"Sparkly" Clean Tone

[shredhead72]

Hi All,

I have the Mark V combo and I'm having trouble getting a nice "sparkle" tone on channel one. My clean tone is very clean and ringing but it doesn't have a "strat" sound, even when I'm using my strat... get it?

I'm pretty much using the "recommended" channel 1 setting that came with the card on the amp.

I'm assuming switching over to the tweed setting would help; just wondering if anyone could recommend some tweaks.

 

[thunder100]

I am afraid,to my opinion ,the closest you get is John Petrucci's clean tone(see at the Mesa homepage).For more sparkling clean you need low output Single coil's,a Blackface amp (in my case Deluxe reverb) and a vintage voiced speaker(read unefficient-There is a new weber speaker(D10) like this).

In my opinion Mesa's have simply too much gain for this(what was there target after all from Mark !)

My 5 cents

Roland

 

[ZFMarkV]

turn the master vol up the gain down.. This works for me and I'm only running the main out at about half into a single 1/12. usually more sparkly clean than I really need...I also use a Parker Fly Classic which is very clean and bright in the first place...

Good luck!

 

[KH Guitar Freak]

I honestly thought there were some sparkly cleans to be had from the clean and fat modes on the 90W Simulclass setting...

 

[Jedro]

What tubes you got?

6L6 tubes are the natural companion to single coils. They'll give you that Fender-y tone. More headroom and different top end than EL34s.

I recently played my Telecaster through a Mark V combo with 6L6s and it sounded phenomenal.

Not that EL34s are bad for single coils. I love the raw tone of my Tele's single coil and the El34s. Pure rock n roll.

Anyway, start simple.

Channel 1, Clean.
Get the gain down, master vol up.
90 watts.
No graphic EQ.

Treble, Mid and Bass all at 12:00
Presence off, but start to bring it up.

Tweak from there.

It really shouldn't be difficult. Boogies are known for their cleans as much as their leads.

 

[SpiderWeb]

Hi All,

I have the Mark V combo and I'm having trouble getting a nice "sparkle" tone on channel one. My clean tone is very clean and ringing but it doesn't have a "strat" sound, even when I'm using my strat... get it?

I'm pretty much using the "recommended" channel 1 setting that came with the card on the amp.

I'm assuming switching over to the tweed setting would help; just wondering if anyone could recommend some tweaks.

Hmm, I didn't get a "card on the amp" with suggested settings...

 

[Scary]

FAT mode. Do an initial balance of treble, bass and mid. Start with gain at 9 o'clock and turn it up slowly, pay attention to how the individual notes sound in an arpeggiated chord. The individual notes will start thin and fatten the higher you go, so shoot for a level that allows each note to have a good life but not step too much on other notes. Then use the master to get as close to clip as you can with whatever is in the loop. If you are using the Bold switch, it'll happen quicker.

Once you have the main body and output nailed go back and tweak your treble, bass, and mid... then adjust your channel master once more.

If this doesn't work, you can try Tweed. It sounds great and the tone leaps from the amp, but to me it's gritty/sparkly.

 

[screamingdaisy]

Hmm, I didn't get a "card on the amp" with suggested settings...

 

[jmontgomery]

I didn't get the sample card either. That said, the Mark V isn't very complicated if you sit back and look at it.

 

[MusicManJP6]

I find that tweed mode with low gain settings and bold switch on gives me the most lively (could be considered 'sparkly') clean tone. It also seems to keep up with the volume of the other channels a little better.