all pro mods this bright?

[fuzzbomb]

Just picked up a used Pro Mod. Its a more recent one (I think 2007) with new clean channel, gears, separate EQ, etc.

I cannot dial an irritating bit of high-end out of it. Are all Pro Mod's this bright? Was wondering if I should think about different speakers or if that was just how they sound.

It has KT88's, I'm running it through a Splawn 4x12 with (4) Eminence Governors. Les Paul w/ WCR Iron Man in the bridge, and an SG with a Duncan JB in the bridge. I also tried it through a JCM800 slant 4x12 with the G12T-75's, it was a *little* better as far as the top end but not enough.

I've got the knobs at

Presence - off
Bass - 3 o' clock
Middle - 11 o' clock
Treble - 9 o' clock
Gain - 3 o' clock
3rd gear

[LooseCannon]

All Splawns are bright amps, you'll get used to it with time, also try turning your treble off, mids 12 o'clock and 2nd gear.

[SonicExplorer]

There could be a number of things having nothing to do with amp itself.

Since you are using a straight 4x12 with 4 identical speakers there is a speaker experiment you can try if you are feeling ambitious:

1) Remove the wheels from the cab and make sure you are on a carpet floor.
2) Pick one amp setting and one guitar (keep all things consistent for this test)
3) Play for a few minutes to get your ears accustomed to the tone.
4) Rotate the cab and repeat step 3 until the cab has been rotated a full 360 degrees. Make sure the cab ends up in the exact same spot every time, just simply rotate it (flip it 1/4 turn).

Pay attention at each rotation and see if you hear a position that sounds more musically pleasing and lessens the brightness. If you DO find a position which you think really improves the issue, then mark the position of the cab mentally (or on paper) and open the back and rotate the speakers to match the proper position when the cab is in it's normal upright position.

Sonic

[DonaldDemon]

Well the Pro Mod is a tad brighter than the Quick Rod but it should not be grating. My suggestion would be to try and stay on 2nd gear. 3rd gear is the brightest and noisiest of the modes. 2nd gear is perfect to my ears; plenty of gain, a little darker, and a bit saggier.

Also, the Governors are a V30 copy if I'm not mistaken. If so, you will be getting more brightness out of those speakers than you would with most other speaker types.

[fuzzbomb]

Thanks for the responses, y'all!

I think I'd like to get rid of the Governors (which are V30 copies) anyway...regardless of the amp. Cause the V30's just don't suit me. I bought the cab used, too, so I didn't get to pick what was in it.

G12H30's (or copies) might be right up my alley.

I'll try 2nd gear more and see how that works. It just seems odd for an amp to be *so* bright that turning the treble *off* is necessary.

I love the low-end *whump* of it, though. If I could just darken up the tone a bit, it'd be totally beautiful.

[Ayton(e)]

Feb 7, 2009 2:20:52 GMT -5 SonicExplorer said:

There could be a number of things having nothing to do with amp itself.

Since you are using a straight 4x12 with 4 identical speakers there is a speaker experiment you can try if you are feeling ambitious:

1) Remove the wheels from the cab and make sure you are on a carpet floor.
2) Pick one amp setting and one guitar (keep all things consistent for this test)
3) Play for a few minutes to get your ears accustomed to the tone.
4) Rotate the cab and repeat step 3 until the cab has been rotated a full 360 degrees. Make sure the cab ends up in the exact same spot every time, just simply rotate it (flip it 1/4 turn).

Pay attention at each rotation and see if you hear a position that sounds more musically pleasing and lessens the brightness. If you DO find a position which you think really improves the issue, then mark the position of the cab mentally (or on paper) and open the back and rotate the speakers to match the proper position when the cab is in it's normal upright position.

Sonic

Please explain this! How does it work? Never heard of this method. Intriguing.

[DonaldDemon]

Feb 7, 2009 10:33:06 GMT -5 fuzzbomb said:

Thanks for the responses, y'all!

I think I'd like to get rid of the Governors (which are V30 copies) anyway...regardless of the amp. Cause the V30's just don't suit me. I bought the cab used, too, so I didn't get to pick what was in it.

G12H30's (or copies) might be right up my alley.

I'll try 2nd gear more and see how that works. It just seems odd for an amp to be *so* bright that turning the treble *off* is necessary.

I love the low-end *whump* of it, though. If I could just darken up the tone a bit, it'd be totally beautiful.

Yeah, that doesn't sound right to me that you need to turn the treble off. I have a cab with V30's and I keep the treble on noon with the presence about 9:00. If ind my amp has a lot of presence but is dark in character id that makes any sense.

Also, what volumes are you playing at? Bedroom levels or gig levels. If you are playing very low volumes and the loop is on then the amp will be much brighter than it would be if the master volume was up.

[firebird]

Speaker choice and cabinet make huge differences with these amps.

[fuzzbomb]

Yeah, that doesn't sound right to me that you need to turn the treble off. I have a cab with V30's and I keep the treble on noon with the presence about 9:00. If ind my amp has a lot of presence but is dark in character id that makes any sense.

Also, what volumes are you playing at? Bedroom levels or gig levels. If you are playing very low volumes and the loop is on then the amp will be much brighter than it would be if the master volume was up.

