MASSIVE High-Gain Amp Shoot-out!

[kev]

Hmm, still much more hard rock tones than metal sadly...cool idea, but no EMG's and very little palm muting = not much use to me I'm afraid.

Yeh that was a problem. Too many open chords haha. Damn is it hot in the UK today, approaching 30 degrees is not fun unless you are on a beach. How is the states atm? I know our servers in huntsville are taking a beating and the air con is working overtime in 38 celsius

 

[Ermz]

Hmm, still much more hard rock tones than metal sadly...cool idea, but no EMG's and very little palm muting = not much use to me I'm afraid.

You haven't listened ot the end of each clip where it's basically 'chuggachugga chord chuggachugga'?

@kev: Do you mean 30 degrees celsius? That's a really cool summer day over here.

Also, can anyone identify the mic method? It seems to be fredman on the left speaker with a 57 in center and 421 angled. Other way around on the right speaker?

Also, note the choice to mic the top speakers in the cab

 

[Metaltastic]

Yeh that was a problem. Too many open chords haha. Damn is it hot in the UK today, approaching 30 degrees is not fun unless you are on a beach. How is the states atm? I know our servers in huntsville are taking a beating and the air con is working overtime in 38 celsius

Around here it's not that bad, around 24 Celsius, but NY summers have been RIDICULOUSLY humid recently, it's agony

You haven't listened ot the end of each clip where it's basically 'chuggachugga chord chuggachugga'?

@kev: Do you mean 30 degrees celsius? That's a really cool summer day over here.

Haha, whoops, ya got me - I listened to a few for like 10-15 seconds and then closed the window, but still, now that I'm listening, it's still the same hard rocky semi-undergained tone. And when he says WCR American Steel, does that mean it has Steel strings on it? That might explain why the tone is so bright and kinda clangy in all the clips...

 

[Soundlurker]

Not quite the tones you'd use for heavy stuff but still a very useful and well done comparison. Well, I hated the introduction in the beggining by the third clip so I just listened the ends mostly. The DR is indeed awesome and I agree about the lead tone on the XTC (not a big fan of its rhythm tone, though). I actually enjoyed some of the Marshalls. The SLO was pretty cool, too - quite agressive and dynamic mids.

It seems to me almost every one of those amps can end up sounding awesome, given that there's a suitable cab and room and it's dialed in and recorded right.

 

[Metaltastic]

Also, note the choice to mic the top speakers in the cab

Also, note that I don't really like the tones And it's a straight cab, so the top speakers wouldn't sound any different than the bottom (at least not due to placement)

 

[kev]

You haven't listened ot the end of each clip where it's basically 'chuggachugga chord chuggachugga'?

@kev: Do you mean 30 degrees celsius? That's a really cool summer day over here.

Yep! You guys have to survive super human temps tho Erm. I know it goes to around the 40's out there which would make me squeal. I dont mind really hot temps on islands when you're by the coast (you are getting a breeze) so it doesnt really feel like the temperature it actually is. Today here its about 30, but everything is completely still. How is winter treating ya?

 

[reg3n]

thanks a lot for these! i'll be checking them all out

 

[Ermz]

I don't really have an issue with the way they've generally dialed the tones to be honest (with the exception of some amps). I've done my share of rock music and know that in general the tones tend to be way better than metal because you actually have SPACE for them. I really love the massive clanging rhythm tone at the end... especially with the Recto. So little fizz and so much meat, that's what it's all about!

@Kev: Winter is glorious man. It's been steady at like 6 to 16 degrees every day. Pure heaven compared to the sheer hell we went through at the start of the year.

 

[grywolf627]

...How is the states atm? I know our servers in huntsville are taking a beating and the air con is working overtime in 38 celsius

Kev, here in Houston (about 1 hour or so from Huntsville, TX if that's the Huntsville you're referring to), it's in the 38 - 40 C range. Yeah, the air conditioning repair/service guys are doing really good business these days.

