Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: MDV on August 21, 2010, 08:18:30 PM
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Its been a fun week at camp MDV
New amps
JVM410H (Thanks James (man on the edge))
Pitbull CL 100 EQ (thanks Lew)
I decided to aquire some amps to be able to provide a variety of tones on demand for recording people. A marshall type sound was a no-brainer, and I thought I'd take a chance on the VHT.
Both are great amps, the JVM lives up the hype as the best thing marshall have done in decades, but the VHT is something else. Awesome amp. Ultra-tight, very dry but unholy $%&#loads of gain on tap (that never fizzes out), it growls and snarls at you and stays relentlessly clear. I love the sound and how it feels to play it: what you do to the strings is what comes out of the speakers.
My mate is sitting here with me, having just driven down to make the exchange with Lew, utterly bemused as to why he would sell it. I hammered out some generic metal on the Aurora (drop B) with it cranked up a bit (ok, quite a lot) and when I stopped the two of us fell about giggling like little girls at how utterly $%&#ing crushing and generally oustanding it sounded :lol: The only downsides I've found so far are the depth and presence are on the back (DOH!) and its made me wonder what a UL would be like....
Heres a family photo with my Legras and Jacksons (my main guitars)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/DSCF0070.jpg)
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My mate (Ross) says that the Pitbull is a lion in a box, and every time you play a note, it gets an electric shock to its balls, it roars, which is then sent to the cab :lol:
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My mate (Ross) says that the Pitbull is a lion in a box, and every time you play a note, it gets an electric shock to its balls, it roars, which is then sent to the cab :lol:
:lol:
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I deffinately agree with comments to the JVM. I love mine, wish I could find some money so I don't have to sell it.
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... did you ever post pics of that Legra, Mark? I remember the build, but I don't remember ever seeing it.
Looks tasty.
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My mate (Ross) says that the Pitbull is a lion in a box, and every time you play a note, it gets an electric shock to its balls, it roars, which is then sent to the cab :lol:
lol ! Now that really makes me want to try this amp !-)
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... did you ever post pics of that Legra, Mark? I remember the build, but I don't remember ever seeing it.
Looks tasty.
Thanks!
Here it is
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/th_IMG_5124-Edit.jpg) (http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/?action=view¤t=IMG_5124-Edit.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/th_IMG_5133-Edit-1.jpg) (http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/?action=view¤t=IMG_5133-Edit-1.jpg)
(http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/th_IMG_5152-Edit.jpg) (http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l198/D_Man666/?action=view¤t=IMG_5152-Edit.jpg)
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I deffinately agree with comments to the JVM. I love mine, wish I could find some money so I don't have to sell it.
Seems to me that it actually does what they tried to do with the TSL: a marshall that can do old school marshall sounds and take it into hot rodded marshall or more 'modern' sounds as well. It does so very well (where the TSL failed dismally to do anything right at all). I wouldnt go for it as my own personal amp, but I know that those that like such sounds will lap it up, which is kind of the point. That said, I expect I'll play it for my own amusment regularly enough as well, but the pitbull is the star of the show for me now, followed by the powerball.
Theres an MJW Roadstar just barely in shot as well; got that a while ago, didnt really get on with it.
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Clips or it didn't happen!!!
Mark are you still going to get that ENGL e570 preamp?
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Photographic evidence isnt enough these days?
Probably not at this rate. The E570 would be a refinement of the powerballs sound, and I've become quite good at dialing in and recording that, so theres no pressing need for the smallish-ish improvement.
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Wow, excellent - happy NAW.
& this is a great description of the VHT...
... but the VHT is something else. Awesome amp. Ultra-tight, very dry but unholy $%&#loads of gain on tap (that never fizzes out), it growls and snarls at you and stays relentlessly clear.
...how utterly $%&#ing crushing and generally oustanding it sounded :lol: The only downsides I've found so far are the depth and presence are on the back (DOH!) and its made me wonder what a UL would be like....
I've played one before & rate it as the best amp I ever tried. If money was no object I'd buy an Ultralead in a heartbeat.
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Thanks
I'm really curious about the UL now too. I suspect if the price was right I'd buy one instantly. I'd pay full new asking price as well, if I had the cash spare. But I'm loving the CL, so its not a pressing concern.
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Bear in mind that neither the CLX or UL are 'better' amps. They just have a different preamp to the CL and one extra channel (a dedicated clean). The preamps in the CLX and UL are the same, too - the difference being KT88 in the UL and EL34 in the CLX. The CL is more 'forgiving' and 'saggy' than either the CLX or UL, though - but alot less so than the Deliverance.
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I know its not 'better' but even tighter and less forgiving would be nice.
Not that I need it atm, I'm very happy with the amps I have. I'd like a 6550 power amp to play the pres of each through, but I'll cross that bridge if and when I come to it, I've got a large variety of awesome tones here. More than enough to be getting on with.
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Looks like someones been having fun! :D
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Damn you! I'm happy with my 5150-II. I'm happy with my 5150-II. I'm happy with my 5150-II.
GAH!
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nice!
i agree about the jvm, i was pleasantly surprised when i tried it.
and vhts (fryettes) are great, just a shame they're so dear here.
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It has indeed been fun here
Really pleased with the selection of amps; they all do their own thing, they all do at least one thing very, very well and theres little overlap between them. Its great.
