the best dynamic stomps for Roadster

Metaltastic · Jul 22, 2009

jdurso said:
So your opinions are based around what other people use?? Hmmmm....

Also the BEST way to do anything is going to be different to everyone... for instance you want to get rid of flubby bass? To me, dont bother with pedals, just get the right cab and preamp tubes that suite your ideal tone. That provides you the foundation to add things like boosts/drive and other effects to get you a greater variety but it all starts with a solid foundation. I've come to this way of thinking through experiementation not by reading posts and trusting opinions of the cork sniffers and audiophiles. But thats just me... :wink:

And I'm sorry, but I can't let this slide - first of all, I don't appreciate the strong implication that I strictly follow posts and "cork sniffers", because those people are well-respected recording engineers who can actually put their money where their mouths are and provide fantastic sounding recorded clips, rather than "oh yeah, I experimented with this, and now it sounds so much better, it's true, no placebo effect at all!" And preamp tubes have little to no effect on flubby bass, it's inherent in many amps simply because of too much bass before the input signal (my old 5150, JSX and Orange Tiny Terror with totally different tubes fantastically improved with a TS before them set to unity gain, cutting the excess lows before the input). And it was after much personal experimentation and listening to recorded comparison clips that I decided the sound of the Mesa Rectifier cab was perfect for me, and with a Tube Screamer, it is, and I've made many recordings that I'm very pleased with using it (compared to the ones with I made with my Mesa Stiletto, Bogner 2x12, and Engl 4x12 that didn't do it for me as much, but all still benefited from using my TS). So no, I did in fact make up my mind through experimentation, by recording clips, analyzing them, determining what I did and didn't like, and trying to figure out what was causing the latter.

I'll just leave it at this: I can get this from my current setup, so it's good enough for me.

jdurso · Jul 22, 2009

Metaltastic said:
And I'm sorry, but I can't let this slide - first of all, I don't appreciate the strong implication that I strictly follow posts and "cork sniffers", because those people are well-respected recording engineers who can actually put their money where their mouths are and provide fantastic sounding recorded clips, rather than "oh yeah, I experimented with this, and now it sounds so much better, it's true, no placebo effect at all!"

First of all it was all it good fun man... hence the wink in my post. I apoligize if you got offended, but its just a simple discussion of the minds and a little ribbing here and there (which you have particpated in as well).

What I was trying to say before you so eliquently took it out of context is that much of the support for you're argument has come from posts and opinions of others. There is very little about your own experiements outside of I bought a TS and it worked for me and I tried a boost pedal and it didnt work for me. I'm not saying you didnt find what worked for you, but you really havent tried enough to comment on other methods that work just as well. Also my experiements haven't been "hey lets try this and see what happens"... i do just as much research as the next guy and when i do try a new techinque or method to achieve a certain tone or effect, I try many MANY different units until i find one that fits and at the end of the day i can still be objective about gear even if it didnt work out for me.

Metaltastic said:
And preamp tubes have little to no effect on flubby bass, it's inherent in many amps simply because of too much bass before the input signal (my old 5150, JSX and Orange Tiny Terror with totally different tubes fantastically improved with a TS before them set to unity gain, cutting the excess lows before the input).

This just proves either 1) you have never experimented with different preamp tubes or 2) you didnt experiement enough or with right tubes. I'm sure i'm preaching to the choir but different tubes have different characteristics as well as what slot they're in on your overall tone. For instance you want to kill flubby bass, then try a different tube in V3 that provides a more defined bass or less bass... you want more or less breakup try a different tube in V1 that provides more or less headroom. The possibilities and configuration with the various amounts of tubes out there that provide particular characteristics combined with the knowledge of how each slot contributes to your amps tone means you need to spend a ton of time figuring out what works for you. I can say definitvely that you can tame bass with the right tube in V3 and that changing around your preamp tubes can make a HUGE difference in the tone of your amp.

Metaltastic said:
And it was after much personal experimentation and listening to recorded comparison clips that I decided the sound of the Mesa Rectifier cab was perfect for me, and with a Tube Screamer, it is, and I've made many recordings that I'm very pleased with using it (compared to the ones with I made with my Mesa Stiletto, Bogner 2x12, and Engl 4x12 that didn't do it for me as much, but all still benefited from using my TS). So no, I did in fact make up my mind through experimentation, by recording clips, analyzing them, determining what I did and didn't like, and trying to figure out what was causing the latter.

Thats great that you found a recto cab perfect for you but you dont even consider that your choice in cab plays a huge part in the flubbiness or lack there of in your tone? As with your preamp tube config there is huge potential in controlling bass with your cab and speaker choice. For instance the design of a Mills cab has an internal baffle which kills free standing waves... free standing waves in a cab is the biggest culpurit in producing a farty, muddy tone. So year you can filter out the bass before it hits the amp but its not the only method and the fact that you have never even touched on other ways of achieving a certain effect/tone makes me question exactly how much experimentation you've done.

At the end of this day this board is about sharing experiences, sharing your opinions and ultimately helping a fellow mesa brother out. I never once stated your method was wrong, but was merely pointing out its not the only way to tighten a recto. I have put a lot of explaination why certain things work for me and why i use certain methods but have never not been open to hearing other people out. In fact you can ask a lot of the guys on this board... i have never sought to do anything else but help a fellow player out and try and spread what experiences i've had and what has worked for me and why. I have also never knocked on any method or piece of gear because we all find our tone in different ways and with different gear... but i never assume there is a "to end all" way of doing things, which is what you've done in most of this thread.