yep, finally an amp that i can understand using a treble boost on.
you could try a Barb EQ too But man I bet your casino plus TB would be a ripping solo on that thing. Now you can teach your kids all those Black Sabbath Iommi riffs
My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
yeah, on the normal channel, some more EQ may be nice but we'll see. the TMB channel is golden though. nice and loud and lively.
i really did dial down the gain though with the components and used a 12AT7 in the preamp. sort of into the classic rock range now though i'm sure it'll do the scooped metal tones to an extent as well with different voicing. if i want more gain i can just put a 12AX7 in.
i'll also have to check the bias at some point as i don't know how hot the thing is running though it is set up for low B+ voltage right now so i assume pretty cold.
i'm going to do some full volume clips this afternoon as the family's going out and it's my last chance before my vacation ends.
well, i spent a good 4 hours with it this afternoon. i made a couple more tweaks to bring the bass response of the TMB channel into line with that of the normal channel. now it's nice and thick but not overpowering. i also changed the value of the bass pot to get a more usable range.
i did some clips but they're not very good due to my playing and mic'ing. may post them anyway.
both channels come alive with their volumes around 6 or 7.
the normal channel: with single coils, it's nice, punchy and clear. you get a good bluesy response when you dig in. it's meatier and smoother than a vox and more satisfying that anything else i've played that had EL84s. with humbuckers, it doesn't shine quite as much but you do get a nice crunch out of it. turn it up to 8 to get more of the classic marshall thing out of it. i found i liked the tone around 7 or 8. retains the bass but adds nice high end chime. perfectly acceptable headroom for clean tones with single coils.
the TMB channel: again, i set this thing up near the low end of the gain scale and changed a lot of the values away from the "standard" marshall tone stack to reduce the bass response while retaining the mids and highs. i found, with all my changes, i ran the bass on 3-4, mids at 8-9, treble at 5-6. the TMB at a volume of 4 is about the same as the normal channel on 8. thick blues with single coils and lots of drive with humbuckers. keep turning it up and it starts to lose some charm with singles but really gets a classic distortion with the humbuckers. you're pretty much limited to the bridge pickup at this point or it loses too much focus.
i had problems trying to get a good sound out of my casino though. that guitar just has too much bass output. the bridge pickup was fine but i couldn't get a smooth tone out of the neck. just too boomy and not enough headroom. so we'll leave that to the deluxe reverb.
every amp has it's sweet spots.
it took pedals quite well too. my bluesbreaker clone, which is a bright pedal, sounded spectacular. all you'd really need with this amp is a boost or light overdrive and a good fuzz. the rest is all playing dynamics.
now i'm just doing some work to clean up cabinet rattles and it's good to go. there are some vibrations etc. that i won't be able to get rid of, such is the reality of a combo but it's nothing that gets picked up by mics or that would be heard in a band situation.
through my minimass on 9 (anything higher overdrives my mic preamps). i don't have anything suitable to micing high volumes.
Try an SM57, they're cheap, and many sound engineers still swear by them for micing guitar cabs.
I believe the frequency response on those are 40 -15,000 Hz. with an SPL rating of 94dB.
It also has a nice compression effect on loud sounds (it squashes fairly nicely), facilitating the
engineer's job of maintaining consistent recording levels (it works well and is fairly consistent).
I've also been using a Sennheiser e609 with quite similar results (fr 40Hz -18kHz, SPL 150-159db)
Try an SM57, they're cheap, and many sound engineers still swear by them for micing guitar cabs.
I believe the frequency response on those are 40 -15,000 Hz. with an SPL rating of 94dB.
It also has a nice compression effect on loud sounds (it squashes fairly nicely), facilitating the
engineer's job of maintaining consistent recording levels (it works well and is fairly consistent).
