The Tone Thread

[Lt. Bob]

For me the final results are clear. I'm ripping mine apart and building it like Boob's.

not really huh?

The differences are subtle ... they're there but it's not like it's night and day ...... and with the feedback off mine's gonna be more aggressive .... oh shit, that'd be something to add to yours!

[Greg_L]

not really huh?

The differences are subtle ... they're there but it's not like it's night and day ...... and with the feedback off mine's gonna be more aggressive .... oh shit, that'd be something to add to yours!

There are a lot of things I think I did better on your build. Not even "tone" things, just the build. So I wanna update some of that on mine. And while I'm in there I'll go with Orange Drops or maybe some Mallorys.

[Lt. Bob]

not really huh?

The differences are subtle ... they're there but it's not like it's night and day ...... and with the feedback off mine's gonna be more aggressive .... oh shit, that'd be something to add to yours!

There are a lot of things I think I did better on your build. Not even "tone" things, just the build. So I wanna update some of that on mine. And while I'm in there I'll go with Orange Drops or maybe some Mallorys.

well .... you already have the orange drops

[Greg_L]

well .... you already have the orange drops

You don't want them back? I'll use them up for sure if you don't want them.

I've got a Bassman to do for myself when all this is said and done.

[rayc]

I decided to try, again, to suss out the tones of my Harley Benton 12 string.
Into my Marshall preamp at about 6 and PPMV at 2.5. Mids & His at max.
Through a cheap Behringer compressor, a DC9, with output at unity-ish and sensitivity at max.
The comp clearly adds some top end so, sort of, does a JangleBox thing.
I've done some reading & listening and the comp at max clamp is highly recommended.
The 1st three passes are without the comp...moving from bridge to both to neck pick up.
Then the comp is engaged.
The amp isn't loud enough to feedback but is loud enough to ring on for a bit.

12 stringing.mp3

Thoughts & recommendations welcome.

[Greg_L]

I decided to try, again, to suss out the tones of my Harley Benton 12 string.
Into my Marshall preamp at about 6 and PPMV at 2.5. Mids & His at max.
Through a cheap Behringer compressor, a BC9, with output at unity-ish and sensitivity at max.
The comp clearly adds some top end so, sort of, does a JangleBox thing.
I've done some reading & listening and the comp at max clamp is highly recommended.
The 1st three passes are without the comp...moving from bridge to both to neck pick up.
Then the comp is engaged.
The amp isn't loud enough to feedback but is loud enough to ring on for a bit.
12 stringing.mp3
Thoughts & recommendations welcome.

I like what the compressor does to that guitar and sound. It is a good jangley sound.

[Lt. Bob]

well .... you already have the orange drops

You don't want them back? I'll use them up for sure if you don't want them.

I've got a Bassman to do for myself when all this is said and done.

I don't have a use for them so just keep 'em and use 'em

[Lt. Bob]

sounds mo' better with the comp

[Greg_L]

I don't have a use for them so just keep 'em and use 'em

[JD01]

The compressor is a bit improvement - was way to dark and muffled before that. Sounds better on the bridge pickup to me.

[rayc]

Thanks James, Lt Bob & Greg. I should probably have used just the one mic too.

[WhiskeyJack]

+1 for the compressed stuff. I quite like that sound. Fun stuff [mention]rayc[/mention]

[JD01]

Okay now that @Lt. Bob's amp is fully buttoned up we can compare it to my own similar build and see how they differ....if at all.

These clips are from a DI track that I reamped through each amp so there's no variation. Same track, same cab, same mics in the same spots. The only difference is the amps.

My amp has actual knobs with numbers on them, Boob's amp has chickenheads and no other markings, so I got the settings as identical as I could.

Boob normal channel
Boob norrmal channel.mp3

Greg normal channel
Greg norrmal channel.mp3

Boob vibrato channel
Boob Vibrato channel.mp3

Greg vibrato channel
Greg Vibrato channel.mp3

Just got around to listening to these. For some reason they weren't playing the other day - I think I'd confused my soundcard by having too many things wanting to use it at once

I think Bob's does sound a little better. Its pretty subtle on the normal channel, but the Greg amp does have a tiny harshness in comparison in the highs. I think its a similar thing in the vibrato channel, just a little more obvious. Also Bob's just sounds a little warmer too.

This has got me really gassing for a small Fender amp, like a Blues Jr. or something now.

[Lt. Bob]

alritey then ..... the amp Greg built for me has the quintessential Fender Deluxe tone ..... it has a really tight bottom end though.
Sometimes I find Fenders to be flubby in the bottom end but not this one .... maybe the Brit-style cab with the V30?

