Theres no hope for my XXX !!!!!!!!

[SyxStringSlayer]

The louder I turned it up today, The harsher it was getting.
Eventually the mids were sittin on 9 oclock and the treble was on 8 oclock.
And I still was like... Godamn that harsh shit

Actually sounded better with the mids all the way off but then you have no cut and seem to lose something, The mids are just not smooth what so ever.

Now, I pretty much know, This is due to these fucking shuguang el34 tubes that came with this amp. But I have to put up with this because I just dont have the extra money for a new set of tubes right now so it is very frustrating.

Even with that said, Ive never heard a 6l6 in this head. I loved my 5150 with 6l6 tubes but I sold it a while back. This thing is starting to really piss me off though, Almost to where I just want to sell for another 5150. I would like to just keep it, and eventually run a 5150 with this amp.

Kt77's seem like a great tube, But then again, 6l6's are "the" metal tube right? I was thinking maybe the low gain retube kit from jj, with 4 6l6gc tubes and 3 ecc83s pres, With a ecc803 in v2, to tame some of the fizzle my nizzle.
Im kinda of think that might sound a bit b etter than the kt77's

But then again, I really dont know, I wish soembody had clips camparing the 6l6 to the kt77. I tune to Drop A sharp right now, And then tune the A string up for standard for some songs Ive written. I play hard and heavy, early metallica, black dahlia murder, machine head, hatebreed, Full blown chaos type riffage.... And I cannot decide which power tube to go with at all.

One thing is for sure, thes harsh and brittle mids/highs need to go. ASAP.

Any suggestions................. Lets have it

 

[AudioPhile777]

...you could sell it and buy a used 5150... or spend the extra cash and upgrade to a JSX... both of which are nice...

 

[Nebulous]

Have a look around the "clips" section for Noumenon's XXX clip. He's is really good, and he gave some tips on it there. Try that first.

 

[SyxStringSlayer]

...you could sell it and buy a used 5150... or spend the extra cash and upgrade to a JSX... both of which are nice...

The jsx isnt my cup of tea.

And I will have another 5150 but Id rather keep this thing because its
mint. Id like to run the 2 together.

 

[SyxStringSlayer]

Have a look around the "clips" section for Noumenon's XXX clip. He's is really good, and he gave some tips on it there. Try that first.

Okay, Wheres the clips section at, I cant find it. maybe I overlooked it. Id like to get a link to the thread your talking about.... Very interesting to read up on people whove figured out the amp from experience with it.

 

[Nebulous]

Oh it seems you already posted in his thread:
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/rate-my-mix-tone-threads/314719-ts9-xxx-harley-again.html

A shame his links don't work anymore, but really, try his settings, at least his gain setting and the TS infront. It seems to work wonders as that's one of the nicest XXX sounds I've heard!

 

[SyxStringSlayer]

Yeah I just dont see how the gain being on 1 is gonna sound so great.... I mean seems like youd be hearing mostly overdrive pedal and not much of the XXX natural tone.... But I dunno Like we say the clips arent workin.


Im thinkin futuristically a maxon 808.

But that still doesnt solve my tube delima.
JJ 6l6 or kt77....... Just cant get any views on it..

 

[everybody's x]

Jesus man, sell the motherfucker,
we've shown you multilple clips and you sit back and say "naw those settings cant sound good"

well they do, have you tried them?

the triple xxx gain is insane. 1.5-2 on the crunch channel is plenty unless you're doing leads

 

[everybody's x]

sorry I shouldn't be a dick, but turn the fucking gain down.

thats where your fizz is coming from

el34s arent the problem, hundreds of thousands of metal songs were recorded with them, they were the defacto-standard before the recto rage began

 

[Metaltastic]

On the CRUNCH channel? You know, I had read that the JSX Ultra channel was modeled after the XXX crunch, but I thought it was a typo. That really seems laughable, especially since my roommate at school has an Ultra 60 combo (the predecessor of the XXX) and the ultra channel on that seems reasonable enough.

 

[everybody's x]

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/328493-help-my-xxx.html

 

[SyxStringSlayer]

sorry I shouldn't be a dick, but turn the fucking gain down.

thats where your fizz is coming from

el34s arent the problem, hundreds of thousands of metal songs were recorded with them, they were the defacto-standard before the recto rage began

Ive had the gain from 2.... And moved up.
Live it sounds like shit with the gain any lower
than 10 oclock. Sounds like using the overdrive
of a fucking fender... Thats not where the fizz is coming
from, Maybe fizz was the wrong word, Its more harsh
than anything,,, the fizz is the brittle high end shining through.
The el34s are the problem for me. I prefer
6l6 chunk to el34 marshall midrange anyday.

IF its not a marshall, I think el34 = uke:

Im gonna order the 6l6 option from Eurotubes.
If I dont like it, Ill sell it and get another 5150 and
use the new tubes in it with my bad monkey.

 

[LSD-Studio]

you expect too much from the el34-->6L6 conversion...

it will only be very subtile change and if you totally hate yout tone now you won't get rid of that by swapping powertubes.

I used to think like you and thought el35 were the reason I hated Marshalls...brittle, high middy, little bottom etc...

they are not!
just look at the Uber....a VERY dark sounding amp with tons of bottom and el34.

the change of v1 will change your tone WAY more than swapping the powertubes....still won't it make the amp sound totally different, tubes are just nuances!

