Waiting is driving me nuts...Tour Master

  • Thread starter Thread starter rizla
  • Start date Start date
the mesa is probably wired different, and set up different. different tubes, voicing, etc, would affect it all.

when you get a chance, put all your power grid settings on the lowest available. open those tourmaster channel volumes to about 1-3pm and the master to between 1-3pm...thats where the sweet spots seem to be on my channel volumes and my master is right at 1.5-2.

now, switch them up to increase wattage.

my bet is you'll notice what i did. stiffer feel, more volume, and less breakup. for me, i like my dirty channels open all the way, or close to it, with the power setting lowest. and my clean channels with more power, less gain, and less power dirt, right at this point.
 
You know you are right. I do hear some difference doing this. It is more tonal. It's not the big volume difference like the Mesa had but it is there. Likely a design difference.

I was also switching it between 50 and 100 watts and definitely heard a volume difference, although not as pronounced as the Mesa. What a great amp!

:rock:
 
yeti":1sabz0nm said:
for me, i like my dirty channels open all the way, or close to it, with the power setting lowest. and my clean channels with more power, less gain, and less power dirt, right at this point.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty standard set up, and I like it to. However, lately I have been fooling with 10 watts across the board and cranking the gain on the clean channels. I like that too.

The low input channel is kind of neat also!

:rock:
 
for sure there's a volume difference between 50/100 watts...on the 100 watt setting, in every channel!

do you remember me asking if you noticed how the 50watt setting in FULL power is spongier feeling and not as loud as the 50 watt setting in HALF power mode (which seems to respond faster and is stiffer feeling)?

mess around with that, and tell me what you think ;) then, if you can, help me figure out why 20 watt setting in FULL power sounds louder and is faster and stiffer than 25 watt setting in half power mode, which seems to be spongier. or, the other way around, i can't remember right now.

there's all kinds of vibe, and tone goodieness in these amps...you just have to mess around with them. i could care less that its made in china.

have you found some good NOS or used VOS tubes that you like. i've found, honestly, older tubes aren't as harsh sounding, but refuse to pay more than 10 bux for one.

newer tubes i've learned to like in this amp:

chinese silver dragons that test well on my tester in slot 2.
the stock groove tubes.
sovtek lps in the PI position
and a mullard cv4024 in the 2nd gain stage slot.

i wont give up the goods on my favorite tubes for slots 1/3/4..maybe, if you ask nice, pm me!

i absolutely love a crappy old weak tube for my reverb slot...( im using a sovtek 12ax7wa)...it just sounds watery and nice...but not muddy at all. any 12at7 that i tried in the reverb slot was loud and clear...but i like my crappy sovtek WA the best for some reason.

i will also say, if you're using that effects loop clean boost trick, the dirtier sounding and crappier the tube, or one that sounds weak or near death....blippy maybe... in the effects loop, you can get a gritty boost out of it :), if you use a powerful tube, it'll just yield a clean, powerful boost. try to find a blippy tube, that still works. maybe a 12bz7 ;), or one on ebay that the seller says hasn't been tested. thats usually a red flag that the tube is dying, or weak. there is still use for those!!
boost pedal SCHMEDAL! pha! 12bz7 sounds best to me though in the effects loop for more of a gritty boost, if in fact you use it for that.
 
oh yeah. ive found that boosting the mids before the input with a boss ge7 really helped me get the metal sounds that i was striving for.
i still have to try it in the effects loop, but, then i'd lose my "solo" boost capability...
 
I don't actually fiddle around with the tubes much. I will get back you on the other stuff. I will try the two different 50 watt settings.
 
Like Len I have not played around with swaping tubes either. My TM-head has never left my home studio, used mostly for recording, but once a month I host a gathering in the man cave of guitar players, a couple of bass players, and drummers. No matter what amp they drag over every guitar player wants to try/use the TM.

Too my ears the power section does reduces the volume. I think my tone, and the feel from the amp stay the same. But there is headroom issue. Running all channel volumes at about 1:00, I agree that is their sweet spot, with the power section on 100 or 50 I can crank the master volume damn near wide open and maintain a great tone. Reduce the power down to what is it 25 & 10 and and turning the master up past 11:00 and I start to loose definition. It hard to explain....but it's like it becomes staticy....

Duff
 
have you noticed the change between the two different 50 watt settings?
 
