Amps and cabs: which one is responsible for what?

the bass, pickups, strings, cables, room, lighting, and how recently you showered.....

i think you get my point...everything affects tone..................EVERYTHING

 

I'll try to keep this story short, but it's very similar I think to what you're going through now.

In 79 I bought myself a full blown SVT rig. 350 watts of all tube blood and guts power. My friends oooohed and aaaahed over it and kept telling me...man, you got the king of the monsters...that thing sounds so good...god, I wish I had one. There was only one thing wrong with it...I didn't like it. I spent over two years trying to get the sound I wanted out of it and thinking I was crazy for not liking it because everybody kept saying what a great amp I had.

About a year later EV came out with a new line of EVM cabs. I tried a 2x15 cab out at the music store and fell in love with it because it was so much cleaner than my 8x10 cab and got down waaaay low. I sold my SVT cab and bought the EV and I was a lot happier with the sound, but it still wasn't quite right. The EV cab was great. The thing was incapeable of producing distortion on it's own. There were times where I pushed the SVT until it flat ran out of power and the EV never whimpered.

It was 1983 when I tried a Gallien Krueger head for the first time. It was a 400RB and I was astounded by the hi-fi sound, clean, pure and clear as crystal. All this time I had been a die hard tube fan. If it didn't have tubes...it was ****. But I couldn't deny while listening to the GK that here was the sound I had been wanting all this time. The SVT was history.

I took the GK home and mated it to my EV cab and it was a match made in heaven. Today I run a Gk 400RB into that very same EV cab, but now it has a little brother sitting on top, an Eden 2x10T powered by a GK 200RB and the sound is just as I like it.

I don't know what sound you're looking for whether it be the hi-fi sound of GK or the rock and rumble of a Mesa Boogie, but you ought to try out everything you can get your hands on in every music store until you find it. I shouldn't have wasted so much time trying to beat the sound I wanted out of gear that just wasn't cut out to do it and neither should you.

 

Nice story, Mudbass! It is something that should be noted by tube dudes, since it seems a lot of them assume SS amp guys are missing out on something. Anyway - I don't have any interest in the old SS vs. tube debate. They both have their advantages and disadvantages, so it boils down to personal preference.

ChrisIsOurTime - I wonder if it's that head. I dunno, but I just played on a dude's Hartke head tonight and wasn't that impressed. I've also read some mixed reviews from others in TB.

I guess it would help if you could express what exactly it is you don't like about the sound. Does it seem compressed? Distorted? Weak in the low bass? Too shrill? Muddy or poorly defined? If you describe what you *don't like* and what sound you would prefer, maybe people will have constructive ideas for you. And, of course, you should spend some time trying out different stuff in music stores - take note of what you like and don't like - then you'll make a better decision.

- Mike

 

could it be a bass and string problem rather than a amp/cab problem as the set up you have seems pretty good and you should be able to get a good range of tones from that rig.

just a view to help u along

ytster

 

My friend, it doesn't hurt to try things out. Try a GK and if it's what you want go for it. If not, try an Eden or an Ashdown or Trace Elliot, or Hughes & Kettner or a Sunn...just don't settle for less than you want even if you have to save up for a very very long time to get it.