I've also been using a Sennheiser e609 with quite similar results (fr 40Hz -18kHz, SPL 150-159db)
- Ian
How would you compare the SM57 with say an MXL 990 condenser mic (or similar)? I know next to nothing about recording, but I would like to start doing my own home recordings. I'm guessing I need a decent mic into a mixer, and depending on the mixer I can recording it there or send it to my computer. No clue about what brands/types are good though. I'd like to spend ideally as little as possible, but still with a little quality in the recordings. Thanks!
Also, ex great job on the amp. Do you have a final picture with the board and electronics installed? I'm really surprised that those recordings went through your minimass, I've heard some people indicate that any attenuator will lead to a tone suck, but I didn't even realize it till I went back and re-read your post. Sounds great.
If idle hands are the devil's workshop, he must not be very productive.
a new TMB channel clip. i changed one value i had modded back to stock to reduce the amount of bass going into the second stage of gain. the bass is still turned down to 2 on this clip. this is the high input with the les paul again. 3, 5, 7, 9 volume. at 9 it's starting to go mushy. 7 is the sweet spot. anywhere from 5 to 7 is good though.
How would you compare the SM57 with say an MXL 990 condenser mic (or similar)? I know next to nothing about recording, but I would like to start doing my own home recordings. I'm guessing I need a decent mic into a mixer, and depending on the mixer I can recording it there or send it to my computer. No clue about what brands/types are good though. I'd like to spend ideally as little as possible, but still with a little quality in the recordings. Thanks!
Hey, it's a cheaply built MIC (but the frequesncy range & SPL levels are fine).
How much are you really expecting from a MIC in that price range. Since you're
on a budget you may want to steer away from Condenser MIC's and try some
Dynamic Mic's instead (until you can afford a real good quality condenser).
Plus you may find that the Dynamic Mic better suits your needs (and hey, I'm
not gonna argue with a good sound engineer, if he wants an SM57 he gets one).
I've also seen a lot of these on guitar cabs Sennheiser MD421
- Ian
Hey, it's a cheaply built MIC (but the frequesncy range & SPL levels are fine).
How much are you really expecting from a MIC in that price range. Since you're
on a budget you may want to steer away from Condenser MIC's and try some
Dynamic Mic's instead (until you can afford a real good quality condenser).
Plus you may find that the Dynamic Mic better suits your needs (and hey, I'm
not gonna argue with a good sound engineer, if he wants an SM57 he gets one).
I've also seen a lot of these on guitar cabs Sennheiser MD421
- Ian
hey, nice, I've seen a lot of MD421's used for VO work....
My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
Comments
you could try a Barb EQ too
i really did dial down the gain though with the components and used a 12AT7 in the preamp. sort of into the classic rock range now though i'm sure it'll do the scooped metal tones to an extent as well with different voicing. if i want more gain i can just put a 12AX7 in.
i'll also have to check the bias at some point as i don't know how hot the thing is running though it is set up for low B+ voltage right now so i assume pretty cold.
i'm going to do some full volume clips this afternoon as the family's going out and it's my last chance before my vacation ends.
i did some clips but they're not very good due to my playing and mic'ing. may post them anyway.
both channels come alive with their volumes around 6 or 7.
the normal channel: with single coils, it's nice, punchy and clear. you get a good bluesy response when you dig in. it's meatier and smoother than a vox and more satisfying that anything else i've played that had EL84s. with humbuckers, it doesn't shine quite as much but you do get a nice crunch out of it. turn it up to 8 to get more of the classic marshall thing out of it. i found i liked the tone around 7 or 8. retains the bass but adds nice high end chime. perfectly acceptable headroom for clean tones with single coils.
the TMB channel: again, i set this thing up near the low end of the gain scale and changed a lot of the values away from the "standard" marshall tone stack to reduce the bass response while retaining the mids and highs. i found, with all my changes, i ran the bass on 3-4, mids at 8-9, treble at 5-6. the TMB at a volume of 4 is about the same as the normal channel on 8. thick blues with single coils and lots of drive with humbuckers. keep turning it up and it starts to lose some charm with singles but really gets a classic distortion with the humbuckers. you're pretty much limited to the bridge pickup at this point or it loses too much focus.
