Marshall Tone Controls, Drunken Reasoning, and a Clip.

[nightflameauto]

Somebody, somewhere, once told me Marshall tone controls are reductive.

Chill day, sipped a few, my brain went, "If Marshall tone controls are reductive, and I like tone, don't reduce any tone! BRILLIANT!"

IMG_0363.jpg

No idea why I didn't crank the channel volume too, but I'd say that's in the respectable range. Woke up this morning to this clip in the queue. Only thing I don't like is the drums don't seem to exactly match the rest of it. But the guitar and bass? Gat dang.

https://app.box.com/s/5v3998jh7ce1ozh63mc6osrajti4m2bm

Just guitar and bass:
https://app.box.com/s/iqu5hymfd4qrparyu3pelefzsnu4bmxb

Yup. That's about as close as I've gotten to that tone I carry around in my noggin' for thrash tones. Could use just a shade more high end, which I can probably get with mic position. Not bad for a completely off-the-cuff idea.

[Marc G]

Fender tone controls are reductive as well if I remember correctly..... I think all passive tone controls are TBH

[GuitarBilly]

Yeah unless you have an active EQ, which most amps don't, the tone stack is always reductive. But that's a bit deceptive because when voicing the tone stack, designers usually choose values that sound best around the middle range of the potentiometer so there's enough range in both directions.

I'm not home right now, but I'll listen to the clip tonight.

[Zozobra]

Yeah not many amps have active stacks because they can sound like ass. Notable active tonestack amps are the Peavey XXX and the sound city sc120.

[GuitarBilly]

Just listened to the clip. It sounds really cool. Way better than I thought it would be. I was thinking it would be super bright but it's actually balanced. Still a bit of the bright side but nothing excessive.

[RaceU4her]

[nightflameauto]

Thanks, guys.

And yeah, Billy, I was expecting harsh-city. I was pleasantly surprised.

Playing around with the amp a bit, it's pretty bright/gritty/harsh at the same settings with the volume rolled back some. As it comes up, it tends to smooth out up top and get more crunchy/saturated. Expected with a good tube amp, but the difference is a lot bigger than I expected.

[eyeball987]

Interesting. Will have to try this on modded JCM800 this week.

[Mike Oxhuge]

Sounds great alot like Kerry Kings tone!

[nightflameauto]

Sounds great alot like Kerry Kings tone!

Closest I ever got to King's tone is the double SD-1 boost up front. It really gets that big mids, tight and percussive thing he's got going on.

Apparently there's no substitute for volume. I tried this again with the volume down a bit and it sounds like fried ass. Absolutely atrocious. Guess this is a "weekends only" recording technique for me.

Or maybe it's finally time to clean out the closet and get the cab tucked away in there again. Hmm.

[ajaxlepinski]

Wow! That's does sound really good!!!

When ever I play a Marshall, the first thing I do is max out the Bass and Mid knobs.
Going to have to try the Treb and Pres all the way up too.... they're usually are set to 3 or 4.

[duncan]

“How do you EQ your amps?”

PUT EVERYTHING ON 10 AND HOPE FOR THE BEST.

[FAKA!]

:rawk:

This

[MacaroniSalad]

I use that logic with guitars too. I like more tone, so why would I turn a tone knob down? I want 10/10 tone, not 7/10

[nightflameauto]

:rawk:

This

Thanks, bros.

Yeah, MacaroniSalad. Tone knobs on guitars are a waste for 99.9999999% of the playing I do. My Tele is the only exception. The bridge is a shade bright through the amp unless you roll back just a shade.