Omega Obsidian: Am I missing something?

  • Thread starter Thread starter hellzington
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I had a Carstens Grace for a short period of time. That amp ruled, but the lack of effects loop was killing me so I sold it. I hear rumors that he's creating a metal amp, and if he builds it with an effects loop I'm all over it. GREAT builder!
 
hellzington said:
I’ll make a quick vid of the Warm Machine and Stratton a separate thread. It’s a cool amp.
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How does it do with clean tones? The website says it does them and is a great pedal platform, but so far I've only heard it dialed in dirty.
 
Meeotch said:
I had a Carstens Grace for a short period of time. That amp ruled, but the lack of effects loop was killing me so I sold it. I hear rumors that he's creating a metal amp, and if he builds it with an effects loop I'm all over it. GREAT builder!
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A Grace can be ordered with a loop. Buddy of mine did that.
 
Meeotch said:
I had a Carstens Grace for a short period of time. That amp ruled, but the lack of effects loop was killing me so I sold it. I hear rumors that he's creating a metal amp, and if he builds it with an effects loop I'm all over it. GREAT builder!
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Yeah I was going to ask if you spoke w/ Brian. He told me that while he is not a fan of effects loops, he would add a simple loop if not having a loop would take away from the owner's enjoyment of the amp.

I decided to order mine without a loop and was a little nervous about it because most of my other amps have loops but it hasn't been a big deal. You have several easy options:

1. Reampers like the Fryette Power Station or Boss Waza TAE
2. Bray or other LO Box (for wet/dry)
3. Get the sound guy to add effects from the board

I just run all my amps into the Power Station and keep all my pedals in that loop. Hasn't been any big deal at all. Just a thought!
 
fearhk213 said:
How does it do with clean tones? The website says it does them and is a great pedal platform, but so far I've only heard it dialed in dirty.
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It can be clean or dirty depending on how you dial it in. For cleaner tones, pull back on the preamp volume and increase the master. For dirtier tones, pull back on the master and add preamp volume. You could get it super clean using this method and then flick the boost switch to take it closer to edge of breakup and use pedals that way too.
 
Apex1Rg7X said:
A Grace can be ordered with a loop. Buddy of mine did that.
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Man that is kinda disappointing to hear. I had a pretty long, drawn out email conversation with Brian about sending him my Grace to get a loop installed. Brian ultimately never agreed to it. I was on the verge of sending it to Friedman to add the loop but ultimately sold the amp.

Perhaps our conversation changed Brian's mind somewhere down the line, but I sure missed out on that one.
 
hellzington said:
Yeah I was going to ask if you spoke w/ Brian. He told me that while he is not a fan of effects loops, he would add a simple loop if not having a loop would take away from the owner's enjoyment of the amp.

I decided to order mine without a loop and was a little nervous about it because most of my other amps have loops but it hasn't been a big deal. You have several easy options:

1. Reampers like the Fryette Power Station or Boss Waza TAE
2. Bray or other LO Box (for wet/dry)
3. Get the sound guy to add effects from the board

I just run all my amps into the Power Station and keep all my pedals in that loop. Hasn't been any big deal at all. Just a thought!
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Yeah I was loading my Grace down with a SRL then reamping through my 2150. It sounded bonkers but wasn't exactly practical either.
 
hellzington said:
Hey y'all,

So I finally got my Omega Obsidian today. I ordered it back in May as part of a small batch offering on Facebook. Loaded with EL34's.

Details are below but basically I just got this amp and absolutely hate it. So before I immediately list it for sale, I want to check and see if I'm doing something wrong or missing something. I have heard so many good things about Omega amps, especially the Obsidian, which a lot of people said was more of a hard rock amp than a metal amp (which is why I chose it over the Granophyre). So I'm just more confused than anything right now. I haven't disliked an amp this much in a long time, if ever. So here's my pros/cons and any help, settings, advice, etc. you have would be most welcome!