i had problems trying to get a good sound out of my casino though. that guitar just has too much bass output. the bridge pickup was fine but i couldn't get a smooth tone out of the neck. just too boomy and not enough headroom. so we'll leave that to the deluxe reverb.
every amp has it's sweet spots.
it took pedals quite well too. my bluesbreaker clone, which is a bright pedal, sounded spectacular. all you'd really need with this amp is a boost or light overdrive and a good fuzz. the rest is all playing dynamics.
now i'm just doing some work to clean up cabinet rattles and it's good to go. there are some vibrations etc. that i won't be able to get rid of, such is the reality of a combo but it's nothing that gets picked up by mics or that would be heard in a band situation.
normal channel on 3 then 5 then 7. tone on 8. high input.
through my minimass on 9 (anything higher overdrives my mic preamps). i don't have anything suitable to micing high volumes.
this just shows you the gain range really.
i think the TMB channel is still too boomy. the normal channel at volume 7, is nice and tight basswise.
http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/sounds/LP%20-%20Normal%20Channel.mp3
i'm still trying to do single coil samples
edit: removed the TMB clip. i've made more changes so it's not accurate anymore. still getting rid of the boominess.
I believe the frequency response on those are 40 -15,000 Hz. with an SPL rating of 94dB.
It also has a nice compression effect on loud sounds (it squashes fairly nicely), facilitating the
engineer's job of maintaining consistent recording levels (it works well and is fairly consistent).
I've also been using a Sennheiser e609 with quite similar results (fr 40Hz -18kHz, SPL 150-159db)
- Ian
<b><font color="red">CONTACT ME HERE</font>: www.myspace.com/ianvomsaal</b>
♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
How would you compare the SM57 with say an MXL 990 condenser mic (or similar)? I know next to nothing about recording, but I would like to start doing my own home recordings. I'm guessing I need a decent mic into a mixer, and depending on the mixer I can recording it there or send it to my computer. No clue about what brands/types are good though. I'd like to spend ideally as little as possible, but still with a little quality in the recordings. Thanks!
Also, ex great job on the amp. Do you have a final picture with the board and electronics installed? I'm really surprised that those recordings went through your minimass, I've heard some people indicate that any attenuator will lead to a tone suck, but I didn't even realize it till I went back and re-read your post. Sounds great.
7/9/06 LA 1
7/10/06 LA 2
10/21/06 Bridge 1
that's the final shot of the board though i'm still changing component values here and there.
http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/sounds/LP%20-%20TMB%20Channel%20-%204Feb2008.mp3
a new TMB channel clip. i changed one value i had modded back to stock to reduce the amount of bass going into the second stage of gain. the bass is still turned down to 2 on this clip. this is the high input with the les paul again. 3, 5, 7, 9 volume. at 9 it's starting to go mushy. 7 is the sweet spot. anywhere from 5 to 7 is good though.
compared to the last iteration:
http://www3.telus.net/exhausted/18watt/sounds/LP%20-%20TMB%20Channel.mp3
it's a lot closer to where i want it now. i still need to change one more capacitor at the output of the tonestack to trim some more bass out.
and the minimass does suck some high end off. i think the new ones are a bit better though. i've upped the treble on the amp slightly to compensate.
How much are you really expecting from a MIC in that price range. Since you're
on a budget you may want to steer away from Condenser MIC's and try some
Dynamic Mic's instead (until you can afford a real good quality condenser).
Plus you may find that the Dynamic Mic better suits your needs (and hey, I'm
not gonna argue with a good sound engineer, if he wants an SM57 he gets one).
I've also seen a lot of these on guitar cabs Sennheiser MD421
- Ian
<b><font color="red">CONTACT ME HERE</font>: www.myspace.com/ianvomsaal</b>
♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
hey, nice, I've seen a lot of MD421's used for VO work....