Fish Luke
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Posts posted by Fish Luke
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Yeah but for how long?
Any idea what the original EL34 was? I'd imagine Chinese as well (at least that's what the bigger Marshall amps shipped with when I last saw one)
The Chinese EL34s are actually really good. They don't drift nearly as much as the Russian ones, and tend to sound good for a much longer period of time. Slightly different sound though.
And I'd say you'd be fine after about 15-20 minutes? Probably not even that long since it's a smaller amp.
Not sure it says Marshall VLVE-000092 on the EL34. Tung-sol arrived today so I will do some swaps. The EL34s do sound different I think as you said.
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That just reminded me of something that might be of interest.
Are you familiar with the 12DW7? Because one half is supposedly 12AX7, and the other 12AU7. Only thing is that I'm not sure which way V1 is wired on the DSL, but even if it's the wrong way around, I'm guessing you can easily rewire the V1 socket.
Or maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way.
Yeah that makes sense. I'd keep the Chinese ones in V2 and V3 if they're working properly though - V1 has the biggest effect on the sound.
Unless it's an amp like the 6100/6101, then things get confusing.
Yeah I don't intend on paying for more tubes for V2/V3 unless it was really necessary.
Got the Svetlana EL34 in today. Initial reaction is that it sounds better but I'm not really qualified to explain how. Less muddy/dark maybe? I'll have to put the old one in tomorrow maybe just to be sure.
Out of interest how long do tubes normally take to cool down?
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Fair enough - I suppose you don't have to worry about matched power tubes with this amp at least.
I'm guessing the yellow label is graded as low noise or something. Is this the one closest to the input jack? If so, you could try replacing this with the tung sol 12AX7
Yeah it is probably a better tube as the yellow one is definitely V1. I guess we'll see what type of tube it is based on how it compares to the tung-sol!
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Generally I'd avoid the ones on eBay unless they're from a reputable seller that has sold LOTS of properly tested tubes and has good reviews.
When you say it's svetlana, it could be two different things. Either the new ones (which are made by the same company that does Sovtek, electro harmonix, and most other new russian tubes) or the older ones from before around 2000, which are different (and supposedly better)
Chances are it's one of the new ones, but still worth a try I guess.
As for preamp tubes, how many does the SL5 use? Guessing at least two. In high gain Marshall type amps, I generally put a new production tung sol 12AX7 in the first slot, and Chinese/Shuguang in the rest.
Ahh well it was only a tenner so doesn't hurt to try!
There are 3 12ax7, all Chinese but the first one is yellow label and the other two or white label.
Could always order a tung-sol to try since one barely costs anything.
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Generally I lean towards the Chinese made ones, but it really depends on the amp. They all have good and bad things about them in my opinion.
Are you considering changing some out in one of your amps?
Managed to get a Svetlana EL34 cheap on eBay so going to try that in the SL5.
Couldn't find a conclusive answer as to whether any of the current production pre-amp tubes are better than the Shuguang ones for the SL5 so think I will just leave those alone.
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On the subject of amps... what pre-amp tubes do people like?
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http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/rockers-who-need-pristine-virginal-cleans.1702576/
Really? That's the first time I've heard that one...
Those feels.
Not sure, I haven't bought any mics in a while. And that is quite cheeky. You should have a nando's with me - just found out I'll actually be there an extra two days, for ten days total
edit: referring to the UK itself, not just nando's
The controls can be a little tricky at times. Are these the ones that work in reverse?
Also, since it has an external speaker output, you could try it with a different cabinet to see if it sounds any better. I wouldn't really expect it to sound like a top boost AC30 without the usual tone control setup though (do these controls work in reverse?)
Nah they just work normally. I think I read that both the treble and bass knobs both just alter the amount of treble more than anything else.
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Stockholm Syndrome now.
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I haven't tried the AC4. What size speaker does it have? I can understand that anyway - even though it's still in the AC series, I wouldn't expect it to sound quite like an AC30. Some will have to do with the cabinet design, speaker size, lower wattage, smaller transformers, etc...
I didn't do any upgrades to my AC HW, even though there are SEVERAL suggested ones. It's a well built amp, but even though it's one of the more expensive ones, some of the components aren't quite as good as you'd expect.
Does the AC4 have a master volume? I can still get a relatively close sound with the master engaged and top boost channel volume turned up, so you don't necessarily need to have the power amp working hard.
There's three versions of the amp, one with a 10" speaker, one with 12" and the HW with 12". I just have the regular 12" one.
"All-Valve, the legendary VOX AC30 Top-Boost sound, now in a compact, portable amplifier!" http://www.voxamps.com/ac4c1-12
It does have a master volume but overall it was no good for me. I think the fact it is a tiny amp for a 12" speaker has a lot to do with it as well as the poor amp controls. The cabinet was almost closed back but had a small slit at the bottom and there was no division between the amp PCB and the speaker it was all in the same space.