Anyways I wanted to show ya'll the tone of the thing although this is pretty casual.
It also shows off the 'verb and the vibrato ..... just an wonderful sounding amp.
It takes pedals well so there's a zillion things to do with it ..... this is the first thing that came up.

I wanted to throw down something that would show off it's traditional Fender tone but that I could knock out in a couple of hours.
I suddenly flashed on this song so I jumped on the 'net, found a MIDI sequence of it and threw it on my keyboard to erase everything except bass and drumbs and a crappy little rhythm git ( in a hurry ya' know ) and then changed the kick voice and balanced the volumes and threw it down to my recorder.

After that ya'll know my process by now ........ I aimed whatever mic happened to be in the stand in the general direction of the speaker ...... turned the amp on and took the first takes that didn't suck.
I did punch in around 1:30 or so but mostly so I could make a reverb level change since I was gonna play some quicker lines there.

It's the Hallmark guitar on bridge p'up 'till around 1:30 and then the neck p'up and finger picking .... no more pick after that.

Anyways ..... the amp that Greg made taking it's first steps in Florida

[Greg_L]

alritey then ..... not so much to show a tone but to prove I did set up the gRamp as soon as I got it and so here.

I wanted to throw down something that was perfect for the traditional Fender tone but that I could knock out in a couple of hours.
I suddenly flashed on this song so I jumped on the 'net, found a MIDI sequence of it and threw it on my keyboard to erase everything except bass and drumbs and a crappy little rhythm git ( in a hurry ya' know ) and then changed the kick voice and balanced the volumes and threw it down to my recorder.

After that ya'll know my process by now ........ I aimed a mic in the general direction of the amp ...... turned it on and played and took the first takes that didn't suck.
I did punch in around 1:30 or so but mostly so I could make a reverb level change since I was gonna play some quicker lines there.

It's the Hallmark guitar on bridge p'up 'till around 1:30 and then the neck p'up and finger picking.

Anyways ..... the amp that Greg made taking it's first steps in Florida

Haha fuck yeah, Rebel Rouser!

Sounds awesome. Is that the Hallmark too?

[Lt. Bob]

yeah .... the Hallmark ...... I used the bridge p'up 'till around 1:30 and then switched to finger picking and the neck p'up at that point.
I had the bright switch off ...... I prefer that so far.

It's a natural sound for that guitar ...... you just plug it in and that's how it sounds.
Of course I went off the rails a bit those last two verses ..... true fans of the tune would be outraged.

[Greg_L]

yeah .... the Hallmark ...... I used the bridge p'up 'till around 1:30 and then switched to finger picking and the neck p'up at that point.
I had the bright switch off ...... I prefer that so far.

It's a natural sound for that guitar ...... you just plug it in and that's how it sounds.
Of course I went off the rails a bit those last two verses ..... true fans of the tune would be outraged.

It sounds awesome. I can't believe something that sounds so good could have my fingerprints on it.

[rayc]

Cool sound...hands, guitar and amp work well together.
Well done Greg & Lt. Bob.

[WhiskeyJack]

That sounded awesome [mention]Lt. Bob[/mention] just as it should sound. Listened to it on my car stereo and it was lile butter. Smooth and clear. That guitar and that amp are a great combo so good.

Great tune choice too.

Where did you manage to find the backimg tracks amd stuff ? Is there a data base of stuff to go swimmimg through?!

[Lt. Bob]

That sounded awesome Lt. Bob just as it should sound. Listened to it on my car stereo and it was lile butter. Smooth and clear. That guitar and that amp are a great combo so good.

Great tune choice too.

Where did you manage to find the backimg tracks amd stuff ? Is there a data base of stuff to go swimmimg through?!

I use this MIDI search engine first ..... most of the time you can put a song name in and find it ... also try artist names if you don't find it by song name.

http://www.vanbasco.com/

There's a zillion MIDI's out there and every site with one MIDI you want has dozens or hundreds more.
Now they're not all good ...... sometimes the first one you find is great but sometimes you have to listen to several from different sites.
And even once you find one they often need editing to be the way I want them.
I think I went to maybe 3 different versions of this .... found one I liked ok and worked with that.

I'm really quick with the editing because this has been how I've earned my living the last 14 years.
At this point I've done maybe 1500 sequences altogether because I'm always wanting more so I don't get bored.

I can do 'em from scratch but it takes several nights so if I can't find it with VanBasco I will buy them.
I have 4 or 5 sites that I buy them from ..... even theirs need editing though so I use stuff I find with VanBasco anytime I can find the song using it.

Try it ...... take some caffiene cause you'll be up the next day still downloading MIDI's .....

And they don't take up any space .... my entire songlist of around 750 songs only takes up around 40Meg