so, over the past 10 years i've been through quite a few amps....laney gh50l, mesa dc-5, engl blackmore, peavey 5150, sansamp psa1 rack setup, engl fireball 100, marshall jcm 800 2210, marshall jvm 210h, jet city 100h. i also have experience with engl savage 100, marshall jmp1 rack setup/dsl/tsl/8100, triple rectifier, engl fireball 60.....either played them live on tour, or borrowed some amps from my friends.
the thing is: nothing really gave me *that* sound and feeling that i'm looking for. my main gripe with these amps is the lack of character and playing dynamics. sure, i used some of these years ago when my playing technique, personal sound and style weren't nearly as evolved as they are right now, plus i got some different/better guitars now so i might think differently if i tried some of them again now.
i wonder if anyone around here could give me some suggestions what would fit my needs best, as i feel that i'm pretty much done with most of the "standard" metal amps and it's getting quite difficult to try something new.
i'll do my best to describe what i have in mind.
i'm mainly playing progressive death metal btw, but thrash is where i'm coming from and it shows in my playing. i'm a hard ass picker and pay a lot of attention to my muting technique to get these really crunchy palm mutes as well as good note definition on fast riffs.
i'm looking for a rather bright and present sound that's still smooth in the highs. no sizzle and no ear piercing please.
i do a lot of shows, and i need the amp to cut through a very dense mix without drowning out the other guys. consequently, the amp should have a good amount of higher midrange presence. lets say around 1,5-2,5k approximately.
the midrange control should work on the lower midrange though, similar to a 5150 maybe. 600-800hz-ish. this way i can either scoop it for a more brutal tone, or dial it up and fatten up the tone.
i like a solid low end punch that's not overbearing and stepping on my bass player. it should have a nice thump, really tight and percussive - i hate it when the low end's all over the place during the low chugs. it should get some air moving and add some nice body to the tone without overpowering anything, while staying really tight and focused all the time.
the sound should be huge, but very focused, cut through the mix really well, while having a pretty bright character that's not abrasive. a nice and tight dry punchy sound basically.
i do not like playing with a boost in front, as i feel that the additional level boost changes and masks the way the amp reacts to playing dynamics, plus i don't like tap-dancing. if everything sounds just right aside from that i'll consider using a boost though, so this isn't a deal breaker.
i don't play with a lot of gain, just enough to get some fluidity going on during fast thrash/melodic death riffs (think obscura/black dahlia murder) without having to fight the amp all the time. i like to get most of my crunch and saturation on the lower palm mute stuff from my hands though. let's say slightly pushed 2203 levels, jvm 210 on od2 orange with gain on 3/10 (unboosted) for example.
other than that.....i need a decent clean channel, switchable fx loop, and a solo boost of some sort would be great. second master volume or a third channel for leads to get some more gain and midrange going would be great.
there are workarounds for all of them though, as long as it has an fx loop of some sort. e.g. the marshall jcm800 2203 RI can be made a multi channel amp by using the 4 cable method and a gt10 or similar. so please just throw anything at me that you think would fit my rhythm sound needs, and i'll check if i can make it work or not.
to give you a better idea of what works and what not, i'll comment on some amps i've owned and explain why it didn't work for me.
engl in general: complete lack of dynamics. no matter how you play, the amp will sound the same most of the time. they only sound "right" with the gain up a bit higher too, it just gets weird with low gain settings because of the lack of dynamics.
5150: aside from the sucky clean channel and some severe reliability issues, the amp character is actually in the right ballpark. it could use some more upper midrange presence, but the actual midrange dial was quite well voiced. just a hair too abrasive in the highs too, and it needs a boost to get the lows tight enough for my taste which once again limits the dynamics.
marshall jvm: once again in the right ballpark. it's got the upper midrange thing almost nailed, by playing with the lows vs resonance you can get enough tight low end too, but overall the high end is voiced wrong. it's too raw and not defined enough. dynamics at low gain settings are close but not there.
jet city: great dynamics, but way too loose bottom end, weird midrange, and gets ear piercing quite fast. with a boost in front and treble/presence dialed down it's actually OK, but then it doesn't have enough punch.
fender evh: i only played it in a story once, but this is actually quite close. the crunch channel could use a hair more gain, and there was something weird going on with the way the low end reacts - i think it would really benefit from a resonance control tbh. i need to try this one in a band setting to be sure. kinds lacks some upper midrange "marshall style" grind too.
