Clean tone with Blues channel

[howdycb]

hi all,

i know that many of us use the blues channel for a clean tone. while the real clean channel sounds good, i think the clean blues channel (@ 12 o'clock, guitar volume rolled back) gives a bit more spice. my settings are ...

strat into modified Boss compressor (all controls @12)
G: 12
T: 11 or 1 (depending on mood)
M: 8:30
B: 11:30
R: 12 or 3 (dependning on mood)
G: bummer ... always have to play too quiet!

thoughts anyone?
cb

 

[Bob Womack]

Where do you set the contour?

Bob

 

[howdycb]

ooops ...

contour 11:30 to 1

if i go to high on the contour the sound takes on a "brittle" quality. If i take the middle up to 10 then i'll cut a bit by raising the contour.

cb

 

[Don]

I'll have to check your setting out. I used the Blues mode for my clean sound for a long time, but have used the Clean mode for a clean sound more recently.

 

[Newysurfer]

hi all,

i know that many of us use the blues channel for a clean tone. while the real clean channel sounds good, i think the clean blues channel (@ 12 o'clock, guitar volume rolled back) gives a bit more spice. my settings are ...

strat into modified Boss compressor (all controls @12)
G: 12
T: 11 or 1 (depending on mood)
M: 8:30
B: 11:30
R: 12 or 3 (dependning on mood)
G: bummer ... always have to play too quiet!

thoughts anyone?
cb

ahh Howdy - are you talkin 5:25 or 5:50 here.
Cause on my 5:50 I don't call the blues channel with gain at 12 noon a clean tone.
It's slightly overdriven on mine.
Knock gain down to 9 oclock & it's clean :mrgreen:

 

[ifailedshapes]

ahh Howdy - are you talkin 5:25 or 5:50 here.
Cause on my 5:50 I don't call the blues channel with gain at 12 noon a clean tone.
It's slightly overdriven on mine.
Knock gain down to 9 oclock & it's clean :mrgreen:

They both use the exact same preamp, so there should be much variance between 5:25 and 5:50.

EDIT: Whoops! I meant there should NOT be much variance.

 

[Bob Womack]

ooops ...
contour 11:30 to 1
if i go to high on the contour the sound takes on a "brittle" quality. If i take the middle up to 10 then i'll cut a bit by raising the contour.
cb

Yep. I'm shopping for a 5:25 and read on The Gear Page about using the Blues setting of channel 2 for clean, and about how to use the EQ and contour controls. I got on the Mesa site and downloaded the manual and read it as well. Since I've been auditioning the amp, I've ended up with settings very much like yours for a Strat. I push up the treble knob a bit to accommodate an LP or ES335.

I'm rather pleased with the sound of the Blues for clean and Crunch for crunch and lead scheme. I play classic rock and a jazzy/rick thing something like Larry Carlton and it works well for me. Lot's of folks don't seem to ever get it into their heads that the EQ is pre-distortion and the treble is an all-cut filter if you pull it back too far. Having driven an old Gibson GA-55RVT Ranger amp for a few years, I'm familiar with that way of doing things. Frankly, I find the Mesa propensity to roll off highs as you gain up more natural than the Fender thang, but I'm comfortable with both.

Bob

 

[howdycb]

my settings are through a 550 ... my guitar volume is about 5. the reduced output of the guitar doesn't push the compression much but it does give variable fattness and some grit to the tone.

my "clean" tone is just shy of a hint before a nudge of break-up ...

 

[edward]

ooops ...
contour 11:30 to 1
if i go to high on the contour the sound takes on a "brittle" quality. If i take the middle up to 10 then i'll cut a bit by raising the contour.
cb

Yep. I'm shopping for a 5:25 and read on The Gear Page about using the Blues setting of channel 2 for clean, and about how to use the EQ and contour controls. I got on the Mesa site and downloaded the manual and read it as well. Since I've been auditioning the amp, I've ended up with settings very much like yours for a Strat. I push up the treble knob a bit to accommodate an LP or ES335.

I'm rather pleased with the sound of the Blues for clean and Crunch for crunch and lead scheme. I play classic rock and a jazzy/rick thing something like Larry Carlton and it works well for me. Lot's of folks don't seem to ever get it into their heads that the EQ is pre-distortion and the treble is an all-cut filter if you pull it back too far. Having driven an old Gibson GA-55RVT Ranger amp for a few years, I'm familiar with that way of doing things. Frankly, I find the Mesa propensity to roll off highs as you gain up more natural than the Fender thang, but I'm comfortable with both.

Bob

Hi Bob,

I read ya on TGP (and AGF, too, no?) ...welcome about, brother!

