TGF’s Original White Meat: Badlander thread

[JiveTurkey]

Badlander is a bad motherfucker and especially shines in a live mix

100%

 

[spawnofthesith]

100%

Only have gigged mine once back in April, it’s coming out this Thursday again

 

[la szum]

If the Badlander is the official white meat, does that make the Mark series the official dark meat?

Filet Mgnon, Brisket, Lobster.... take your pick.

Oh wait, Marks are so great they do can lay claim to all 3.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Filet Mgnon, Brisket, Lobster.... take your pick.

Oh wait, Marks are so great they do can lay claim to all 3.

Mark V = best surf and turf of your life

 

[la szum]

It's a Bougie Amp, for sure!

Nice to see you keeping your arsenal active and all polished up and ready to go!

 

[la szum]

Damn near saw a Badlander go up in smoke this weekend. Well, it did smoke and fume and implode
a bit, but we were so far back I couldn't actually smell it. You could hear them during soundcheck
saying, "What's that smell?"

As soon as Captain Drop D hit the first chord on his PRS into the Badlander (on top of a Mesa 4 x 12)
I knew it was trouble. Had that gutless, thin, and raspy tone of power tubes failing. Saw the guitarist
lose signal a few times, then he goes behind the amp and starts playing with cables and who knows
what. I could sympathize with the state of panic. Something must have been done to make it worse,
because that is when the Badlander gave out completely.

It was the Headliner (killer young band of early 20 somethings throwing down!), and they ended up
borrowing, get this, a Peavey Vypyr Head (one of the tube powered ones) and it had the most Jack
White sounding Fuzz tone I have heard this side of Jack White. It was cool, and a bit different. Definitely
not a Badlander tone. But they powered through. Lead Singer kept the crowd entertained. They didn't
apologize or complain or make excuses. I was seriously impressed with how they handled it.

The other guitarist (lead) was a total Slash-fueled gunslinger. Played a Les Paul Standard into a Slash AFD
Marshall Full Stack. No lie. I was like, "Fuck yes, boys! Fuck yes!"

They had some great tunes. Think Guns n' Roses meets Queen meets Creed. And they jammed. No click
tracks. No backing tracks. No canned harmonies pumped in via computer. No BS. No smoke (apart from
the Badlander!! ) and mirrors.

Did my heart good to see.

 

[Desertdweller]

Damn near saw a Badlander go up in smoke this weekend. Well, it did smoke and fume and implode
a bit, but we were so far back I couldn't actually smell it. You could hear them during soundcheck
saying, "What's that smell?"

As soon as Captain Drop D hit the first chord on his PRS into the Badlander (on top of a Mesa 4 x 12)
I knew it was trouble. Had that gutless, thin, and raspy tone of power tubes failing. Saw the guitarist
lose signal a few times, then he goes behind the amp and starts playing with cables and who knows
what. I could sympathize with the state of panic. Something must have been done to make it worse,
because that is when the Badlander gave out completely.

It was the Headliner (killer young band of early 20 somethings throwing down!), and they ended up
borrowing, get this, a Peavey Vypyr Head (one of the tube powered ones) and it had the most Jack
White sounding Fuzz tone I have heard this side of Jack White. It was cool, and a bit different. Definitely
not a Badlander tone. But they powered through. Lead Singer kept the crowd entertained. They didn't
apologize or complain or make excuses. I was seriously impressed with how they handled it.

The other guitarist (lead) was a total Slash-fueled gunslinger. Played a Les Paul Standard into a Slash AFD
Marshall Full Stack. No lie. I was like, "Fuck yes, boys! Fuck yes!"

They had some great tunes. Think Guns n' Roses meets Queen meets Creed. And they jammed. No click
tracks. No backing tracks. No canned harmonies pumped in via computer. No BS. No smoke (apart from
the Badlander!! ) and mirrors.

Did my heart good to see.

This is one reason to always have a backup amp. I love lunch box amps for this. When I played in my last band I kept a Mini Rectifier with me just in case my main amp went down.

 

[la szum]

Yup. I used to haul a Crate Powerblack around. Only ever needed it one time. Thankfully!

Pretty sure they made it worse than it needed to be by trying to keep feeding juice to
an amp that was like, "I am dying here fellas!"

Experienced tube amp users know any sign of an issue = Shut that fucker down now!