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nice!
i agree about the jvm, i was pleasantly surprised when i tried it.
and vhts (fryettes) are great, just a shame they're so dear here.
If you think they're deer here don't look at the actual american prices! Iirc, the UL sells for 3500/3800 dollars, we get it for 2600 quid! 8)
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er... that's cheaper than here, surely? :lol: (but not as much cheaper as I'd have thought, to be fair)
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Sorry if I'm missing something :oops: you mean accounting for the exchange rate, right? That would leave a difference of 350quid (3500usd=2250gbp) or so profit on an UL. By the time you account for customs and delivery to the UK the distributor probably doesn't make a massive profit. If the exchange rate was fair then we'd be paying alot more! They are expensive amps, though!... and worth every penny imo :-p
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oh yeah, sure, i just meant a straight conversion of the price you'd pay to get one in the US versus the price you'd pay here.
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I've been looking at Fryettes, is there any difference between the CLX and UL besides the tubes as lew said?
How's it compare to the powerball, especially for the br00talz? :D
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I've been looking at Fryettes, is there any difference between the CLX and UL besides the tubes as lew said?
How's it compare to the powerball, especially for the br00talz? :D
The preamps are identical, differences are the power section and that the CLX is 'master built' which means it gets extra attention to the guts and 'carefully selected' valves etc... the CLX is the flagship Fryette. The UL will have more of the VHT/Fryette voice - dry, fast attack etc... than the CLX. I've not found an ENGL that comes anywhere close to a Fryette and I'm quite fond of the Fireball.
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I've been looking at Fryettes, is there any difference between the CLX and UL besides the tubes as lew said?
How's it compare to the powerball, especially for the br00talz? :D
To give a more detailed analysis than just preference (lew ;))
They are pretty much opposite ends of the metal tone scale. The CL is very dry, the PB is very wet. The CL tends toward dark and if you dial in a lot of treble it leas toward runch with bit of sizzle, where the PB has a very much brighter character and always has a somewhat fizzy top end to it. The both have very fast response, but the PB is faster and more aggressive. It also has a lot more gain on tap, but no more than half of it is usable on channel 3 and 4 (it goes to fizz and mush; I use channel 4 most, and with the gain on about 3-4), whereas you can whack the CLs gain right up, and theres a lot of it, but its all good.
Single notes sound fatter on the VHT and the mids are bigger, the whole sound is richer and fuller, whereas teh PB is more cutting and grinding with thinner single note sounds and more blended chords
If you want an extreme modern sound for mechanical, hyper-precise metal then the PB is better. Its bright character lets it stand up to heavy detuning better as well (the CL is tight enough but the top end may lack a little for some tastes/styles). The CL is thicker and more dynamic; you can impart different inflections to notes and chords with pick attack much better, where the PB is a more notes are on or off type thing. The PBs low end is pure thumping chug, and the amp doesnt have a lot of character in the low mids. The lows and low mids of the CL growl and snarl at you much more. The CL is a much nicer amp for leads, but they each have a different character for metal rhythm and I like both.
If their sonic characters are best represented in anything, or if any tones remind me of each, then the PB would be necrophagist (who I believe use engls, and if not they've managed to make something sound very 'engl') and unearth III or either of Misery indexes last two albums (I think they use mesa or peavey, but you could get those tones from a CL as well).
Except the cleans. I like the PBs cleans much better than the ULs; chimier and clearer; the CLs have a darker character and twang a bit too much. As such I currently have the CL red channel dialed in to a middy lead sound (which its great at) and a slightly scooped rhythm on the green, both with the gain on about 7.
Oh, and the PB turns down much better than the CL. The CLs alright at low volumes in the grand scheme of high wattage, high gain amps, but it doesnt come into its own at all until its more than a little loud. The PB comes into its own at a much lower volume and just gets louder, but doesnt really change the character of the sound as it does so.
Due to the characters of the sound, while on their own each amp can be very loud, I wouldnt be surprised if the CL chewed up the PB and spat it out in a 2 guitar live setting. Same with the JVM. But they're all recording amps so I dont care about that. If I were to gig, though, I would use the VHT out of the three of them. I think it would have the best ballance of fitting my style/songs and holding its own on a stage. For my recordings I fully plan to keep using the PB and introduce the CL as well. The JVM will no doubt get a look in, but I mainly got that to be able to provide more classic rock and 'early' metal tones to people I record.
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Very informative, thanks Mark.
Roo
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Quite welcome roo.
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They are pretty much opposite ends of the metal tone scale.
Now I want to hear an A/B clip even more now!!!
Just a thought but couldn't you put kt88s in your CL to get closer the UL, maybe try them in the ENGL too ;)
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I'm not sitting around doing A/B clips, JDC.
I will inevitably record something with each. Just taking a break from mixing probably the best powerball tones I've recorded, and with the permission of the songwriters (its not mine) I'll post that.
The others as and when, so ner!
I could mod the CL, or get it modded, but I dont want to at the moment, it sounds great as it is. I'm just curious about the UL is all - the differences sound like they'd take it even more in a direction I'd like.
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I ain't done any recording for ages, last thing I did was put some drums to a clip that Roo sent me. Found a nice clip of distorted chords on the CL, like damn!!! Best note separation I think I've ever heard.
Had a random idea last night, plug the engl preamp into the VHT power amp and visa versa. My brain has this idea that VHT power amps are the best there is for modern metal, can't remember where I picked that opinion up from.