barrymclark Posted January 27, 2013 Posted January 27, 2013 A month or so ago, I moved my Heritage from roundwounds to flats. I really dug the acoustic tone and the squeak-less play. The Gretsch underwent a change that was a bit more invasive. Not only did it get flats, but it also got a floating tailpiece in place of the Bigsby. The change electrically was also pretty big. I initially plugged them both into the JC120 and, although it sounded very good, it definitely lost something I very much loved tone-wise on both guitars. Problem is, I like how the treble is more tame due to the flats. So... I am not interested in going back to rounds. The Cube JC Clean setting is about the same thing as the JC120 I have. Sounds good, but I am just not as moved by it. Now, when I move the settings on the Cube to the blackface deluxe setting, I am much, much happier. It seems that the sterility of the Rolands that I liked so much with the round wounds I am just not as wild about with the flats. I am going to give it some time though. This could just be a it's a new thing weirdness that I will get over. If not, well, the amp search begins anew. Granted, I am still wanting to build an amp, but the skill necessary to likely build what I want to build is very much way off into the future. Maybe it will be time trade out the Roland Cube and Jazz Chorus for a Gibson GA42RVT. We will see.
barrymclark Posted January 27, 2013 Author Posted January 27, 2013 ...or a GA40RVT (the single 12" version).
SouthpawGuy Posted January 27, 2013 Posted January 27, 2013 Maybe your ear has changed ? Not literally, but musically speaking. I had a Cube 30X maybe four years ago now, I thought that sounded good with the Heritage hollow and semi hollows. Then I got a Blues Jnr, it felt and sounded a lot better with them. The 535 in particular sounded flat and lifeless through the 30X, into the Blues Jnr it was a thing of joy. More recently I got a Cube 80XL and the Heritages sound fantastic through it. I haven't used the Jnr in some time. The 30X had a 10" speaker, the 80XL uses a 12" one, that may be a big part of the reason but I think my ear has also changed in the intervening time, these days I mostly play clean and I'm on the neck pickup 90% of the time. Who knows maybe in two months time I'll be back to high gain material, I'll have to wait and see.
barrymclark Posted January 27, 2013 Author Posted January 27, 2013 I am not sure it would change virtually overnight though. Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2
bolero Posted January 29, 2013 Posted January 29, 2013 Have you tried turning up the treble on the amps? Or cutting some bass... You should try a tube box amp out....ac15 or even the ac4TV which is my fave practice amp these days (Thx Fernando! )
barrymclark Posted January 30, 2013 Author Posted January 30, 2013 VOX! Not box....dumb phone haha. Believe me, my phone has done all kinds of things to my posts. haha. The tippy top rig (money is the stopper) for me is still an Fractal Audio Systems Axe-Fx II/Atomic CLR cab x 2/Voodoo Midi Controller. We are talking like $5k for all of that though. Never need another rig though! haha.
Guest HRB853370 Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 ...or a GA40RVT (the single 12" version). I will continue to keep my eyes peeled for one of those for you Barry
barrymclark Posted January 30, 2013 Author Posted January 30, 2013 I will continue to keep my eyes peeled for one of those for you Barry Don't worry too much... it will be a bit before I can do anything financially. Thanks a bunch though. ....and I will let you know when I got money to drop.
je00143 Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Here is something you might try. Won’t hurt, might help. YMMV. I just bought a new pair of Shure 940 headphones. I hooked them up to my iPod and let it play uninterrupted for about 72 hours. The difference in the sound was amazing. The burn-in helped a lot! So I took my brand new Cube80XL - with about three hours total time on it - and the iPod out to the garage and let it rip for a long weekend at about half-power. I had the three tone controls at the 1 o’clock position. I normally play with them at about the 9 o’clock position. Afterwards, the same thing had happened. The sound has gotten a whole lot smoother and, to these old ears, anyway, a lot wider in frequency range. At rehearsal this week, the guys in the band thought I had a different amp. For reference, I am playing a 575 with D’Addario 13-56 flats.
barrymclark Posted January 31, 2013 Author Posted January 31, 2013 Here is something you might try. Won’t hurt, might help. YMMV. I just bought a new pair of Shure 940 headphones. I hooked them up to my iPod and let it play uninterrupted for about 72 hours. The difference in the sound was amazing. The burn-in helped a lot! So I took my brand new Cube80XL - with about three hours total time on it - and the iPod out to the garage and let it rip for a long weekend at about half-power. I had the three tone controls at the 1 o’clock position. I normally play with them at about the 9 o’clock position. Afterwards, the same thing had happened. The sound has gotten a whole lot smoother and, to these old ears, anyway, a lot wider in frequency range. At rehearsal this week, the guys in the band thought I had a different amp. For reference, I am playing a 575 with D’Addario 13-56 flats. I normally do that. Thing is, I have had the Cube for several years now and the Jazz Chorus for about 7 months (I think). I have put in way more than the break-in time with the speakers being pushed. I think the shift to flats might be the culprit... but... there might be another thing to blame here: me. Southpaw Guy touched on it with his post. My tastes do tend to change even if just a little ever several months to a year. Generally nothing drastic, but they do change. I might be truly in love with the JC sound then be more into a Deluxe Reverb sound. I think that is why the Cube 80x has stuck around my stable unlike any other amp. It has been able to move with my tastes so far. The JC... I fear might not. I am sure my tastes will come back to that tone... but the Cube does an EXCELLENT mimic. Not as loud... but sounds very close. This is why modelers just seem to work for me. Maybe one day I will have the money to actually give an FAS AxeFx an honest go.
