Anybody ever tried a sonic maximizer?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rob Tahan
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Rob Tahan

Rob Tahan

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I know everyone seems to hate them, but ive used them in the past and they really have worked well for my rig. Ive always just kept all the settings down though with the unit engaged. Have any of you all tried it with the herbert? Im kind of trying to get a little more of a saturated wet sound. Kinda like the sound in the 5150 III head. I do love the herbert but am curious..
 
Rob Tahan":28a2mr9t said:
Have any of you all tried it with the herbert? Im kind of trying to get a little more of a saturated wet sound.
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F------ Blasphemy, I tell you!!!

Up the bias to 70mA.
 
Rob Tahan":378w1lhx said:
I know everyone seems to hate them, but ive used them in the past and they really have worked well for my rig. Ive always just kept all the settings down though with the unit engaged. Have any of you all tried it with the herbert? Im kind of trying to get a little more of a saturated wet sound. Kinda like the sound in the 5150 III head. I do love the herbert but am curious..
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Hi Rob,

What are the settings on your Herbert? What cabinet/speakers are you running?

I'm able to get as much saturation as I need out of Herbert with no problems.

Currently I have Penta Labs (Chinese) tubes & I had to try a LOT of them to find a set I'm happy with & 4 SED-EL34s & 2JJ E34LS (Bias set to 70ma) - my Herbert sounds as good as never, in fact so good that I don't even wish for a better sound.

Do you use Duncan PUs with Herbert? IMO not that good of a match.
 
Yes. It is called Einstein here and has one control pot only - Presence :)

Joking aside, I didn't find any proper use for those :/ Nice clean booster and/or dialing the amp EQ right, pretty mu does the same job for me.
 
when i first bought my herbert i had a sonic max. and all it did was make the bass more
punchy than when it wasnt on i didnt like it that much with herbert so i sold it to my bass player for his rig
in my opinion they are not needed for diezel amps
 
IMO, Sonic Maximizers suck ass for tube amps. They're really awesome for SS, and DJ type stuff, possibly stereo applications a well (stereo as in stereo player).
 
Ok ok ok...! haha. fine. I'll avoid the sonic maximizer.
But what is this talk of setting the bias to 70ma..? I dont know what its set to. I dont mess with that stuff. How does it make a difference in the sound? ..AND, what is it automatically set to?
ALSO, i use a diezel cab, which handles AMAZINGLY well.
but i DO in fact use seymour duncans. YOu dont like them..? Why not? If so, what do you prefer? im looking into some new guitars soon.
Thanks:)
Rob-
 
Your amp is most likely running around 60. 70ma will make power tubes run hotter.

I do like seymour duncans with VH4 & Bogners, but they are not my first choice with Herbert. I particularly dig Gibson 498T with Herbert. Where is your master at? Herbert gets really rich sounding when you hit it around 11:00-12:00 with channel volumes near 11:00. I haven't cranked it up higher, I was afraid of my hearing, but at that point it's sounding SWEET & still bearable to be around, you get all around great effect from speakers being pushed & preamp tubes still having nice definition, all around great saturated tone. Experiment with CH2 from 1-3:00 & CH3 9:00-12:00. Cutting some lower mids with midcut will give a feel of more saturated sound, intensity 8-11:00, depending on your speakers. What you have in your V1 makes noticeable difference for the type of sound you get, I had to try more than 20 tubes to find what I wanted.
 
nbarts":blw70vvk said:
Your amp is most likely running around 60. 70ma will make power tubes run hotter.

I do like seymour duncans with VH4 & Bogners, but they are not my first choice with Herbert. I particularly dig Gibson 498T with Herbert. Where is your master at? Herbert gets really rich sounding when you hit it around 11:00-12:00 with channel volumes near 11:00. I haven't cranked it up higher, I was afraid of my hearing, but at that point it's sounding SWEET & still bearable to be around, you get all around great effect from speakers being pushed & preamp tubes still having nice definition, all around great saturated tone. Experiment with CH2 from 1-3:00 & CH3 9:00-12:00. Cutting some lower mids with midcut will give a feel of more saturated sound, intensity 8-11:00, depending on your speakers. What you have in your V1 makes noticeable difference for the type of sound you get, I had to try more than 20 tubes to find what I wanted.
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Thanks dude!
Youre the man:)
Someone told me to crank my preamp volume for more saturation and compression... I havent really experimented too much. Right now my preamp volumes are at 2/3 oclock (very high), and my masters are around 10/11 oclock for live gigs.
I used to boost my mids for leads but i didnt really like that tone too much. I now keep everything at noon EXCEPT the presence. I keep that at around 9 oclock. I hate harsh tone. I love a warm ripping saturated tone. Probably the reason i really dug the 5150 3. But its not as defined as the herbert. I can be extremely articulate in solos and hear them live. There is nothing hidden. If i suck that night, everyone hears it, but if im on then everyone also gets to hear it;)
Have you experimented with cranking your preamp? If so, what were your results as opposed to keeping them lower? Anybody feel free to chime in.

