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Post by shreder75 on Dec 6, 2005 9:50:51 GMT -5
I have practice tomorrow night and it's my turn to bring my amp....I'm gettin' together with the bass player beforehand to go over a couple parts just to get ahead of the game..so whereas I'd normally go home and load up my gear THEN go to practice, I'm gonna be puttin my stuff in my car in the AM..
question: my QR should be ok in my car if it's just in there for the day, right? I wouldn't leave it in there for days on end, but I have to put it in there in the morning and leave it there while I work..
my experiment...normally I'm a third gear kinda guy..but I'm gonna try seein' what second gear does at volume..both on OD1 and OD2...I haven't been able to get second gear to sound to my liking at bedroom volumes..but I think rehersal volumes will be another story...the plus is that when we're doin' a lighter song I could leave it on OD1 and when doin' something heavier I could switch to OD2...I could do the same on third gear, but OD2 on third gear is even too much for me for rythm..for leads it rocks though..hehe
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Post by craggin on Dec 6, 2005 10:25:20 GMT -5
Shreder75, probably not ideal...but if you have to do it, you have to do it. I assume your car is heated, so when you drive to practice it should warm it up a bit...I'd then power it up and let it idle on standby for a while. That's probably overly cautious, but better safe than sorry.
At my last practice, I ran the head on 1st gear mainly, then went to OD2 when I wanted some over the top Zakk Wylde type pinch harmonics. I kept the gain at about noon and had the master on around 8:30, 9:00. We recorded the practice session and afterwards we checked it out...it was the best tone I've ever had...especially my lead tone. We did a really good job of balancing our levels so that on rhythm, me and the other guitar player sounded big...but my lead tone was much better than his...and it wasn't a subtle difference, either.
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Post by shreder75 on Dec 6, 2005 10:31:15 GMT -5
Shreder75, probably not ideal...but if you have to do it, you have to do it. I assume your car is heated, so when you drive to practice it should warm it up a bit...I'd then power it up and let it idle on standby for a while. That's probably overly cautious, but better safe than sorry. At my last practice, I ran the head on 1st gear mainly, then went to OD2 when I wanted some over the top Zakk Wylde type pinch harmonics. I kept the gain at about noon and had the master on around 8:30, 9:00. We recorded the practice session and afterwards we checked it out...it was the best tone I've ever had...especially my lead tone. We did a really good job of balancing our levels so that on rhythm, me and the other guitar player sounded big...but my lead tone was much better than his...and it wasn't a subtle difference, either. yeah, that's what I'm gonna do....I don't think these things are as fragile as I treat them, but you can never be too careful I like to noodle around with first gear alot....but I don't think it has quite enough punch for me...maybe thickness would be a better word..then again I never put it up to 9:00 or over...I could try that too..
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Dec 6, 2005 10:36:27 GMT -5
I 've played a few extreme outdoor shows,, In July we did this thing downtown and it was , I'm not kidding 106 in the shade and the sun was baking on my Splawn on my side of the stage. I was a little worried.. but it was fine.
On The other side of the coin I got an outdoor show coming up this Sunday. Granted its been in the 70's during the day but could drop down into the 50's which is probably ok.
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Post by VomHalen on Dec 6, 2005 10:39:11 GMT -5
i ran last saturday's show in first gear...kicked on od2 from time to time and used the maxon od9 also for heavier songs...sounded really good....
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Post by craggin on Dec 6, 2005 10:45:25 GMT -5
I found first gear (with decent volume) to have the most "dynamic" signal. Not really the most bass or saturation, but it sounded very decompressed and big. I was using 2nd gear in practice but found that with my current rig it was throwing too much bass. It never got boomy, but I was killing our other guitar player and causing the bass player all kinds of grief. In a band situation, the 1st gear really complimented the overall sound very well. Our style of music is more of an old school metal vibe (Savatage, King Diamond, Queensryche, etc., as examples of some of our influences) and I can cover that type territory very well in 1st gear with my Les Paul. (I'm a big John Sykes, Randy Rhodes, Andy Laroque fan.) The biggest danger is that I have to ensure my technique is ON because there isn't much to hide behind. I really like the crunch I get as I can control the distortion with my pick attack. I have a harder time with that with more gain.
