Fractal Talk

[metropolis_4]

There does seem to be something in general about the less controls and options an amp has the better it sounds

 

[Orvillain]

Ohhh I don't know about that. Look at how many knobs a Diezel VH4 has, and how many modes the JVM has!

 

[fretworn]

There does seem to be something in general about the less controls and options an amp has the better it sounds

“Humans”

 

[GTR37]

Bright switch is engaged at default settings. Turn it off.

Thanks Yek I overlooked that
Tubbs seems to leave it and the fat off , he does use the cut switch a lot which FAS did not model and has not disclosed how to emulate
From Shawns comments about saying it sounds vintage and and moves the mid shelf up , I am guessing it is a bump in the 650 hz Marshall range

I have noticed the Red is picky with guitars and cab choices
The GB was not working but switching to the Recto slant V30 improved not surprising since Dan himself said he favoured those cabs

 

[laxu]

There does seem to be something in general about the less controls and options an amp has the better it sounds

I don't agree with that. The overall circuit design matters and the number of controls not so much.

But the more options you cram in, the more you have to compromise some of those. You could build e.g a Revv amp that does just what the Purple or Red channel does and it would be hailed as a great amp, but not a versatile one. So you add a clean channel and that's still pretty good, but then you add the Green channel for low to mid gain overdrive and it's "meh" because it's a bit too stiff and dry in an amp meant to mostly excel at metal tones.

Or on the flipside, the Bogner Goldfinger 45 SL I had was a bit too loose to be the best metal amp ever, despite having gobs of gain available. It was more at home in 1960s-1980s rock tones, which is why I bought it back in the day because that's more my jam.

Similarly for example the Diezel Einstein I once had was great sounding, but its lead channel was not that useful because it started from high gain and then went to absurd gain, so it was pretty much useless for anything that isn't high gain leads. Meanwhile its first channel was a real chameleon but you had to mod it to switch between its modes and even then those would not balance in any sensible way without adjusting knobs.

So at least for me, simpler 1-2 channel amps have been nice because they are usually a bit lighter, smaller and cheaper. They do a couple of things really well and don't try to be everything for everyone. I also don't care for amps that have a ton of little switches to change sound. Bright switches are useful, but for the rest I'd rather the amp maker figured out the best option and just offered that.

The single channel Victory VC35 was the last tube amp I've owned. I found that I pretty much parked it on a single setting and only adjusted that slightly for different guitars. That's not because it didn't have other tones to offer, it's just that specific setting sounded great to me so there was no need to do anything more.

I've certainly had to re-evaluate my look at amp. Several years ago if I was asked what kind of custom amp I would build, it would have had tons of features. Now? Probably something much simpler.

The cool thing about digital modeling is that none of these compromises apply. You can have a little Tweed amp and press a button and turn the whole rig into a 5150.

 

[TSJMajesty]

There does seem to be something in general about the less controls and options an amp has the better it sounds

 

[metropolis_4]

All the best sounding amps I’ve ever played also had the least channels, the least controls and the simplest signal path

I don’t know if it’s because of the amount of channels and controls, or if it’s just because of the way they were designed

 

[fretworn]

All the best sounding amps I’ve ever played also had the least channels, the least controls and the simplest signal path

I don’t know if it’s because of the amount of channels and controls, or if it’s just because of the way they were designed

Specialization is a real thing … cars, guns, etc

I’ve tried several times to have “do it all tools” … AxeFx3 is the only one that works lol

 

[GTR37]

View attachment 9673

Ah the vintage pre grizzly beard years

 

[paisleywookiee]

All the best sounding amps I’ve ever played also had the least channels, the least controls and the simplest signal path

I don’t know if it’s because of the amount of channels and controls, or if it’s just because of the way they were designed

I think that depends, really. I really like the Badlander because it's basically a single channel head with two "presets". But that said, the new Mark VII is pretty elaborate, and sounds awesome in nearly every mode.

 

[AutomationBias]

Ah the vintage pre grizzly beard years

Frosted tips for added tone

 

[TSJMajesty]

Frosted tips for added tone

Other than that "fashion", I liked his look during this period the best. Not that it has anything to do with it, but his tone and his playing had incredible fire around ToT. He rips through Dance of Eternity on that live DVD like he's not even having to think about it!

 

[la szum]

I don’t need my amp to have a unique sound; I want an amp that has lots of depth and dimension though. The features on those Egnaters always sounded great to me, but I was disappointed in the tones I heard every time I tried one. They just sounded flat and dull to me.

Versatility is subjective. I’ve played everything from ‘40s jazz to ‘80s metal to ‘00s indie with a simple AC30. That’s enough versatility for me

They tended to have tiny ass, cheaply built transformers..... and not in an awesome Super Reverb
kind of way either.

But yeah, killer feature set---that, in a lot of ways, out Mesa'd Mesa. I had a few pass through my hands
in the 2010s and liked the 65 watt Renegade. A friend even traded in his Mark IV head to Guitar Center
to get one back in the day.


Oooooooooooooopps!!!

 

[la szum]

There does seem to be something in general about the less controls and options an amp has the better it sounds

It's almost like you didn't originally put "in general" in your comment above.

 

[AutomationBias]

Other than that "fashion", I liked his look during this period the best. Not that it has anything to do with it, but his tone and his playing had incredible fire around ToT. He rips through Dance of Eternity on that live DVD like he's not even having to think about it!

It's just funny looking back on these phases. It's like Eric Clapton's giant perm.

 

[JiveTurkey]

View attachment 9673

He looks like Seth Green

 

[la szum]

White Man Afro!

Guess that look is more of a Rick James Jeri-Curl vibe.

 

[la szum]

He looks like Seth Green

I am thinking Chad Kroeger.

 

[jellodog]

I had a few pass through my hands in the 2010s and liked the 65 watt Renegade.

I still can't get my head around the sheer volume of gear that you seem to have owned

 

[la szum]

Glory days of Ebay and Guitar Center's Used Section, circa 2004-2014 or thereabouts. Was also gigging
the most I ever did in my life in that time period---so had some extra duckets to work with.

I can't even fathom some of the "deals"I snagged back then. You could go on to Guitar Center's
site first thing in the morning on the East Coast and see all the new listings of gear they took on trade
the day before. Doors would not even be open in some cases, but you could call the store and get a
Manager, lock down the item and have it shipped to you for like $15--even if it was an amp or guitar.

Stores didn't price match back then, so there was a ton of undervalued gear being sold for pennies
on the dollar. Reverb didn't exist. Ebay had a monopoly on private sellers peddling used gear.

I was pretty much an unwashed, unrepentant flipper back then. I did keep it all above board, though,
and claimed the income, and paid taxes on profits.

Mostly an historical anomaly, due to the times back then, and not anything unique about me.