SouthpawGuy Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Yeah sometimes I can go "cold" on a piece of gear literally overnight. I used to use the trem on strat style guitars all the time, then I just stopped dead, last time I used a trem arm must be some time in the mid '90s.
barrymclark Posted January 31, 2013 Author Posted January 31, 2013 Yeah sometimes I can go "cold" on a piece of gear literally overnight. I used to use the trem on strat style guitars all the time, then I just stopped dead, last time I used a trem arm must be some time in the mid '90s. ...then my tastes go right back after a couple of years. haha. Weird. I am on a cycle of some sort. haha. The trem thing... I got into the Bigsby for maybe a year or two. That was it. Couldn't stand it anymore. haha. Just not my thing. Hasn't ever been. That might be the one constant for me in guitar.
Genericmusic Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 ..modelers just seem to work for me. Me too or at least for the time being.
barrymclark Posted January 31, 2013 Author Posted January 31, 2013 Me too or at least for the time being. Theses days, they really are getting amazingly good sounding. I remember when having modeler did mean you had to give up quality of sound for versatility. Not anymore. Even cheap modelers are starting to really sound very good. The Cube is pretty convincing on the lower gain stuff. High gain is OK... not bad. I'd use it... but wouldn't run to it for high gain. Line6 HD Pods are very, very good now. Vox ToneLab stuff is pretty impressive too. Even Marhall had a great one. I think it was the JMD:1 or something like that. Scary good. I am learning, slowly, that the only way I can truly be happy with an amp is to have a room full of one (maybe two or three TOPS!)-trick ponies... or just have a corner's worth of modeler. All that said, I can't wait to get into building amps. That would be for fun thing.
barrymclark Posted February 10, 2013 Author Posted February 10, 2013 It's back! Bumped the presence up from nothing to 9 o'clock. Bingo! Got lost in the tone. For my ears, there is just nothing like the Cube 80x. Next i gotta dink around with the JC and get its groove back.
SouthpawGuy Posted February 10, 2013 Posted February 10, 2013 It's back! Bumped the presence up from nothing to 9 o'clock. Bingo! Got lost in the tone. For my ears, there is just nothing like the Cube 80x. Next i gotta dink around with the JC and get its groove back. Have you tried the Brit Combo model with bass, mid, treble, presence all at 9 o'clock and the gain at zero ? I've been using that a lot lately, great for mostly clean sounds, doesn't really get dirty when digging in on single note runs but is very sensitive to touch.
barrymclark Posted February 10, 2013 Author Posted February 10, 2013 Have you tried the Brit Combo model with bass, mid, treble, presence all at 9 o'clock and the gain at zero ? I've been using that a lot lately, great for mostly clean sounds, doesn't really get dirty when digging in on single note runs but is very sensitive to touch. yep! That and the Blackface setting with the gain at at 9 o'clock. Sounds a lot like my old Vox AC50CP2. Loved that amp. Had it not been an epic POS, I'd still own it. The JC Clean is still my fav setting.
barrymclark Posted February 11, 2013 Author Posted February 11, 2013 SPG, Along the lines of what you do with the vox, I do that with the Classic Stack. Play real gentle, its chimey clean. The more you lean on it, the more ornery it gets. Really beat on it and its hard rock city.
SouthpawGuy Posted February 11, 2013 Posted February 11, 2013 Yeah the Cubes tone and gain controls are very interactive, a lot more than say a Blues Jnr or SCXD. Small changes. have much greater effects to the tone. The two cosm models I use most are the brit combo and classic stack ( AC30 and Marshall ? ), usually with the gain low or at zero, although the brit combo setting also sounds good with the gain higher obviously.
barrymclark Posted February 11, 2013 Author Posted February 11, 2013 Yeah the Cubes tone and gain controls are very interactive, a lot more than say a Blues Jnr or SCXD. Small changes. have much greater effects to the tone. The two cosm models I use most are the brit combo and classic stack ( AC30 and Marshall ? ), usually with the gain low or at zero, although the brit combo setting also sounds good with the gain higher obviously.supposed to be modeled after a Marshall JMP something or other. Don't know how close it sounds to the real thing but I also don't care. Haha. Sounds pretty good! To be honest, I like my cube better than the JC and the JC is awesome.
Genericmusic Posted February 12, 2013 Posted February 12, 2013 I like my cube ... Me too. For the price, it can't be beat. Teamed with the right extension cabinet (8 ohms & 80 W +) they even sound better.
barrymclark Posted February 12, 2013 Author Posted February 12, 2013 Me too. For the price, it can't be beat. Teamed with the right extension cabinet (8 ohms & 80 W +) they even sound better. For me, it seems, that it can't be beat at any price. No matter what I get, always go back to the Cube. I swear I need to stop trying to beat this amp. Just seems to be hucking money down the toilet.
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