OK, confession. I made a post on reddit guitarpedals the other week saying I was finished but turns out I was wrong...
Basically I'm not happy with the dirt section. I know it's an uphill battle to use solid state amps but I use them a) for super low volume playing b) to get a similar sound no matter what amp I play on e.g. at home, rehearsal, gig.
Here's my rig:
http://m.imgur.com/a/SSj00#Epi LP with Gibson 498r/498t -> kl*n buffer -> dispatch master -> walrus voyager -> catalinbread 5f6 -> rat 2 > other pedals > Fender Mustang 3 v2 amp
I'm going to sell the dispatch master (having this before dirt gives a great glitchy overdrive effect) and get a Timmy clone. So new dirt section would be 5f6 -> voyager -> Timmy -> rat 2
I love my clean tone with the 5f6 always on at edge of breakup. Should I get the Timmy for my second stage drive or is there a better alternative? I play post-rock / ambient so full on wall of sound is what I'm after! Also, no fuzz please
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Same sound at any volume in any venue due to the master EQ on the PA cab. It's a Mackie Thump 12, which costs about £250 and can be stood up or pole mounted as backline, or used as my own personal wedge. That's less than I spent on pedals trying to fight my tranny amps.
"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
A lot has to do with EQ settings and its well worth experimenting with the additional internal EQ option.
The MIII had a decent 12" Celestion in a good size cab and sounded bigger than its looks. Big downside for me was that it had no extension cab out which meant I was restricted to using it as a 1x12 only. I returned it and got a Laney Cub 12R instead.
But ICBM is spot on. Very few modelling amps 'like ' external distortion because they were not designed to be used in that way.
@p90fool. That's a good idea. Maybe I should give up the ss idea. Some kind of amp head/simulator would be pretty portable too as I'd just need to plug into a cabinet. Do you know of any fender clean type mini amps?
@icbm and voxman. Thanks I didn't realise that digital modeling amps had these issues. I'll try experimenting with the eq some more and especially a lower input level. Actually now I'm looking at it there is an fx loop - I'll try putting all of my pedals through there.
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
"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
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
So I did some research last night and I think a micro head would be best for me. The hughes and kettner tubemeister 5 looks like a really good amp for the money. It even has a di out so I can just use headphones though an interface. Has anybody had any experience with it?
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
I've used solid state amps for years (currently have a Tech21 TM60, Roland Cube 60 & 80xl) and ALWAYS set them to be clean. Any dirt comes from pedals in to the front of the amp. I've found this to be very effective & 2 or 3 drive pedals can cover a very wide range of tones. I do the same thing with my valve amp.
Having said that, I really like the idea of the setup posted by @p90fool - what a great idea.