 

[16S]

enjoyed the vid though. thanks for linking that Ermz.

 

[Metaltastic]

I don't really have an issue with the way they've generally dialed the tones to be honest (with the exception of some amps). I've done my share of rock music and know that in general the tones tend to be way better than metal because you actually have SPACE for them. I really love the massive clanging rhythm tone at the end... especially with the Recto. So little fizz and so much meat, that's what it's all about!

Saturation is fizz dude, it's a necessarily evil for metal tonez! (unless they sound totally weird, unnatural, and super-processed, which is how I feel about "Sweet Vengeance" tbh)

 

[kev]

Kev, here in Houston (about 1 hour or so from Huntsville, TX if that's the Huntsville you're referring to), it's in the 38 - 40 C range. Yeah, the air conditioning repair/service guys are doing really good business these days.

Well, i was talking about Alabama Mark. We've got one by Blue Ridge park towards Missouri city too, so I guess thats just as bad down there then! I trust the vacation to Romania was good!?

@Kev: Winter is glorious man. It's been steady at like 6 to 16 degrees every day. Pure heaven compared to the sheer hell we went through at the start of the year.

Aus has always impressed me with the way it goes from so damn hot to extremely cool in such a short period of time season wise! Does it get really cool at nite or do you just sleep in a pool of sweat lol?

 

[elmoe]

whoa amp porn

 

[gabriel g.]

the framus cobra sounds great!!!!

 

[P-E]

Hmm, still much more hard rock tones than metal sadly...cool idea, but no EMG's and very little palm muting = not much use to me I'm afraid.

Apart from EMGs, a Tubescreamer would have helped too, IMO.

 

[kev]

Going back to the thread, I think the best 3 would have to rank:

Dual recto (seemed to blow everything out of the water as far as clarity went with no annoying frequency)
Soldano SLO
Tritone 100 (big surprise for me)

Marshalls bored me a bit with their evil midrange and sounded quite average.

On the downside, I thought the ENGL screamer sounded shite, the Diezal VH4 had nothing to write home about (and the Herbert wasnt exactly outstanding) and I was disappointed by the Mark 5. They will all be crossed off my list.

I am not sure how much to read into this though.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

thanks for the link..


Rackto clearly wins (from what I've heard so far, only checked a handful)
Avenger is nice, too

 

[Ermz]

Saturation is fizz dude, it's a necessarily evil for metal tonez!

You shouldn't think of that as anything more than your own opinion. I'm by no means the most seasoned engineer around, but I do this full-time, have recorded a great many amps, and can tell you I do not feel the same way whatsoever.

@Almost everyone: Agreed about the Recto really mopping up in this shoot-out. Awesome amp. I think the way it's able to channel the crux of its tone into areas so usable in the mix is why it's a studio standard.

I still maintain the Bogner XTC absolutely slays on leads. Maybe not for super-fast shred, but if you need your single notes to sound like chords, that's the one!

@Kev: During the summer months you live in sweat here 24/7. You take about 3 showers a day and then you're a filthy pig again about 20 minutes out. It's nigh unbearable and extremely hard to stay productive. We had one day where it hit 47 I believe, some dipshit ran a truck into the power pole out the front of my place, we all lost power, no air con nothing... I spent 6 hours just lying on my bed staring at the ceiling because my brain couldn't function enough to do anything else.

 

[kev]

Yes, I will trade my 5150 and a goat for a XTC and a recto. But alas, could the roadking be the new recto lol

 

[Ermz]

Also, check out how the SLO and Avenger do on rhythms! Not too bad aye. Kinda like a cross between the Recto and XTC, especially in the SLO's case, which maintains some really nice chunky mutes. Makes me wonder if I'll have the privilige to record all these amps again. I don't think I appreciated at the time just how awesome they are.

Shame this shoot-out didn't have more ENGLs. I can imagine a Blackmore, Savage, or Fireball would absolutely slay here.