 

[Nebulous]

If you think it's the tubes, an email to Eurotubes should point you in the right direction.

Having said that, using a clean boost with the gain on the amp low(er) sounds great to many people, and can actually thicken your tone and reduce some of the harshness, especially in the case of the XXX.
I didn't buy one because of that harshness, but people on here have managed to tame them, including Andy, so there must be some hope for them.

 

[SyxStringSlayer]

Well im slowly coming to the conclusion that even with the boost out front and all that nice stuff.... The xxx just isnt gonna be as beasty as my 5150 sounded.

So I think im going to sell it straight out because its like new outta the box.

And get a 5150 again... And use the bad monkey, and a new set of JJ tubes in it. Maybe even the kt88/6l6 combo he offers for them, Wonder if anybody has done that before?

 

[jesus69lol]

When nuomenon revives his thread/clips you may change your mind. I think you're freaking out over nothing.

edit: not to sound rude, but I'm actually pretty partial to my xxx and I'm a bit skeptical as to whether or not you're actually trying out the tones we're suggesting.

 

[everybody's x]

Ive had the gain from 2.... And moved up.
Live it sounds like shit with the gain any lower
than 10 oclock. Sounds like using the overdrive
of a fucking fender... Thats not where the fizz is coming
from, Maybe fizz was the wrong word, Its more harsh
than anything,,, the fizz is the brittle high end shining through.
The el34s are the problem for me. I prefer
6l6 chunk to el34 marshall midrange anyday.

IF its not a marshall, I think el34 = uke:

Im gonna order the 6l6 option from Eurotubes.
If I dont like it, Ill sell it and get another 5150 and
use the new tubes in it with my bad monkey.

Keep rolling your eyes "master" I'll go back to recording guitars for a living.

 

[SyxStringSlayer]

When nuomenon revives his thread/clips you may change your mind. I think you're freaking out over nothing.

edit: not to sound rude, but I'm actually pretty partial to my xxx and I'm a bit skeptical as to whether or not you're actually trying out the tones we're suggesting.

I cant try tones with a ts-9 because I dont have one.


Allothers I have tried, All settings Ive seen on here Ive ran over and dialed
them in. The only boosters I have is a bad monkey, And A metal zone that I used with a crate practice amp for when I was head-less for 2 months. Of
course the metal zone doesnt matter it sounds like shit wiht the xxx
unless im on the clean, and that defeats the purpose of a tube amp.


So Hopefully he can re-vamp his sound clips so I can be motivated to buy a ts-9. Other wise how is this freaking? I just dont like the harsh brittle sound that is coming out of this amp. Now like I say ive never heard a 6l6 in this amp, But some jackasses insist that an el34 isnt gonna make it sound more "brittle" than a 6l6. Somebody definatly needs to hook up some good clips, I dont really "want" to sell it, But currently im starting up another project and I cant take this harsh shit to battle I will lose.... SO im waiting
for mind changing clips :Smokin:

EDIT: I found a clip that reminds me of what a 5150 is capable of...

http://www.upload.celtiaproductions.co.uk/uploads/Smoergaas2.mp3

Thats a heavy groove 5150 sound.... If the XXX cant do that
then its just not gonna do it for me.

 

[Nebulous]

I think the XXX can do that, just with it's own voicing (not talking about the fizz/ harshness here).

You don't really need an IBANEZ TS to try a clean boost, I too use a BM for a clean boost, and it does the job. When I use it I have the level all the way up, gain all the way down and the two tone knobs just past 3 o'clock.
It is very integral to many tones. I for one can't see much that I like in Rectifiers without a clean boost, and I think it might be the same for the XXX. Even a 5150 or JSX will sound better with one IMO. The added compression and slight EQ really add body to the gain structure and tone.
The only thing to remember is that you have to then turn the gain on your amp down. For example, me with my JSX on the Ultra channel, the gain will go from 6.5 without the boost, to 3.5 with the clean boost.

Whether it's the tone you're looknig for or not, I recommend you try the boost.

 

[SyxStringSlayer]

I think the XXX can do that, just with it's own voicing (not talking about the fizz/ harshness here).

You don't really need an IBANEZ TS to try a clean boost, I too use a BM for a clean boost, and it does the job. When I use it I have the level all the way up, gain all the way down and the two tone knobs just past 3 o'clock.
It is very integral to many tones. I for one can't see much that I like in Rectifiers without a clean boost, and I think it might be the same for the XXX. Even a 5150 or JSX will sound better with one IMO. The added compression and slight EQ really add body to the gain structure and tone.
The only thing to remember is that you have to then turn the gain on your amp down. For example, me with my JSX on the Ultra channel, the gain will go from 6.5 without the boost, to 3.5 with the clean boost.

Whether it's the tone you're looknig for or not, I recommend you try the boost.

Well I will try this 2marrow Its 5 am and I need to get up 2marrow.

I will do the bad monkey again. which The first time i did it i done it with level max, and the right knob 0, The middle 2 were on 3, but not 3 oclock.

Maybe I didnt ahve the gain low enough on the amp, i will try this and see if it sounds any better. Hopefully if it does, I will just decide to do a tube swap for the slightly different voicing... Which Will probably be kt77's. Which the Euro tube guys that email me say has a MUCH smoother midrange than my el34's and is probably one of the reasons The amp is pissing me off.

None the less I will report 2marrow on what I find. Thanks for the help. And to the dickheads in the thread thanks for not posting anymore.