Ok..... in the interest of trying to keep a balance. ;)
6mths review.
Its a great amp. I like it. It does what I want it to do. It sounds good doing it.
I dont use it at home very often so my experience with it is really only limited to gig and jam levels.
The times Ive used it at home Ive wanted to turn it up :D
I only use the 100w setting and dont use the contour function. I leave the clean channels on classic settings and the gain channels on modern. Sometimes OD1 on classic.
I only have 2 delays in the loop. The loop works fine.
OD stomps work in front of the amp well. I use a BB Pre.
I dont play metal so I dont know if the amp is any good for it.
No reliability issues other than a preamp tube being a bit noisy. I replaced the tube.
I still have the original lead for the foot switch, it works but had a longer one made up and use that.
I bought an Egnater 212x a little while ago for this amp and discovered I like it with a few other heads I have as well as the TM.
Good amp. Dont buy it if you are afraid of heavy things. I like it at louder levels but can find places where it sounds alright at home levels......but i always want to bump the volume clockwise in that situation.

Thanks
 
13months review.

Nothings changed really. It hasnt broken down or showed signs of breaking down. Still on the same tubes and have done 12months of gigs with it.
Stopped using it just recently in favour of an old Fender and stomps but only because I just wanted to hear something different for a change. I spend most my time unsuccessfully trying to make the fender and stomps sound like ch3(overdrive 1).
Still havent really figured out what to do with channel two(vintage/clean 2). I can use it but prefer to use a stomp od on channel 1.
Although Ive fooled around with the contour switch and dial on each channel I have never found it a useful feature for me though I know it is for others.
When I 1st got the amp I was on a LP type guitar bender and am now on a strat type guitar bender. Both sound good through this amp.
Thats about it. Its a really useful amp for me. As Ive said before in this thread, for me its an amp that has its best sounds at decent volumes. I would hate to own this amp and have no outlet to play it at good band level volumes. I tried it at a quiet jam once and while it sounded alright I just wanted to turn it up and let it move the speakers a bit more. It just lost a little fullness and warmth at those lower settings.

Cheers
 
I LOVED channel two on mine! It is best when you crank the preamp up to about 2-3 o'clock and go for an old blues/rock and roll kind of tone.

I noticed real differences between the ten watt setting at home and the 100 watt setting for gigs. Liked it!

Very consistent and reliable amp. I didn't use the contour much either.
 
channel 3 is where ALL the magic is in this amp though...by far, my fave

i use ch1 for straight up, crispy, sparkly clean...everying dimed except the volume..adjust to match my other channels once they're set.

ch2...i was using in 25 watt mode, pushing the volume pretty high, and getting some nice compressed JTM/plexi type sounds.

channel 3 has to be played to understand it...i LOVE it. i had it dialed where i could hit contour and get a different sound that i loved too....

channel 4 i never really truly got dialed in the way i wanted...so i dialed it pretty close to channel 3 and left it there.

great amp...can't wait to get mine back up and running.
 
I'm in 100% agreement with yeti. I spend about 85% of my gigs on OD-1. Still haven't found much use for OD-2, not that it's bad, just don't do alot of heavier, high-gain stuff in my current gig. Clean 2 is just GORGEOUS!!!! Like a whole different amp. "Voxy" squeeze with some "Fender" bite and then beyond. Touch sensitive. Really has it's own thing going on.

Anyways, Glad to hear yours is working out! Been banging mine every weekend ever since I put in the new tranny, months ago, and she's taking it!!!
 
I did some recording with channel 4. Great for modern high gain lead tones.
 
My TM 4212 should be arriving at Egnater tomorrow !!!

Can't wait to have the fun of running through the beast and tweaking, sounds like most of you have enjoyed the tone seeking available on these amps, and some have run for the hills looking for something a bit less complicated.

I personaly am not happy unless I have a tone project to work on, never exactly finding what I'm looking for and having the ability to stand back and smile at the maddness, I think this amp will keep me busy for a while ! :lol: :LOL:

My tone search led me to tonal perfection one time and then a crazy financial mess made me sell off anything of value to keep afloat, I'm still recovering two years later.
The amp i fell in love with was a Clark Piedmont, That was as sweet a tone as I have ever heard, keep in mind I'm a Blues guy at heart.

Looking forward to what this amp will be capable of !
 
Apparently they are coming out with a high gain Tourmaster. That should be fun! Wondering if they are sticking some Armageddon or Vengeance stuff in there...
 
that sounds interesting...i just want mine up and running!!!!

bear in mind on those overdrive channels, the lower the gain, the tighter the amp sounds...these amps can be downright brutal with 12:00 and lower gain settings.
 
Would you other Tourmaster guys say the sound is warmer (tweedish) or brighter (blackface) ???

I've been trying to make my DRRI sound tweed for years and its not working, I like Tweed tones for 80% but need that blackface sound about 20%

I Miss my Clark Piedmont !!!
 
both can be dialed to taste.

i had vintage one dialed in perfectly super clean with plenty of headroom and some twang. vintage 2 is a nice channel for those warmer, early zep sounds.
 
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