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Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

#16,621
TurkeypillSLEEP said:
Thus far I have decided that the sound I like best is running that titty wide open on volume and bass with the switch down (on or off) and the treble on 6 or 7 with contour around 4. D.M.N. how to I test whether tubes are still good? I'd still like to replace to something matched. Currently has two different kinds of 6550s. I feel like the consensus is to go with JJs but I'm open to suggestions.

Guitards seemed apprehensive about me micing. Thought I was loud enough. But they both rehearse with a single 412 and JCM2000. Loud rigs are 4 412s and 4 JCM2000s and small stage are full stacks so I doubt that would work. I'm assuming your 2x215 2000s rigs use 8 ohm 215?
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Well, if they sound good, then I'd run them till they give out. I have the original set of US Tung Sols in one of my Sunns, though they're starting to give me some unwanted noise, and I should replace them soon. Are they not all RCAs in yours? The other thing to remember is that honestly, if the tubes can bias up properly, there isn't necessarily a reason to have a matched set, often they didn't back in the day (just throw in and bias up whatever was around when a tube went south). I had a pair of RCAs and GTs in my 1200s, and it was totally fine for a long time, I only replaced them when one of the GTs was starting to go microphonic and I had the amp serviced (it now sports current production Svets). I can totally appreciate wanting a matched set though, it's something I prefer as well.

I've heard solid things about the JJs, people seem to really like them (and I believe Conrad recommends them as well). For 6550s, I've also heard good things about the current production Tung Sols from New Sensor. I've been looking at maybe going the KT88 route at some point and splurging on a set of Gold Lions, but recently I've also been looking at the Valve Art KT88/KT100. I believe both JohnK_10 and Edbass, both who have had years of experience not only with tube amps, but with Sunns specifically, recommend them as great tubes, and also in expensive. They're Chinese made, but apparently modeled after the GEC Genelex KT88s, and it seems guys in the audiophile world really dig them for their clarity. They're also like...$29 a tube, so I think I'll just go with them, see how they sound.

My 2x15s are a little bit odd. I've only ever been able to source 8 ohm JBLs, meaning my cabs would either need to wire to 4 or 16 ohms. To get the 8 ohm cab, I'd need either 16 or 4 ohm JBLs, which I simply haven't found. Thus, with one cab I use the 4 ohm extension on my Sunn (this is totally fine, the Sunns work on total load, not needing a load in the 8 tap to use the second tap, etc). To use two is where it gets a little tricky. What I do is use a Series-Parallel box, which I wired up myself using and old pedal. I'll see if I can find the plans again. Basically, what it does is you plug two four ohm cabs into it, and it runs the cabinets in series, meaning they add up to a total value of 8 ohms. You then plug a cable from this box into the 8 ohm tap on the Sunn, and everything runs hunky dory.
 
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#16,624
ampegfuzz said:
So a question to the small number of folks that play guitar also. Looking for pedals that do a decent job of getting cookie cutter heavy metal tone. The rats and muffs are not doin the trick and that's pretty much all I have. Have a metal zone on loan but open to suggestion.
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Boss HM2 comes to mind - that's what all of the first-gen swedish death metal guys were using (Entombed, Dismember, etc). That or a SS guitar head - Ampeg SS-150 was used by a lot of the Florida DM bands.
 
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#16,625
ampegfuzz said:
So a question to the small number of folks that play guitar also. Looking for pedals that do a decent job of getting cookie cutter heavy metal tone. The rats and muffs are not doin the trick and that's pretty much all I have. Have a metal zone on loan but open to suggestion.
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If you can find a Tech21 Tri-OD lying around somewhere, I've found the Marshall & Mesa Recto modes pretty sweet for that sort of thing. They're discontinued and maybe a good used one is a little on the spendy side and overkill for what you're looking for, but they will nail the sound.
 
#16,626
I'll prolly be rockin my les paul thru my GT-10. FWIW FYI the "metal" band I am in "the continuance" basically lost both original guitar players and one of which was the main song writer. As of late I am now the main song writer/arranger and we are taking on a more sludge metal sound vs the somewhat melodic metal we were doing. So time to really put my song writing chops to work and I like having a rig vs amp sim's. The legacy and GT-10 are more heavy rock sounding (and the legacy is actually in another location not my home). So I figure a meat head dirt box thru the ampeg will do the trick.
 