I'm playing at very (very) loud rehearsal volumes. I've been trying the volume pedal in the effects loop thing, 'cause it seems to thicken it up...run the volume at about 12:30 and the Solo Boost at about 9:00.

It seems to get brighter the louder it goes. Its weird how the mid knob affects the overall brightness on these amps.

I tried it with a friend's guitar, a Les Paul Studio with whatever its stock pups are. And it sounded *way* different. So I'm thinking that different pickups and speakers might fix this. I just sold one of my other cabs and I think I'm going to buy some G12H30's + a darker, thicker pickup.

What kind of pickups do y'all use? I actually play very Sabbathy down-tuned rock. Corrosion of Conformity, Fu Manchu, Clutch, that sort of thing. That doesn't seem to be what most people play with these amps. =)

I was thinking of trying a Duncan Custom Custom or Rio Grande BBQ or WCR Godwood.

[DonaldDemon]

Feb 10, 2009 10:51:48 GMT -5 fuzzbomb said:

Yeah, that doesn't sound right to me that you need to turn the treble off. I have a cab with V30's and I keep the treble on noon with the presence about 9:00. If ind my amp has a lot of presence but is dark in character id that makes any sense.

Also, what volumes are you playing at? Bedroom levels or gig levels. If you are playing very low volumes and the loop is on then the amp will be much brighter than it would be if the master volume was up.

I'm playing at very (very) loud rehearsal volumes. I've been trying the volume pedal in the effects loop thing, 'cause it seems to thicken it up...run the volume at about 12:30 and the Solo Boost at about 9:00.

It seems to get brighter the louder it goes. Its weird how the mid knob affects the overall brightness on these amps.

I tried it with a friend's guitar, a Les Paul Studio with whatever its stock pups are. And it sounded *way* different. So I'm thinking that different pickups and speakers might fix this. I just sold one of my other cabs and I think I'm going to buy some G12H30's + a darker, thicker pickup.

What kind of pickups do y'all use? I actually play very Sabbathy down-tuned rock. Corrosion of Conformity, Fu Manchu, Clutch, that sort of thing. That doesn't seem to be what most people play with these amps. =)

I was thinking of trying a Duncan Custom Custom or Rio Grande BBQ or WCR Godwood.

It could be the pickups too/ I play a Les Paul Studio also with the stock Gibson 490T's or whatever they are. They happen to be a good sounding set of pickups though. IMO, you can't go wrong with WCR pickups. I have a set in my Strat that blow away any single coil I have ever heard.

I like a lot of the stuff you mention but my band only tunes down a semitone. We play some Sabbath covers and it the Splawn sounds great.

If you are looking into speakers definitely consider the Splawn Small Blocks. They are higher wattage greenback copies made by Eminence for Splawn. I have them in my 2x12 and they just kill! Check around hear, a lot of people agree. If I had the cash, I would sell off my V30's in my 4x12 and replace them with the Small Blocks.

[DonaldDemon]

I don't know if this helps or hurts but here is a really bad recording of us playing a Fairies Wear Boots by Sabbath. It was was our first attempt at recording in Pro Tools and the mix sucks. Also, everything was done in one take with no overdubs so the vocals are really poor but maybe you can hear some characters of the amp. This was with my V30 cab.

soundclick.com/share?songid=6937166

[Tone Ranger]

If you don't have anything in the loop, disable the fx loop. That adds TONS of highs and fizz. If that is the case, the amp will warm up considerably.

[fuzzbomb]

Feb 10, 2009 11:32:34 GMT -5 DonaldDemon said:

I don't know if this helps or hurts but here is a really bad recording of us playing a Fairies Wear Boots by Sabbath. It was was our first attempt at recording in Pro Tools and the mix sucks. Also, everything was done in one take with no overdubs so the vocals are really poor but maybe you can hear some characters of the amp. This was with my V30 cab.

I dig the guitar sound on there. Who stole the kick drum, though? =)

[DonaldDemon]

Feb 10, 2009 21:03:07 GMT -5 fuzzbomb said:

Feb 10, 2009 11:32:34 GMT -5 DonaldDemon said:

I don't know if this helps or hurts but here is a really bad recording of us playing a Fairies Wear Boots by Sabbath. It was was our first attempt at recording in Pro Tools and the mix sucks. Also, everything was done in one take with no overdubs so the vocals are really poor but maybe you can hear some characters of the amp. This was with my V30 cab.

I dig the guitar sound on there. Who stole the kick drum, though? =)

Haha, that recording was a mess!! It was our first shot and was basically a live take. We are using the m-box mini which only has 2 inputs. The drums had 4 mics going through a mixer into the m-box. The problem with that is however you have the levels set on the mixer is how you are stuck with them in the recording. It sounded loud in the room but it was way too low on tape. Also, my drummer added a sh1tload of reverb to the whole track making it sound even worse!!

[fuzzbomb]

I think I'm going to call the Splawn shop and see if I can bring this thing by there...let them tell me if it sounds like it should. I'm only 20 minutes from them. They put new output tubes in the Splawn-modded Marshall I had last year, super nice guys over there.