged. But cutting bass and boosting highs keeps it from sounding like a wet fart when the saturation is up.
The last switch is the Mid Boost/Cut. I would consider this the most important switch on the amp. It's your Rock/Jazz setting. Mid Boost for a rock tone, Mid Cut for a Jazz or Motown tone. It makes a big difference between being punchy or smooth for the overall sound. Of course I like the bolder Mid Boost.
Last thing to mention is feel and response. Playing attack or rolling the volume knob can be the difference between clean and dirty if you're riding the line. It responds really well to playing and feels good under the fingers. Not much more to say about this other than it responds well like any well made tube amp should; not too stiff or too loose.
With all of that, this is how I'm liking to have everything set up.
BMT are set 6, 6, 6. Presence is at 4. Ch1 Gain is 4, and bright switch off. Ch2 Gain is 2-2.5, Ch2 Volume at 8 (to balance with Ch1). Mid Boost Cut is set to Boost. Master Volume set to taste for overall loudness.
These settings give me a full clean sound on Ch1, a hint of overdrive on Ch2, and full overdrive on Hotrod. Theses settings appear to wok well for standard output pickups. The Gain may need to be adjusted for lower/higher output pickups to compensate for lower volume or extra saturation respectively that would come from them. This gives a bold, punchy tone across both channels that says Rock and Roll.
First off, if you can't find a tone you like with this amp, it's not the amp's fault. Even with the shared EQ there's more than enough flexibility that most people could land on a tone they like. While there is flexibility to find tones of several genera, I think a Rock/Metal tone would be it's forte. Though I may be biased in that since I'm a Rock/Metal player.
My Initial impressions of the BA-100 from the OP carry over to the BA-300. The main difference is the BA-300 holds the low end better and is bolder sounding.
Going a little deeper with knob turning and switch flipping...
The BMT EQ has a good bit of range without being extreme. That meaning you can crank the bass or treble to max and not have a bunch of fart noises or icepick respectively. With the mid knob you can get a nice scooped or mid forward tone. I landed on the 6, 6, 6, setting. The other part of the tone setting is the Presence knob. It's not overbearing and mostly gives a bit of airiness depending on where you set it. I like it between 4 & 6.
The channels and switches are where I think you get a lot tonal variation.
Depending on the pickups you use Ch1 stays clean up to about 5 on the gain knob. After that you start rolling in a hint of grit. Gain maxed you can have a nice overdrive sound without being overly saturated. The bright switch only works on Ch1. Use it to your liking.
Things get a bit interesting on Channel 2. It has a similar tone to Ch1 and of course this is your overdrive channel, but you don't have to use it as overdrive. Max the Ch2 volume, keep the gain set low and up the Master Volume for overall loudness you can get a relatively clean sound that's a little bolder than Ch1. Ride the volume knob on the bass to ride between a full clean and hint of grit sound. Then from there you can flip to hotrod for more dirt.
Channel 2 used for overdrive as you "normally" would, 2-3 on the Gain picks up around where Ch1 left off with Gain maxed. From there just crank the gain to your taste. Use the Hotrod switch to send saturation over the top.
For the Hotrod switch, it does change the tone. It cuts/tightens the bass and adds some high end. Depending on the EQ settings you may want to roll back the Treble when the Hotrod switch is engaged. But cutting bass and boosting highs keeps it from sounding like a wet fart when the saturation is up.
The last switch is the Mid Boost/Cut. I would consider this the most important switch on the amp. It's your Rock/Jazz setting. Mid Boost for a rock tone, Mid Cut for a Jazz or Motown tone. It makes a big difference between being punchy or smooth for the overall sound. Of course I like the bolder Mid Boost.
Last thing to mention is feel and response. Playing attack or rolling the volume knob can be the difference between clean and dirty if you're riding the line. It responds really well to playing and feels good under the fingers. Not much more to say about this other than it responds well like any well made tube amp should; not too stiff or too loose.
With all of that, this is how I'm liking to have everything set up.
BMT are set 6, 6, 6. Presence is at 4. Ch1 Gain is 4, and bright switch off. Ch2 Gain is 2-2.5, Ch2 Volume at 8 (to balance with Ch1). Mid Boost Cut is set to Boost. Master Volume set to taste for overall loudness.
These settings give me a full clean sound on Ch1, a hint of overdrive on Ch2, and full overdrive on Hotrod. Theses settings appear to wok well for standard output pickups. The Gain may need to be adjusted for lower/higher output pickups to compensate for lower volume or extra saturation respectively that would come from them. This gives a bold, punchy tone across both channels that says Rock and Roll.