who here gigs with a IIC+? (not two at a time)

[Fronzil]

even though I use a BB preamp and diamond J drive, just curious, if one were to go guitar>amp and play a IIC+ live, could you have a nice lead tone, (which you could roll back for a crunch), and be able to switch to a decent clean sound without crazy volume differences in the channels?

 

[Boogiebabies]

I have the same problem with the C+ as I do the BB preamp. They sound so good at different settings
one is not enough. So, I guess I'm out.

But, you can dial in your best clean settings and lead settings then drop the Lead gain a bit for a crunch with
a bit less compression. For your lead tone you can goose it with the BB volume and still ride the volume on both for more
tones. I'm not being a snob here but the GEQ will help as well so you can use both the EQ'd non EQ'd signal for
different tones. The EQ does seriously help when you have a tough room for acoustics, especially the 750.
The lower the gain on the lead channel, the louder it will be and easier to balance with the clean volume.

 

[Freefall]

I just use the Lead Master to match the lead channel's volume to the clean channel's volume. Am I missing something?

 

[Boogiebabies]

I just use the Lead Master to match the lead channel's volume to the clean channel's volume. Am I missing something?

No, it's just a comment on a practical application of the Lead Master and gain settings in general.
When you are home or recording it's fine to run Volume 1 at 9 and Lead Drive at 9 to get that incredible
searing overdrive, but when playing live it's more than likely going to get buried unless you have MASSIVE volume.
The same is true for the midrange settings.

With higher lead drive settings the compression tends to lower the perceived volume of the lead channel.
In a gig setting even with the Lead Master balanced to your hearing it may sound fine, but once everyone
jumps in your volume may seem to disappear until you lower the gain a bit.

 

[av8or3]

I gig with the IIC+
switch off between my awesome 60 watter and my simulclass. no pedals.
Jim

 

[ryjan]

If I HAD one I would surely gig with it. And eat with it, and sleep with it, and sing to it... :lol:

 

[Neptical]

I gig with the IIC+
switch off between my awesome 60 watter and my simulclass. no pedals.
Jim

I do the same as well between (2) Mark IIIs. IMHO--it just doesnt get any better then that.

All the Best,
~Nep~

 

[Fronzil]

thanks everyone, and BB especially..man you are one helpful mofo.

im lookin at a couple C+s at the moment, a 60 watt /w reverb, a simulclass /w reverb...just wanna make sure when I pull the trigger on one of these I don't get the wrong one for me..

 

[Freefall]

I think it is very useful to have a device to adjust volume in the loop, like a volume pedal, clean boost, EQ, or a processor with programmable output level. Because the amp's controls interact with each other, I find it hard to get a good volume balance between sounds of various drive levels if you're just using the amp's controls and the guitar volume.

 

[JOEY B.]

I tend to run the Volume 1 high (8-9) for a dirty clean and roll off the guitar volume or split the coils to clean up a bit. When set like this the Lead drive is in the medium territory(5-6). This gives a good crunch while playing rhythm (in the lead channel) that is not too compressed sounding. For thick creamy leads, I boost the front end with an Xotic RC Booster. It does not color the tone, it just adds more of it. The EQ is very helpful to shape your lead tone independently of the rhythm channel when set to EQ AUTO. 8)

 

[Fronzil]

I tend to run the Volume 1 high (8-9) for a dirty clean and roll off the guitar volume or split the coils to clean up a bit. When set like this the Lead drive is in the medium territory(5-6). This gives a good crunch while playing rhythm (in the lead channel) that is not too compressed sounding. For thick creamy leads, I boost the front end with an Xotic RC Booster. It does not color the tone, it just adds more of it. The EQ is very helpful to shape your lead tone independently of the rhythm channel when set to EQ AUTO. 8)

thats how I was thinking I would dial it in...i kinda dig a pinch of dirt on all my cleans with the music I've been playing lately anyway, and I use the guitars volume knob loads, even with the IV.

 

[Freefall]

I tend to run the Volume 1 high (8-9) for a dirty clean and roll off the guitar volume or split the coils to clean up a bit. When set like this the Lead drive is in the medium territory(5-6). This gives a good crunch while playing rhythm (in the lead channel) that is not too compressed sounding. For thick creamy leads, I boost the front end with an Xotic RC Booster. It does not color the tone, it just adds more of it. The EQ is very helpful to shape your lead tone independently of the rhythm channel when set to EQ AUTO. 8)

I have mine set very similarly (just a little less volume1). I find the boost in front adds that extra gain, but not much volume on the lead channel, so I still have a volume booster (a processor in my case) in the loop to get solos above the band.