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Post by shreder75 on Dec 6, 2005 10:47:23 GMT -5
I 've played a few extreme outdoor shows,, In July we did this thing downtown and it was , I'm not kidding 106 in the shade and the sun was baking on my Splawn on my side of the stage. I was a little worried.. but it was fine. On The other side of the coin I got an outdoor show coming up this Sunday. Granted its been in the 70's during the day but could drop down into the 50's which is probably ok. 106? cripes...lol...it rained a little bit on my b-52 when we played an outdoor party but it came out none the worse for wear
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Post by shreder75 on Dec 6, 2005 10:48:02 GMT -5
I found first gear (with decent volume) to have the most "dynamic" signal. Not really the most bass or saturation, but it sounded very decompressed and big. I was using 2nd gear in practice but found that with my current rig it was throwing too much bass. It never got boomy, but I was killing our other guitar player and causing the bass player all kinds of grief. In a band situation, the 1st gear really complimented the overall sound very well. Our style of music is more of an old school metal vibe (Savatage, King Diamond, Queensryche, etc., as examples of some of our influences) and I can cover that type territory very well in 1st gear with my Les Paul. (I'm a big John Sykes, Randy Rhodes, Andy Laroque fan.) The biggest danger is that I have to ensure my technique is ON because there isn't much to hide behind. I really like the crunch I get as I can control the distortion with my pick attack. I have a harder time with that with more gain. hehe..that's the thing..I could probably use a little gain to hide behind..tee hee..espeically since I do alotta legatto stuff and whatnot, I need the notes to explode off the neck..
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Post by morecowbell on Dec 6, 2005 15:22:08 GMT -5
If you guys are like me, you probably find yourselves being as careful as possible with any amp you've sunk $2500 into. That's alot of money, and I'd kick myself forever if i did something stupid to it just because I was careless. That being said, I bet we're all worrying needlessly, these things are pretty tough. They'd see alot worse in a true touring situation, and that's what they're designed for. So yeah, I'm sure you're fine leaving your stuff in your car. I really avoid that stuff with guitars, but amps not so much. Even with guitars, I've never had a problem when I've had to expose them to extreme environments.
I find my QR to sound a little different at bedroom volumes, say up to about 8 or 8:30, it's a little fuzzier. After that it really opens up and smooths out but I don't think the tone changes as much from 9:00 on, it continues to open up but it's more linear. I guess I'd descibe it as having a really HUGE sweet spot, it doesn't just live at extreme volume.
I've also found while I play in my spare room at home everything sounds much more bassy, then not so much at a gig. So in 2nd gear at home I cut the bass alot because my innards are being bruised with the bass by anywhere near 11:00. Too much. On a stage it's just about perfect even though I still don't have to run the bass more than 11:00.
1st gear........I'm oh so close to having this be my fav. Up until now I've been in love with 2nd gear. But 1st gear has that vintage marshall thing happening that I can see being useful. I'm not sure because I've not used it at a gig yet, and that can be a bit different. My only hesitation it that it's a little bitey and I want to see if that goes away to some extent as my cab breaks in - it's only got maybe 1 1/2 - 2 hours at the most.
3rd gear is too much for me.......I've been hooked on 2nd gear all the way, it's been easy to love from the get go. But yeah, don't draw any conclusions until you can at least play at around 8:30 or so on the master, and in a room with no abnormal eq humps. That'll give you a good baseline. And as always, louder is better!
