DetroitBlues Posted December 5, 2014 Posted December 5, 2014 What's everyone's take on tone and reliability? Seriously considering a trade deal for either a HRD or Blues Deluxe....
mars_hall Posted December 5, 2014 Posted December 5, 2014 HRD... http://www.reverbnation.com/kokobluesband Listen to some friends I've been getting together with. Darrel is playing this through his HRD and it gets a real nice throaty sound. http://www.reverbnation.com/kokobluesband/song/19795696-john-henry
schundog Posted December 5, 2014 Posted December 5, 2014 You guys sound GREAT, Mark! Really dig the compressed, overdriven, darker tone. I take it he WASN'T using the amp's internal "drive" or "more drive" options. Not the best features of those amps. Nor is the plastic input jacks Fender uses. Other than that, I dig 'em. I've had a couple of Hot Rod DeVilles over the years, and got rid of them because I'm a dip$hit.
mars_hall Posted December 5, 2014 Posted December 5, 2014 Nah, I'm not in the recording. I've known these guys from various bands from a long ago. Darrel uses Tungsol tubes towards the front-end and it seems like he dropped in a V30 for the speaker. BTW, the drummer is the singer and they probably recorded this in one run through it live..
Redsand Posted December 5, 2014 Posted December 5, 2014 Here's a demo of my HRD 40W 1x12, no pedals, clean channel gain 4, bass 0, mid 10, treble 10, presence 3, reverb 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLoY6iVK4tY Here's a demo of my HRD 40W 1x12, no pedals, drive channel gain 4, bass 0, mid 10, treble 10, presence 3, reverb 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf5QXluls7U&feature=share
DetroitBlues Posted December 5, 2014 Author Posted December 5, 2014 That seems crazy you need the bass rolled all the way off and the treble/mids all the way up to get a good tone out of the amp. Don't get me wrong, the DSL40C sounds great on its clean/overdrive channel. The super-lead channels seem to be way too compressed yet doesn't sound full at all. The reverb is nearly completely washed out when you move the gain up past 9 o'clock.
Redsand Posted December 5, 2014 Posted December 5, 2014 That seems crazy you need the bass rolled all the way off and the treble/mids all the way up to get a good tone out of the amp. You really don't NEED to roll it all the way off.....it's just a little trick I picked up from Trucks and Simo rig rundowns. It works.
Gitfiddler Posted December 5, 2014 Posted December 5, 2014 DB~ I like the HR Deluxe for loud cleans, but prefer the warmer Blues Deluxe for my style of playing. Plus, like others, I've upgraded the preamp tubes and replaced the speaker with a Weber Alnico for an old school tweed tone. Never tried a Marshall DSL40C.
CJTopes Posted December 5, 2014 Posted December 5, 2014 I used to own a blues deluxe and I've played a DSL 40. The blues deluxe would be my choice by far...
rockabilly69 Posted December 8, 2014 Posted December 8, 2014 You really don't NEED to roll it all the way off.....it's just a little trick I picked up from Trucks and Simo rig rundowns. It works. Rolling off the bass cleans up the mids where guitar tone IMNSHO lives. Guitars sustain much better with an amp when they aren't battling woofy mids! That said, the HRD and Blues Deluxe models had reliability issues, especially with the jacks being hard mounted to the circuit boards!
Redsand Posted December 8, 2014 Posted December 8, 2014 Rolling off the bass cleans up the mids where guitar tone IMNSHO lives. Guitars sustain much better with an amp when they aren't battling woofy mids! That said, the HRD and Blues Deluxe models had reliability issues, especially with the jacks being hard mounted to the circuit boards! Yup, including mine. I still consider it an excellent work horse amp though, big tones on a little budget.
yoslate Posted December 8, 2014 Posted December 8, 2014 Here's a demo of my HRD 40W 1x12, no pedals, clean channel gain 4, bass 0, mid 10, treble 10, presence 3, reverb 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLoY6iVK4tY Here's a demo of my HRD 40W 1x12, no pedals, drive channel gain 4, bass 0, mid 10, treble 10, presence 3, reverb 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf5QXluls7U&feature=share Heh, heh, heh...! Well...that sounded like fun.... ; )
ingeneri Posted December 8, 2014 Posted December 8, 2014 Rolling off the bass cleans up the mids where guitar tone IMNSHO lives. Guitars sustain much better with an amp when they aren't battling woofy mids! Different genre, but Grant Green reportedly set his Twin with Treble and Bass as close to zero as possible and the mids on 10. And his tone cut through anything. But as a mere mortal, I just sound like shit whenever I try this. Kenny Burrell in a recent interview said he also jacked the mids, but left the bass in the middle and the treble turned down (to 3-or 4). IMHO the jacked mids are what give his tone that characteristic snap versus the dreaded blanket over the amp polytone sound. Though when I've tried it myself as a mere mortal I've had to dial back the bass to 4 to cut down on the boominess.
koula901 Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 @ Redsand - you got some nice jazz tones out of that, like your chops too, by the way. At DB: I used to play through HRDs when I was playing in a rock ensemble at Jamspot a few years ago. I didn't really like these amps, but one time I did bring in my 535 and got some beautiful singing, sustaining tones with blooming harmonics out of that. Personally, I would not buy an HRD. I think the Blues Jr is a great little amp, highly portable, with great tones and potential if you want to modify, and a very gigable amp.