 

[Fronzil]

I tend to run the Volume 1 high (8-9) for a dirty clean and roll off the guitar volume or split the coils to clean up a bit. When set like this the Lead drive is in the medium territory(5-6). This gives a good crunch while playing rhythm (in the lead channel) that is not too compressed sounding. For thick creamy leads, I boost the front end with an Xotic RC Booster. It does not color the tone, it just adds more of it. The EQ is very helpful to shape your lead tone independently of the rhythm channel when set to EQ AUTO. 8)

I have mine set very similarly (just a little less volume1). I find the boost in front adds that extra gain, but not much volume on the lead channel, so I still have a volume booster (a processor in my case) in the loop to get solos above the band.

wouldn't that depend how loud you're playing and how much headroom you have left? and of course how the pedal (in my case a bb) would be set...i've experienced the same problem on the lead channel of my IV, but thats when it's dialed in for super high gain lead tone.

 

[Freefall]

wouldn't that depend how loud you're playing and how much headroom you have left? and of course how the pedal (in my case a bb) would be set...i've experienced the same problem on the lead channel of my IV, but thats when it's dialed in for super high gain lead tone.

I agree with you, it does depend on the amount of headroom. At least on mine (vol1=7.5, lead drive=5), the sound isn't very compressed but there must not be much headroom because kicking in the OD (at bedroom or gig volume) gives more gain, but little to no additional volume. I have the OD pedal set in the typical gain/low, level/high fashion. The amp's miked at a gig, so the stage volume is pretty low (master around 2)... maybe if I played it louder I'd notice more of a difference.

When I add the OD to the clean channel, I do get a significant volume increase... seems like the lead channel doesn't have a lot of headroom, even at moderate gain levels... as always, YMMV.

 

[A_Ryder]

even though I use a BB preamp and diamond J drive, just curious, if one were to go guitar>amp and play a IIC+ live, could you have a nice lead tone, (which you could roll back for a crunch), and be able to switch to a decent clean sound without crazy volume differences in the channels?

EDIT: My initial reply was garbled so I'll tidy up ...

Yes I used a IIC+ 1x12 combo for gigs and I didn't have problems with mismatched volumes.

I did have major problems with mismatched volumes on my Triaxis/2:90/4x12 rig, endless adjusting but forever getting it wrong, so I bought a volume pedal for that, WOW what a great help, I loved it. So I used it with all my other rigs.

Surprisingly the volume pedal opened options I had never thought of with the C+.

Many people use the EQ for their solo sound, more or less as a boost, even Mesa Engineering speak of it that way but the C+ easily gets great clean and solo tones using just the tone dials, EQ isn't needed for them but help can be had in the rhythm and crunch departments.

I used the EQ to optimize my rhythm and crunch tones, I liked the ubiquitous "V" shape for rhythm and for maximum crunch I needed to have the guitar volume dial pegged on 10 - so no dialing back on the guitar for rhythm.

This leaves a problem for solos, with "V" EQ on it's too thin sounding and with it off it's too soft. I like the classic "fat" "fluid boogie" tone with no EQ for solos - so it just needs a clean boost. The volume pedal in the FX loop solves this problem nicely.

 

[Marcus71]

Don't overlook a late Mark III.

This thing really gets it done, but you get the extra channel, Rhythm 2, that can be set for crunch. But let me tell you, R2 gets pretty nasty on its own. Last band practice I set up R2 almost identical to Lead, but made Lead just a little bit louder. Naturally, I used Lead for solos and R2 for everything else. A lot people overlook R2 and I can't figure out why. It might be IMO, the best channel on this amp.

I love my Mark III. Wouldn't trade it for anything. I mean nothing.

 

[Neptical]

Don't overlook a late Mark III.

This thing really gets it done, but you get the extra channel, Rhythm 2, that can be set for crunch. But let me tell you, R2 gets pretty nasty on its own. Last band practice I set up R2 almost identical to Lead, but made Lead just a little bit louder. Naturally, I used Lead for solos and R2 for everything else. A lot people overlook R2 and I can't figure out why. It might be IMO, the best channel on this amp.

I love my Mark III. Wouldn't trade it for anything. I mean nothing.

Same way I set up my Mark IIIs.
I think R2 is amazing! There's plenty enough beef in R2 to go around.
Then there's the lead channel that gives me the Holdsworth tones I've always wanted.

Oh yeah, back to the IIC+... :wink:

All the Best,
~Nep~