Just Showing Off Me Gear Really

[indysmith]

Pretty much overkill for a bedroom setup :P
Amps:

got the v-twin to go with my old MG50DFX (which my friend Will has for some reason), to try and make it sound more valveular if that's a word. It just made it really muddy. The mud made me want a '80s Marshall so i got the JCM800. The minimat is Will's - i've had it for about a year now, so i don't know if we're ever gonna swap amps back. i don't have a problem if we don't though - been using it a lot lately for SRV tones. - great with the sd1/808. I got the peavey poweramp recently to go with the V-twin for when i crave tones heavier or more modern than the jcm800 is inclined to go. I'm very impressed with it actually - with all three amps i've found i can really nail a lot of tones now.
Pedals:

The Analogman SD1/808 i got off of Willo. It's great, does everything i need it to do. I use the 808 mode a lot more, but the sd-1 mode sounds nice into the already burning jcm800 for an 80's metal tone. Got the Fulltone Fat Boost off of Skybone - fantastic pedal. Use it a LOT; it just seems to make the amps sound better, whatever setting they are on, it can always enhance - love it. The FETs add a nice load of even-order harmonics. The e.q. is a bit lame really- havent used it for a while. I used to like to use it for adding a mid hump, but it was noisy in front of the amp, and the 808 does that well enough. The v-twin is cool for mesa tones - i never used to like it at all, but with this peavey i'm incredibly impressed, all three channels are more than good, however i do find it to be a little scooped (although i expect it from a mesa).
Guitars:

The ibanez came first. Nailbomb in the bridge. My favourite out of the three in the pics - if i really think about it it's my favourite out of any guitar i've played. It feels and sounds stunning. Need to upgrade the other pups to BKPs in the future though. Irish tour in the middle, and a cold sweat in the neck methinks. The LPs came the same time - I ordered the Greco off of eBay - it is fantastic, with a nitro finish, long neck tennon, SD '59s, FAT 50s neck... The H.S. Anderson i got from ym local music shop for £60 pretty much just because it was £60. I've seen them on the internet selling for £600 though since. This one won't be worth that since it has been modified quite significantly for the accommadation of a soapbar pickup as opposed to a dogear one. No idea why but it doesn't bother me :)

[BloodMountain]

yeah cool setup. nice guitars, amps and effects. much better than my 100% beginner setup.
hows your JCM800 combo? good? is the onboard distortion very high gain?

thanks dude. btw, i'm not going to say anything else in this forum except questions from now on. i keep getting things wrong, especially about the marshalls. i'm too inexperienced to give opinions.

[indysmith]

Dude it's fine to have opinions on stuff you really know about, before i just thought your statement was sweeping a bit...

The JCM800 is fantastic. I think of it as my main amp and use it more than any of the others. It is relatively low gain when compared with many of today's amps. am i right in saying that you own a MG250DFX? the highest gain this does (with master and preamp on full) is about the 11o'clock mark on that amp. Driving the front end of a jcm800 really kicks it up a notch - if you own an 800, you really need an overdrive or a boost, aswell as an attenuator. Mine is the 50W version and waaaay too loud for even quite large halls.

[noodleplugerine]

Nice setup man.

Will do one of these threads when I have enough for a new amp.

Just want Phil to do one now :P

[TwilightOdyssey]

Nice rig you got there!

Adding OD in front of the JCM800 is definitely the move.

[indysmith]

Just want Phil to do one now :P

Yeah, that'd be nice Phil, when you've got a spare month or two...!

[TwilightOdyssey]

Oh, I have a question as well:

How do you like the Fat Boost with the 800? I know you said it's fantastic (I like the Fat Boost, too). Do you use it through the front for more gain, or through the FX loop as a solo boost?

[BloodMountain]

Dude it's fine to have opinions on stuff you really know about, before i just thought your statement was sweeping a bit...

The JCM800 is fantastic. I think of it as my main amp and use it more than any of the others. It is relatively low gain when compared with many of today's amps. am i right in saying that you own a MG250DFX? the highest gain this does (with master and preamp on full) is about the 11o'clock mark on that amp. Driving the front end of a jcm800 really kicks it up a notch - if you own an 800, you really need an overdrive or a boost, aswell as an attenuator. Mine is the 50W version and waaaay too loud for even quite large halls.

ok then... i jump to too many conclusions.

sounds like a great amp, although i wish you could get an amp that doesn't need an attenuator to sound good..... but if i'm looking for a tube amp, then i doubt that i will find one.
i doubt my 250DFX will sound anything like your JCM800! i haven't used the distortion built in for over a year now because i hate it so. even after an hour of tweaking, i had made no improvements. i know you're talking about the level of gain, but the distortion channel on the 250 has it's own voice, which tends to overpower your settings.
oh dear, i think i might be wrong again. don't shout at me!