DetroitBlues Posted December 9, 2014 Author Posted December 9, 2014 @ Redsand - you got some nice jazz tones out of that, like your chops too, by the way. At DB: I used to play through HRDs when I was playing in a rock ensemble at Jamspot a few years ago. I didn't really like these amps, but one time I did bring in my 535 and got some beautiful singing, sustaining tones with blooming harmonics out of that. Personally, I would not buy an HRD. I think the Blues Jr is a great little amp, highly portable, with great tones and potential if you want to modify, and a very gigable amp. I had a nice Blue Jr. I foolishly sold to get a Super Sonic 60 that ended up being a waste. I could never turn it up and only its Bassman channel sounded good to me.
koula901 Posted December 9, 2014 Posted December 9, 2014 You can pick up a used blues jr. very cheap, got mine used at GC less than $150 I think, have done only minimal mods - like a few caps or something, didn't even change the speaker and it has wonderful tone.
DetroitBlues Posted December 10, 2014 Author Posted December 10, 2014 You can pick up a used blues jr. very cheap, got mine used at GC less than $150 I think, have done only minimal mods - like a few caps or something, didn't even change the speaker and it has wonderful tone. I might... But for the moment, the Valveking rocks just fine. I had a chance the other day to really crank up the Marshall. It sounds so much better when it can breathe than the low volumes I keep it at 90% of the time.
koula901 Posted December 10, 2014 Posted December 10, 2014 I might... But for the moment, the Valveking rocks just fine. I had a chance the other day to really crank up the Marshall. It sounds so much better when it can breathe than the low volumes I keep it at 90% of the time. DB I had a Peavey Valveking, 2-12 in the 70s 100 watts (back then I could carry such 80 lb behemoths) and yeah, that thing REALLY rocks, and spoiled my ears forever for a BIG sound. That sucker never went above 3.
kzoolou Posted December 14, 2014 Posted December 14, 2014 I might... But for the moment, the Valveking rocks just fine. I had a chance the other day to really crank up the Marshall. It sounds so much better when it can breathe than the low volumes I keep it at 90% of the time. I see some great clips on Youtube of the DSL. Would like to try one sometime
koula901 Posted January 4, 2015 Posted January 4, 2015 Peavey never made ValveKings in the 70s. Sorry dog, but you're just wrong on this. I owned a Peavey Valveking 212 and bought it new sometime between 1976-1979. It weight 85 lbs. I put casters on it so I could push it around at home.
DetroitBlues Posted January 26, 2015 Author Posted January 26, 2015 Sorry dog, but you're just wrong on this. I owned a Peavey Valveking 212 and bought it new sometime between 1976-1979. It weight 85 lbs. I put casters on it so I could push it around at home. I tried to find some history on that myself. I couldn't find info on it as I never seen one for sale. I'm not doubting you, but I'm really curious to know what its configuration was.
kidsmoke Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 Come to the Muster in March and play a few Boogie's. That should put this to rest. There will be a 5:25 1x10 DC2 1x12 a Mark V MAYBE a 5:50 1x12 FWIW...Larry Carlton, a man who seeks Dumble tone when playing, when travelling overseas and doing one-off gigs, always specs a Blues Deluxe and uses a pedal. 22 watt combo with EQ!!! https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/msg/4804198538.html same as what RB69 and I have, but in a 50 watt version... https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/msg/4862806876.html
koula901 Posted January 26, 2015 Posted January 26, 2015 I tried to find some history on that myself. I couldn't find info on it as I never seen one for sale. I'm not doubting you, but I'm really curious to know what its configuration was. I wrote to the company to settle this once and for all. They wrote back and told me that they never made the 212 Valveking in the '70s. So, the only possible explanation is that my memory is faulty, which is impossible (insert tongue-in-cheek smiley here) , or it was mislabeled, or the company history was incorrect (doubtful). I don't know how I got the term 'valveking' got stuck in my head and I could swear that's what it was, but all objective checking refutes that, so I concede. But, I do know it was a two 12" speaker Peavey, 100 watts, weighing 85 lbs, that was a tube amp, and it sounded damn good.
DetroitBlues Posted January 26, 2015 Author Posted January 26, 2015 Quick Wiki Search shows in the 70's there was a Classic Series called the "Vintage Series" being a 2x12, 50 Watt combo. Perhaps it was that? Vintage and Valveking are easy to mix up the names 30+ years later.
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