Mesa LSS wonder

jackio

I've had it for ages. New speaker (Gold), new JJ EL84's, reader mod but always wondering why it sounded muffled sometimes.

Put it on a stool 2 days ago, well off the floor. Now I'm having to turn down the treble and presence. Also the tone on both pickups on my LP. 

Well I never. And my oh my, it's a good sound

ICBM

Always lift up your guitar amp, it always sounds better. Not least because you can hear it properly .

It's not just that though... even a slight lift of a few inches so it decouples from the floor helps - it starts to roll off the bottom octave. In a band situation, you really want to do this - it helps naturally separate the guitar from the bass (the bass amp should always be fully down on the floor, for the opposite reason) and produces a better mix where you can hear both instruments clearly without them fighting for volume or needing to EQ them at the desk to fix it. For a combo or a 2x12" cab I prefer them with the speakers up at about waist height to me, for a 4x12" just its own wheels is sometimes enough, or beer crate height if not.

(Of course this may not apply if you play in one of those new-fangled bands where guitar is a sort of pseudo-bass/tuned percussion instrument .)

jackio

Ha yes. I've been a long-time user of those posh isolating pad things for the reason you state. Others have said 'I can't believe you get a guitar to sound like that'. I take this a a compliment though it may not be....o:)

But the stool height really made a big difference (waste height as you suggest), I assume just near my ears? I may get a tilt back thang. Or accept it sounds better to listeners than to me (still steadfastly sticking to my assumption that I sound good ha ha)

ICBM

I tend to not like tilt-back, that goes too far the other way - with the speaker pointing directly at your ears at short range, it's then more shrill than the out-front sound so you tend to end up setting the amp too dark. The waist-high but horizontal position seems to give the best correlation between what you hear and the out-front sound, in my experience.

jackio

Ok that is really helpful.

I'm slightly excited, and very confused now having to change my sound  Maybe I've just been 'cutting through the mix hey

ICBM

Have you noticed a sort of Biblical 'parting of the Red Sea' effect among the crowd directly in line with your amp when you play a solo?

jackio

Ha ha
What are these 'crowds' you speak of??

english_bob

jackio said:

Ha ha
What are these 'crowds' you speak of??

Does the barman move to one side, and his dog to the other?

guitarfishbay

High frequencies are more directional than low frequencies.

The more close the beam of the speaker is to your ears the more high end you'll hear.

When it's firing at your knees you are not hearing the high end so well.

Flanging_Fred

This is the reason I started to put my jcm800 combo on top of an old solid state bass amp when I play with my band. It just sounds better with it up off the floor. The bass amp looks cooler than a beer crate too.

jackio

@guitarfishbay ;
Thanks, yes that's what I found. 

@Flanging_Fred ;
Can you make that microphone move? You know, flap out and back? I can't see where the volume is but give it a try. Nice amp and guitar, and I agree, it looks great on top of another marshall 

@english_bob ;
Ha ha, yup....

Cabicular

I always carry a couple of fold up stools in the car
cheap light and don't take up much space 
ASAB Large Folding Step Stool - 150 Kilograms Capacity https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01H2T2SAQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ii1AzbDFN6083