I had "discovered" this very "reversal" some time ago: the Blues channel is thicker and more harmonically rich than the Clean, IMHO. To me, the Clean is really a "spanky" channel more suited to chicken pickers, country, or surf. Anyone wanting more girth for blues or rock, the Blues channel just does it better, even if you dial it for "clean" ..though my cleans are never that, and always has some hair around the edges

The Crunch is a very organic channel (I dunno, the word just seems to fit ) that sounds like honest, natural OD, as oppposed to the Burn which I never could get to sound like tube breakup, more like thick fuzz. And you're right about Mesa "thickening" as you nudge the gain knob up ...to me that is "natural" OD (or dare I say "organic" distortion ...lol) as opposed to "stompbox-style" distortion which whose tone doesn't "track" or correlate with the saturation as it should ...IMHO, anyway. Oh, and my contour for both channels are set around 10:00 +/- or so ...too much and it starts to sound more "processed" or "fake" for my ears.

Edward

 

[Newysurfer]

ahh Howdy - are you talkin 5:25 or 5:50 here.
Cause on my 5:50 I don't call the blues channel with gain at 12 noon a clean tone.
It's slightly overdriven on mine.
Knock gain down to 9 oclock & it's clean :mrgreen:

They both use the exact same preamp, so there should be much variance between 5:25 and 5:50.

EDIT: Whoops! I meant there should NOT be much variance.

yeah except EL84 tubes break up earlier than 6L6's.
All other things being equal that is.
I A/B the 2 tube types all the time on my Egnater Rebel 30 :mrgreen:

 

[Newysurfer]

my settings are through a 550 ... my guitar volume is about 5. the reduced output of the guitar doesn't push the compression much but it does give variable fattness and some grit to the tone.

my "clean" tone is just shy of a hint before a nudge of break-up ...

ahh - there's our answer - you got your guitar volume dial on 5.
I've never done that. It's 8 minimum for me.
I like distortion too much hehehehe :mrgreen:

 

[Newysurfer]

my settings are through a 550 ... my guitar volume is about 5. the reduced output of the guitar doesn't push the compression much but it does give variable fattness and some grit to the tone.

my "clean" tone is just shy of a hint before a nudge of break-up ...

ahh - there's our answer - you got your guitar volume dial on 5.
I've never done that. It's 8 minimum for me.
I like distortion too much hehehehe :mrgreen:

So the blues channel with gain at 9-10 oclock & guitar volume 8-10 does a good slightly gritty clean tone for me

 

[Bob Womack]

Hi Bob,
I read ya on TGP (and AGF, too, no?) ...welcome about, brother!

Thanks for the welcome! Yup, I'm on those two.

I had "discovered" this very "reversal" some time ago: the Blues channel is thicker and more harmonically rich than the Clean, IMHO. To me, the Clean is really a "spanky" channel more suited to chicken pickers, country, or surf. Anyone wanting more girth for blues or rock, the Blues channel just does it better, even if you dial it for "clean" ..though my cleans are never that, and always has some hair around the edges

The Crunch is a very organic channel (I dunno, the word just seems to fit ) that sounds like honest, natural OD, as oppposed to the Burn which I never could get to sound like tube breakup, more like thick fuzz. And you're right about Mesa "thickening" as you nudge the gain knob up ...to me that is "natural" OD (or dare I say "organic" distortion ...lol) as opposed to "stompbox-style" distortion which whose tone doesn't "track" or correlate with the saturation as it should ...IMHO, anyway. Oh, and my contour for both channels are set around 10:00 +/- or so ...too much and it starts to sound more "processed" or "fake" for my ears.

Edward

Yeah, the crunch sounds like, um... me. I've always gone for amp and power amp distortion over stomp box distortion because of the way it is interactive and because of the gentle compression and this amp somehow accomplishes it in the preamp.

Bob

 

[ddmeburger]

I'm shopping for a 5:25 and read on The Gear Page about using the Blues setting of channel 2 for clean, and about how to use the EQ and contour controls. I got on the Mesa site and downloaded the manual and read it as well.
.....
I'm rather pleased with the sound of the Blues for clean and Crunch for crunch and lead scheme. I play classic rock and a jazzy/rick thing something like Larry Carlton and it works well for me.....

.....I had "discovered" this very "reversal" some time ago: the Blues channel is thicker and more harmonically rich than the Clean, IMHO. To me, the Clean is really a "spanky" channel more suited to chicken pickers, country, or surf. Anyone wanting more girth for blues or rock, the Blues channel just does it better, even if you dial it for "clean" ..though my cleans are never that, and always has some hair around the edges

The Crunch is a very organic channel (I dunno, the word just seems to fit ) that sounds like honest, natural OD, as oppposed to the Burn which I never could get to sound like tube breakup, more like thick fuzz. And you're right about Mesa "thickening" as you nudge the gain knob up ...to me that is "natural" OD (or dare I say "organic" distortion ...lol) as opposed to "stompbox-style" distortion which whose tone doesn't "track" or correlate with the saturation as it should ...IMHO, anyway. Oh, and my contour for both channels are set around 10:00 +/- or so ...too much and it starts to sound more "processed" or "fake" for my ears.

I'm playing this game, too, and am leaning towards this alignment. Call me a stickler, call me a purist, call me old-fashioned. How do I get over the fact that the red light is for my cleans and the green is for distortion???!!! Signed, Easily Confused :?

 

[Bob Womack]

I've been running it that way for a few days and I'm getting used to it. Maybe the same will happen to you. It IS kind of weird to see red for mild and green for hot.

Bob