Amp talk.

[Chris Cavera]

Nice. What's in it? How's the sound? You use the DS-1 right? Ever try it with an overdrive?

-C

[leon]

it's loaded with V30's, so in conjunction with the JCM800-clone circuitry of the Mig 100, you'd think you were standing infront of an old Marshall if you had your eyes closed.

yeah, running the DS-1 infront of it compresses it very nicely, and gives it a more dirty edge. now that i've got a decent cab for it, i'll have to throw my Maxon OD808 & BadMonkey infront of it. they didn't sound so great when i ran it into my $40 2x12, but this should be a different story, for sure.

[Chris Cavera]

My interests seem to cycle over the course of a year. I'm now coming out of my video game obsession and getting a bad case of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). It started with a desire to update my guitar rig. The current tone is good and I like it, but I'm always in search of the perfect tone. I thought maybe I'd try a DS-1 instead of the current Super Overdrive. Then I thought, since I'm going to spend $40 bucks on a pedal, I might as well get a whole new amp (even though I don't even have the $40 for the DS-1). I've been doing some research and so far I like:

Engl Fireball - Looks like a no-frills death metal machine. Perfect.

ISP Theta - I don't know too much about this one but the reviews that I've read are very interesting. They say it's pretty much the most perfect amp ever built with the best clean and distortion sounds ever heard by human ears. I really like the ISP Decimator and I'm curious about this new amp. I found a few sound clips that are promising. It is Solid State which makes me skeptical, but in the end who cares if it sounds awesome. And it would be nice not having to worry about tubes for a change.

Krank Revolution - I like the dark sound of the Krank amps. If they're good enough for Deathclock they're good enough for me.

I'm looking for a tone that is a compromise between rhythm playing and soloing. I like a nice warm sound with MIDS, no nu-metal scooped sounds for me. Like I said the Laney sounds fine, but I feel it's a bit shrill at higher volumes. And to achieve the desired amount of distortion, I pretty much have to pin the gain and drive on both the amp and the overdrive pedal. This results in large amounts of feedback, hum, ad hiss which the Decimator takes care of for the most part. But if you look at it wrong it will scream at you. For now I do not plan on selling anything. Anybody want guitar lessons?

[leon]

i've heard good things about the Fireball, but that it's a one trick pony. the Powerball offering probably has a bit too many frills.

stay CLEAR of Krank. they sound terrible. when you try one, you'll hear it, and you'll move on

i need to get you to try out my Mesa Nomad, and my DS-1, and my modded-up DS-1. and my Sovtek, while we're at it LOL.

but yeah, the Nomad is great. three useable channels, each with plenty of gain on tap, and completely f**king cool paired with my G-Major. what are you doing this Sunday?

[Chris Cavera]

Sunday I have lessons from noon to 2:30, but after that I'd be free to shred and add fuel to my GAS.

-C

[leon]

sweet. i've got practice (at Bruce's musical pad of Dangerous Stairs) later in the day (i assume) on Sunday, but i can come out in the afternoon \m/

[Chris Cavera]

Did you want to meet at my house or at Candy Mountain (aka frozen lawsuit stairs)?

[leon]

well, if i end up having practice, if we could do it atop the Ascent Of Neckbraces, that'd be cool, and much easier for me.

if i don't end up having practice, i can run down to your place. i can give you a call once it's figured out LOL.

[Chris Cavera]

Yeah, my house is damp, cramped and full of babies. It would be better to meet atop the "Icy Climb of Bruised Shins". We can get the key if Bruce is at work and let ourselves in.

-C

[Chris Cavera]

Many thanks to Leon for hauling his gear to Candy Mountain so I could try it out. It all sounded great. I think my favorite sound was the MIG or the MESA paired with the mod-DS-1.

I think I've further narrowed my search to 3 potential amps:

ENGL FIREBALL
MESA DUAL REC (Hope it doesn't sound too nu-metaly)
ISP THETA

I will attempt to describe the tones I'm looking for: I'm looking for 3 sounds. Once I gather funds and sell some stuff I should have about $1500 to spend on a head.

