LSC :: Too "open" (?)

[ellem52]

I had about 6 hours to myself on Sunday so I dug out my old wireless rig and set my Lone Star to "kill".

Of course Channel 1 was astounding. Channel 2 was excellent but at points it was too "open" - "poppy" - it's hard to explain... uncontrolled?

The Samson runs a little bit of compression and noise canceling but the amp seemed too open. I think I was expecting a "tighter" sound. I'm guessing I am wanting a compressor.

The tone is flawless. I don't want to change that. I just want to get rid of some of the "pop". I tried backing off the Treble and Presence and even switching to my neck pickups. At (insane) volumes though it was hard to keep the sound "in line".

Does anyone have a clue what I am talking about or what I should try?

 

[jjboogie]

I had about 6 hours to myself on Sunday so I dug out my old wireless rig and set my Lone Star to "kill".

Of course Channel 1 was astounding. Channel 2 was excellent but at points it was too "open" - "poppy" - it's hard to explain... uncontrolled?

The Samson runs a little bit of compression and noise canceling but the amp seemed too open. I think I was expecting a "tighter" sound. I'm guessing I am wanting a compressor.

The tone is flawless. I don't want to change that. I just want to get rid of some of the "pop". I tried backing off the Treble and Presence and even switching to my neck pickups. At (insane) volumes though it was hard to keep the sound "in line".

Does anyone have a clue what I am talking about or what I should try?

Are you used to playing through a closed back cab?

The open back of the LSC maybe what you are talking about....not sure.

I have never really liked the LSC that much. But I LOVE the LSS! To me it has a more compressed chimey tone to it.

I am not sure though exactly what you are trying to say. Is the tone too bold? Do you need to back off the bass frequencies?

Continue to work with those tone controls. Keep experimenting! Good luck!

 

[djw]

I'm not quite clear on what you're describing either... I forget what config you've got, is it the 1x12 combo? I know those can hurt (mine will if I let it). ...Edit: seeing your sig after submitting, I see you have the 1x12. Think about speaker configs, either via more of them or possibly swapping (see below).

If it's an issue with the attack not breaking up the way you want, I was able to bring some of this around for me with different preamp tubes, esp. V1 and V2. I've been pretty happy with what I was advised by ol' Doug at DougsTubes; I have a Tungsol in V1 and a Mullard reissue in V2. It seems to have warmed things up with my attack; I thought the Russian Mesa 12AX7s were a little icy.

Also: I think Ch2 stock is really oriented for fat, singing leads more than anything else. Not sure what you're going for, but I know one of the reasons I've tinkered with my LSC so much is that I wanted to reduce some of the mid-centric girth in that fat lead tone, and get more harmonic spread out of it. But if you like the basic tone as-is and can't dial out the issue you have, I'd start with the tubes; then I'd look at speaker configs. There was a thread about Weber speakers a while back, and BobL laid out a good case description of why he went that way... worth a look.

 

[thirstypirate]

I don't want to give the wrong impression with my suggestion because I didn't find the pop and openness of the LSC to be a problem, but have you tried hooking the speakers up to the 4ohm output? I got the idea from the manual or a post on here (I don't quite remember) but I've never went back for more than a day or so since making the switch. It takes a lot of punch that this amp has in abundance and smooths it out a bit. It might be just the thing you need.

 

[ellem52]

If it's an issue with the attack not breaking up the way you want

THAT'S IT!!!!

It's like a clean note would suddenly appear. This only happens when it's set fairly loud. Yes yes yes. This is what I am describing.

Will looking to all you have suggested as well as the 4 ohm option.

Thanks

 

[djw]

Yes, and Thirsty's thing about the 4 Ohm output is good. It's recommended if you use the 50w setting on both channels (which I do -- and it does make a difference). So that's a cheap way to start.

Preamp tubes will make a big difference too.

Once you start heading down the tube substitution road, though... it gets fun. Another Charles Reeder tip is to order power tubes that are biased hotter than the Boogie tubes the amp comes with. Theirs are generally on the cold side of acceptable operability; you can get the biased hotter from tubedepot.com or thetubestore.com, just be sure to communicate with them what you have and what you're after. Hotter-biased power tubes are (appropriately) warmer sounding and seem like they're using more of their potential, and have more texture and color as a result.