Random thought

[Jeff Hilligan]

You know when someone says," I use my standard settings"? Well you all know how we feel about having customers "turn the knobs" to acheive some of the tweaks they are missing when using their standard settings. So I was thinking that using standard settings from amp to amp is like having all your tuning keys turned parallel to the head stock or perpendicular to the headstock. The guitar sounds very different when you turn the keys to where the string sound good!

Ok I am done just needed to vent since I shipped a upgraded RM 100 to Cali and you guessed it UPS dropped it out of the space shuttle. Bent tranformers pulled out of the chassis, broken headshell.

 

[RockStarNick]

This thread is absolutely directed towards me...

I'm Mr. Nick "All Knobs at Noon" Pierro





Sorry to hear about that amp shipping mishap, Jeff. Major Bummer.

 

[guitarslinger]

you could get custom tapers for every pot so the knobs go straight up and down, yet sound correct?

 

[RockStarNick]

Or just take off the knobs, turn it to where it sounds good, then put them all back on, facing noon.

 

[bscfo1]

You know when someone says," I use my standard settings"? Well you all know how we feel about having customers "turn the knobs" to acheive some of the tweaks they are missing when using their standard settings. So I was thinking that using standard settings from amp to amp is like having all your tuning keys turned parallel to the head stock or perpendicular to the headstock. The guitar sounds very different when you turn the keys to where the string sound good!

Ok I am done just needed to vent since I shipped a upgraded RM 100 to Cali and you guessed it UPS dropped it out of the space shuttle. Bent tranformers pulled out of the chassis, broken headshell.

A ha! I can do this with my Floyd Rose equipped guitars tuning pegs! LOL! Just kidding Jeff, I know what you mean. I don't have any "standard" settings, I just turn 'em 'till they sound good, I don't care what it looks like. You should see my EG5 and COD - funny.

Sorry to hear that OPPS (I mean UPS) dropped that head. I had a similar experience.

 

[jlbaxe]

Makes me scared to ship mine to you, but its been paid for and im shipping it in a head case.

 

[Glimpse]

Jeff, would you be willing to share your favorite settings for the modules?

 

[Len Rabinowitz]

With my old Mesa I could pretty much just leave everything at noon, but with the 4212 I have to re-eq with different guitars, and each of the four channels is eq'd differently. I kind of like that- it's fun to play around with.

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

Makes me scared to ship mine to you, but its been paid for and im shipping it in a head case.

This will help but when they throw the box or case and the end with all the weight hits first. What a jar the transformers were bent damn near 30 degrees. Pulled 2 of the chassis bolts right through the chassis holes!

 

[jlbaxe]

I'm just going To pack it in the headcase really well and instead of you putting it in the new headshell I will pay extra for the new headshell to be sent by it's self and will put it in when it gets here. That way I can wrap the rm chasis in foam and bubble wrap so it can give some.

 

[Len Rabinowitz]

Makes me scared to ship mine to you, but its been paid for and im shipping it in a head case.

This will help but when they throw the box or case and the end with all the weight hits first. What a jar the transformers were bent damn near 30 degrees. Pulled 2 of the chassis bolts right through the chassis holes!

So what happens in a case like that? I assume you guys fixed it, but who pays? Is it covered by insurance?

 

[dfrattaroli]

Jeff, I agree with you completely. I was guilty of this for years. When you think about it, we all go on and on about how different one amp is from the next, so how can you have "standard" settings? Why would mids on 8 be the same on a Mesa and a Fender? It's the hardest thing to really put the knobs where they sound good instead of where they look good. But once you break through that, you start to get better sounds. Once I started doing this, I began thinking "Man, had I known this before now, I may not have sold all those other amps".

Dave

 

[jmgman69]

I have a friend that does this and he just doesn't get it why every time I go over to his house I change his EQ and fuck his whole day up

 

[bscfo1]

I have a friend that does this and he just doesn't get it why every time I go over to his house I change his EQ and fuck his whole day up

Jason = tone bandit. LOL!!

 

[jmgman69]

I have a friend that does this and he just doesn't get it why every time I go over to his house I change his EQ and fuck his whole day up

Jason = tone bandit. LOL!!

Whats worse is this same dude got to play the Mod100 for a while and just left all depressed cause he couldn't get his Orange to sound all Black and tan

 

[bscfo1]

Whats worse is this same dude got to play the Mod100 for a while and just left all depressed cause he could get his Orange to sound all Black and tan

Poor guy. Now he's Green with envy!

 

[EWSEthan]

I have mixed opinions on this. Before anyone flames me, I agree that you should ALWAYS turn knobs with your ears not eyes. However...

There is general consensus on what is balanced tone to a certain degree. If something is overly bassy or overly bright, I think most people would agree. So why the hell should I, the user, have to read a 40 page manual to know that I cant run my bass knob above 9 oclock and that if I want any decent amount of gain I need to max out my treble knob?!? As amp designers, people should have an obligation to make their controls intuitive. I dont write software that is hard to use. If I did, no one would use and for good reason.

The fact is that every good amp I have played sounds GOOD with everything at noon. Sure I tweak, but everything at noon is a starting point and sounds good. I think its foolish for any amp designer to not design around this idea since MANY people use "everything at noon" as a starting point.

SO I think the basic voicing of the amp should be set up by the designer to be represented with everything at noon and then from there, the user can tweak to their preferences. I realize that pickups and guitars have an effect , but having to run my treble at 9oclock or 3 oclock for it to sound balanced just doesnt make sense to me as these are very far from the middle.

 

[RockStarNick]

I have mixed opinions on this. Before anyone flames me, I agree that you should ALWAYS turn knobs with your ears not eyes. However...

There is general consensus on what is balanced tone to a certain degree. If something is overly bassy or overly bright, I think most people would agree. So why the hell should I, the user, have to read a 40 page manual to know that I cant run my bass knob above 9 oclock and that if I want any decent amount of gain I need to max out my treble knob?!? As amp designers, people should have an obligation to make their controls intuitive. I dont write software that is hard to use. If I did, no one would use and for good reason.

The fact is that every good amp I have played sounds GOOD with everything at noon. Sure I tweak, but everything at noon is a starting point and sounds good. I think its foolish for any amp designer to not design around this idea since MANY people use "everything at noon" as a starting point.

SO I think the basic voicing of the amp should be set up by the designer to be represented with everything at noon and then from there, the user can tweak to their preferences. I realize that pickups and guitars have an effect , but having to run my treble at 9oclock or 3 oclock for it to sound balanced just doesnt make sense to me as these are very far from the middle.

Dr. EWSEthan, this was a very good post. As Dr. Knobsatnoon, I concur.

 

[bscfo1]

The fact is that every good amp I have played sounds GOOD with everything at noon. Sure I tweak, but everything at noon is a starting point and sounds good. I think its foolish for any amp designer to not design around this idea since MANY people use "everything at noon" as a starting point.

I agree with you. Every time I demo an amp I always put everything at 12:00. If I didn't, I'd be wasting my time trying to compare amps. You need a common starting point. Then you can see if you can find your sound.

Also your point about being user friendly rings true too. If it's a good circuit, the amp should sound good to MOST people with the knob straight up - or what a layman would say was "neutral."

I would think this point would be of great interest to the designer. Many guitar players don't know anything about circuits, and they would rather not have to "hunt" for their sound in that circuit. My Mark IV for example is a fine amp. But I had to be patient and take some time finding a good tone. Some may walk away from that amp and purchase something else after the first minute.

 

[marvcus]

I disagree completely.

You guys with your knobs at noon are complete posers. The knobs
at midnight are where its REALLY at!