For example I originally bought a G12H to replace the Celestion Seventy 80 but it was too big and hit the transformer. The Greenback G12M only just fits.
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I'm not sure really, but the one I had just sounded like a really good fuzz face type pedal.
And are we talking live or studio? Studio version of Psycho for example has lots of AC30 from what I can hear, especially in the verses. Can get really close with the AC30HW I have. Here's an AC15HW combo - you can sort of hear the similarities. Almost a fuzzy sort of tone, but not really.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niT_UlFMBlw
Live sounds more like the VH4 channel 3, possibly mixed with something else. Not sure about the fuzz tones he currently has though. Those could be profiled as well for all I know.
Oh and as for the colour box, I've tried one of those, and it doesn't get you the sound alone. He's running some fuzz pedals (I think I saw some Cornish fuzz pedals in one of the studio videos?) into it, and using the colour box to emulate the sound of the pedal running into one of those old consoles. Or at least I think that's what he was doing...
Another pedal that was used is the custom made turkish pedal from istanbul (machsonic thrust drive)
In the demo videos I've seen, it really doesn't sound good at all, but remember he was running it into an ampeg V4B. Not only is that a bass amp, but it has some extreme midrange shaping options.
See the AC4 I have really distorts my view of what a Vox sounds like since I couldn't get it to sound remotely similar to that or muse even though I upgraded it to JJ tubes and Greenback which the AC4HW have. Sounded nice clean but fuzz was too treblely and distortion too boxy and it was a loud amp that didn't sound great with the volume down. All of the controls seemed to have sharp thresholds rather than acting linear as well.
Does sound like the amp in the video could be a core muse sound but couldn't get anything like it out of my AC4.
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Not sure about the fuzz head, but http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct15/articles/inside-track-1015.htm is decent for knowing which fuzz pedals are on drones. Interesting that he used a colour box.
Another interesting point on there is that he used the Fuzz Factory a lot on drones supposedly then. If anything I thought the distortion on Drones was more from amps or something like Fuzz Head. Maybe the Fuzz Head is used less on the guitar then otherwise it would have appeared in the article for sure.
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Does it actually sound bad on its own? If the SL5 is anything like Slash's tone, then it's a bit different from your usual Marshall type sound.
I don't think he ever used the fuzz head for guitar, but as a distortion for the synths on the kaoss pad rather. I've had one in the past, and with the KP2, it sounds identical to his synth effects... with guitar, it's much more of a vintage fuzz tone.
It's always been amp distortion as far as I'm aware, except for SMBH and a few other bits, which are DI'd fuzz factory...there's plug in baby as well, which is mostly fuzz factory, but the one in his guitar.
Right now I think his main sound is some of his favorite amps profiled onto the kemper - either channel 3 of the Diezel VH4, or his Marshall 1959HW (or both)... there's probably an AC30 in there somewhere too.
You might be able to get close to the DSL sound I guess. I know Jaicen likes his DSL15 (so much that he's selling it for someone else to enjoy the Muse tone)
And for what it's worth, I think a lot of his recorded tone is AC30.
A lot of people seem to get something that I think sounds like Slash in their YouTube videos but they're always using a Les Paul. I'm using the Cort and to me it sounds more like what I thought an average Marshall would sound like which is what I wanted.
Just had another go on the overdrive channel and got fairly near now I think. Gain on max, volume 1/3, treble, prescence and mids max and bass on 1/2. Funnily enough the opposite EQ settings to what people say on Marshall forums but I guess they were using Les Pauls or something. However this is on the 1 watt mode as OD channel is too loud and I expect the other people were using 5 watt mode which you have to dial in different.
I had my clean mode with pedals dialled in differently and on the full 5 watts as it is quieter than the other channel so may well have to have another tinker or see how it sounds on the OD settings I have.
As for the Vox I couldn't really get anywhere near what the Marshall is doing, probably because the Marshall is so much bigger than the Vox and probably just better thought out overall. Possibly the Vintage 30 in the Marshall may help as well since in the tour rig video Matt was using those. The Vox seemed to go from no volume to way too loud easily and was so hard to dial in with fuzz (too trebly) or built in gain (not enough treble) even though I upgraded the speaker to a Greenback. I don't think Vox do a low watt amp that would do any better so I looked elsewhere.
As for Matt's distortion sound are you sure he doesn't used the Fuzz Head more widely? It seems to appear so much in limited pictures and videos of his setup and I feel like I can get it to sound like Knights, basic chords like PIB/Mercy and even like Handler/Psycho on the D string. I've also seen a fair few covers on YouTube sound really similar to Matt using it too.
I've changed the capacitor in my Fuzz Head to the treble one and adjusted the internal trim pots to max settings so Matt may well have had some funny things done to his anyway. Before I did this I didn't think it had enough treble or drive for what I wanted.
I'll have to compare my new setting on the OD channel to what I got before with the Fuzz Head on the clean channel.