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Post by shreder75 on Dec 6, 2005 15:26:53 GMT -5
innards being bruised...lol..dude, that's funny as hell =-) I don't think my room is very good acoustically....even through a crummy cab it sounded alot better in my practice space a coupel weeks back..then again, I had it at about 10:30 on the master... as I said, IO'm gonna fart around with it a little bit tomorrow and see what I see....I've been endlessly tweaking the past couple days....I do think I need new strings though...those things haven't been changed since late june =D as far as leavin' it in the car while I'm at work tomorrow, I dont' think I have to sweat it...but I just thought I'd toss the question out there to gimme some peace of mind =) If you guys are like me, you probably find yourselves being as careful as possible with any amp you've sunk $2500 into. That's alot of money, and I'd kick myself forever if i did something stupid to it just because I was careless. That being said, I bet we're all worrying needlessly, these things are pretty tough. They'd see alot worse in a true touring situation, and that's what they're designed for. So yeah, I'm sure you're fine leaving your stuff in your car. I really avoid that stuff with guitars, but amps not so much. Even with guitars, I've never had a problem when I've had to expose them to extreme environments. I find my QR to sound a little different at bedroom volumes, say up to about 8 or 8:30, it's a little fuzzier. After that it really opens up and smooths out but I don't think the tone changes as much from 9:00 on, it continues to open up but it's more linear. I guess I'd descibe it as having a really HUGE sweet spot, it doesn't just live at extreme volume. I've also found while I play in my spare room at home everything sounds much more bassy, then not so much at a gig. So in 2nd gear at home I cut the bass alot because my innards are being bruised with the bass by anywhere near 11:00. Too much. On a stage it's just about perfect even though I still don't have to run the bass more than 11:00. 1st gear........I'm oh so close to having this be my fav. Up until now I've been in love with 2nd gear. But 1st gear has that vintage marshall thing happening that I can see being useful. I'm not sure because I've not used it at a gig yet, and that can be a bit different. My only hesitation it that it's a little bitey and I want to see if that goes away to some extent as my cab breaks in - it's only got maybe 1 1/2 - 2 hours at the most. 3rd gear is too much for me.......I've been hooked on 2nd gear all the way, it's been easy to love from the get go. But yeah, don't draw any conclusions until you can at least play at around 8:30 or so on the master, and in a room with no abnormal eq humps. That'll give you a good baseline. And as always, louder is better!
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Post by morecowbell on Dec 6, 2005 15:27:56 GMT -5
By the way, did any of you guys find the tone of your cabs changed after the speakers got broken in? I've never figured out if that was just myth or not. I've got no issues with my cab whatsoever and it's brand new, but if it gets even better, I'm looking forward to it!
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Post by jimbax on Dec 6, 2005 15:42:01 GMT -5
The cab WILL get better (morecowbell)....it is -10 here in lovely downtown Eagle River, WI so keeping my amp in the car for even an hour is out of the question...shreder can you bring just the head in with you to work and stash it somewhere??? I find that 1st GEAR NAILS the Rage Against the Machine vibe EXACT...I keep thinking it is too bright until I jam with a full band and then 1st gear sits real nice in the mix (if you have a decent bass player) though I end up in 2nd and 3rd gear...
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Dec 6, 2005 15:42:51 GMT -5
honestly I think thats a myth. I've never heard of breaking in speakers in my life outside of this message board Speakers sound good, then bad, then blow, then get replaced.
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Post by jimbax on Dec 6, 2005 15:48:05 GMT -5
not true...talk to Steve Carr or the dudes over at Matchless or Bad Cat...the guys over at Weber speakers etc....Scott Splawn will tell you the same thing...the speakers will 'smooth' out...I have experienced it with my QR 1/2 stack already...
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Post by morecowbell on Dec 6, 2005 16:15:01 GMT -5
not true...talk to Steve Carr or the dudes over at Matchless or Bad Cat...the guys over at Weber speakers etc....Scott Splawn will tell you the same thing...the speakers will 'smooth' out...I have experienced it with my QR 1/2 stack already... How long did it take you to notice a difference?
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