I think the demo represents what the amp can do... There were a lot of tones in there - the TH is a tone machine. It can do a LOT of stuff - but it's kind of complicated, and you kind of have to know how to approach it.
A couple thoughts...
- "it can't do bright / top end." Well, it just did in that demo. Those sounded like pretty fresh rounds to me on that bass, and the players technique is not super smooth, so I think you're hearing a lot of string noise / fret clank. In many of his settings, the treble was turned up.
- the "drive" control - Yes, it's kind of like a HPF/LPF... but more kind of like a LPF at first,,, then it's kind of like a LPF with a bit of HPF,,, then kind of like really "clipping" (I'd say rolling off) you top end and doing some nice low end roll off (HPF) all of which focus your sound - kind of perfect for sitting in a mix,,, and finally you get into full on HPF / LPF along with a pretty serious upper mid peak. ((That mid peak starts at about 1k, and slopes up and peaks at about 3k, then drops off sharply starting at about 4k.))
At every point of its travel, it is doing something different. Up until noon, the drive is not actually doing all that much... giving you an "old school" top end, and rolling off enough super lows to make the amp more efficient. Between noon and 2:00 you start getting into old school / sealed cab sounds, and as you go up, that upper mid peak comes in.
Thats just the EQ part and none of this is to mention what it does to the gain structre in terms of allowing the "gain" to become like a OD control, almost full on fuzz at the max.
The gain / OD thing is a cool trick - everyone knows that when using distortion, you don't want top end (tweeter sounds), because it can sound fizzy and harsh. And most ODs kind of naturally kill a bit of your lows. Add in that upper mid peak, which helps the distorted tone cut through in a mix, and you have a really great sounding OD, with all the tweeting done for you.
If you get the drive up around say 2:00, the Treble control almost becomes an upper mid control, and the bass lets you get a big bottom, with no boom (have you read about guys using the Noble DI where they engage the HPF, and then dime the bass). Once you are here, the parametric mid has a HUGE effect and can really shape your tone.
OR, you can leave the drive of, run the gain low, and have a pretty flat amp and clean amp. Not totally flat, and there is a high end roll off - probably not much different than any cab without a tweeter or with the tweeter attenuated -- if you want tweeter sounds - like I gotta have a bunch of 10K in my tone - then this amp is not for you.
The gan starts to add harmonic content as you turn up (focusing on the 3rd and 5th order harmonics) for more tube tone.
And as you add the dive in, you start changing the eq, and totally changing the gain structure to get you more into that overdriven tube amp sound.
The TH is a really slick design, and really good sounding amp - I think for many, it is not super intuitive - especially guys who are tone chasers. Although, for many others, if you put everything at noon, play with the gain and master, then it can kind of work as a set it and forget it amp - if that's a tone you like.
A couple thoughts...
- "it can't do bright / top end." Well, it just did in that demo. Those sounded like pretty fresh rounds to me on that bass, and the players technique is not super smooth, so I think you're hearing a lot of string noise / fret clank. In many of his settings, the treble was turned up.
- the "drive" control - Yes, it's kind of like a HPF/LPF... but more kind of like a LPF at first,,, then it's kind of like a LPF with a bit of HPF,,, then kind of like really "clipping" (I'd say rolling off) you top end and doing some nice low end roll off (HPF) all of which focus your sound - kind of perfect for sitting in a mix,,, and finally you get into full on HPF / LPF along with a pretty serious upper mid peak. ((That mid peak starts at about 1k, and slopes up and peaks at about 3k, then drops off sharply starting at about 4k.))
At every point of its travel, it is doing something different. Up until noon, the drive is not actually doing all that much... giving you an "old school" top end, and rolling off enough super lows to make the amp more efficient. Between noon and 2:00 you start getting into old school / sealed cab sounds, and as you go up, that upper mid peak comes in.
Thats just the EQ part and none of this is to mention what it does to the gain structre in terms of allowing the "gain" to become like a OD control, almost full on fuzz at the max.
The gain / OD thing is a cool trick - everyone knows that when using distortion, you don't want top end (tweeter sounds), because it can sound fizzy and harsh. And most ODs kind of naturally kill a bit of your lows. Add in that upper mid peak, which helps the distorted tone cut through in a mix, and you have a really great sounding OD, with all the tweeting done for you.
If you get the drive up around say 2:00, the Treble control almost becomes an upper mid control, and the bass lets you get a big bottom, with no boom (have you read about guys using the Noble DI where they engage the HPF, and then dime the bass). Once you are here, the parametric mid has a HUGE effect and can really shape your tone.
OR, you can leave the drive of, run the gain low, and have a pretty flat amp and clean amp. Not totally flat, and there is a high end roll off - probably not much different than any cab without a tweeter or with the tweeter attenuated -- if you want tweeter sounds - like I gotta have a bunch of 10K in my tone - then this amp is not for you.
The gan starts to add harmonic content as you turn up (focusing on the 3rd and 5th order harmonics) for more tube tone.
And as you add the dive in, you start changing the eq, and totally changing the gain structure to get you more into that overdriven tube amp sound.
The TH is a really slick design, and really good sounding amp - I think for many, it is not super intuitive - especially guys who are tone chasers. Although, for many others, if you put everything at noon, play with the gain and master, then it can kind of work as a set it and forget it amp - if that's a tone you like.
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