2 channel Rev F vs 3 channel

[YellowJacket]

Hmm, so doing an electronics mod on my Les Paul will be worth it. I can see why people want to preserve tone when rolling off the volume since it make a guitar so much more versatile. Basically, I'm thinking of setting my orange channel slightly louder with higher gain in vintage mode. It can dub as both a clean channel and a lead one. We'll see how it works!

 

[screamingdaisy]

Try it both before and after the mod. Some people like a bit of treble bleed as they roll their guitar down (I do). Others don't. Both ways sound/work great, it's more a matter of taste.

 

[YellowJacket]

Yup. Personal preference is everything when it comes to tone. I personally have my volume and tone pots cranked wide open all the time so I'm guessing if I actually start using them, I won't want treble bleed . . .

 

[Areola]

Have you tried hillbilly channel switchin'?

(ie, set your Les Paul for cleans on the neck and dirt on the bridge)

lol... i've never heard or that before, but I am instantly in love with this term.

For a long time, my favourite tone came from the Rev. G but couldn't figure out how the hell to cope with just 2 channels. I completely readjusted my guitar's dials and realised that I didn't need my Road King anymore as long as I did some hillbilly channel switchin'.

I still can't come to part with the Road King cause it was the first amp I ever purchased

 

[YellowJacket]

I tried the 'hillbilly switchin' earlier today. Shuffling the volume knobs is great to get a gain boost for soloing.

 

[Soma]

so I guess turning one volume knob right down and flicking the pickup switch back and forth is the 'hillbilly killswitch'.

 

[JOEY B.]

I tried the 'hillbilly switchin' earlier today. Shuffling the volume knobs is great to get a gain boost for soloing.

Been doin' it for YEARS. :lol: 8) 8) 8)

 

[YellowJacket]

Well hey, you learn something new everyday! I just like the sound of everything cranked on the guitar and driving the snot out of the amp.

 

[screamingdaisy]

I tend to use the pickup selector a lot because I don't always like the sudden shift in tone I get when going from from clean to dirty and back via channel switching, so there's a lot of days that I use my Recto like it's a single channel amp (vintage high gain) with clean to mean on the guitar's volume knob and lead via an OD pedal.

 

[Areola]

I tend to use the pickup selector a lot because I don't always like the sudden shift in tone I get when going from from clean to dirty and back via channel switching, so there's a lot of days that I use my Recto like it's a single channel amp (vintage high gain) with clean to mean on the guitar's volume knob and lead via an OD pedal.

2 things. 1: That's why i use a volume pedal... I can keep playing while I'm bringing back the volume 2: OD pedal be damned... it's so much more stoner to have one channel that you use for rythm and lead 8)

 

[screamingdaisy]

I did the volume pedal for awhile and it was great until I switched from Strats to Les Pauls. Then I started dialling each pickup before hand and using the pickup selector when I needed fast clean dirty shifts.

I like having access to multiple lead tones. Mostly, I like having a fatter and more laid back lead tone that I get from using my rhythm tone, and I like having a treblier, more out of control sounding lead tone that I get from using an OD. I'm not into the screaming leads however... I like my leads to howl.

 

[Areola]

I would say 'i do the same' but turning everything to 10 and then going from neck to neck+bridge for channel changing isn't really THAT revolutionary. :lol: However doing that has given me the ability to completely ditch the Road King for a Rev G. cause I managed to get both my rythm and lead channels to sound just like my chan 1+2 and 3+4 when I switch my pick-ups. Then I just use my volume pedal for actual cleans, and still change "channels" with the p-up selector.

....still.... real stoner uses 1 channel amps and runs it at 11 the whole time :twisted:

 

[screamingdaisy]

Rules were meant to be broken.

 

[Areola]

i'm just having a very '**** changing sounds' week cause i saw a band on the weekend where the guitarist had a 10 pedal-board and it was all nicely constructed and neatly arranged... but the ******** only used 4 pedals the entire time and his "favourite song" was the exact same fucking riff for 6 minutes (not a very imaginative or solid riff either) and he'd just change whatever effects he was using over it. he was wearing a tie-dye shirt and you just know he'd claim to be in a stoner band. in retaliation to those types of people i have wanted to use no effects and one sound all the way through, just to justify to myself that i'm actually a good guitarist/songwriter.

i've trolled you for long enough to know that's not the type of person you are, so dont think its a personal attack.