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Just got a Marshall SL5 to replace the Vox AC4C1-12.
Managed to get dial in some good Matt-ish tones using Fuzz Head (and FF) through clean channel but couldn't manage to get the overdrive channel to sound good (with or without pedals). The amp has proper channel EQ, prescence and reverb unlike the Vox.
Anybody know if Matt uses Fuzz Head much as a general distortion or if he just relies on amp distortion still? I'm talking about chords as well as riffs.
I know he at least used to use a cranked DSL 100 which perhaps I could get something similar out of the SL5. Same for the Diezel but I imagine I wouldn't be able to get near that.
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The Maggie's Farm riffage after Map is from the first night, 'cause Matt's guitar messed up on the second night. You can see his trainers change if you look closely. That's the only case of it though, tmk anyway.
Ah fair enough. Good to know since I was there on the first night!
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Yeah, they wouldn't put out a DVD of a gig with malfunctioning tech. Maybe they'll make a DVD that contains footage of both nights, like they did with HAARP?
Tonight's setlist seems pretty decent. There has been far worse this tour (although that would still mean nothing, since they usually cut out the best songs for the DVD
).90% sure HAARP doesn't contain footage of both nights but it's a perfectly reasonable idea.
Might ruin the flow a bit though as I like the fact that previous DVDs were literally pretty much fluid video of the whole concert.
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Need a bit of advice about amps.
I'm probably going to buy a valve amp at some point this year (finally). Fancy either a Vox AC30C2 or an AC15C2. Don't need anything crazy loud since I only play at bedroom volume or at small gigs. I usually have my amps set up so they sound a tiny bit dirty but still fairly clean, so would the AC15 be better? But it'll compress more easily (less headroom?) than the AC30 so might end up sounding a bit less chimey if it's fairly loud won't it?
Hope my slightly confused rambling makes sense here...
Both will be crazy loud for bedroom volume. I have the AC4C1-12 and it's a bit loud for my bedroom really.
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Is Matt healed well enough to record a gig, or is he still noticeably holding back or limping?
They're going to have to piece this one together because there's about zero chance they'll ever get a performance that they feel good about AND have all the tech work on one night, so they wouldn't have to give the gig a US setlist; they can just cut and paste.
Looked alright from the videos I saw of the Austria gig.
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What time should Muse take to the stage? I'd hazard a guess in around 15 minutes
According to reddit they have already played Psycho and Reapers.
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Turns out Matt has broken his toe.
Won't effect shows except for reigning him in a bit, maybe he'll concentrate more on the music
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Also TAB confirmed for one night in Madrid.
(He's going on a twitter streak).
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Not to worry, there's an expert on the case
I lol'd when I saw that xD.
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I'm not sure if its quite that the edge is gone - that opening one-two of Reapers & Psycho was humungous. Which I wasn't expecting as usually, being earplugged, the opening song is usually the dullest sounding for my ears. I did think Madness, Starlight and the first guitar-less part of Dead Inside lacked the intensity of the rest, but not much else wrong really, and it was more the fact the songs seemed a bit slower than on record or at Brighton. I'm not saying it as a criticism but I wasn't entirely expecting it.
Not that its always a bad thing - the middle bit of The Globalist was really good slowed down and feeling properly heavy. First part didn't really work live, although the other 2/3rds and the Drones outro did, oddly.
I did like the rotating stage and I did think it kinda worked. But I was expecting it to be slower than it was. I also didn't expect it to be rotating for more or less the entire show... if I was playing drums in that central bubble I'd get motion sickness pretty quickly.
The tour is saved by the fact that Drones is a strong album, especially live. Imagine if they also played Defector.
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Nobody came up with a definite ID yet but there are a few comments
They really seem to think it's a Cort of some sort but no proper ID yet.
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I can just about make out an "S" in the logo.
Stagg?
Someone on reddit found this page: http://museandamuse3.free.fr/instruments/otherguitars.html .
Not much info but "Matthew Bellamy used this strange guitar during the 1999 and 2000 tours. It is a travel guitar with two built-in amps."
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I honestly have spent more time searching for that than I did the londaxe (back before we knew what it was)
Somethings I do know:
4+2 headstock could be a clue. How many guitar brands actually use that design? There's Ernie Ball, but I really can't think of any others.
It does have the black/gold sticker on the back, which usually said "made in korea" or "made in japan" - so it's one of those two, but it's always been said to have been given to him by a fan in japan
Matt doesn't know what it is either. He was asked in an interview from the BHAR era, and said something like... that they can be found in shops all over Japan, but if that was the case, I'd have had Bs send us a shipment by now.
I've asked on reddit. I see so many posts of completely random guitars and someone usually knows what it is.
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Drones General Tour Discussion Thread
in Tours
Posted
Using the DR Manson and fuelling speculation of next year's tour, drones tour DVD and Defector. Interesting day for Matt haha.
Surely they may well play Aftermath tomorrow as well.