Tyger16 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Yeah, so I know I made a thread about amps already but I just saw this and don't think it fits in the other thread. For those who don't know, the 44 Magnum is a 44Watt power amp all crammed into a tiny pedal sized stompbox. It is a physical amp. The idea is that you connect it to a cab and mic that up. This is useful because a lot venues will have cabs already there, meaning you can take your entire rig, including amp in the one bag. However, as you turn up the volume the amp goes into what they call natural amp saturation. In other words, its not as clean. However, it is completely clean when turned down to lower volumes. I need to know, would it be loud enough when you clean the signal up for gigging? This way, you could just put distortion/fuzz, delay, reverb pedals etc in front of the 44Magnum. If however, you need to turn up enough so the signal saturates, there would be no use putting a reverb before it. So what do people think, is it a viable option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 If a gig already has cabs they are opt likely going to be part of a PA system, which would have a monitor. You could adjust it too your loudest setting and then use a volume pedal before or after the .44 depending on what sounds good. That way you have full control over your volume. Consering the reverb, fx pedals sound different depending on their position in the chain so really its just a case of see what sounds better, before or after the .44 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger16 Posted August 10, 2011 Author Share Posted August 10, 2011 If a gig already has cabs they are opt likely going to be part of a PA system, which would have a monitor. You could adjust it too your loudest setting and then use a volume pedal before or after the .44 depending on what sounds good. That way you have full control over your volume. Consering the reverb, fx pedals sound different depending on their position in the chain so really its just a case of see what sounds better, before or after the .44 You cant put anything after the .44 Its like putting a tremolo (for example) inbetween an amp head and cab. It warns you against it in the instructions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboMansonMB-1 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Set the 44 to your drive setting (how saturated you'd want your amp to be, max) and then use your guitar's volume knob to clean up. Simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger16 Posted August 10, 2011 Author Share Posted August 10, 2011 only problem is, its saturated sound is a bit well, shit :L Hence why i wanted to use distortion/fuzz pedal before it in the signal chain, having the actual amp itself as clean as possible. It doesn't need to be this pedal specifically though. Could I not use almost any power amp and connect it to a cab? Also, if i do use this particular power amp, can I plug headphones straight into its output? Will that work like an emulated out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboMansonMB-1 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 What happened to the Blackstar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger16 Posted August 10, 2011 Author Share Posted August 10, 2011 What happened to the Blackstar? I saw this afterwards and saw it was a hell of a lot smaller and cheaper haha. The way I see it, if I can get a fairly cheap (powerful enough) clean sound, then I can spend the money on pedals to get my actual tone. All I really want is a cheap, LOUD clean tone that doesnt break up. Also, if I could use something as small as a power amp, it would make transportation to and from gigs much easier. Most venues I play in have cabs already and even ones that dont, carrying one cab is easier or at worst the same as any other rig I could get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam511 Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 It think this all depends ont he setup of the gigs does it not? If you go to a gig and it has a PA with monitors you can probably just plug your 44 and fuzz's etc into that and be good to go, but youre not certain every gig is going to have that? Some might give you amps which would be fine, some might just have some mics in which youre buggered cause youve no amp? Hypothetically... Id say anyway a good combo amp would be best anyway... youre clean sound will change depending on the room and you want to be able to tweak it surely? *PLUG* ive got a VoxVT30 which ive used a few times at gigs... its awesome im sure some others on here have used one too? They brought out a new range aswell, and theyre relatively inexpensive and get loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthijs Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 If you want compact 'amp' etc, wouldn't it just be easy to gig with guitar rig or get a line 6-ish multi fx that has a direct output? