Cutting through the mix????

[Chris McKinley]

jdurso,

RE: "just out of curiosity what exactly is the sonic maximizer?". Please do a search on the forum. I've answered this question in precise detail more than once, so you'll find the answers you need.

 

[jdurso]

Well right now it is the mix at band practice. I just got the amp two days ago and am still getting used to it. Have a gig in a couple of weeks so will find out more then.

I see you are usuing a roadster head and 2x12 cab as well, any issues with it being too bassy for you and what type of music do you play with it?/

Thanks in advance.

What cab, guitar, pickups are you using?

A gibson Les paul standard, fender telecaster with noiseless pickups, Eric Clapton Custom shop strat, my cab in the roadster 2x12 cab.

i would either say follow the advice of many of the responses and try enhancing your mids and/or look into a cab that has sharper high end. I find my roadster cab to be a little dark so the basson with its shaper high end balances it out very nicely. also you may not be hearing the amp "cut" because the cab is so low to the ground.

 

[camsna]

By the by - I've got a Sonic Maximizer for sale in Classifieds...

 

[Murphy Slaw]

I agree with less gain being more tone.

Gain is a tone sucker.

Less gain, more power.

Best of luck.

Murph.

 

[MrBoggles]

Thanks I will see how that works, I was standing back about 10 feet with the other guitarist at the time.

Something, i noticed this last night at my rehersal. I was stading much the same distance as you, standard set up. May have been the room but there was only like one spot where i could here the amp. If i moved 1 or two feet in either direction i lost it. It's a cab thing! We were moderately loud. Another thing you could do. Try a sm57 on your cab and bleed a little into the PA that can at leastsend it round the room a bit. It does make a difference. If I think of anymore short of sacrificing a small elephant to the tone gods. I'll let you know.
later :wink:

 

[wildrat666]

It's true, running your gain super high and then wondering why you're not cutting through is a problem that a lot of rock an metal guitarists have. I've had a two channel recto, a three channel recto, and now a roadster (as well as a slew of other boogies, marshalls, engl etc) and I've found that using the right tubes and running your gain fairly low is really the key. I do what a lot of metal guitarists do, I run my gain pretty low on the amp, and then boost the front of the head with an overdrive pedal. It gives me the focused clarity and projection that I need, as well as giving me what sounds like a pretty over the top metal tone. I'm running Tung-Sol EL34b's in the power section and a mix of Tung-Sol and Groove Tube preamp tubes. I'm bypassing the loop, running it at 100 watts, and have it set to recto tracking. My channel 4 settings are

Modern

Volume 11 o'clock
Bass 12 o'clock
Mids between 11 and 12 o'clock
Treble 2 o'clock
Presence 1 o'clock
Gain 12 o'clock

Then I have my Maxon OD808 with the gain almost all of the way down, and the level almost all of the way up. The tone knob is set at noon. I'm running dual EMG 85's in my Ibanez RGA's and it sounds awesome. Lots of clarity, lots of muscle, lots of low end, bust most importantly, lots of warmth. You CAN play super heavy stuff and have your guitar not sound like a buzzsaw.

Anyway, that's what works for me.

agree too 100 procent. boost it with a od or a eq pedal. keep your mids a little higher

 

[nomad100hd]

it's probably all the bassist fault, have him eq the mudd out of his amp and turn down!

 

[Turumbar82]

just out of curiosity what exactly is the sonic maximizer? is it a compressor? an eq? both? or is it sprinkled with pixie dust? i'm very intrigued by them because everyone ive talked to that owns one swears by them.

also do you have it infront of the amp or in the loop? does it work in either spot?

I run mine in my loop and it is definitely a drastic difference in sound. I hear a lot of people bad mouth them and say it doesn't work great for distortion just cleans. I find that the opposite is true for me. I don't notice a huge difference in sound on the clean channel but for distortion it makes it sound huge! But I do notice that the difference is more drastic when my amp is at lower volumes. At higher volumes it's not as drastic.

I feel as though it makes my rig sound better and I never play with it off. I also have a 7 band EQ in my loop right before it shaping things more and I leave both of those on all the time.

I think if you've got a great sound with your amp then there is no need to add any more to it.