fender gain channel...pretty muddy chords?

esandes

Well-known member
i'm finding it's hard to get a clean chord from my fender gain channel. with my jcm 800, every single note from a chord rang out. :crying:
 
Re: fender gain channel...pretty muddy chords?

Well now you know why people say Fenders generally do clean tones better and Marshalls generally do dirty tones better.

Are you looking for one amp that does both well?
 
Re: fender gain channel...pretty muddy chords?

B2D said:
Well now you know why people say Fenders generally do clean tones better and Marshalls generally do dirty tones better.

Are you looking for one amp that does both well?
yeah the fender has the best clean tones i've ever heard but the marshall rings out every note so well when it's driven.

dude, i don't think there's an amp that can do it all. in my 16 years of playing...never found 1 amp that can.

marshall jcm 800 + fender + A/B switch = as good as it gets
 
Re: fender gain channel...pretty muddy chords?

Hey!

I have one of the PT Pro Reverbs as well. The cleans are blackface, nice withe tube reverb, tremolo, effect loop, etc. Weights as much a car.

The gain channel is a bit of work to get the most out of it. I do not think I have ever been perfectly happy with it though. The amp as a fizzy edge right at 8K. The Jensen speaker has a bump right at 8k. So the two are not a great match on the second channel. Find a speaker with a smooth 8k range (depressed is better). You can use an parametric eq to notch that area as well a bit. I alo used a 12AY7 in the second channel slot to help with the distortion. Note, I have not sold this amp as of yet. I have had it for years. It is a decent amp.

The best combo amp I have hit (2 channel) is my El Diablo. I use it with EL34's and it works well for me. A switchable reverb and effects loop and I might sell everything else!

A Carvin x100b (used) is not a bad option here either. But he gain on those is a bit fizzy if not pushed hard.
 
Re: fender gain channel...pretty muddy chords?

esandes said:
dude, i don't think there's an amp that can do it all. in my 16 years of playing...never found 1 amp that can.

I've only been playing for 8 and I've found a few that can do it... at least in the way that fits MY tastes.

What's your budget?
 
Re: fender gain channel...pretty muddy chords?

Fender "gain" channels shouldn't be seen as gain......they should be set just slightly above the clean channel, and seen as a boost. The idea is to have a clean channel boost that's slightly dirty. If you turn up the gain, expecting a Marshall, you'll get a rats nest for tone. If you want nice gain out of a Fender amp, start auditioning high quality overdrives till you find one that transforms your clean tone into something heavy. I'd recommend the Fulltone OCD or something in that same range, quality wise.
 
Re: fender gain channel...pretty muddy chords?

Gearjoneser said:
Fender "gain" channels shouldn't be seen as gain......they should be set just slightly above the clean channel, and seen as a boost. The idea is to have a clean channel boost that's slightly dirty. If you turn up the gain, expecting a Marshall, you'll get a rats nest for tone. If you want nice gain out of a Fender amp, start auditioning high quality overdrives till you find one that transforms your clean tone into something heavy. I'd recommend the Fulltone OCD or something in that same range, quality wise.


I'd agree with this. This is what I did with my old Fender 75 rig, getting pristine cleans, and setting the distortion channel with very low gain and a slight boost for SRV-type tone--then slamming the front end with a modified Real Tube 901 for a singing lead tone. This works real well for times when I have used a Hot Rod/Blues DeVille/Deluxe or a ProSonic.

But, I got my first Boogie, and never looked back. Marrk IIIs, a Mark IV, a Maverick or a DC-3 all give me great clean tones and great lead tones without needing to use a pedal.

Sold the Fender 75.

Bill
 
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