Don't starve your Eggie

[mentoneman]

Last week I tried out a different configuration live.

Pedals->eggie tol 100->send to tc gforce==>left return to eggie

right return to fender SCXD combo set clean.

At *home* I was getting great sounds so I figured I give it a go live.
felt bouncier than my hotplate/ss power rig and the clean tones with the fender in the equation were lovely.

Conclusion live---Major bummer. Mainly my big wide stereo patches just evaporated under the stage mix.

Everything was a strain to hear and anemic.

So later that day I tried to figure out what it was.

Bottom line----I just had the amp set too darn quiet!

As soon as I goosed the power section and opened up the output signal flow through the gforce, hello TONE!!!!!!!

Moral: don't starve your eggie power tubes.
Next time, no prisoners.

 

[Anonymous]

My M4 is a fat ass. It gets the all you can eat buffet every day.

 

[jmgman69]

My M4 is a fat ass. It gets the all you can eat buffet every day.

 

[richedie]

Can't always do that. I have a Bassman module and it limits my clean volume so I can't get my modules much past 11:00. I have a Rocktron Xpression in the loop and I have to watch the input/output because it can clip.

 

[Len Rabinowitz]

People often underestimate how much the power tubes- and just plain moving air- contribute to the tone. Some much of the discussion of tube amp tone centers around the pre-amp tubes, and that is the heart of it. Put the power tubes contribute also, although in a more subtle way, and there is no substitute for making that speaker vibrate!

Thinking a lot about Les Paul recently. When the early rock users of Les Pauls like Clapton and Page wanted to get that tone they had to turn that amp up and make it work! They didn't have gain staging, and maybe that is a good thing. LOUD was the way to get that tone, and I think it made a difference, and even today I don't think you can quite replicate the tone of a cranked amp with a modeler or gain staging. The power grid on the Tourmaster helps, but I was playing last night, and you still have to just TURN IT UP!

 

[fek]

I used to run a Mig 60 rig in a hard rock cover band and unless the master was above 2:00, I was just not happy with the tone. I used a pedal for gain so I was able to keep the volume under control. Otherwise, you could blow your nuts off if you weren't careful standing in front of the cab.

 

[mentoneman]

I used to run a Mig 60 rig in a hard rock cover band and unless the master was above 2:00, I was just not happy with the tone. I used a pedal for gain so I was able to keep the volume under control. Otherwise, you could blow your nuts off if you weren't careful standing in front of the cab.

i feel you--
this was just an experimental thing for me and it sure pointed out the reason why i go through the set up gyrations i go through with the hotplate loading down the tol 100, and the separate stereo power amp, etc.

i got fooled into thinking the addition of the superchamp xd made things better which it did to a degree because i was playing the rig at home volumes....my bad! at stage volume the game was totally different.

the higher involvement of the power tubes simply sounds better...fuller tone/less preampy wimpiness, better dynamics and touch sensitivity, and a better overall consistency from a more robust signal hitting your speakers.