PDF Article about Intermodulation Distortion
classic-amps.com Distortion article
dist voicing
[dist techniques]
technique for smooth transition from clean amp to lead amp
[# of preamp stages]
Blues Jr? Certainly, with pedal, this would make a fine gigging amp -- but test. Verify that with pedals this combo is a fine gigging amp for rock amp tone - and a fine addition to my resources, even if not.... at least the blues jr is a sure thing: reliable, reference, gradual onset of saturation. It's not like there are many better, proven PTS pedals out there. It's a really good what it is - 12" spk, respected, gradual saturation... compact, reverb, sep jack for spk, straightforward,
I see why the Pro Jr. amp is better - you can hit it with a higher level at the input without risk of preamp distortion -- but its speaker is too small.
But the Marshall Valvestate combo is not a convenient distortion pedal, nor an ideal clean amp, nor an ideal ss power amp, nor an ideal cab, nor an ideal gigging amp, ... must crank that too - use iso box as gobo sandwiching the amp (big box in front, small in back) - record w/ mics, listen. 1 high-pwr spk is bad. 4 low is good (disconn or conn3) - more flexible.
[dist voice]
Barre is equally fond of his Boss compressor/limiter. "It's a great way to get more sustain without having to overdrive the amp. You get more of the guitar's own tonality without all those nasty overtones from the amp. My Boss compressor/limiter pedal is on all of the time. It's a cheap, nasty unit, but it sounds great." [preamp dist] Santana/Boogie Tone - dist. principles >About Santana's lead tone- I don't know if you've heard his live tone before, but it is a very fluid, smooth and dark tone-it sounds awesome (I must admit I have only heard it on videos, though). But, according to his website (www.santana.com) he doesn't use any eq pedals or any dist-eq-dist type chains;
Not explicitly. But the boogie preamp distortion circuitry would go something like this:
Amp's tone controls, pre-distortion
Gain stage 1 (slightly clipped)
R/C curve
Gain stage 2 (slightly clipped)
R/C curve
Gain stage 3 (slightly clipped)
R/C curve
Gain stage 4 (slightly clipped)
Amp's tone controls, post-distortion
Power-tube saturation (slightly clipped)
This setup produces a smooth preamp distortion tone, which sounds different than power tube saturation.
>he just plugs into his amp switcher pedal and on into his Mesa Boogie Mark I. According to your website, the guitar should sound fuzzy and gritty, because
>He obviously doesn't have the bass cut and the treble boosted on his amp.
There are two stages of tone controls on a classic boogie: before the preamp distortion, and after. You can cut bass before distortion and boost bass after distortion, for a clear preamp distortion tone.
>Any comments on this?? Maybe the bass is cut on the amp, the amp is miked and tone is dark because of post-amp eq?? Or maybe it is the just the nature of the amp?
[pt vs predist]
Barre generally uses Schecter guitars for a clean sound and Tom Anderson guitars for nastier tones, plugged into either Soldano or Marshall amps. As for Marshall amps, he prefers those that don't have a master-volume control. "The master-volume models are just pure distortion--too much" says Barre. "Also, I don't use the tone controls on my old Marshalls because usually they just add hiss."
To achieve his classic rhythm-guitar crunch at low volumes, Barre relies on two additional pieces of gear, a Scholz Power Soak and a Boss compressor/limiter stomp box. "I don't play loud at all, so the Power Soak is a good resource when you want chunky, overdriven chords on the backing tracks," explains Barre. "For example, I set my Soldano amp to 41�2 and the master volume on 7, and then put the Power Soak straight in between the amp and the speaker. Even cranked all the way up, the unit is whisper quiet."
[comp]
Barre is equally fond of his Boss compressor/limiter. "It's a great way to get more sustain without having to overdrive the amp. You get more of the guitar's own tonality without all those nasty overtones from the amp. My Boss compressor/limiter pedal is on all of the time. It's a cheap, nasty unit, but it sounds great."
[dist voicing]
From Jazz and Blues to Rock and Modern Metal-Sound Advice on Dialing in the Perfect Guitar, Amp, and Effects Settings - by Wolf Marshall (good page?)
[dist voicing]
What amp tone samples *should* be available on the Web? There is room for very different approaches. I found a way to probe or feed an impulse to a tube power amp to assess its Tone transfer function. Since most Tone parameters are involved with EQ, I wanted to normalize away and eliminate EQ as a factor in comparing two tube amps. So I did:
eq 1
dist
eq 2
power tubes
speaker
mic
eq 3
headphones
and yanked the eq all over the place in all stages - especially the eq right before the tube power amp. I was able to hear the rate of onset of power-tube saturation and discover that two of my tube power amps have a far more useful and musical and gradual, orderly breakup response than my 6AQ5-tube amp. What I heard was very interesting and would be more valuable than a lot of the amp tone clips I've heard.
[dist voicing]
using multiple od/dist pedals - Link up 2-5 distortion/overdrive/fuzz boxes. Set them just at breakup. Then kick them in one after the other and experiment. You should be able to get a cranked amp type sound with really good harmonic content on low volumes and very "big" tone at medium levels. Two boxes are usually enough, but for infinite sustain I need 4 or 5. It really essential that the boxes are just at breakup to get a very good sound. Oh yeah, if the amp is just at break it helps to achieve the result. Kinda smooth sound. [continues]
[dist voicing]
excellent thinking style and analysis techniques - already at my links page, add desc. Awesome 1996 article about preamp distortion history.
[tone basics]
From Jazz and Blues to Rock and Modern Metal-Sound Advice on Dialing in the Perfect Guitar, Amp, and Effects Settings - by Wolf Marshall (good page?)
Amptone.com ultra gear-search page