The positives:
  • It looks killer, got to be honest. Probably the coolest thing about the amp. It looks like it's from the future. Hell, even when it starts up all the lights flash and sparkle; it's very cool. That said, if looks are the coolest thing about an amp, that's a problem. (We'll get to that in a second.)
  • It has an absolutely insane amount of gain so if you want ultra high gain, this amp will deliver in spades.
  • The clean channel is fairly impressive for a high gain amp. It has a ton of headroom and has a little bit of "bounciness" to it, and it sounds really good with single coils.
  • This amp is tight. The lows always remain clear, even on heavily downtuned guitars, and it bounces back extremely quickly.
The negatives:
  • Frankly, both the gain channels sound like shit. I have owned dozens and dozens of expensive tube amps in my life and I can't recall having such a visceral reaction to an amp before. I hate this amp. I mean, hate it. I can barely get any useable sounds out of it.
    • The treble is absolutely piercing. I'm using my darkest speaker cabinet (Friedman with V30s) and the amp is so punishingly bright I can't imagine how it would sound with my brighter cabs (Marshall Jubilee cab or my Diezel front-loaded cab). When you turn the treble down, the amp quickly goes from extremely bright to extremely dark. Neither is usable. There is a very, very small sweet spot with the treble on this amp and it's hard to find it. Just a hair too much and you're in fizz-ville; just a hair too little and it sounds like your tone knob is at zero. Even with the Detail at zero the amp is punishingly fizzy and bright.
    • The midrange is awful. It sounds super "filtered." Imagine a Mesa Boogie with the EQ set like a Marshall, with a Fortin-modded Tube Screamer in front of it. That's what the midrange on this amp sounds like. It's nasal and honking, and there's no way to get rid of it. (I guess I could run an EQ pedal in the loop but I'm not doing that on a $4000 amp to find a useable sound.)
  • The Lead/Red channel has so much gain that it is almost completely unusable. I have the gain at 9:00 and it's absolutely overwhelming. The moment you stop playing or try to sustain a note, the amp starts feeding back immediately from the mountain of gain.
  • The Crunch/Orange channel sounds ok with the gain from about 1:00 to 3:00 but anything below 1:00 is unusable because the amp gets super dry and is already super tight. It sounds choked and constricted.
  • The mid-shift and voicing switch do almost nothing. I can barely hear any discernable difference between the two. Each mode is like two very, very slightly different takes on the same sound.
  • Finally, the amp is tight. So tight that it is difficult to play. The entire amp sounds like it has a noise gate and a Fortin 33 in front of it. It's like a Diezel VH4 with the Treble and Prescence maxed out and the Bass and Depth on zero.
Can anyone help? Any tips or advice? Other than to sell it, haha. Thanks guys.
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I really enjoy my obsidian but I have had like 3 at once and the one I currently have was the best sounding. Also I hated it with el34s I currently have 7581a on mine and it’s great. Have u messed with the volume levels on the back for different tones and feels?
 
hellzington said:
I wouldn't know; unfortunately, it arrived broken. :cry:

Called the shop I bought it from just up the road in LA and they claim it was working a few days ago when they shipped it. There's no output at all. Tried both speaker jacks, all inputs, all knobs, etc. Just zero output. I opened it up and I did find one preamp tube broken, which I replaced, but still no output from the amp at all. So who knows what's wrong.

I actually bought it to mod. I normally wouldn't screw with a vintage Marshall but it's not original at all so a very good modding candidate. It's in overall good shape but had its OT replaced in 1990 with a Drake, caps replaced at some point, and some pots and other parts replaced.

I was going to ask Dave Friedman to do the #39 mod on it the real way by using the tremolo circuit as an additional gain stage. I might have him add a master volume as the original amp had one but I do like the sound of NMV amps. From there, I'll let him take it by ear to change whatever component values to get the tone right. I also want him to do some unglamorous but necessary maintenance on the amp, like change the impedance selector to a more modern version.

We'll see, though. Once he gets it fixed and working but before he mods it, I'll ask him to play it and see if it sounds godly to him. If it does, I'll tell him to leave it alone and get another amp to do this mod.
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The Granophyre is more Marshall like than anything modern I've played. The KSR stuff doesn't come as close as the Omega stuff feels like a real amp that hasn't been choked to death. Definitely recommend using the h75. I actually just ordered my matching 412 today. Dv-77/ v30 x pattern. I am actually curious how the Granophyre would react with KT88s. Mine is currently loaded with 6L6. I've been thinking about trying something to make it bark just a bit more British sounding.
 
5250_involuntary said:
I really enjoy my obsidian but I have had like 3 at once and the one I currently have was the best sounding. Also I hated it with el34s I currently have 7581a on mine and it’s great. Have u messed with the volume levels on the back for different tones and feels?
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Glad to hear that you didn't like your Obsidian with EL34's either. I don't remember messing with stuff on the back but I only had it for one day.

