TA-30 1x12 experience

[bgh]

I have switched to using my TA-30 1x12 combo in church.
Gotta say, it works like a champ.

Channel 1 in Top Boost mode (40w) is where I spend a good deal of time.
The amp is a blast to play. Chording gets some excellent tones. Single note runs give excellent response.
For additional dirt, I put my ZenDrive Gold in front of it.

Channel 2 in "Marshall" mode (30w) has some very nice tones hiding in it.
I use it some, but not nearly as much as Channel 1.

Any other experiences with the TA-30?

PS: I read a lot of how the "Marshall" and "Mark" drives on channel 2 are supposed to be different. On mine, they are a bit different, but not what I would consider a huge difference. To me, the differences are more nuanced in nature.

Any thoughts from any other TA-30 users?

Thanks for reading.

 

[Jakeboy]

I have a TA15 and the Hi1 Marshall and Hi2 Boogie modes are exactly like yours....Hi1 is more aggressive but the differences are indeed nuanced and subtle.

 

[bgh]

I have a TA15 and the Hi1 Marshall and Hi2 Boogie modes are exactly like yours....Hi1 is more aggressive but the differences are indeed nuanced and subtle.

Thanks. Good to know mine is working like others.

 

[bgh]

All,

I posted this on another forum - and thought some here may be interested:

This afternoon, I decided to mess around some with the TA-30's HI-1 and HI-2 (using my SG - humbuckers).

My process was this:
(1) I varied the gain from just open, to 9:00, to noon, to 3:00, then wide open. I then repeated it with the gain knob pulled.
(2) For each tested gain setting, I used the treble at 9:00, noon, 3:00, and wide-open (4 different settings).
(3) I used the 40-watt power setting.

For each test, I played:
(1) Some rhythm power chords.
(2) Some open chords.
(3) Some single note runs lower on the neck.
(4) Some single note runs higher on the neck.

In all of my tests, I observed the same behavior:
(1) While Hi-1 and HI-2 were very close together, HI-2 was just a bit darker.
(2) HI-1 always had a bit more bite (high end and mids).
(3) HI-2 always had a bit more bottom end. While on HI-2, if I turned the treble up another 1/4 of a setting, it came closer to HI-1, but still had a touch of darkness to it.
(4) HI-1 responded better to pinch harmonics than did HI-2.
(5) Because it was darker, HI-2 was a bit smoother on single note leads.

Conclusions: I like them both. I don't think there is enough of a difference between them where a (non guitarist) listener could easily pick them out on an A/B basis. I can see where I may choose HI-2 over HI-1 for some leads, and where I would choose HI-1 over HI-2.

My biggest take-aways: The behavior of HI-1/HI-2 is very consistent - no matter what gain and EQ setting I have. I now know exactly what will happen when I switch from one to the other. If I am on HI-1 and I switch to HI-2, I can expect it to be a bit darker, but also a bit smoother. (HI-2 with the neck pickup on the SG was very, very nice).

I hope this makes sense.

PS: Once I finished with this, I switched to "top boost" mode and spent a few minutes playing Hollies songs, and early Beatles songs. Had a blast. Very versatile amp.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings.

 

[Jakeboy]

Thanks for doing that exercise. I agree as it mirrors my experience with the TA15.
+1000 on the versatility of the TA series.