Big rehash - Strat into Dumble - what really works

[sepulchre]

I think what 10thTx is talking about has also been here described before in another thread. The thread is about building a #102 and ayan (Gil) said, ". . . you can dial in the overdrive a lot higher and the amp will not sound so much 'distorted' as it will 'sustainy'."

I agree with this. Sure, distortion can be had from a D-style amp but IMHO it's that lush, phat sustain with a signature tone that retains its particular sort of clarity that sets them apart from other amps. For me, that's the grail tone.

Sure, it easier to get there with humbuckers, but I think single coils can attain it too with a careful pairing of guitar and amp type (high/low plate, skyliner/classic TS, etc.) I posted a clip here (pg 6, I think) that shows a Strat getting a Very nice tone (originally posted by Gil).

[67plexi]

Tony just scratched the surface. Let us look at the guitar first What makes the 1950'S and early 1960'S
Fender and Gibson guitars so great not to many were that great only a few.
I played Marshall Plexi amps for years only 1 out of twenty would have what I
was looking for in the tone department. When I go to the mega super guitar stores out of 2500 or so
guitars I will only find 2-3 that have it. I pick the A string and if that guitar sustains for 120-500 seconds
then I will play it, If the intonation is off I will adjust it and play the guitar unplugged for 15 min.
tell the sales person to hold that guitar find the next one. I have played all guitars in the store and not
found one to my liking walked out of the store ten hours later with a migraine.
If I picked a dead sounding guitar it doesn't matter what pickup is installed it will still be dead.
The ODS amp took me two years to learn what it could do turn this treble knob one notch changed
everything . I challenge any of you amp builders to build the same exact sounding amp it won't happen
you may get close but there are too many variables . I'm still cheerleading on how close I got to ODSR
#57 overdrive channel. Have fun with your harmonic generators.

[10thTx]

you can dial in the overdrive a lot higher and the amp will not sound so much 'distorted' as it will 'sustainy'."

I agree with this. Sure, distortion can be had from a D-style amp but IMHO it's that lush, phat sustain with a signature tone that retains its particular sort of clarity that sets them apart from other amps

Yes, the clarity of the sustain and overdrive. That's what I think of when I was saying clean/OD vs. muddy/OD. I was referring to the transparent tone.

With respect, 10thtx

[CHIP]

Here's a quote from HAD, which is contained in the Must Read sticky.
"It's a different kind of signal handling. In the Overdrive, I approach gain levels that are extremely intense; within the linear region, I have a signal gain capability of one million. So if you stuck 10 microvolts in, you'd get 10 volts back. And I do it with stability, and it's still very musical. The best way to approach an Overdrive is real slow. Walk up to it, look at the knobs, have it turned down real low, and then get a feeling for it. Learn what to do with your fingers to make it respond well. If you walk right up to it, it has a tendency to absolutely frighten some people. The secret control on the Overdrive's panel section is the ratio control, which controls how much overdrive is fed back into the circuit. If you turn that up, it's Rock City."

I think Had explains the clean/OD right there.

[vibratoking]

I like Rock City...

The part about approaching it slow is approaching the "floating on a football field of marshmellows" ridiculousness. That's thinly veiled sales verbage intended to present the amp as something more than it is. All IMO of course.

[talbany]

Here's a quote from HAD, which is contained in the Must Read sticky.
"It's a different kind of signal handling. In the Overdrive, I approach gain levels that are extremely intense; within the linear region, I have a signal gain capability of one million. So if you stuck 10 microvolts in, you'd get 10 volts back. And I do it with stability, and it's still very musical. The best way to approach an Overdrive is real slow. Walk up to it, look at the knobs, have it turned down real low, and then get a feeling for it. Learn what to do with your fingers to make it respond well. If you walk right up to it, it has a tendency to absolutely frighten some people. The secret control on the Overdrive's panel section is the ratio control, which controls how much overdrive is fed back into the circuit. If you turn that up, it's Rock City."

I think Had explains the clean/OD right there.

What I take away from HAD's quote here is..The ODS is ist's own beast!! You have to approach it differently than other amps (including how you play!!)..Take the time and explore the possibilities and nuances..GIVE IT TIME!!....I think it frightens some players while they are playing it because you hear every little mistake..

Iv;e seen too many players plug there pointy guitars into it crank the gain way up and play as fast as they can then try to compare it too there Marshall DS high gain whatever..Then go what's so special about a Dumble..

Clean OD makes perfect sense!!..

We should start a thread about which pickups people here use that they like( example.. set of Alnico V wound 8K etc) ..Along with what style ODS they are using..Maybe we can find a common ground.. An ODS Pickup!!

Tony

[jelle]

My current fav pickup is the Bare Knuckles Abraxas. A buddy loaned me his Lester and it kills through my skyliners and especially through the bluesmaster, like the plexi I could never find. Cleans are great too on these pups.

[Reeltarded]

Nice strat!!



Nice amp.

[vibratoking]

It's odd, at least to me, that my 58 historic LP has much more chime on the clean channel than any of my strats or teles.

And there is no comparison on the OD side...the LP sings.

I am slowly in the process of tweaking to get the SCs sounding better. So far that involves changing the tonestack, going low plate on V1, installing a 500k trimmer, and using the FET input with the SCs only. My progress is painfully slow at this point due to 'other' things and I don't want to report information that I haven't had time to verify and get settled on.

[jelle]

How about my les Paul and an ODS?!

Seriously, the room exploded when he started digging into my '64.

[jelle]

A strat into an ODS works well too. Here's PJ Brutzman at the Bitter End, NYC, with his USA strat, a recent one, into an ODS. Skyline high plate with internal loop. 50W 6L6GC. We used the loop for additional compression and set the Ratio control for 'Rock City'.

[alvarezh]

Hi Tony, nice suggestion.

My clone is a low/high plate. I know you have a couple of EJ Strats, my best sound so far is a my EJ on the bridge with the tone control completely rolled off, amp in OD. Very, very creamy. Please try it and tell us what you heard.

All the best.

[jelle]

I do a similar thing with my strat. I set it to the middle/bridge pickup, and roll the tone control back for OD.

A Dumble owner I know does the same thing with his High Plate Classic Dumble and humbuckers.

Jelle

[alvarezh]

Good to hear that Jelle, it confirms I am not alone, hence I'm finally beginning to acquire good tastes!

Cheers!

[dave g]

With HBs, I typically run the input gain around 11 o'clock and raise it to 2 o'clock for SCs. I don't use the FET input. Have you tried simply adjusting the input volume control for different pickups?