 

[Areola]

oh and the reason why it gets to me is I can't figure out how a complete hack like him finds a drummer to be in a band with, and i've never had more than 2 jams with the same drummer in 6 years, and i dated a drummer for 3 years and she STILL wouldn't fucking jam with me

 

[screamingdaisy]

My problem is finding bassists. And by bassist, I mean a real bass player and not some guitarist who owns a bass.

 

[Areola]

My problem is finding bassists. And by bassist, I mean a real bass player and not some guitarist who owns a bass.

Want me to move to Canada?? I'm a bassist who owns a guitar :lol:

 

[screamingdaisy]

My problem is finding bassists. And by bassist, I mean a real bass player and not some guitarist who owns a bass.

Want me to move to Canada?? I'm a bassist who owns a guitar :lol:

You could, but we'd probably starve. Not a big market for doom around here.

That said, we'd probably do alright if we called it 'Biker Metal'.

 

[YellowJacket]

Oh, it gets worse. I have been taking lessons and putting hours a day into becoming a real bassist. Those definitely are hard to come by and I've been getting asked to play enough to justify putting the time in right now. See, I am close by in Winnipeg but I'll be moving to TO in the fall to do my Doctorate at U of T. =*(
(Technically, I am a composer who owns a piano, a guitar, a cello, and a bass but I like to think I am competent on all listed instruments . . .)

 

[YellowJacket]

Orange vs Red channel shootout with hillbilly switchin'

General observations.

Orange channel is definitely more fluid / elastic / warmer than the Red Channel. Overall I like it best. This really IS a lead channel.
Red channel feels brittle for leads but this is what makes it tight and crisp. Red channel on modern mode is great for rhythm. After all, this IS a rhythm channel.

So now for the rundown.

I was wondering if my head was making things up, if it was simply a case of amp settings for why I preferred the orange channel for leads. Well, it is still recto tone so it suffers from all the well known deficiencies but that being said, it is a definite improvement over the red channel. The added mid focus of the vintage voicing makes it really sing well for leads or ripping solos. Vintage on the red channel, by comparison, feels more brittle and 'papery'. You can get a good lead tone on this channel (for a recto) but it doesn't have that nice elastic feel to it.

So, for sake of experimentation, I ran the amp in modern mode on the red channel and vintage mode on the orange channel. I dialed in a sweet lead tone on the orange channel and a phat crunch on the red channel. I then played with the volume knobs for 'clean(er)' tones. This 'works' at loud volumes but in volume sensitive situations, there is a pronounced leap in volume as you crank up the volume knob on the guitar. Funny thing =-/ The clean tone will at best be mostly clean with a lot of minor breakup or sparkle. I live a squeaky clean warm, rich, and dripping phat tone so this doesn't work for me, at least not ideally. I mean I do like it and we'll see if more 'soul' is retained when working the volume knobs when I get my new electronics in for the Les Paul. This is a relatively small issue though. Squeaky cleans aren't necessary for rock music and if I was playing live, this setup would be perfectly acceptable.


The thing that surprised me was how irritating it was to switch between the orange and red channels with different voicings. The unbalance between the tones was more than irritating, especially when single note riffs felt so brittle with the rhythm setting. It was always a shock to swap between the two channels and to have a huge juicy solo tone and then to have these thin and fragile one note riffs, even if chording sounds so huge. (and yes, chording DOES sound so huge. My LP on modern mode makes the Red channel EPIC for chugging) The orange channel really doesn't have this problem and one can back off the volume knob slightly to clean things up a bit. Overall, the warmth and elasticity of this channel made me prefer the tone of it overall, so much so that if I was recording, I doubt I'd use the red channel for anything. If I EQ both channels the same way and have them both in vintage mode via channel cloning, the problem is mitigated somewhat but then the question becomes whether it is worth it to to have two almost identical sounding channels in the first place. At this point, my need for a squeaky clean takes over and I just dial in a tone I like on the red channel and get that juicy clean out of the orange that I like so much. Anyway, I need to experiment but if I had my way, I'd have two orange channels and forget about the red. I guess I can always buy another Dual and build another cab, but I want an Electra Dyne more and hey, I can always use just one channel with a volume knob if I feel that way.

Thoughts . . .