#16,627
ampegfuzz said:
So a question to the small number of folks that play guitar also. Looking for pedals that do a decent job of getting cookie cutter heavy metal tone. The rats and muffs are not doin the trick and that's pretty much all I have. Have a metal zone on loan but open to suggestion.
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What's your budget? Lots that get the job done, depending on what exact tone you're going for and what features you need. "Metal tone" is pretty broad, but I assume you mean high gain, with a little mid scoop that sounds good with palm muting.
 
#16,629
ampegfuzz said:
So a question to the small number of folks that play guitar also. Looking for pedals that do a decent job of getting cookie cutter heavy metal tone. The rats and muffs are not doin the trick and that's pretty much all I have. Have a metal zone on loan but open to suggestion.
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A metal zone in the right hands is a pretty decent thing, to me its generic metal tone in a box. The eq is super powerful so tweak with a light touch, it can get bad quickly with to much eq boostage. Mines modded and is a fvcking brick wall of gain.
 
#16,630
Current shootout, MXR as a wild card :)
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#16,631
ampegfuzz said:
So a question to the small number of folks that play guitar also. Looking for pedals that do a decent job of getting cookie cutter heavy metal tone. The rats and muffs are not doin the trick and that's pretty much all I have. Have a metal zone on loan but open to suggestion.
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Boss HM2 for sure sounds great on bass and guitar. The Boss ML2 isn't bad for a modern metal scooped sound and can usually be found cheap, I got mine for $30 and I usually double track with both pedals into a Tech 21 Oxford/pan one hard right one hard left and they blend pretty well. Metal muff wouldn't be bad or a ZVEX box of metal used. I don't really care for most of the MXR distortion pedals but the Fullbore metal isn't bad but takes some dialing in. I like the noise gate in it at least. I'd still go for an HM2 over pretty much anything though.
 
#16,632
ampegfuzz said:
Cheap is a bonus, but yes high gain with some scoop. crowbar-ish/djent sounding. Peds i have and trying out today are the boss metal zone and power driver. My several muffs and rats are not getting the sound i want. The only other pedal is my demon.
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The Metal Zone could work fine, if used tastefully in conjunction with the amp. It's just really easy to overdo the high end boost and mid scoop with that pedal and sound thin and fizzy. That Power Driver could work pretty well, they're kind of weird with dialing in tones but they do have a pretty thick/scooped sound to them. If you're looking at the cheap end I'd check out some of the Behringer and Joyo copies. Behringer copies pretty much all the Boss stuff and Joyo has clones of the Tech 21 character series including a Mesa based one, I think, but the British works pretty well for high gain on its own (depending on the flavor you like). They also have the US Dream and the Ultimate Drive, which both do high gain well, if rather simply and without lots of tone control. You still have the amp for mid control though. If you want to spend more money and get something really well suited, maybe the Amptweaker Tight Metal, Wampler makes a few good high gain pedals (Mesa and Soldano amps in a box and some straight ahead distortions), MXR Full Bore Metal is decent, the Digitech Death Metal is cheap and easy to find used and can sound good with a little work on the guitar and amp side (it has a fixed max gain, but 3 band EQ). Lots of options, just depends on the individual features you want and the budget you're comfortable with. Some things are way more abundant used than others. Reverb.com has a pretty decent selection of used pedals for good prices.
 
#16,634
A quick note, related to high gain guitar tone. If you're restrained at that point and you have something cheap that doesn't sound BAD (weird or exaggerated in some sense isn't necessarily bad), feature that tone and work everything else around it. That's an approach that has worked really well for me, personally and when recording bands.
 
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#16,635
ampegfuzz said:
So a question to the small number of folks that play guitar also. Looking for pedals that do a decent job of getting cookie cutter heavy metal tone. The rats and muffs are not doin the trick and that's pretty much all I have. Have a metal zone on loan but open to suggestion.
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Catalinbread makes the Dirty Little Secret, so if you mean Judas priest Marshall tone they did a good job on that. They also just came out with the Tony Iommi (Laney with treble boost?) one for Sabbath tone.
 
#16,639
New stuff day!
Chinese RAT clone finally got here today, played it for half an hour, I must say I really like it. I don't have any experience with RATs, but I really like what I'm hearing. It has three setting, appartently for Vintage, Dirty and Turbo RAT sounds. So far, Turbo setting sounds the best. Dirty is way quieter and cuts some lows.
Well, PT Jr is all populated, now time to play pedal tetris, change cables and make space for some more magic boxes :D It never ends...
Also, got Marshall Major headphones today.

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