Still, given the nature of the live gigging environment I was super stoked to see 4 x 12s
and Mesas and Marshalls on stage... and played by some young'uns who get it.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I made some “emergency patches” to go direct a while back on my HX stomp in case I ever have an amp go down at a gig. Nice to have something integrated on the board already just in case (only use the stomp for FX)


I pray that never happens

 

[spawnofthesith]

Only time I’ve ever had a power tube failure in almost 2 decades of tube amps was my Mark V earlier this year. Of course it was the day we were tracking guitars for our our EP

 

[Jaji]

I use an Xotic SL Drive with my BL25. I've also used a Golden Horse, but I tend to prefer the SL. The BL is, I feel, terribly underrated, aside from this forum. It's simply one badass rock and roll machine.

 

[grimmchaos]

Man, a month with no posts now? I need to get over here more often....

Took my Badlander 50 for a spin again Friday night when we played with another band... it sounded fantastic as always. I'm boosting the crush channel currently with a Keeley Compressor of all things, running it into a Mesa vertical 2x12, and relying on my volume knob to go from Aerosmith and AC/DC to Maiden/Ozzy/Dio. Even at 9 o'clock on the volume, I was was asked to turn down by the sound guy (boo).

This amp has really been awesome since I got it. I usually rehearse at home with headphones on, and because of the Cabclone my AF3 is gathering dust. And I haven't turned on the IIC+, 101B, or Uber Blue in 3 or 4 months since the Badlander came home. Even got one of my friends who is a way better guitarist than I am to buy one, and he LOVES it too.

I am curious about how the 100 would compare to the 50 though, that's for sure.

 

[deadpool_25]

Although I often hear people talk about how good the BL is for rock, I don't hear a lot of praise for its ability to do modern metal. I suspect that's because it "definitely needs a boost"? However many people feel that pretty much any amp needs a boost for that anyway.

I think a 5150 or 5153 might be considered a benchmark for modern metal and since I have a lot of experience with those I'll use them for comparison here.

While the BL obviously doesn't have the crazy amounts of gain the 515X amps do, many people don't like to dial too much gain in on those anyway--personally I like to keep gain at between 9:00 and 11:00 on those amps' crunch and lead channels in general.

So. Badlander and modern metal? Yay or nay?

 

[paisleywookiee]

Although I often hear people talk about how good the BL is for rock, I don't hear a lot of praise for its ability to do modern metal. I suspect that's because it "definitely needs a boost"? However many people feel that pretty much any amp needs a boost for that anyway.

I think a 5150 or 5153 might be considered a benchmark for modern metal and since I have a lot of experience with those I'll use them for comparison here.

While the BL obviously doesn't have the crazy amounts of gain the 515X amps do, many people don't like to dial too much gain in on those anyway--personally I like to keep gain at between 9:00 and 11:00 on those amps' crunch and lead channels in general.

So. Badlander and modern metal? Yay or nay?

I think it’ll do modern metal. The gain range is usable the full dial, so crank it to ten. It’s not like a 5150 that turns into a fizzy pile of shit at 5.

 

[deadpool_25]

I think it’ll do modern metal. The gain range is usable the full dial, so crank it to ten. It’s not like a 5150 that turns into a fizzy pile of shit at 5.

That's kinda what I was thinking too.

 

[gearJunkie]

I am curious about how the 100 would compare to the 50 though, that's for sure.

I have a BL 100 head and a BL 50 combo. The difference is typical as with most 100 vs 50 watt tube amps.

The 100 has a ton more punch and clean headroom when pushing volume to "stage" levels. IMO, the 50 is more than adequate for most live settings. If you're playing an outdoor festival on a 40+ foot stage, the 100 might serve you better.

You are not missing any mojo with the BL 50.

 

[deadpool_25]

I know @2dor saod he didn't like the Mr. Scary mod in his BL. Anyone using and liking it?

 

[2dor]

I know @2dor saod he didn't like the Mr. Scary mod in his BL. Anyone using and liking it?

I'll give it another shot in a few weeks time but so far, I've enjoyed it most with a boost in front or a Boss GE-7 as a boost.

 

[gearJunkie]

I know @2dor saod he didn't like the Mr. Scary mod in his BL. Anyone using and liking it?

I am still using my Mr. Scary mod in my 100 watt head. The BL 50 combo is running in 4CM with a Tone King Imperial preamp.

Both amps sound AWESOME!

YMMV

 

[Mikael Dez]

personally I like to keep gain at between 9:00 and 11:00 on those amps' crunch and lead channels in general.

That's exactly where I think the sweet spot is on the 5153. I'm a fan of boosting an amp into metal rather than getting there on the amp itself - I know that's from a long time of using a boost pedal and it's just where I feel comfortable.