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 yeh for compact gigging an amp sim pedal (tech 21, line 6 etc) is the normal option. Some people use very small amps - 1 x 10" or even 1 x 8" combos. If you really want to do it, obviously it depends on the cab you get in any given situation and how well it will match the "head". Also it sounds like they might be bullshitting on the 44Watts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger16 Posted August 10, 2011 Author Share Posted August 10, 2011 Right ok, i get what yous are saying (: My current setup is at its most basic form. I use a Korg Ax3000g for everything, amp models, the lot(and yes I sometimes use the direct output and plug it straight into the desk- if the soundman knows what he's doing). However, while i like the effects on it, the amp models are really quite bad(especially the fuzz). So I was going to get a couple of distortion/OD and fuzz pedals to basically act as a pre amp (hence why I want a clean as possible bypass signal). So I need a power amp that wont break up as it gets cranked and a suitable cab to go with it. Ideally for me, most of the time, amps are already at venues. So i could plug from the speaker outputs of the power amp straight into the cab and be miked up.(I can always phone ahead and ask what the impedence on the speakers is). After I was on here last night, I was looking at alternatively to the magnum (because the sound breaks up as it gets cranked) and I saw a 'rocktron velocity 100' power amp. The 100w gets split between two channels and you need an annoying 4ohm impedence to get the 50w from each channel. That being said, even at 8ohm you still get over 40. It also seems like you can set it up so that you use both channels (take advantage of all the power output) and run a stereo rig. This however would require 2 cabs and tbh, right now, I'm not that bothered about a stereo rig. So after more research I definitely think the Rocktron is a better option, the only issue is finding the right cab. Also, how will this sound? obviously if you arent using an actual amp set up, the tone will be compromised. Thanks for all the feedback! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil. Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 tbh, if size is an issue, i'd get something by rick holt. http://www.frequencycentral.co.uk edit: shouldn't this be in something like general thread or quick questions? or the amp thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 If you just want a power amp there are lots to chose from. However, I don't like the idea of having dirt pedals going straight into a power amp and then straight to a cab. If you get your pedal choices spot on it could be OK but not many fuzz pedals (for example) would sound great going straight into a power stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger16 Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 If you just want a power amp there are lots to chose from. However, I don't like the idea of having dirt pedals going straight into a power amp and then straight to a cab. If you get your pedal choices spot on it could be OK but not many fuzz pedals (for example) would sound great going straight into a power stage. how so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 the pre-amp in guitar amps has a massive influence on the tone. The poweramp has almost no influence (unless you're really pushing it). The speaker and it's cab have influence too, but not as much as the pre-amp. By putting a fuzz pedal straight into a poweramp you're bypassing the pre-amp stage, or using the fuzz as a pre-amp. Personally, I would imagine that there'd be far too much high end "fizz". I also think the fuzz would be unlikely to be hot enough to drive the power-amp sufficiently - limiting your headroom. Obviously I could be totally wrong as I often am, but I DI pedals all the time and would never DI straight into a power-amp from a dirt pedal without at least some EQ in-between.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger16 Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 the pre-amp in guitar amps has a massive influence on the tone. The poweramp has almost no influence (unless you're really pushing it). The speaker and it's cab have influence too, but not as much as the pre-amp. By putting a fuzz pedal straight into a poweramp you're bypassing the pre-amp stage, or using the fuzz as a pre-amp. Personally, I would imagine that there'd be far too much high end "fizz". I also think the fuzz would be unlikely to be hot enough to drive the power-amp sufficiently - limiting your headroom. Obviously I could be totally wrong as I often am, but I DI pedals all the time and would never DI straight into a power-amp from a dirt pedal without at least some EQ in-between.. well what if i use a dirt pedal after the fuzz on just enough for pre-amp? I could also buy an EQ pedal for last in the chain. Would that make an impact? Some of the dirt pedals can be really quite good, the blackstar pedals seem to literally just haul out the blackstar amp distortion and through it in a pedal. Although, I prefer the sound of the zvex distortron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I'm not sure if i've made this point clearly enough: The sound of a pedal DI'd is quite different to the sound of a pedal going through a guitar amp. How do you listen to your rig at the moment? Through a stereo, heaphones, or a guitar amp? Obviously everyone is different, but if it was me i'd buy either a small combo, or an amp modeller like a sansamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger16 Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 I'm not sure if i've made this point clearly enough: The sound of a pedal DI'd is quite different to the sound of a pedal going through a guitar amp. How do you listen to your rig at the moment? Through a stereo, heaphones, or a guitar amp? Obviously everyone is different, but if it was me i'd buy either a small combo, or an amp modeller like a sansamp. I go between headphones and amp at the moment. Amp obviously sounds better. But I dont see how I'm DI'ing it. I'm talking about running a dirt pedal (like one of those tube blackstar ones) into a power amp and then into a cab. Unless I'm being nooby and missing something haha, how is that DI'ed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 sorry, it's just my terminology - direct injection from the end of your guitar chain (last pedal) to the power amp. Does your guitar amp have an effects return? If so, plug straight into this out of a dirt pedal. this will bypass the pre-amp of the guitar amp. It should give you a fair idea of what i'm talking about (or if you think i'm talking bollocks!