so, and ideas?
sorry for the mammut post, but i wanted to be as detailed as possible.
thanks in advance!
the thing is: nothing really gave me *that* sound and feeling that i'm looking for. my main gripe with these amps is the lack of character and playing dynamics. sure, i used some of these years ago when my playing technique, personal sound and style weren't nearly as evolved as they are right now, plus i got some different/better guitars now so i might think differently if i tried some of them again now.
i wonder if anyone around here could give me some suggestions what would fit my needs best, as i feel that i'm pretty much done with most of the "standard" metal amps and it's getting quite difficult to try something new.
i'll do my best to describe what i have in mind.
i'm mainly playing progressive death metal btw, but thrash is where i'm coming from and it shows in my playing. i'm a hard ass picker and pay a lot of attention to my muting technique to get these really crunchy palm mutes as well as good note definition on fast riffs.
i'm looking for a rather bright and present sound that's still smooth in the highs. no sizzle and no ear piercing please.
i do a lot of shows, and i need the amp to cut through a very dense mix without drowning out the other guys. consequently, the amp should have a good amount of higher midrange presence. lets say around 1,5-2,5k approximately.
the midrange control should work on the lower midrange though, similar to a 5150 maybe. 600-800hz-ish. this way i can either scoop it for a more brutal tone, or dial it up and fatten up the tone.
i like a solid low end punch that's not overbearing and stepping on my bass player. it should have a nice thump, really tight and percussive - i hate it when the low end's all over the place during the low chugs. it should get some air moving and add some nice body to the tone without overpowering anything, while staying really tight and focused all the time.
the sound should be huge, but very focused, cut through the mix really well, while having a pretty bright character that's not abrasive. a nice and tight dry punchy sound basically.
i do not like playing with a boost in front, as i feel that the additional level boost changes and masks the way the amp reacts to playing dynamics, plus i don't like tap-dancing. if everything sounds just right aside from that i'll consider using a boost though, so this isn't a deal breaker.
i don't play with a lot of gain, just enough to get some fluidity going on during fast thrash/melodic death riffs (think obscura/black dahlia murder) without having to fight the amp all the time. i like to get most of my crunch and saturation on the lower palm mute stuff from my hands though. let's say slightly pushed 2203 levels, jvm 210 on od2 orange with gain on 3/10 (unboosted) for example.
other than that.....i need a decent clean channel, switchable fx loop, and a solo boost of some sort would be great. second master volume or a third channel for leads to get some more gain and midrange going would be great.
there are workarounds for all of them though, as long as it has an fx loop of some sort. e.g. the marshall jcm800 2203 RI can be made a multi channel amp by using the 4 cable method and a gt10 or similar. so please just throw anything at me that you think would fit my rhythm sound needs, and i'll check if i can make it work or not.
to give you a better idea of what works and what not, i'll comment on some amps i've owned and explain why it didn't work for me.
engl in general: complete lack of dynamics. no matter how you play, the amp will sound the same most of the time. they only sound "right" with the gain up a bit higher too, it just gets weird with low gain settings because of the lack of dynamics.
5150: aside from the sucky clean channel and some severe reliability issues, the amp character is actually in the right ballpark. it could use some more upper midrange presence, but the actual midrange dial was quite well voiced. just a hair too abrasive in the highs too, and it needs a boost to get the lows tight enough for my taste which once again limits the dynamics.
marshall jvm: once again in the right ballpark. it's got the upper midrange thing almost nailed, by playing with the lows vs resonance you can get enough tight low end too, but overall the high end is voiced wrong. it's too raw and not defined enough. dynamics at low gain settings are close but not there.
jet city: great dynamics, but way too loose bottom end, weird midrange, and gets ear piercing quite fast. with a boost in front and treble/presence dialed down it's actually OK, but then it doesn't have enough punch.
fender evh: i only played it in a story once, but this is actually quite close. the crunch channel could use a hair more gain, and there was something weird going on with the way the low end reacts - i think it would really benefit from a resonance control tbh. i need to try this one in a band setting to be sure. kinds lacks some upper midrange "marshall style" grind too.
so, and ideas?
sorry for the mammut post, but i wanted to be as detailed as possible.
thanks in advance!
