Newbie DR 3CH help needed !!

[Pornstar]

Hi folks, just found this forum and learnt more about my DR in half an hour than 18 months of ownership! I have a few q's if anyone can help please.

Clean channel - gigged last night and the band are now sick of the poor clean channel. My TSL 100 head has a wicked clean and the DR doesn't come close on the settings I have so far. I can't crank the ch3 vol above halfway without the clean channel volume being a lot less when switched. I really want to push the ch3 vol higher but also want a good crystal clean sound.

Which bring me to problem 2 - fx. I like some reverb (usually spring) and a far amount of chorus for that huge stadium sound when dirty, but also want those fx for clean - and I just can't get the boss reverb and chorus pedals in the loop to bring me anything like what I'm after. I also get hum on the ch3 settings when the fx are on. There's only a Boss TU2 between the guitar and the amp.

So, my current settings are below (no laughing out there!) - please help me adjust them to optimise massive dirty with acceptable clean, with plenty of chorus and some reverb!

Cab - recto closed back 4x12 standard - 8ohm connection. Back panel: Loop on, send at 9 o'clock, mix at 11 o'clock, channel select via footswitch, tube rectifier, bold power. Front panel: solo 0 (I'm just the rhythm guy!), output 2 o'clock, ch3: presence 11 o'clock, master 11 o'clock, gain 2 o'clock, bass 12, mid 9, treble 2, modern selected. Never need ch2. ch1: presence 12, master 4-5 o'clock, gain 3 (otherwise volume just not there), bass 1, mid 10, treble 1, clean selected. Fx are Boss Rv5 reverb, CE20 reverb and I have just got a Noise Suppressor NS2. With so many permutations I'm now at a loss with where to get a good, basic, hum free tone dirty and clean tone, with reverb and plenty of chorus!

Sorry for the long post - all help greatfully received! I'm a fan of J Preisty type chorusy sounds, play 80's hard rock and metal and don't want to copy any one tone! Ironically I can get very close to the fat chorusy but hugely gained and dirty sound out of my Line6 toneport but the settings there bear no relation to reality on my DR!

Tome over!

 

[Pornstar]

PS Following pedal settings are currently set. All numbers refer to the o'clock dial position:

Boss RV5 - e.level 2, tone 3, time 3, mode spring
Boss CE20: e.level 3, preset #3
Boss NS2: Threshold 8, decay 7, mode reduction

Cheers!

 

[fishyfishfish]

I can get a pretty good clean by adjusting the clean volume first then bring the dirty channels up to the same levels. I also set the Master and Solo to 12:00 or a little higher before I set my channel volumes. This should fix some of the problem with the effects in the loop. Also, set the send and return knobs of the loop to 2:00. For the buzzing on the dirty channel, if you are using one power supply for all your pedals it should be one with isolated grounds like voodoo labs pedal power. If you are using a One Spot, or even separate power supplies you get ground loop buzz.
Hopes this helps.

 

[fleeced]

this is just what I've found on my DR after messing with everything from tubes to different pedals and a miriad of settings...

All the bass mid treble gain and presence settings are gonna depend on what guitar your using and whether it's single coil pickups or firey humbuckers that are feeding the Boogie ... I'm playing a Les Paul with humbuckers and this is what I've found...

I really struggled for ages to get a good clean tone ... I will check tomorrow for exact settings but basically have discovered a great sound by backing the gain down (I know volume drops ... but try it) to I think around 10 ... presence around 11 ... and wind the ch1 master up to around 4 or 5 o'clock ... then set the ch2 and ch3 volume levels on the pre amps to match ... and then wind the overall master right up to where you need it .. say 4 o'clock...

I'll check for exact settings tomorrow, but the key for a good clean sound I've found is DEFINITELY keeping the gain down...

I only get a decent sound through the effects loop with send around 12 - matching the volume of the chorus pedal I have in there ... and for some reason return at around 5 o'clock. The loop is set on all the time.

I have completely and utterly fallen in love with the Analogman Mini Chorus (with wet/dry blend switch added by them as an option) ... I've tried most of the Boss choruses and they are all totally eclipsed by this pedal ... it really is a beautiful beautiful sound... and has true bypass for when not in use. My CH1 sucked tone so bad when off and in the loop. As I have the return up high (it also lets higher volume through overall) I set the wet/dry mix on the chorus pedal to around 50%
For good chorus sound I have never heard better.

For delay the MXR Carbon Copy (also true bypass) is pretty good ... analogue echoes with or without modulation ... you could even keep the DD6 in there with a different delay time. I also have the Boss digital reverb in the loop. I'm sure you have it but the pedal order chorus/delay/reverb works well.

Once your clean channel is set - you can dial in ch2 and ch3 to suit. Having the overal master set higher seems to use more of the power amp's 6L6 tube overdrive rather than just relying on the 12AX7 tubes in the pre amp. I've found some beautiful tone by backing down the volume on the pre amps and upping the overall master.

For flang/phase/chorus sounds on ch2 and ch3 the chorus doesn't sound that great in the loop (at least for me .. it sounds muddy) ... but a flanger or phaser straight in between guitar and input sounds great for the dirty channels.

Finally (and this feels like cheating!) - as My ch2 and 3 are used for more heavy gain rhythm sounds ... for some "very light overdrive" sounds I have started to use a Fulltone OCD dialled pretty low on the clean channel ... great for bluesy soloing where you don't want too much gain. (If the DR came with 4 channels I'd use one channel for this sound instead of the pedal .... I think maybe I need a Road King!)

Hope some of this helps ... I'll check the exact settings tomorrow.

 

[fleeced]

I've checked and the settings I listed are there or thereabouts ...

The only thing that would stop you running the gain as low as I do on Ch1 is if you're playing with single coil pickups ... but I still reckon keeping the gain down as low as you can gives the cleanest tone...