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger16 Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 sorry, it's just my terminology - direct injection from the end of your guitar chain (last pedal) to the power amp. Does your guitar amp have an effects return? If so, plug straight into this out of a dirt pedal. this will bypass the pre-amp of the guitar amp. It should give you a fair idea of what i'm talking about (or if you think i'm talking bollocks!!!) Haha, I understand now. There more and more I research, the more I'm coming round to the idea of getting a combo though :/. Just cba trucking it around everywhere. Also, choosing one is a nightmare. I need something that wouldn't break up at louder volumes. I need this because the versatility of being able of to go from completely clean to metal tones and everything in between important to me. Was thinking of getting a lower end solid state fender combo (due to its clean headroom) and putting one of blackstar tube pre amp pedals in front of it. Just don't know how the fender speaker would react with putting a lot of distortion through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam511 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Haha, I understand now. There more and more I research, the more I'm coming round to the idea of getting a combo though :/. Just cba trucking it around everywhere. Also, choosing one is a nightmare. I need something that wouldn't break up at louder volumes. I need this because the versatility of being able of to go from completely clean to metal tones and everything in between important to me. Was thinking of getting a lower end solid state fender combo (due to its clean headroom) and putting one of blackstar tube pre amp pedals in front of it. Just don't know how the fender speaker would react with putting a lot of distortion through it. Go try loads out then Vox do good cheap combos, theres the Valvetronix range which has a tube in the pre amp so you get a nice tube feel/tone aswell as giving you modelling possibilities for cleanest of cleans to metal tones if you so desire. You should go round a shop, and try out as many as you can and find out which is best suited for what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger16 Posted August 11, 2011 Author Share Posted August 11, 2011 Go try loads out then Vox do good cheap combos, theres the Valvetronix range which has a tube in the pre amp so you get a nice tube feel/tone aswell as giving you modelling possibilities for cleanest of cleans to metal tones if you so desire. You should go round a shop, and try out as many as you can and find out which is best suited for what you want. I reckon I'm going to go for the fender since I have found a cheap one and get a blackstar dual. The reason being, I like clean tone on the fender, the blackstar has awesome tones and the fender is very loud yet very small. Only thing I might do is swap the speaker, any suggestions? Remembering I need the clean headroom. Thanks for all the feedback, you guys have been great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam511 Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I reckon I'm going to go for the fender since I have found a cheap one and get a blackstar dual. The reason being, I like clean tone on the fender, the blackstar has awesome tones and the fender is very loud yet very small. Only thing I might do is swap the speaker, any suggestions? Remembering I need the clean headroom. Thanks for all the feedback, you guys have been great! I'd still try one out with your guitar (or a similiar one) and if you can with the pedal you intend on using just to be safe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 yeh I would always try before you buy if you can. I doubt you'll want to swap the speaker. If it's portable it probably won't be that loud. Just remember to point it at your ears and you should be able to hear it. The amount of guitarists who put their non-angled cab on the floor and then complain they can't hear it... At gigs they'll mic it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger16 Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 yeh I would always try before you buy if you can. I doubt you'll want to swap the speaker. If it's portable it probably won't be that loud. Just remember to point it at your ears and you should be able to hear it. The amount of guitarists who put their non-angled cab on the floor and then complain they can't hear it... At gigs they'll mic it up. its 65w, it should be loud enough but yeah, I usually sit whatever amp I'm using on top of whatever cabs there anyhow (: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.