AMP AND PEDAL QUESTIONS!!

Chuxema · Post by **Chuxema** » Monday Apr 20, 2009

I'm playing through a Crate powerblock with a DigiTech Death Metal
distortion pedal and I'm just not getting the sound I want. Seems like
the pedal is good because I plugged into another amp without changing
any of my pedal//guitar settings and it sounded awesome.
So.....I guess my question is: What can I do to get it to sound better?
Maybe an EQ pedal? I don't really want to buy a new head being that
I can't afford one. What tricks or tips do you guitar guys have to help
me out? Any feed back would be appreciated.

Cheers!
Chuck

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Monday Apr 20, 2009

EQ it.

The Death Metal pedal's EQ section wasn't my cup of methadone, and I used a 7 band to take care of the mid's and high end.

Chuxema · Post by **Chuxema** » Monday Apr 20, 2009

DO you think that will help the sound of my amp?
Like I said it sounds awesome through my other
guitarist's amp. I'll have to find a cheap EQ pedal
and atleast try it.

Thanks!

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Monday Apr 20, 2009

Also a delay pedal will do wonders to help thicken up the sound.

You can also try a BBE 362. I havent had much luck using them with tube amps because they seem voiced more toward SS amps.

There's only so much you can do without spending money, otherwise I'd suggest another head or even a cab or speakers.

Try a Boss MT-2 if you get a chance and you'll forget al about your DM.
The Uber Metal is a nice unit as well.

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Monday Apr 20, 2009

Chuxema wrote:DO you think that will help the sound of my amp?
Like I said it sounds awesome through my other
guitarist's amp. I'll have to find a cheap EQ pedal
and atleast try it.

Thanks!

Nothing will help the sound of your amp, it will only color it or hide it.
Not trying to be a dick, but you obviously already know that it isn't cutting it, so try an EQ and some other things, but that will be one of the first things you will want to upgrade or swap out when you get the chance to do so.

What amp did your buddy have?

Chuxema · Post by **Chuxema** » Monday Apr 20, 2009

I think I might just save up and get a new amp.
What do you think of that 400$ Peavey tube amp?
I'm sure I can sell some of my other stuff to get
the cash together. Damn pain in my ass amp shit.
That is what I get for buying the cheapest head I
could find............

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Monday Apr 20, 2009

That Peavey seems like a damn good deal for being a tube amp.
I'd rather buy a used preamp or power amp if it were me though.

You can try to locate a used tube head since I doubt that you wanna dive into rack territory right now. There are deals out there especially with the economy and B. Hussein's bailouts which wont work. (

)

metalchurch · Post by **metalchurch** » Monday Apr 20, 2009

guitarsnstuffonline.com

Check there on a weekly basis because Terry's inventory is constantly changing.

Chuxema · Post by **Chuxema** » Monday Apr 20, 2009

The other amp I tried was just one of the standard
crate half stacks. I think I'll try the pedal thing. The
other guitarist has a huge BOSS effects pedal that
he doesn't use in this band so maybe I can try that.
I think it has an EQ in it. I guess we will see some
time this week. Wish me luck.

Thanks!

MeYatch · Post by **MeYatch** » Monday Apr 20, 2009

you ever want to sell that crate powerblock let me know.

Chuxema · Post by **Chuxema** » Tuesday Apr 21, 2009

The new plan is to try using a Metal Zone.
It should work from what I've been told.
We will see though.......

How much would you be willing to spend on a
Crate PowerBlock? It still has the carrying case
and I actually still have the box that it came in.
Lat me know. We might be able to work some
thing out.

Cheers!

MeYatch · Post by **MeYatch** » Tuesday Apr 21, 2009

when they first came out they were selling for $100, then they dropped the price to like $60 before they quit selling them, so like $60.

Chuxema · Post by **Chuxema** » Tuesday Apr 21, 2009

I might be up for that if the metal zone doesn't
fix my problems. I'll let you know if I ever buy
a new head. Hopefully the metal zone takes care
of everything but we will see.

VENTGtr · Post by **VENTGtr** » Tuesday Apr 21, 2009

Are you running through the amps in or the FX Loop? Giving one or the
other may get some results (I'm never a fan of FX Loops, but others'll
swear by them).

Also, have you tried running through different speakers/cab? If what
Joe says applies (About them being meant more for SS amps), a different,
possibly stiffer speaker may have some effect. Maybe less colouration
from the speaker'll help (Depends on what you're looking for).

Just a thought(s).

Chuxema · Post by **Chuxema** » Tuesday Apr 21, 2009

I'm also going to try running my head through the
other guitarist's cabinet and see how that goes. We
are just hoping it is an easy fix. He's bringing over
his metal zone today or tomorrow and we are going
to see how that works out.

Thanks for the input though!

Cheers!

Chuxema · Post by **Chuxema** » Tuesday Apr 21, 2009

And to answer your question, I'm just running straight
into the regular input. I can't even remember if the
damned thing has an FX loop. It is pretty stripped down.

Killjingle · Post by **Killjingle** » Tuesday Apr 21, 2009

A 250-400 dollar amp is what it is. Something that will eventually lose money and something that you will eventually be unhappy with. That being said do what u can within your personal budget. An amp upgrade almost always goes the furthest over just adding an EQ into chain that u are already unhappy with.

Depending on what you are looking for Im sure everyone has personal favorites.

lonewolf · Post by **lonewolf** » Tuesday Apr 21, 2009

I have a Crate Powerblock 150. Matt uses it as a bass head for band practice and I use it as a backup power amp (line in to power amp only, no preamp) for my Boss GT-10 rig. It really works well for both those purposes, but its not what I'd call a front line guitar amp.

Unless you are going to go to a modeler like the GT-10 or a Line 6 product, you probably need another guitar amp.

Heres a Peavey Windsor for sale cheap on Rockpage:

http://rockpage.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.ph ... ht=windsor

Chuxema · Post by **Chuxema** » Tuesday Apr 21, 2009

Thanks.
I just need to get some cash together.
Not sure what I'm looking for.

hicksjd9 · Post by **hicksjd9** » Tuesday Apr 21, 2009

I spent a few minutes racking my brain for a great deal in tube amps...Then it hit me. You can get a used B-52 AT100 for about 250-300 bucks. It's all-tube, 100 watt mesa copy. I remember when I first bought it, reading about how someone had left mesa to design the at-100. I gotta tell you that at that price point, there is NO AMP that even comes close. In fact, there are MANY tube amps that cost 3-4 times as much and don't even approach it. Clean is sonically beautiful and POWERFUL. It has dual gain channels (rip your face off gain) and built in spring reverb (that isn't bad, but don't expect it to be working on most of the units.) Best amp for the money--Bar none (although the Bugeras come close/surpass in some areas and i've seen them on ebay on the cheap). I'd say the best value USED to be those old carvin x100b's, but word got out and now they cost around $500 on the bay (used to be 200-250 everyday). I had two. One was garbage and the other was amazing.

Chuxema · Post by **Chuxema** » Tuesday Apr 21, 2009

Hopefully this metal zone thing will work.
Unemployment doesn't pay well enough
to buy a new stack right now. I'll let you
guys know how it works out.

Thanks for all the input.