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In my experience, it helps to have a cabinet made from pine as well. I'd guess that the new Ampegs are plywood of some description.
I have two amps, a Victoria Regal that is pine, and a rehoused Fender Super Champ XD.
The original Super Champ has a plywood cabinet and a 10" speaker. The one I use has a JD Newell Pine cabinet and a 12" speaker. It makes a huge difference in the sound, and at 15 watts covers a whole lot of gigs in what is still a very small package.
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02-10-2011 05:37 PM
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...and i hope they stay that way so i can afford one soon.
Originally Posted by caravan
in fact...gibson amps are really TERRIBLE! its all about Roland Cubes and ZZ Lunchboxes for TONE!!! (wink)
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Excellent point! If you got another amp, you might not sound too different... Originally Posted by Flyin' Brian
A recording engineer once reset the tone controls on my Fender tube amp. It pissed me off. He told me to hear it before I reset it. The amp sounded more transparent and the notes more balanced. The amp sound much more like that 50's early 60's tone. He claimed engineers ruled the roost in the studios back in the 50's and 60's - and this is how they set them.
He dailed in 2 for Bass; 3 for Mid; 6 Treble, and 3 for Reverb. He claimed I should always start a new venue with these values and bump them up or down a notch to adjust for ambiance dampening. These settings not only consider the flat settings of the amp tone stack, but also the dynamics of how each string vibrates and how it affects the pick up signal strength to the amp. Simply put your amp brethes best on these setting.
Rick
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Great info, Rick! Originally Posted by MellowYellow
You're new. Welcome!
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Thanks for the warm welcome, Bones! Originally Posted by Stackabones
Here is a little more techincal explaination on basic Fender amp settings and why.
http://www.singlecoil.com/docs/magic-six.pdf
Rick
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That's really sweet. Gonna send that to my Dad, too. He's a Fender man. Originally Posted by MellowYellow
Wondering about my little Super Champ XD. Only has Treble and Bass, no Mid?
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Thanks for the info rick. I will chime in that a rule of thumb for fender amps is 6-6-6 (yeah yeah.. I know). Work it from there.
If I get a chance tonight I might fire up the tone stack calculator and actually see what that does.
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The formula still works for a tone stack without a Mid: "2" for Bass, "6" treble. Originally Posted by Stackabones
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I just cannot buy that the same "magic" settings work on every Fender amp without taking into account the speaker size, speaker type (i.e. Jenson vs JBL), wattage, transformers, the guitar's inherent tone and pickup type, the room, the guitar's tone controls, the string thickness, the pick thickness, the bridge saddle type (metal vs wood), string type (flats vs rounds), where the player picks (over the neck pickup vs bridge), etc etc. FYI: A student of mine had a friend who saw George Benson sit in at a club. Benson plugged into the Fender Twin and set it at Treble 0, Mid 10, and Bass 0. I remember that Benson said in an interview that Grant Green also set them this way. Lets face it, we are all going after different tones that we hear in our heads. I wouldn't put too much stock in a "one size fits all" tone setting. Most recording engineers don't know good guitar tone anyway.
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I'll try it out! Originally Posted by MellowYellow
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Dont overthink it... Rick said start with X settings and tweak to taste. Originally Posted by Bebop Tom
That said, look at the tone stack for a Deluxe reverb vs a Showman. Totally different amps. Same tone values. Why didnt fender adjust the values for one amp that is 2X6v6s into 1x12 open back vs 4X6l6 and a 1x15 closed back? The reason is simple. The knobs turn. Start at 6s and take it from there.
A friend who was a recording engineer taught me differently. Set your volume to 4, all controls to 0. Start with the bass and turn it up till you hit that sweet spot. Do the same with the mids.. then the treble. Once you are done roll the bass off a hair. Always worked for me.
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Hi Rick. You didn't mention what Fender amp you were using? A Deluxe reverb is brighter than a Deluxe Tweed for instance and even more than a 50's Ampeg. Originally Posted by MellowYellow
Sound engineers tend to think in terms of "cutting through the mix", especially in the 50-60's when mixing boards were so limited. And it's true that 60's pop albums did have that very bright Fender Twin tone you have with this EQ dialing. They were looking for mix clarity more than for jazz guitar warmth and thickness. I'm certain you wouldn't get that thick, dark, round, smokey, sound of Kenny Burrell's on "Soul Lament" with this tone dialing. But it is the guitar sound of pop hits.
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I have several Fender amps it works well on. My main amp is a Super-Sonic. The other amps: Black Face Super Reverb, Silver Face BandMaster w/ Reverb and custom 15" JBL cabinet, a SF Champ, and my old Black Face Super Reverb. They all are fitted with vintage vacuum tubes (Raytheon, RCA, Mullards, etc.) I love the tone of the 50's. I even wire my guitars to "Gibson 50's" wiring and use paper capacitors (modern film type), Pymamid strings. So, I do everything I can for that tone.
On the other hand, I saw Joe Pass play with Ocar Peterson back in the mid 70's. He sounded better than any guitarist I ever heard. Checking out his gear, it was a plain jane ES-175 and a solid state Polytone amp, which he carried with two fingers!
Joe Pass could sound good playing a rubberband. I cant'. So, I try everything to improve my tone.
You fine fellows have good weekend!
Rick
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