My Jubilee-inspired Granophyre is still on the way. I'm very excited that Mike was willing to put the VNFB knob on the back. I also got all my old cabs back from storage in Arizona, so when the Granophyre arrives, I'll have a lot of options to test it through.
 
Kwtrucker10 said:
The Granophyre is more Marshall like than anything modern I've played. The KSR stuff doesn't come as close as the Omega stuff feels like a real amp that hasn't been choked to death. Definitely recommend using the h75. I actually just ordered my matching 412 today. Dv-77/ v30 x pattern. I am actually curious how the Granophyre would react with KT88s. Mine is currently loaded with 6L6. I've been thinking about trying something to make it bark just a bit more British sounding.
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That's great to hear. I got my new one coming with 6CA7's so hopefully has a mix of 6L6 and EL34 sounds. I also just got all my old cabinets out of storage in Arizona so I've got a lot of options to test it through, including:
  • '87 Jubilee cab w/ original Marshall V30's
  • '76 Marshall cab w/ Blackback G12M's
  • Suhr oversized 2x12 with H75 Creambacks
  • Marshall 1936 Vintage oversized 2x12 with Marshall V30's
  • Carstens 2x12 w/ Alnico Cream and Weber Blue Dog
  • Diezel oversized 2x12 w/ KT100's
  • Bogner oversized 2x12 w/ H75 and Chinese V30
  • Friedman 4x12 w/ GB+V30 mix
So a lot of choices this time around!
 
hellzington said:
That's great to hear. I got my new one coming with 6CA7's so hopefully has a mix of 6L6 and EL34 sounds. I also just got all my old cabinets out of storage in Arizona so I've got a lot of options to test it through, including:
  • '87 Jubilee cab w/ original Marshall V30's
  • '76 Marshall cab w/ Blackback G12M's
  • Suhr oversized 2x12 with H75 Creambacks
  • Marshall 1936 Vintage oversized 2x12 with Marshall V30's
  • Carstens 2x12 w/ Alnico Cream and Weber Blue Dog
  • Diezel oversized 2x12 w/ KT100's
  • Bogner oversized 2x12 w/ H75 and Chinese V30
  • Friedman 4x12 w/ GB+V30 mix
So a lot of choices this time around!
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That's awesome. I think I need to order a second h75 for my KSR 212 HW. I'm really excited and looking forward to this Omega 412 with DV-77 and v30s. It's been a few years since I actually have played through v30s. The DV77 sould darken up the sound and keep the spikiness of the treble manageable. I love Mesa v30s. Haven't ever played anything other than the Mesa ones. I was actually happy to know the Granophyre is more like a Marshall, I always thought I wouldn't like a Marshall sound. Hot damn, it's actually my favorite sound. Just need a big Mesa Rectifier inspired amp and I'll be fine when I sell the KSR Gemini I have.
 
Meeotch said:
I had a Carstens Grace for a short period of time. That amp ruled, but the lack of effects loop was killing me so I sold it. I hear rumors that he's creating a metal amp, and if he builds it with an effects loop I'm all over it. GREAT builder!
Click to expand...
Was the Grace more Marshall inspired? I would need to save for one of those if he keeps producing it.
 
Kwtrucker10 said:
Was the Grace more Marshall inspired? I would need to save for one of those if he keeps producing it.
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No, I would say it's smoother and darker with more gain on tap compared to your typical Marshall vibe.
 
Meeotch said:
No, I would say it's smoother and darker with more gain on tap compared to your typical Marshall vibe.
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Right. I'm looking for something more Marshally but nothing stupid dark and overgained like monomyth stuff is. Just not for me. I like a good amount of gain but I want to boost it without the amp sounding like dog shit lol.
 
Kwtrucker10 said:
Right. I'm looking for something more Marshally but nothing stupid dark and overgained like monomyth stuff is. Just not for me. I like a good amount of gain but I want to boost it without the amp sounding like dog shit lol.
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Mezzabarba might be up your alley. They’re like Marshall SLOs.
 
Just wait for the new Fryette Ultra lead... Heard it's already in the tone testing phase... But I think the UL woulnt be much anything new features wise except for the midi whom it's already talked ....
 
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