BM

[indysmith]

Oh, I have a question as well:

How do you like the Fat Boost with the 800? Do you use it through the front for more gain, or through the FX loop as a solo boost?

This '800 hasn't got none of that newfangled effects-loop business.
I use it to drive the front end - it's the best pedal in the world as far as I'm concerned. It retains ALL of the original tone of the amp; completely transparent! It has a huge amount of dB boost, which really makes the amp 'feel' cranked even at moderate bedroom volumes. The harmonics it adds seem to bring the amp to life. I've tried it thru a few amps now and the fatboost just seems to make every amp sound the same, but somehow richer. I can't recommend it enough. If your looking for a real puritans pedal this is it.
It has FET clipping, which makes it very open, and i think the FETs provide a very nice balance between the bite of a transistor and the smooth natural tone of a valve.
It has a couple of really nice features that i didn't expect;
The drive pot is dented in 11 positions to give easy position setting; when you move it it crackles a lot, but apparently this is the rebiasing of the FETs. The other thing is that the tone control is also dented in the middle, but if you turn it all the way it is cut out of the circuit. I really like the added brightness of this option in certain contexts.
I daresay it brings low-gain jcm800 tones a bit further into plexi territory.

[indysmith]

sounds like a great amp, although i wish you could get an amp that doesn't need an attenuator to sound good..... but if i'm looking for a tube amp, then i doubt that i will find one.

i really know what you mean - but I'm afraid that with a lot of amps, (sure many people on here will agree) it is an absolute necessity.
On the brighter side of things, tell me if i'm wrong but you seem to sway towards more modern music, which is far more reliant on preamp valve clipping than poweramp valve clipping. This means that with a more modern, compressed sounding amp such as an ENGL (which i think you should consider when amp shopping), you can get very good tones keeping the master down and the preamp up, meaning low volume.
The GH50L you are considering has a far more organic tone, but it will need to be cranked to get the best out of it.

[BloodMountain]

sounds like a great amp, although i wish you could get an amp that doesn't need an attenuator to sound good..... but if i'm looking for a tube amp, then i doubt that i will find one.

i really know what you mean - but I'm afraid that with a lot of amps, (sure many people on here will agree) it is an absolute necessity.
On the brighter side of things, tell me if i'm wrong but you seem to sway towards more modern music, which is far more reliant on preamp valve clipping than poweramp valve clipping. This means that with a more modern, compressed sounding amp such as an ENGL (which i think you should consider when amp shopping), you can get very good tones keeping the master down and the preamp up, meaning low volume.
The GH50L you are considering has a far more organic tone, but it will need to be cranked to get the best out of it.

this is as i feared. i knew that the GH50L wouldn't be as good at low volumes.
i LOVE the ENGL Fireball, but it's slightly too pricey.
my favourite sound is Matamp, i've been looking at the First Lady model, but the one thats the same price, without reverb and with higher gain. i've forgotten the model name though.

BM

[_tom_]

this is as i feared. i knew that the GH50L wouldn't be as good at low volumes.
i LOVE the ENGL Fireball, but it's slightly too pricey.
my favourite sound is Matamp, i've been looking at the First Lady model, but the one thats the same price, without reverb and with higher gain. i've forgotten the model name though.

BM

Considered a Tiny Terror? Maybe not modern enough for your tastes though but clips on www.soundclick.com/zeriton show it has no problem doing Dream Theater.

[nfe]

this is as i feared. i knew that the GH50L wouldn't be as good at low volumes.
i LOVE the ENGL Fireball, but it's slightly too pricey.
my favourite sound is Matamp, i've been looking at the First Lady model, but the one thats the same price, without reverb and with higher gain. i've forgotten the model name though.

BM

Considered a Tiny Terror? Maybe not modern enough for your tastes though but clips on www.soundclick.com/zeriton show it has no problem doing Dream Theater.

I've been playing our tiny terror in the shop a lot, and i'd happily gig it plus a tubescreamer playing with my thrash band.

[willo]

Ah, my old pedal! And my old attenuator!

And the same amp (but the 50W version). Happy times  :)

[indysmith]

Ah, my old pedal! And my old attenuator!

And the same amp (but the 50W version). Happy times  :)

gear brothers 8)
weird since we have extremely contrasting styles.