Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: _tom_ on April 06, 2009, 06:29:04 PM
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Since getting my HT5, I've been so disappointed with my Laney GH50L. The blackstar has a similar voicing but its much punchier and less fizzy. The laney just sounds flat, dull and grainy in comparison. Could just be preamp valves? I've allready replaced V1 with a jan philips 5751 which helped a bit but its still no good compared to the blackstar :(
btw heres a quick clip of the blackstar, it sounds so much better in the room though - I suck at recording
http://hc.bloodyvelvet.com/files/254/hw2h.mp3
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why not put the blackstar preamp valves in the laney? decide this once and for all - you've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with that thing since you got it. V1 and Phase Inverter tube (V3?) made the most difference preamp in my experiments.
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The blackstar only has 1 preamp valve I think so its not really going to be the same as having a full set. Will try the blackstars one in the phase inverter though.
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what volume and what speakers are you testing them through?
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I was feeling similarly about my JCM800, lol :oops:
I've been playing the Blackstar through the '800 cab though and I think that it's mainly the cab which I don't like. (Vintage 30 + G12H in an open backed cab is rather over-bright it seems!)
I took the 'bright cap' out of the 800 circuit and it helped a bit, but I can't help feeling that I want a big ol' closed back cabinet to get the best.
The JCM800 is a LOT more open sounding and transparent than the Blackstar, but unfortunately also very very bright and somewhat fizzy.
I bet there's a lot of people feeling confused that their little 5W Blackstar seems to be shiteeting all over their Monster amps!
BTW Todge: I can't be sure, but to me that sounds like an SM57, right?
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Yeah its an SM57, the only mic I own. Reckon I'd get better results with a different mic? I cant get it to sound good at all. I prefer recording with Amplitube at the minute because I can get consistently good tones, but want to capture the good sound of my real amps..
Davey, the cab is a G12H30 2x12. Both were at a loud-ish bedroom volume. Not enough to keep up with a drummer but enough to piss my family off :lol:
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Yeah you'd definitely get better results with a different mic. SM57s are great, but only on snare :lol: Nah, they are the "guitar amp" mic for a reason, but I always find that they sound very toppy on their own (and if you look at the frequency response graph of the microphone you'll see why).
I always find i prefer a warmer, more natural tone for guitar, and therefore tend to use warmer, more natural sounding microphones like the AKG C414 or those T.Bone ribbons I was telling you about. The SM57 mixed with them is great because you can add just the right amount of that classic '57 push. I've also had good results mixing the SM57 with a Sennheiser MD421. :)
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yep.. laneys sound like cr@p at bedroom volume
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I dunno, it was loud enough to get rid of some of the fizz and open it up, but its just not as good so far.
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My guess is that its really just volume that the Laney needs to get rid of the fizzys.
800's are just like that too. Sound pure cr@p at home (unless they have been fully tweaked to sound good at low volume - in which case they won't sound much good at volume !).
The HT-5 is shining because it is being played at the volume it was designed for.
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I think you should just sell it Tom. Every month or so you make a thread about how you're not really happy with the Laney, so maybe it's time to let it go and find something else.
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how on earth can something used by Opeth on records and lives sound bad? :P
you're not the first to dislike laneys, i never tried one but i'm curious.
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I sold my GH last month, I'm sad to see it go because it's lead tones give me goosebumps when it's cranked but my house is really old and the GH100L running at half master volume is a 20 tonne wrecking ball. Really, it was just far too loud for it to be usable, and it took me a while to realise that.
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I think you should just sell it Tom. Every month or so you make a thread about how you're not really happy with the Laney, so maybe it's time to let it go and find something else.
haha yeah I know. The thing is when I like it I really like it. Also my dad bought it as a birthday present so I'd feel bad about selling it. Was the same situation when I sold my Fender but that really had to go :P
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how on earth can something used by Opeth on records and lives sound bad? :P
you're not the first to dislike laneys, i never tried one but i'm curious.
Simple - they don't use them.
Well, they do, but they get all their sound from a Boss GT-8 and use the VH100R/GH100L as a 'power amp'
Their tones are definitely, definitely not coming from the amp either way.
But yes... tom try some different preamp tubes, if that doesn't work, i've no idea...
