Without naming names particularly, since it's not unique to this manufacturer... I've got an amp here for repair which is totally muddy-sounding - just no top-end at all, and almost all mids. I can almost get a usable sound out of it with the treble up full, the mid on zero and the bass just above halfway - any less than that and it lacks bottom end as well - but it's still not quite there. I've also got another one from the same company which is a completely different design and technology but sounds just as bad - and the problem is clearly in the power amp, and intentional - even plugging directly into the FX loop return has the same characteristic blanket-over-the-amp tone. (A power amp input should sound neutral, unless deliberately made not to be.)
They just sound like the guitar is being played with the tone control most of the way down all the time. I've come across this with recent amps from at least two other manufacturers, one new but apparently well-thought-of, the other a classic brand whose amps never sounded like this in the past, in fact they had a reputation for brightness...
Why?! I don't even like overly bright and shrill sounds, but these amps are more or less unusable to me - they have no top-end, clarity or sparkle at all, whether clean or overdriven. I have played through a *huge* number of different amps in the course of repair work over the last thirty years, and this is a new thing for me - in the past, more or less all amps had a usable range of tone from duller and muddier than I would ever want to brighter and thinner than I would ever want, and are capable of a standard, 'neutral' (or much as a guitar amp through guitar speakers can ever be) evenly-balanced tone somewhere in the middle, even if the controls weren't all at 12 o'clock.
So what has changed? It can't be that I'm just getting old and losing my top-end hearing, since I can still hear the *right* sound from many other amps, my hi-fi, and any other source, and I can still easily tell when a tweeter is working and when it isn't! Has the idea that 'the guitar is a midrange instrument' been taken too literally?
Genuinely puzzled, and I'd be interested to know whether anyone else feels the same way.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Comments
Basically, it's the tail wagging the dog.
This, I think, is why Victory amps sound so (relatively) dark. They're designed for demos, not necessarily live work.
Or, to be more charitable...you might be onto something with the "tone control" comment. More and more people are using digital wireless gear without the "cable emulation" bit, which means a lot more high-end comes through from the guitar. Perhaps it's a design choice to cope with that?
*goes off to look for pitchfork and flaming torch*
Yes, and Fender (Bassbreaker).
It's not really manufacturer-specific though, so I didn't really want to name names - more a question as to why this sort of sound is apparently acceptable to anyone.
Yes.
More importantly, most other amps don't. Although there have been some in the past, most notably the Cornford Harlequin/Hurricane. I know there's a common factor with Victory here...
No, it's *way* more than could be explained by that.
The YouTube idea is more plausible.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I think it sounds great at home volumes in isolation. I have no idea about a gig though - I think it might lack any cut and I’d end up cranking the treble to get it to poke through. All that said, I really like the bass response - very focused and percussive.
@ICBM which bassbreaker was it you were working on? If it’s the 15, how easy a fix do you think a noisy fx loop would be.?
It's not the bass response that's the problem - I like bass - it's the total lack of top-end, which is not the same thing at all... personally, I thought it sounded awful even in isolation and I can't imagine it being any use at a gig.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
There is a "guitar demo tone" I hear all the time on gear reviews which I've never heard on a record, it's flat, grainy and muddy and wouldn't work for any actual song ever made but is taking over YouTube.
I might dig out a typical example later, but we all know what it sounds like.
Seems is probably a positioning thing/marketing thing for a style of amp but then at the detriment of a good overall design.
Just get a Super Reverb and wack all the Zizzzz-inducers you want in front of it and it will still sound fantastic!
Yet every gig I did, it cut through the mix very well. It was very clear in a band mix. The thing that I never got on with was o never warmed to the clean channel. Was far too toppy for my taste. The amp was very compressed also. Which was great for some things. But could never open it up.