The Watering Hole

Been having a lot of fun with the new heads! This is the cameron modded amp...

WIP Tune / Download

Nice!  8-)  Lovely arpeggios

Good tones and playing. Makes me think of Satch.

Thanks! (=

Nice sounds and great playin'...100% Derek! ;)

Ciao!
Marco

Lwb — Jan 17, 2012...100% Derek! ;)

That's a shame....I was aiming for something better, lol!  ;D

Thanks! I'm in uncharted waters now - no amp gas whatsoever, pretty happy with the tones. I may fool around with the mic positons whenever I record something else, trying for a touch more cone/warmth (vs basically straight up cap sounds right now), but otherwise, I'm experiencing good vibes for making music due to the 'gear monster' leaving me be. I'll probably always have a little guitar gas, who among us won't, but the critical stuff like amps, cabs, speakers, pedals, mics, etc...doubt it...of course that's prolly the curse right there in saying that, lol

man, your playing is ridiculous, awesome stuff.

I think either you're too loud in the mix or there's something missing in the lower end of the tone, though.

Thanks dude! I kinda thought it was missing a little chunk when compairing it to other tones but didn't trust myself enough. Any suggestions on some EQing that could put it in there (specific freqs)? I'd hate to (and could never) play it all over again. The tone is simple and unaltered at the moment (no post EQ or vst gimmicky plugs applied) except for a lo/hi pass filter of 60hz - 11k. Pulling the lead guitar down in the mix will be simple enough, maybe that'll do the trick.

yeah, a little less volume will probably do it. I wouldn't EQ it to boost something... that only leads to trouble (for me, anyway!). cuts seem to work out ok... but a boost always sounds weird when I try to use it.

I agree, never been a fan of boosting either, try to get it right from the get go, and if it's not right, go back and keep trying! Then cut something if you must. I think where I get into trouble is the fact that I hate the two extremes: mud and fizz. It's possible in this case I kept turning the bass (and resonance) knob down to ensure the low end was clear, where that was never really an issue to begin with. At least it's "close" though, should be an easy fix. I'll definitely take your advice and try adding a hair of low end (or is it maybe the low-mids?) and bring down the level a notch so it'll sit better in the mix. Thanks for the honesty!

About the playing....my secret weapon is the Quick Rod! Man that thing is so tough to play lead stuff beyond the 12th fret. But I did try. And try. Three years of playing leads on it have made me a better player, cleaner. Going from that dry/stiff amp to this tone feels like the wheels are off the trail and you're back on a smooth highway.

hah, yeah, I had that experience with the univalve... so hard to play the damn thing but sounded nice and clear. mixed feelings... killed my hands!

can you turn the amp up or are you already cranked? more output compression would probably fatten it up.

I think the master is around noon right now. I've turned it up beyond that when experimenting but didn't really notice any major "volume" increase so I figured leave it at noon...but now you've got me thinking, I never considered the other things getting effected with it cranked up more, not just pure volume/loudness. NEXT tune, lol  ;)

I'm motivated now to try and bang out the rest of this one and then maybe spend some more time messing with a fnj or something while doing some more 'dialing in' with the amp....prolly shouldn't have tried to record a full tune 4 or 5 weeks after buying a new head...but it does make playing fun.

I lose almost all fizz when I get the master out of the equation. there's still some high end "un-smooth" activity but that's mostly good stuff - the sound is more open.

the low end gets ludicrous and I kinda worry about the house sometimes (lol)... the speakers get a real workout - definitely puts out some thump!

all things amp-tweak changed when I started thinking of tubes as compressors instead of... well, I'm not sure how I thought of them before. magic tone coloring light bulbs? heh, not really... just never thought about it. everything makes more sense after that "tubes are compressors" DOH moment.

:)

That's a good way to view it. "kinda worry about the house sometimes "...LMAO! Same here, if the Stooges start dancing on the wall, it's getting too loud. ;D I do have to keep it closer to the medium side of things than the "dimed" side because of that blasted Greenback (30 watt), don't wanna blow it ($235 :o).

Funny about the fizz process - the way I work it is I'll start with the volume as low as I can get it (which will obviously have some fizz/grain) and still get sustain and "playability", then I raise it until the fizz goes completely away, which is usually pretty quick, way before "full" anyway, then I kick it up one more notch "to be sure." Seems like raising the volume above that doesn't reduce fizz that vanished somewhere back around 10-11 o'clock, lets call it "phantom phizz."  ;D

Ok, I re-upped a fixed mix (same link).

Post EQing is not for me, don't like it because frankly I suck at it. So I tried using a warming plug that everyone swears by instead, the ole trusty PSP Vintage Tube Warmer, and I'll be damned, it definitely delivers on that claim. I also tried a version with simply adding a little EQ tweak or two to the low end just for a goof to compare with the PSP VTW. Both sounded better than the original version I had but the PSP'd mix sounded better. Once it was clear which way to go for adding the warmth (lead guitar only), I dropped the lead down in the mix a smidge. Think it sounds pretty good now. 8-)

Thanks again for the listens, all.  :)

that sits in there a lot better!

Whew! Done, lol, well, other than the hardest part, coming up with a title that's corny enough but not too corny.  :P

Thanks again.

Kabala — Jan 19, 2012Ok, I re-upped a fixed mix (same link).

Post EQing is not for me, don't like it because frankly I suck at it. So I tried using a warming plug that everyone swears by instead, the ole trusty PSP Vintage Tube Warmer, and I'll be damned, it definitely delivers on that claim. I also tried a version with simply adding a little EQ tweak or two to the low end just for a goof to compare with the PSP VTW. Both sounded better than the original version I had but the PSP'd mix sounded better. Once it was clear which way to go for adding the warmth (lead guitar only), I dropped the lead down in the mix a smidge. Think it sounds pretty good now. 8-)

Thanks again for the listens, all.  :)

Yep this is it!  Totally spot on.  

I can't fully comment on the mix since I'm listening on a laptop with no bass, but this sounds really nice D! Really like that tone!

Thanks!!! It definitely sounds better now compared to the earlier mix. It was only a couple subtle tweaks to nothing but the lead guitar, but they seemed to make a bigger impact than you'd think, lol. The issue was my mic setup, not the raw tones I was hearing from the new amp. I needed a bit more cone/warmth, less cap/bite...luckily that was fixable with EQ. It was a good lesson and I've since wasted my last couple days usual playing time on new mic placements instead - not fun but necessary!