1. I'd like a full-on distortion sound and from what I've heard, the Engl Fireball I think is the best so far (at least as far as rhythm parts go). I can't tell much from the sound clips of the Theta but I have high hopes. I'm looking for a thick warm distortion that is not too scooped or muddy. I need something that will track fast picking in the lower register and have a nice juicy pick attack on the higher notes for soloing. Basically I'm looking for a tone that is a good compromise for both rhythm and soloing, leaning more towards the soloing end. I've found it can be difficult to get a sound that does both well. A nice fully saturated complex distortion that is clear and warm at high volumes, with plenty of mids. It would be nice if I didn't have to use a compressor or hotplate. My Laney comes close, but it's just too noisy at higher volumes. You can barely tell what's going on when the things cranked. I've owned several digital devices that come close but they lack the complexity and "real" sound of a tube amp especially at stage volumes. If you listen to a nice cranked tube tone it's almost as if there's a slight wah on some of the notes. I guess this is due to the harmonic content. Loud, clear, thick, warm, and complex leaning away from a scooped modern sound and more towards an 80's sound with some mids. Too much to ask from a head with no extras?

2. In between Sound. When I was younger I thought there were two basic amp sounds...clean and dirty. Lately I've been looking for a sound that sits right in between. Ideally it would be very responsive to picking with a wide dynamic range. Something that will both whisper and shout and also sound beautiful and full with chords. I’m thinking of the tune entitled “Frank” from Steve Vai’s Ultrazone (sounds like a deodorant). Perhaps a little like some of the Van Halen sounds in the post-Roth mid to late 80’s period (I don’t care for their records from that era but I dig some of the guitar tones). I’m not talking about an edgy, sharp, bluesy sound. But more of an even mellow tone that’s half clean, and half distorted and not twangy. I’ll end up adding tiny amounts of flange, reverb, and delay to make it nice and liquid smooth. This will be a basic sound suited for solo guitar playing that contains full chords, bass lines, and melodies.

3. Clean. I suppose I would want something mellow and not too over the top as far as “chime” goes. A good tube-clean sound that has low and high end but not much in the mid-range. I’m thinking of an obscure example but perhaps some of you have heard it…it’s Buckethead’s clean tone from the Praxis album Transmutation. It’s just before his big solo at the end of Track 4, Animal Behavior. Very basic and classic sound.

So far it seems like the Theta is the best choice to cover all these tones…at least this is what the various reviews seem to suggest. I’m planning on going up to MI to play one sometime soon. I also need to know if there’s anyone in the NW Ohio area that has the Fireball or the Dual Rectifier so I can try those out (with my cab of course).

It seems somewhat pointless trying to describe a guitar tone online like this using various adjectives, but hopefully I can contact some people who own these amps and are familiar with the CD examples that I mentioned.

-Chris

[Chris Cavera]

Just found a neat site where you can compare some raw (really raw) amp tones:

www.proguitar.de/AudioDemo/CompareAmps/CompareAmps.html

[Chris Cavera]

Carvin V3...anybody ever played one of these? They're fairly inexpensive.

-C

[leon]

i've heard that the V3 will "leave you wanting". the fact that channels 2 and 3 are exactly the same is a pretty sweet idea, but i haven't heard many other good things about them.

as far as Recto's go, i've tried the Single (50w), and it sounded pretty nice, even at fairly low volumes. the Dual, the older 2 channel ones are the ones to get. they're the ones without the nu-metal scoop. it sucks that Mesa did that to a great amp, but i'm sure they sold more amps with it that way, since most people love that sound. shame i'm not one of them LOL.

there's currently a 3 channel Dual Rec @ GC in Toledo. also, for some serious GAS, check out the two Rivera amps at Richard's Music, on Central Ave, in Toledo. they have the Knuckle Tre halfstack, and the Chubster. they flat out rule, but are mondo expensive

[Chris Cavera]

Yeah I think I've done about all I can online. It's a bit maddening trying to listen to samples and get opinions. I'm getting tired of reading all the adjectives out there...thick, warm, crunchy, smooth, glassy, screaming, ballsy, gritty. It's pretty much pointless and I want to hear this stuff for myself. I just hate going to music stores to play amps because I feel like I'm on display. But maybe I'll head up to "The Center" soon and check out the dual. While I'm at it I'll call around the other music stores in the area and see what they have. I really want to try a Theta!

-C

[leon]

there's usually no one in Richard's, but, also nearly no one who knows much about the Rivera's in there LOL.

also, be kinda prepared for the Dual Rec to kinda suck, because last i recall it wasn't paired up with a great cab, and it had stock (read: lifeless) Mesa tubes in it. they can sound great, but you have to put new tubes in them... so, i know that doesn't make it any easier , but at least with the stock tubes in there, it'll give you a loose, flabby, fizzy idea of where the Dual Rec can go.

or, you could just get the Mesa Roadster, and be done

[/Mesa fanboy mode]