Amp knob settings

dnl88 · 06-17-2003, 06:01 AM

Hello all
I would just like to know what settings(gain....) you use on your amp. mostly on either a peavey rage 158 and marshall valvestate.

Avalanche 126 · 06-17-2003, 08:03 AM

i have a valvestate 65 watter..my settings r, from gain to treble in that order, 5.5, 6, 6.5,8. that gives a pretty good bluesy rock, light rock overdrive. i like it.

BluesJunkie · 06-17-2003, 08:18 AM

I usually use a Marshall JCM 900 combo, but I don't have one universal amp setting. My settings vary constantly depending on the style I'm playing and the guitar I'm using.

R2D2 · 06-17-2003, 10:59 AM

My settings vary, too....but one thing I would say is that the more I play guitar, the more I find that less is more, especially with distortion. Beginning guitarists seem to always either play clean or crank the distortion up all the way. I find that if I turn down the gain a bit from what I might otherwise use, it almost always sounds better....

BluesJunkie · 06-17-2003, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R2D2

My settings vary, too....but one thing I would say is that the more I play guitar, the more I find that less is more, especially with distortion. Beginning guitarists seem to always either play clean or crank the distortion up all the way. I find that if I turn down the gain a bit from what I might otherwise use, it almost always sounds better....

Very true.

GMartin2R · 06-18-2003, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R2D2

My settings vary, too....but one thing I would say is that the more I play guitar, the more I find that less is more, especially with distortion. Beginning guitarists seem to always either play clean or crank the distortion up all the way. I find that if I turn down the gain a bit from what I might otherwise use, it almost always sounds better....

yeah my amp is set pretty low. my gain is set on 3-4 which gives me some crunch but is also not too distorted. my effects unit i run med to high gain so there's a good mix there.

nate95366 · 06-20-2003, 08:04 AM

I think it's better to know what each knob control on your amp actually does, AND how its setting interacts with other features of your amp. That way, you can intelligently come up with your own settings. Sometimes, though, sample settings can have their place. This isn't for either of the two amps you posted about, but for a Mesa Boogie Studio .22 I find that the higher up I turn my "gain" (pre-amp gain), the lower I'll set my "master" (power-amp gain) and vice versa. High gain and lower master creates one type of break-up, while low gain and high master creates another type. On the EQ knobs, for almost all of my sounds I keep the treble up between 5 and 7 (usually closer to 7), with bass and middle always below 5, and usually between 3 and 4. My amp has "presence" (think of it as a "cut-through-the-mix" control), which I usually have between 5 and 7, and reverb, which I rarely take up above 4 and often have turned off entirely (especially when playing at church, which is in a theater that has great natural reverb).

Nate

GMartin2R · 06-21-2003, 03:33 AM

yeha you definitely have you eq set differently than i do. that's one thing i liked about the fender i've got over the marshall i was looking at. more eq room... my tone on my clean channel is bass >1, mids 3 or so, highs half to 1 with the volume around 4. i've got a ton of room to work. i found if i boost the mids more than i've got em my acoustic starts to sound tinny through my amp. as long as i've got the treble down low it sounds good.

jbm222 · 06-22-2003, 09:43 PM

I have a rage 158, but I haven't used in years. Mine doesn't have the gain type switch ("vintage/modern" I think), so the settings I used might not even apply. But anyway, I'd usually set the "pre" between 3 and 7, and the post as high as I could get away with because this amp seems to sound clearer as it gets louder. bass was usually set around 5, mid 2-4, treble 7-10.

There are a few things I almost always do when I'm getting a feel for a new amp. First, I set ALL the EQ knobs level at 5. Then I'll turn the gain all the way down. Slowly, I turn it back up until I start to notice an increase in breakup. Then I'll turn the gain all the way up, and back down until I notice a decrease in breakup. This is a quick way to find the amp's optimal range. Usually I'll end up playing somewhere in the middle of this optimal range. Then I'll tweak the EQ as needed. Midrange will have the greatest effect on your overall tone. On a versatile amp, you can scoop it for a 'modern' tone, boost it for blues/jazz, or leave it centered for a multipurpose tone.