LSS 1 yr. Tonal heaven not obtained

[mommysboy]

LSS
ES335

Looking for some new tonal ideas. I've seen the settings page...
http://www.grailtone.com/tone-settings/mesa-boogie/view-lonestar-settings.html#

I love the versatility of the amp, but I'm not a fan of the british invasion type distortion, which is all I seem to get these days.

I'm looking for some tips, like "crank the master".."try thick with 5 wt", etc.

What works for y'all?

 

[user 9654]

Its taken me a year and a half to find tonal bliss. Its always been good but never great until the last two or three months. My amp is not at home to check settings so this is to my best knowledge:

Ch 1.
Gain @ 10:30
Treble @ 1:00
Mids @ 9:00
Lows @ 10:00
Presence @ varies. No effect on gain. I use it to control its presence in the mix.
30W

Ch 2.
Normal
Drive On @ 3:00
Gain @ 1:30
Treble @ 1:00 (this has the largest effect on gain besides the gain knob)
Mids @ 9:00 (really, these are more like low-mids)
Lows @ 8:00
Presence @ varies. See above.
15W

I'm sure my Tele is a lot different than your 335. You'll probably see much different results. You really have to throw out everything you know about setting your amp. The controls are much more interactive than you'd expect.

 

[Steve73]

Here are my LSS settings for gigging. I mostly use a Les Paul but also use a Tele (settings stay the same pretty much):

Ch 1.
Gain @ 11:00
Treble @ 12:00
Mids @ 11:00
Lows @ 9:00
Presence @ basically off
30 watt setting

Ch 2.
Thicker
Drive@ off most of the time unless I want a 'Marshall-y' sound then it's at 9:00
Gain @ 5:00
Treble @ 12:00
Mids @ 11:00
Lows @ 9:00
Presence @ basically off
30 watt setting (the distortion sounds lot more open and less compressed in the 30 watt I think)

I play through an open back cab with Celestion Blues and will boost solos with an MI Audio Boost n' Buff often.

 

[Don]

I don't know if this will help you get away from "British invasion type distortion" but, I just pulled all of the Mesa 12AX7 pre amp tubes out of my 1-1/2 year old Express 5:50 and replaced them with a new Tungsol and new JJs that I had laying around with incredible results! Those Mesa pre amp tubes were lousy!

 

[boogiemon]

Good advice: I have the same preamp tubes in my LSC & they're great. Also check out the reeder mod: makes a big improvement to the tone on ch2.

I don't know if this will help you get away from "British invasion type distortion" but, I just pulled all of the Mesa 12AX7 pre amp tubes out of my 1-1/2 year old Express 5:50 and replaced them with a new Tungsol and new JJs that I had laying around with incredible results! Those Mesa pre amp tubes were lousy!

 

[The Mink]

Well, 3 years in and loving it more than ever, my experience is this:

TURN THE MIDS OFF. Yup, all the way down. Mids at zero. Your settings will look stupid, and your friends will scoff. 'But what will happen to the midrange, which is where electric guitar lives?'

The answer is... nothing. Your mids will be there, untouched by the hands of man, but your pick attack will change completely and your treble control will become a nice upper mid boost when you set it around 1-2 o'clock. I swear, I've done a pile of gigs and sessions with my LSS with both buckers and single coils, and the mid knobs on both channels have been cranked to the left ever since I discovered this. I don't have the tubby bass issues people talk about, my amp has that high-end boutique 'sag,' and no mods were required. All stock.

I remember Mr. Smith saying something about this in the manual, but I don't have it in front of me.

 

[mommysboy]

I messed around with it all weekend and your suggestions are working! I actually like the tone coming out of it now...we'll see after I move it from my studio to rehearsal space.

Will try 'no mids' tonight...can't wait.

 

[mommysboy]

Well, 3 years in and loving it more than ever, my experience is this:

TURN THE MIDS OFF. Yup, all the way down. Mids at zero. Your settings will look stupid, and your friends will scoff. 'But what will happen to the midrange, which is where electric guitar lives?'

The answer is... nothing. Your mids will be there, untouched by the hands of man, but your pick attack will change completely and your treble control will become a nice upper mid boost when you set it around 1-2 o'clock. I swear, I've done a pile of gigs and sessions with my LSS with both buckers and single coils, and the mid knobs on both channels have been cranked to the left ever since I discovered this. I don't have the tubby bass issues people talk about, my amp has that high-end boutique 'sag,' and no mods were required. All stock.

I remember Mr. Smith saying something about this in the manual, but I don't have it in front of me.

The Mink - The no-mids trick works pretty well....I'm digging in here....on your ES335 do you keep your tone knobs at 10? Do you use both pickups or just one?

Thanks

 

[The Mink]

On the 335, there don't seem to be any 'bad' settings with the LSS, and I use both pickups all the time. The only thing I'd say about a two-humbuckers guitar with more distorted lead sounds, is that the middle position (both pickups engaged) needs a little tweaking to sound really killer.

On my 335, and with Les Pauls etc, the best 'middle position' lead tone is Neck pickup turned down a bit with tone control wide open, and Bridge pickup volume cranked with the tone control at about 8. This trims the bass and the high end a bit, while keeping the midrange nice and open. All forms of distortion seem to love this setting. For a less complex version, I'll use the Bridge pickup by itself and turn the tone down even more.

But for rhythm sounds or cleaner leads, I have no magic settings. They all work great, depending on the part.