New Herbie

[kalt]

Hey guys- Was hoping to get a few Herbert owners to chime in. I just got a brand spankin new Herbert from Brad and have spent a few days with it. This thing is POWERFUL! I really dig some of the tones but I'm finding it somewhat "brittle" and a bit fizzy, like too much treble / brightness. No matter how I dial in/out the presence, treble, etc, etc. I can get rid of it.

Its especially apparent at lower volumes. I've tried jumping the loop and using that as a master as well.



My thought was a tube change might get me little closer to where I want to be. Any thoughts on what works best here? Seen a few posts on this just looking for a bit more and maybe some info on settings......


Thanks in advance guys!

 

[Peter Diezel]

What speaker cabinet you use ?
Do you play at bedroom level ?

It seems you got the Herbert from the 2013 NAMM.
I cannot remember it sounded brittle or fizzy.
No need for a tube replacement.

Best,
Peter

 

[jonl]

This is a 180 watt monster! Low volumes will not open this amp up.
This is what I did with mine for lower volumes, but when I mean power volumes I mean its still to loud for late night playing.

Channel 2
All settings shown are in Clock form
Gain 11:30
Treble 2:00
Bass 3:30
Mids maxed
Presance 2:00
Deep 3:30

Now depending on what cab you have and speakers may be the difference between my old Herbert tone and yours.

I ran the 4 ohms input in the Herbert into a 4x12 mesa cab 8 ohms input.
This made the tone sound darker IMO. Whatever you do make sure that you don't run the ohms load the opposite way than listed above. Of you do you can blow something up.

 

[shadowdevourer]

I had a similar situation when I first bought mine. I thought it was the tubes as well. But then I found out it was my cab not suiting the Herbert well. It was a Harley Benton v30 and sounded fizzy at low volumes. Then I had the opportunity to connect it to a Diezel cab and it was insane !!! Since then I switched to G12 K100s and had no problems. Hopefully in the future I'll get a proper Diezel cab though.

Oh also, when I play in the night (since I dont like attenuators) I connect a pod hd with 4 cable method to shape the tone a little. Not needed for proper volumes though.

Overall I love my Herbert so much, I even think about it or watch videos I recorded when I'm away on holiday

 

[steve_k]

Kick the Mid-cut on about 1:00 intensity and 11:00 level. That will smooth it out. The Herbert is anything but fizzy and bright though. Not sure how you are dialing it up there.

 

[jonl]

Mid cut helps with fizz, but I dislike the mid cut myself

 

[steve_k]

Mid cut helps with fizz, but I dislike the mid cut myself

Go on back to your VH4 then....

Mid-cut is where its at on the Herbie and D-Moll. Just crank the mids though to compensate.

 

[shadow070]

Hi,

Congrats!

I had the same problem. Well, it comes when using low volume. Nothing to do to help it, so i tryed using less gain and that helped me out.

Im still waiting to try the herbert with the G12-K100 speaker

Good luck and enjoy

 

[jonl]

Mid cut helps with fizz, but I dislike the mid cut myself

Go on back to your VH4 then....

Mid-cut is where its at on the Herbie and D-Moll. Just crank the mids though to compensate.

Or I could play the Herbert the way I like it. With no mid cut

 

[shadowdevourer]

But you dont have a Herbert (rubbing salt in his wounds)

 

[steve_k]

Mid cut helps with fizz, but I dislike the mid cut myself

Go on back to your VH4 then....

Mid-cut is where its at on the Herbie and D-Moll. Just crank the mids though to compensate.

Or I could play the Herbert the way I like it. With no mid cut

Yes, you could do that for sure.

 

[Kev]

This brittle or fizzyness can either be from the rather harsh overtones of the Herberts distortion and/or the voicing.

Peter Diezel modified my ch2, so it is less fizzy, but I also run the channel level and the mid-cut level almost at max. This gives the Herb more growl and pronounces the mids, which helps taming this fizzyness.

Also my Herbert sounds very fizzy over the Marshall 1960 with T75s, so if you are using these speakers, maybe swap them for V30s.

Also the K100 speakers are brighter then V30s, so they would rather enhance a bright, fizzy voicing.

 

[EOT]

The cab/speakers would be my first guess. I found mine was kinda picky in that regard. I could hardly stand it through a Mesa OS But once I found the right speaker/cab all was well. The FL K100 Diezel cab is where it's at IMO.

 

[kalt]

Thanks for the all the replies fellas. Don't get me wrong, really, really, digging the amp. It just needs a bit more volume than I'm used to.
I think it's just taking me some time to get used to how the mid cut affects everything and how much gain is really on tap (huge).

Took Steve's and shadow's advice and dialed up the mid cut and backed off a bit on the gain and it is a whole lot better than where I was.

I'm using the RL Diezel 212 with V30's.

 

[kalt]

What speaker cabinet you use ?
Do you play at bedroom level ?

It seems you got the Herbert from the 2013 NAMM.
I cannot remember it sounded brittle or fizzy.
No need for a tube replacement.

Best,
Peter

Thanks for the reply Peter! Unbelievable amp! I think it's just very different than what I am used to in that it has a huge range of tone controls. Finding that subtlety is the key when dialing it in (I think). Absolutely love it. I'm using a RL Diezel 212 with V30's. Have only had it a few days and at home so it has at "lower volume" levels most of the tine (trying to keep my marriage .)

Still, I was wondering what your opinion was on the effect on the tone if I swapped in 2 6l6's? I'm a bit intrigued by the potential for hte blend!

Thanks again!

 

[Peter Diezel]

Please no concerns, we just want to help our fellow

The speakers produce a certain amount of disharmonics or
sound brittle at low volumes. You can hear that on the
music fairs if you walk through. All amps including cabinets
sounds not really great at low volume level especially the
V30´s when they are not broken in.

If you have KT77 in the amp the 6L6 will not help a lot.

Try to get a nice dinner with your wife

 

[mesa50w]

another +1 for the cab...Hate mine with a OS mesa and v30's but my orange 4/12 w/ v30's is where its at for me... Huge tone

 

[borninwinter]

another +1 for the cab...Hate mine with a OS mesa and v30's but my orange 4/12 w/ v30's is where its at for me... Huge tone

One thing that might affect this is that Mesa and Orange use different V30s. The ones in Mesa cabs are made OEM for Mesa, the ones in Orange, Bogner, (and Diezel, I assume?) etc. are the same ones as if you buy V30s separately. They actually each have a fairly distinct sound. A lot of people describe the standard Celestion version as "fizzy," but I actually much prefer them to the Mesa version. I find that there is more of a high mid emphasis in the standard Celestion. Some sound samples here:

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=60388

 

[Profound]

The speakers produce a certain amount of disharmonics or
sound brittle at low volumes. You can hear that on the
music fairs if you walk through. All amps including cabinets
sounds not really great at low volume level especially the
V30´s when they are not broken in.

Dad has spoken.

I had the same “concerns” with my Einy when used it in bedroom levels. But in rehearsal-live you will never notice it. V30’s will also help you cut through.
But either it is just my imagination or the PI tube can make a liiiiiittle bit of change.
Then again, Peter has the ear and the rest of us are just having our obsessions.

 

[kalt]

Thanks guys. All is right with the world. I think I;m finally getting my arms around this thing and I am VERY happy with it. Just needs a touch more volume than I;m used to and its like the freakin' sky opens up.........