The Tone Thread

[Lt. Bob]

This was my first amp. The legends are true. They were awful in every conceivable way.

https://reverb.com/item/11912017-gorill ... r-amp-1988

Anyways, I'll give a listen when I'm back in front of my studio computer later. Gotta hear these tonez.

lol .... this was my first:
https://reverb.com/item/43325405-silver ... binet-1966

I liked it but eventually cut it up with a saw

[Manslick]

My 1st amp was built into the guitar

[Tadpui]

Been trying for some low gain rock n roll tones lately.
Left guitar is just my crimson bridge humbucker through the crunch channel with the gain down low, right channel is my tele bridge pickup through a Klon into the clean channel. Mic is just an i5 on the edge of the dust-cap.

Reckon these sound pretty good actually.

Unfortunate Tonne.mp3

I agree with the fellas that this sounds great. I love the bass too, it sounds tight.

lol .... this was my first:
https://reverb.com/item/43325405-silver ... binet-1966

I liked it but eventually cut it up with a saw

Hehe, that sounds like a good story about either the end or a new beginning for your first amp. That does look great. Was yours a 6x10 too? That's a lot of surface area, I bet it could get loud as hell.

My 1st amp was built into the guitar

I can actually hear what that sounded like right now. And it isn't good

Honestly though, for a beginner guitarist, that's not a bad idea. Plugging in is one less step to take every time you need to practice!

[Greg_L]

Here's some Tender Assman sound clips.

All done through a Marshall 4x12 w/ Vintage 30s
SM57 and Senn MD421 50/50 blend

This one's got some fx on it at various and random points. 1965 Mosrite Ventures MkI with a quick slapback delay and the tube spring reverb tank.

Mosrite Assman with fx.mp3

Les Paul Custom, normal channel, various pickup switching and volume rolling.

LPC normal ch.mp3

LP Custom again through the bass channel.

LPC bass ch.mp3

1966 Mosrite Ventures bass through the bass channel.

Mosrite bass bass ch.mp3

Strat through the normal channel

Strat normal ch.mp3

[CrowsofFritz]

@Greg_L that first clip reminded me of some Brian May tones. At least in the beginning.

[Greg_L]

@Greg_L that first clip reminded me of some Brian May tones. At least in the beginning.

Well he does copy me in every way.

[CrowsofFritz]

@Greg_L that first clip reminded me of some Brian May tones. At least in the beginning.

Well he does copy me in every way.

Every way except the hair

[Greg_L]

Every way except the hair

He wishes he could grow as little hair as me!

[JD01]

Wahey! A tender assman coming in my ears!

[JD01]

My ears are still blocked and I feel like shit. Hopefully I'm feeling better tomorrow and I can have a good listen with a coffee in the morning.

[rayc]

All sound good.
The V bass sounds cool.

[Greg_L]

My ears are still blocked and I feel like shit. Hopefully I'm feeling better tomorrow and I can have a good listen with a coffee in the morning.

Dude me too. I've got a head crud going on that makes everything sound like I'm sitting in a sea shell.

All sound good.
The V bass sounds cool.

Thank Ray. The bass is a bit noisy in this room, but I love the way it sounds overall.

[rayc]

No need to be insulting! If I never hear Brian May's multitracked harmony guitar sound again it'll be too soon.

As a 1st three album Queen fan I have to agree - once he established that sounds & kept using it I lost interest. It's appropriate for some things but mostly not at all.
When he hammered away on the 1st two albums there wasn't much sonic space for twee noodles.
It's a signature sound but so is Jeff Lynne's - both make me gag.

[JD01]

I'm still fucking deaf this morning.

As a 1st three album Queen fan I have to agree - once he established that sounds & kept using it I lost interest.

I quite like it when guitarists develop a distinctive sound

[WhiskeyJack]

Here's some Tender Assman sound clips.

All done through a Marshall 4x12 w/ Vintage 30s
SM57 and Senn MD421 50/50 blend

This one's got some fx on it at various and random points. 1965 Mosrite Ventures MkI with a quick slapback delay and the tube spring reverb tank.
Mosrite Assman with fx.mp3

Les Paul Custom, normal channel, various pickup switching and volume rolling.
LPC normal ch.mp3

LP Custom again through the bass channel.
LPC bass ch.mp3

1966 Mosrite Ventures bass through the bass channel.
Mosrite bass bass ch.mp3

Strat through the normal channel
Strat normal ch.mp3

Gosh darn man!!! All that sounds pretty gnarly. I really like the LP into the bass channel the best. That's probably a sound I'd use if given the opportunity. The Mosrite and verb tank sound just right ! A pretty nice pairing if ever there was one.

Outstanding work man!

[Greg_L]

Love the LP into the bass channel - they all sound good in their various ways though.

Gosh darn man!!! All that sounds pretty gnarly. I really like the LP into the bass channel the best. That's probably a sound I'd use if given the opportunity. The Mosrite and verb tank sound just right ! A pretty nice pairing if ever there was one.

Outstanding work man!

Thanks fellas. The Bass Channel has one more gain stage than the normal channel, and it's not as bogged down by the tone stack, so it gets a little extra oomph. It's really pretty interesting that they designed it that way.

[WhiskeyJack]

Love the LP into the bass channel - they all sound good in their various ways though.

Gosh darn man!!! All that sounds pretty gnarly. I really like the LP into the bass channel the best. That's probably a sound I'd use if given the opportunity. The Mosrite and verb tank sound just right ! A pretty nice pairing if ever there was one.

Outstanding work man!

