Who is pushing their amps with hot pups and EQ alone?

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Kapo_Polenton

Kapo_Polenton

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Was watching some steve stevens gear videos and listening to the tones he gets. Of course he always sounds killer and seems to swap out OD's fairly regularly. The staples seem to be good lower gain setting on amp (plexis or friedman stuff), hotter pups, and EQ to push his leads. Now his "lower gain/clean" still seems hotter than what I consider that to be but the general approach is the same. Saw that he had either a sniper modded 10 band mxr or simple old GE-7 in some of the more recent demos. What are you guys using that you like? I'm essentially working with JB's and dimarzio SD's. I have a GE-7 but wondered what the benefit would be of trying a 10 band or something by another builder.. I might also try the alums mod as mine is a tad noisy.
 
I haven't used a stomp box distortion in my rig since the 80's when I got a Randall RG120 when I was like 16.
 
Mesa Single Rec>Blackouts>10 band in loop....don't mind the playing...was just a chug vid for a bro in MN. This amp has a boost, but I wasn't using it at the time....I love the MXR 10 band, and mine is always on. Every amp I've tried sounds better with one in the loop, and it's a cheap 'mod' you can do to your tone at $100 give or take. Really lets you control the frequencies that you think are out of control.



This one is from D-Rock on here.....he's running a stock Single Rec and hitting it with EMGs....tuner and a gate in front, but no boost. Actives really hit this amp hard.

 
that is what i will be attempting to do once i get my guitar loaded with ceramic warpig. I do like the feel and the tone of an amp without the boost if i can get the amp there
 
I just use hotter pick ups with no pedals at all....i haven't been able to use EQ's without changing the tone of my amp so I don't bother. I just got rid of the second guitarist so I can solo over a bass with out needing to boost :D
 
sytharnia1560":z4folnmm said:
I just use hotter pick ups with no pedals at all....i haven't been able to use EQ's without changing the tone of my amp so I don't bother. I just got rid of the second guitarist so I can solo over a bass with out needing to boost :D
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I was messing around last night for a good hr and also found this.. i like the crunch I can get but I find the tone of the amp is affected a little too much for chording. Maybe this is why Stevens uses it for leads. I was however running it out front and not in the loop. Not sure whether or not the effect would be more subtle in the loop.. A JB into my 800 (w/ a few minor mods) gives me just about enough gain though so i only need a smidget from any pedal I'll use.
 
When I went away from MIDI rigs back to head/cab setups I decided I wanted as few pedals as possible. I've used the Dimarzio Super 3 bridge for a long time and have made it my staple, only recently incorporating the Crunch Lab bridge into some of my guitars for different tones. That said, I've recently taken a shine to the BOSS FB-2 BOOSTER. Clean boost with a sweepable mid control. I don't have any use for the feedback function but the amount of boost is impressive, and being able to add a bit of a mid peak really helps push solos to the front.
 
I used to use a clean boost to slap the input of my Marshall DSL100. I quit doing that when I got my current head because it really doesn't need it. Since then, I've moved my boost after my Ibanez analog delay in my FX loop. That delay really cuts the volume and mellows out the gain, and the boost brings them both back. I've never used an EQ, but I would assume it would be far LESS subtle in the FX loop.
 
Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm a hot pickup guy. I have an Anderson HN3+ in my SG and it melts cheap cables.
 
define hot?

I prefer lower to mid output pickups myself. JB, Super Distortion, Duncan Custom etc. It leaves plenty of gain for me. I do use an SD1 and GE7 in front of the 2203 but use no dirt pedals on the 101B, SPlawn QR, Mesa/Boogie DC5 or the VHT 50CL
 
Shawn Lutz":1zov5qmj said:
define hot?

I prefer lower to mid output pickups myself. JB, Super Distortion, Duncan Custom etc. It leaves plenty of gain for me. I do use an SD1 and GE7 in front of the 2203 but use no dirt pedals on the 101B, SPlawn QR, Mesa/Boogie DC5 or the VHT 50CL
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The pups you mentioned I would consider "hot"... by the sounds of it some of the builders now are winding crazy hot pups!
 
I used the empress para eq this way and dropped overdrives. I ran it at 18 volts for max headroom.

Used the eq to shape the distortion any way I liked and the boost function to drive those bands into earlier distortion. Worked wonderfully and sounded better than the overdrives.

Subsequently used a vfe rocket eq with boost the same way. Also great.
 
I like low output pickups with a boost into a Super Lead or 800 style amp for my main sound. When I switch to something with hotter pickups, I like that too in a different way. A JB sounds cool, a Super Distortion sounds cool, a Duncan Custom sounds really cool.

I don't know, like many others, I am always trying to dial in the same type of sound no matter what gear I have.
 
Chubtone":3mehrd58 said:
I like low output pickups with a boost into a Super Lead or 800 style amp for my main sound. When I switch to something with hotter pickups, I like that too in a different way. A JB sounds cool, a Super Distortion sounds cool, a Duncan Custom sounds really cool.

I don't know, like many others, I am always trying to dial in the same type of sound no matter what gear I have.
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Chubtone, what rig are you running these days anyways? charvels I know but what amp, speakers, pups, and boosts?
 
Chubtone":1nhzphdk said:
I like low output pickups with a boost into a Super Lead or 800 style amp for my main sound. When I switch to something with hotter pickups, I like that too in a different way. A JB sounds cool, a Super Distortion sounds cool, a Duncan Custom sounds really cool.

I don't know, like many others, I am always trying to dial in the same type of sound no matter what gear I have.
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I agree, both methods accomplish similar results in the end and I'm the same way. :lol: :LOL:
 
Kapo_Polenton":1itz0f4r said:
Chubtone, what rig are you running these days anyways? charvels I know but what amp, speakers, pups, and boosts?
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What I have been playing the most lately are the little Randall RD Diavlo heads and the 5150 III 50 watter. The Randall is the RD5H 5 watt head. That little thing cracks me up. I don't know what Mike Fortin did to the RD series for 2013, but before that I didn't like the RD series at all.

Anyway with those amps, I don't need to use a boost at all. My other more Marshall based amps or the Marshalls themselves I boost always.

My favorite two real Marshalls right now are my '72 Super Lead and my '83 2204. EQ pedals into the front of the Super Lead and SD-1 or TS-9 into the front of the 800. I am basically using exactly what I was using when I was 17 and trying to buy the right gear to get a cool tone.

I haven't been playing the other amps as much lately. I go through stages and right now if I could only keep one amp, it would be the '72 Super Lead. If I was gigging and could only have 1 amp it would be the 5150 III 50 watter.
 
Don't use boost for crunch but most always hit an OD for leads. :rock:
 
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