Also, does anyone know what frequencies the MID affects? I know that the mid cut affects the frequency 400k. How about the normal Mid control...? Any takers. My GUESS is around 800k..?
 
yeah i told him to get the channels up there for the more compressed lead sound. thats how i enjoy my herbert. great thing about these amps is everyone has fantastic results with very different eq settings.
peace
A Wood
 
Ahhh yes.. the man himself. Thats who said it!
With all due respect, i think you could make just about anything sound good bro. Tone really is mostly in the fingers.
BUT still... i wanna get that sound that im going for. So maybe i'll try a) Adding more mid-cut to some of my leads and b) Turning down the preamp volume and turning up the master volume more. IDK :aww:

Any takers on what frequency the mids (not mid-cut) affect? Peter or anyone..?
 
dunno bout those frequencies BUT for what its worth i think master v2 sounds better and use it all the time. i leave ch2 volume at noon and then do ch3 to taste. good luck rob
peace
A Wood
 
Yeah, I tried one when I was using the Mesa Dual Recto. They pretty much suck, and make loads of noise. Typical made in China junk with a catchy name.

Steve
 
Rob,

The only advice I can give you at this point is to bring the presence back to noon & experiment with more master less channel volume. Roll back the tone knob on your guitar to get rid of the top end sizzle, if worst comes to worst knock down some highs on the preamp, but rolling down presence to 9 is like throwing a blanket over your cabinet.

If after this you still think you need more saturation try an Uberschall.

I hesitate to say anything else without standing next to your rig
1. I use Bogner cabinets, which tend to absorb highs, so I can dial brighter sound on my amp. As a result I have more midrange.
2. I use LPs with 11s, you play Ibanez/Fender, judging from the stuff you play, most likely nothing thicker than 9s. So the signal that goes to my input is VERY different from what goes to yours.
3. I use lower 4 strings 90% of the time, I'm sure you don't do the same.

So to sum it all up, stop taking my advice seriously & more importantly don't listen to A Wood :D
 
no man. ..You are beautiful! ha, thanks. Glad u dig that song. And u are right about all those points about my strings etc. Also, i think im done with ibanez. They are way too bright! i really need to look into a guitar that compliments the herbert. Now ive got lots of experimenting to do..!
 
nbarts":2idru7y2 said:
Rob,

The only advice I can give you at this point is to bring the presence back to noon & experiment with more master less channel volume. Roll back the tone knob on your guitar to get rid of the top end sizzle, if worst comes to worst knock down some highs on the preamp, but rolling down presence to 9 is like throwing a blanket over your cabinet.

If after this you still think you need more saturation try an Uberschall.

I hesitate to say anything else without standing next to your rig
1. I use Bogner cabinets, which tend to absorb highs, so I can dial brighter sound on my amp. As a result I have more midrange.
2. I use LPs with 11s, you play Ibanez/Fender, judging from the stuff you play, most likely nothing thicker than 9s. So the signal that goes to my input is VERY different from what goes to yours.
3. I use lower 4 strings 90% of the time, I'm sure you don't do the same.

So to sum it all up, stop taking my advice seriously & more importantly don't listen to A Wood :D
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:aww: :thumbsdown: :confused: :D :lol: :LOL:
 
I use a sonic stomp with my VH4 and love the sound of it personally. The thing that you have to make sure of is that you put it in the parallel loop and use the parallel mix knob to get just the right amount of the effect. It adds some presence and bass but also scoops mids, so you have to work around that. Never used it in a Herbie though, maybe they don't work so well with them, I dunno. I'm getting a webcam sometime soon, so I'll post a vid shortly, even if it won't sound the greatest. Cheers
 
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