Thanks fellas. The Bass Channel has one more gain stage than the normal channel, and it's not as bogged down by the tone stack, so it gets a little extra oomph. It's really pretty interesting that they designed it that way.

That is pretty cool actually. The little 40W Traynor i have has a switch / mode that lets you bypass the tone stack and for some of my humbucker guits it sounds pretty cool but for whatever reason it sounds like total shit with my P90 guitar.

Did you ever try and take a nose dive into what mods Mike Ness ever did to his Assman? I went looking ages ago and it seems he keeps a pretty tight lid on what exactly he did to it, but maybe over the years he spilled the beans?

[Greg_L]

That is pretty cool actually. The little 40W Traynor i have has a switch / mode that lets you bypass the tone stack and for some of my humbucker guits it sounds pretty cool but for whatever reason it sounds like total shit with my P90 guitar.

Did you ever try and take a nose dive into what mods Mike Ness ever did to his Assman? I went looking ages ago and it seems he keeps a pretty tight lid on what exactly he did to it, but maybe over the years he spilled the beans?

I never really looked into it, but I know what kind of Bassman he uses and I'm pretty sure I know at least part of what's going on in his.

His particular Bassman in stock form has an unused gain stage - basically only using half of one of the 12AX7 tubes. A 12AX7 has two triodes in it. I think he uses AB165 Bassmans and those have an unused triode. Those particular Bassmans are already very guitar friendly, so it's really easy to rewire a little bit and bring that extra gain stage to life. I'd bet good money that's a big part of what he's had done to his amps. He's probably got other stuff too but getting that unused gain stage going would be step one.

[JD01]

Just getting around to listening to your Assman clips - I can hear a bit this morning!
Really like the Mosrite in the first clip, lovely breakup when you're on the bridge pickup - the little Dick Dale impression sounds good too. I think towards the end you switch to the neck pickup with loads of verb and it gets a bit flumpy on chords, but then that's bound to happen.

Ooo, the Les Paul on the bridge pickup in the normal channel is way more gainy than expect, bit fizzy/scratchy though. Not really unpleasant though - clean with the volume rolled back it sounds really nice indeed.

Wow, really like the Les Paul in the bass channel.

Bass sounds lovely - I don't think I've ever played through a proper nice loud bass amp. I've only ever played bass through little practice amps and DI boxes so proper loud bass always sounds good to me.

Strat - this sounds really good. I know you hate strats but this is a great tone, super clean, clear and bright but not thin and gutless.

How loud was this in the room? I've been up for getting a Fender head for a while but I'm conscious that it might only sound good when its been thrashed to a level that I'll never get it to.

Think it sounds best with the Mosrite and Strat. The Les Paul seemed to push the amp really hard and it became a bit scratchy which you don't get when you're playing into a Marshall.

[Greg_L]

Just getting around to listening to your Assman clips - I can hear a bit this morning!
Really like the Mosrite in the first clip, lovely breakup when you're on the bridge pickup - the little Dick Dale impression sounds good too. I think towards the end you switch to the neck pickup with loads of verb and it gets a bit flumpy on chords, but then that's bound to happen.

Ooo, the Les Paul on the bridge pickup in the normal channel is way more gainy than expect, bit fizzy/scratchy though. Not really unpleasant though - clean with the volume rolled back it sounds really nice indeed.

Wow, really like the Les Paul in the bass channel.

Bass sounds lovely - I don't think I've ever played through a proper nice loud bass amp. I've only ever played bass through little practice amps and DI boxes so proper loud bass always sounds good to me.

Strat - this sounds really good. I know you hate strats but this is a great tone, super clean, clear and bright but not thin and gutless.

How loud was this in the room? I've been up for getting a Fender head for a while but I'm conscious that it might only sound good when its been thrashed to a level that I'll never get it to.

Think it sounds best with the Mosrite and Strat. The Les Paul seemed to push the amp really hard and it became a bit scratchy which you don't get when you're playing into a Marshall.

Ha thanks, glad you're feeling better. That "paper-tearing" breakup is just what many Fenders do with humbuckers, particularly hot humbuckers. I've personally never heard one not do that. I hear it in youtube reviews and demos too. It's strange because you don't hear them like that in the room. It only really comes through on close miking and it can sound a little odd on it's own. I think it's because they let a lot of bass pass through the amp. Most Marshalls and other dirty amps are trimming out unwanted bass frequencies almost all of the time. Most Marshall gain stages and tone stacks are highlighting mids and upper mids and trying to not let bass eat up all of the bandwith. Fenders don't do that. Fenders are anti-mids. They're all bass and treble. Leo Fender disliked humbuckers, and he disliked distortion, and his guitars were all single coil guitars, so that's how Fender amps generally sound their best - clean and sparkly. I agree, I think the Strat sounded fantastic in these clips. Unfortunately that's a sound I almost never want to use.

I had the Assman wound up very loud for these clips. It was fully cranked for the really raunchy Les Paul clips. Treble and Bass settings stayed around 2:00 each, Presence around 12:00. I have a master volume on the amp but it was full-up for this. I only used the channel volumes and the guitar volume. It would be too loud for most gigs. But that's why I put the master volume on it.

I don't know what kind of Fender head would suit you without some type of master volume on it, and most of the more desirable Fender amp designs have no master volume. My 22w Deluxe Reverb head has no master volume and it's borderline loud enough for a full band practice. It has to give just about all it's got for how I play. I've only used it live four or five times and it seemed to be fine without irritating the sound guy. But here in the room by itself it's crazy loud. If you just want the Fender for cleans then they don't have to be deafening. If you want them to break up you gotta push them and then even a little Champ is pretty loud.