I'm LOVING my HT-DUAL though, it's AWESOME!
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Have you tried running the HT5 preamp into the Laney power amp? That could be fun!
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Well, just my opinion:
1. _tom_s Gh50L clips he made in the past all rule! That amp is great, and I played a GH100L recently and it's amazing!
2. SM57s are great. I have a SM57 and a Sennheiser E609 and a condenser mic, and the 57 is the best. Just very touchy about placement, but it rules for overdriven/distorted guitar
I would keep the GH50L, it's a great amp, and with no band will the HT5 have enough horsepower. Maybe the tubes are done or it needs a rebias. I think you've had those power tubes for a long time now, right?
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I think I'm just cr@p with mic position. Can never get it sounding right.
I will persist because I dont want to get rid of it (and I've liked it for most of the time I've had it), sounded quite good last time I played with a drummer as well. The HT5 should be loud enough for that though so next time I jam with him I'm going to try it.
The power tubes should be fine, they were replaced last August (I think) and havent really been pushed that hard since. I havent replaced the preamp ones (except V1) since I got it though (2-3 years now I think).
Annoying that I cant afford to replace the valves without going into my overdraft :(
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Ok after some more "testing" I think I still like the Laney, its just that as hamfist said, the Blackstar is shining as its at the volume its designed for. When the Laneys cranked more it sounds good, still a bit fizzy but not so bad.
What I dont like about the Blackstar now I've had more time with it is that it doesnt respond very well with varying guitar volumes, doesnt clean up as nicely or as well as the GH. I think I want to get a seperate 1x12 for the Blackstar when I get enough money (I have a car insurance refund coming around May time :)), any suggestions? Was thinking about just getting a cheap Marshall 1912 off ebay or something and sticking a Greenback in it.
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What I dont like about the Blackstar now I've had more time with it is that it doesnt respond very well with varying guitar volumes, doesnt clean up as nicely or as well as the GH.
Sounds a bit like the HT Dual then.........
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Yeah thats the only real negative.
Another thing with my Laney, its really noisy, even with fairly low amounts of gain :( Is that a preamp tube problem or just the amp itself.
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Hey _tom_
I just wanted to chime in for a minute, I had this same problem with my VC100 for a while.
So I changed out the old sovtek tubes with JJ's which everyone was raving about .. and they made it worse! :?
Then I ordered a load of Electro Harmonix's and Shuguangs (good chinese high gain tubes, good for metal) and played around for a while with combo's of them and found tone nirvana :D
My point: Laneys seem to hate some types of tubes, try different ones :p EHX's are very good for me, but maybe slightly fizzy at low volume also.. at high volume that goes away though :)
About the noise: yeah Laneys tend to be slightly noisyish, a good V1 tube makes a lot of difference.
But this is also primarily at low volume with my VC100, at high volume it's not more than any other tube amp. :)
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Yeah I have some of the Svetlana Winged C EL34s which helped the fizz a lot. a Jan Philips 5751 in V1 helped as well. Amps still quite noisy though which is annoying. I dont think any of the tubes are microphonic as I dont get feedback, just background noise/hum. Sometimes sounds a bit "scratchy" as well if that makes sense
What preamp tubes are you using at the minute?
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could anytihing cause electromagnetic interferrence? tube amps tend to not like that. also.. gain at what? do you turn the gain up with any pedals?
when i turn the gain past a certain stage, with or without pedals, it doesnt increase anything but noise.
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At the moment:
Clean: EHX 12AU7 -> EHX 12AX7
Gain: Shuguang V1 -> EHX V1-> Shuguang
(all 12ax7, I use two V1's because my gain is mostly all the way up ;) )
Driver: a balanced EHX 12au7
I don't really have the money to go for any NOS tubes, but these are great. :)
Oh the poweramp tubes are TAD 6l6GC-STR, which are Philips/Sylvania style, nice bass response and a nice top end :)
I suggest you do try and change the pre-amp tubes though, just to see if it makes a difference noise-wise.. scratchy might be a microphonic V2 or something, it doesn't give that much feedback but it is noticeable.
Do you have anything like an adapter for effects or something in the back of the amp? I noticed that it tends to pick up some hum from that. Also you might look at the power for any effects in the effects-loops, I got a nasty squeek from there a while ago :(.