Anything I can do to get a warmer lead tone?

[kyemack45687]

I love my Nitro for heavy rhythm and cleans, but the two channel thing is limiting me when it comes to lead tones. I keep the mids and bass around 1-2 o clock and the treble about noon, presence around 11 o clock, and use a volume box in the loop, so the volume is up a little over half way. I kick in my Fulltone OCD for leads, and I keep the tone knob all the way off and it's still got too much high end for me. GLASSY is the word I'm looking for.

I am loving the Diezel Herbert/Einstein lead tone...how can I get closer to that with the Splawn? I'm running a 4x12 with MOWs and H30s, maybe it's the speakers? Maybe I need a compressor or an EQ?

Help!

[windsen]

hey man. are you still running kt77s in your nitro? if so, i highly suggest trying out the tung-sol el34bs in there. they have a much thicker and richer midrange than the kt77s. the highs are much smoother as well. i always found the kt77s to have a bit of a glassy high end. the tung-sols are awesome tubes. i'm using those tubes in both my splawns now.

if you want to mess with speakers, the small block 25s are very warm sounding speakers. the man-o-wars and h30s are two speakers that i've found to have some of the most grittier top ends. but that's just me. the small block 25s will really smoothen things out a lot.

[kyemack45687]

Yeah, I've got to get those KTs out of there. I'll probably give those and some Ruby EL34BSTRs a shot. Have you compared those two tubes? I might experiment with preamp tubes too while I'm at it.

I've heard good things about SB25's. What would you suggest pairing with those? I want to keep it tight and punchy for the rhythm stuff, and very clear...but WARM. Maybe Governors?

[stompboxfreak1972]

I have EL34 b's in my Nitro. I am running through two SB25's and using an Analogman Maxon TS9 instead of the OCD. I like the OCD but it adds way too much gain. The TS9 with a delay pedal in the loop is all I need. The lead tones I have been getting are awesome.

[windsen]

Dec 2, 2008 0:33:08 GMT -5 kyemack45687 said:

Yeah, I've got to get those KTs out of there. I'll probably give those and some Ruby EL34BSTRs a shot. Have you compared those two tubes? I might experiment with preamp tubes too while I'm at it.

I've heard good things about SB25's. What would you suggest pairing with those? I want to keep it tight and punchy for the rhythm stuff, and very clear...but WARM. Maybe Governors?

yea, i have experimented with both the rubys and the tung-sols. the rubys are great tubes, similar to the tung-sols than say a standard el34. the big difference i found was the tung-sols had a more musical mid-range and a bit more focused in the low end. the rubys were a bit more 'neutral' sounding.

sb25s and gov is a great mix. that'll get you warm and punchy.

[kyemack45687]

Thanks guys!

[snappinnecks]

I didn't care for the Tung Sols at all and love the Rubys or Shuguang tubes in the Nitro. I may have got a bad set of Tung Sols I dunno they seemed to thin out the tone and added some buzzyness overall. They were rated at 54 and should have a later break up.
I have a set of Ruby EL34B STRs rated at 60 in my Nitro now and it slams.
As far as a warmer lead tone good luck with a two channel amp. You really need a three channel amp to achieve what you are looking for. You are wanting less gain I assume for leads to have a warmer less aggressive tone I assume. The solo boost on the Nitro seems to add more articulation and tightness to me and I have been toying with keeping it on while doing rythms lately. I like how it adds more cut and midrange growl when engaged. I just kick down the gain channel volume and match the solo volume at around 7 O'clock for bareable practice volume. The bad part is it amplifies my slop!

[fastredponycar]

I think the Manowar's are to blame personally.

That and perhaps the guitar you're using but more vintage oriented speakers would most likely help the most.

If you can afford them, the scumback's IMO take the cake. I've got 2 different H75-LHDC's (one is the MUCH better X version) that are each 100 watts and they are warmer and fatter than my greenback yet FAR more powerful and clean at high volume.

[snappinnecks]

I agree on the higher wattage speaker giving more headroom and a somewhat warmer cleaner tone. I un-Xed my cabs and run a cab with all Texas heats and one with all Governors. The texas heat cab has twice the headroom as the Governor cab. The governor cab has a tad thicker mids, but earlier breakup. The heat cab has rounder mids with later breakup. I like em way better than when I had the cabs Xed. It seemed they weren't complinenting each other very well. The heat cab is 600 watts the Governor cab is 300 watts. I'm torn on which I like better for recording. In a live setting the Texas heat cab slams a lot harder and cleaner. Together in a live setting is massive. Makes your pants legs flap.
Both have a very warm tone though.

[kyemack45687]

Thanks guys. At practice tonight, I compared my Gov/Wizard 2x12 and H30/MOW 4x12. The 2x12 is so much warmer, while the 4x12 has more punch and is a lot clearer. The 2x12 couldn't handle the bass though and started farting out. I need to keep that clarity and punch in the 4x12, so I'm thinking Govs and MOWs or Govs and SB25s will be a great choice.