Can anyone explain to me what the term "sag" means when referring to metal tones - I know its to do with EQ but surly it ain't the same as scooping the mids, so is it to do with bass? Anyone? Any linked sound clips to help?
mrd said:Also, to add:
Since bass frequencies require the most electrical power to amplify, if you're running with tube rectifiers and have your EQ set in a huge V with the volume cranked, every time you go to do a huge, chunky palm muted chord, the bass is going to sap almost all the power right away. So if you're doing a nice chunky rhythm line (like classic Metallica) and you're pickin' away, all those super fast attacks are going to be working the rectifier hard. Not that it's bad or anything. It's just the fact that it's not instantaneous in its rectification can mean that ultra-fast & tight bass response can't really be achieved. This is often why people say the MKIV is so much tighter is because of it's diode rectification. It's also voiced differently which helps too. but I think the classic Recto sound in a lot of people's minds is with the sag of the recto tubes.
Hope it helps.
94Tremoverb said:The Rectifiers have quite a lot of sag even in solid-state diode mode - sag is not just caused by rectifier tubes, it's also a function of the power transformer internal resistance and the amount of filtering. The Rectifiers have a different transformer from the Mark series, although apparently the first 500 used Mark transformers - and are supposed to be much tighter sounding. (I've never played one.)
94Tremoverb said:That's interesting - I knew the Racktifiers were suppose to sound different from the regular heads. I thought it might be to do with the physical layout, since I thought the circuit was the same. It might still be, but if the transformers are different too it would make a much bigger difference. I've never played one of these either but it would make sense.
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