Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

[B Bent]

You guys all know that I cherish my Vibrolux. I still sometimes complain when I try new dirt boxes that are not TS style. I always find something crazy to gripe about with certain frequencies and it drives me nuts because I want to find something that has a different voicing than my tube screamer. I have basically just come to terms that I am your typical BF Fender and Tube Screamer kinda guy.

I noticed while at the jam at Butch's house that my amp was a completely different monster. My problem all along has been the room I play in at home. 100% of my home playing time is spent in my living room. My living room is a weird bird. The ceiling goes up at least 18 feet at about 3 different angles. Also I have wood floors and not many rugs. In other words it is a big, reverb tank. I love playing clean in there and the whole TS thing sounds OK.

Now back to Butch's place. His basement had what I think were 9 foot ceilings with no drywall, concrete floor with a big rug covering most of it. Also it isn't chopped up with all of these crazy angles and high ceilings like my living room.

My amp had this very focused, cut through the mix tone I haven't heard out of it yet. My amp has always had a very impressive low end punch and bite to it, but there again in Butch's basement it felt like a monster. I could really feel the speakers moving the air and getting that desirable "oomph/whoof" thing going on when you hit an E chord. The crazy thing to me is that my Tele with the Ant II in the bridge sounded huge and had a crazy punch. Keep in mind that's a 6.77K PUP!!! In short I will be trying different rooms in my house to play in. How simple huh! The problem all along has been my living room. maybe Christian will chime in on that room too and hopefully one of the guys from the jam will chime in with their impression of the Lux too.

I plugged in Robert's Lava box and discovered another crazy freaking sweet (non- TS) voiced distortion. Matter of fact I promptly came home and sold my $250 ProAnalog dirt box so I could get a Lava. The Lava had THE tone I kept hearing in my head. I am glad Robert had that. I was tired of trying so many other dirts.

I can't wait to post my all new pedal setup when it is complete. I really have been wanting to become a minimalist and think now that I am on my way there.

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

Your room sounds like it'd be perfect to me, with some treatment...

I'd lay down a big rug and see about getting some decorative panels up on the walls to kill reflections a bit.

But vaulted ceiling + hardwood floors + not many right angles = godly as far as rooms go.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

Jeff, thats what I was thinking...it's a pretty well know fact that odd angles and high ceilings make for a great live room!!!

Greg's living room could use a rug here and there and maybe a few things on the walls but the highish ceilings and odd ball angles are fine as far as Im concerned...go to any good studio and look at the live room or any tracking room for that matter!

 

[B Bent]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

Your room sounds like it'd be perfect to me, with some treatment...

I'd lay down a big rug and see about getting some decorative panels up on the walls to kill reflections a bit.

But vaulted ceiling + hardwood floors + not many right angles = godly as far as rooms go.

yeah now under heavier gain tones with no treatment it just gets washed out sounding. It is very cool for clean tones. It is just thin sounding I guess under gain. I feel like I am not feeling the amp as much.

 

[B Bent]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

Jeff, thats what I was thinking...it's a pretty well know fact that odd angles and high ceilings make for a great live room!!!

Greg's living room could use a rug here and there and maybe a few things on the walls but the highish ceilings and odd ball angles are fine as far as Im concerned...go to any good studio and look at the live room or any tracking room for that matter!

Do you see where I am coming from with the higher gain sounds C? Clean it does sound cool. It gets washed out sounding with a lot of gain to me.

 

[Pierre]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

Another soul has been saved, halleluijah

Now that you ditched your TS we may finally get you to admit that you're a closet Jackson/BC Rich fan.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

Do you see where I am coming from with the higher gain sounds C? Clean it does sound cool. It gets washed out sounding with a lot of gain to me.

Not really...all tracking rooms have highish ceilings, strange angles and lots of padding...I really think that the lack of carpet, rugs and tiles onthe walls is the problem, I really doubt it has much if anything to do with the actual size and shape of the room but there would be not true way to tell without setting the room "properly" for live playing...

A basement like at Butches place with no real walls and big rugs can be great for somethings but a big open room like your living room is MUCH better IMO...another thing you have to deal with is that big window at the front of the room...

I woudl be willing to bet a large amount of cheese that with some rugs and tiles on the walls and maybe something covering that window you'd be a lot better off for playing but after all that you'd have a really crappy room for living in, and after all it is the living room!

 

[Fender_Punk]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

He could always move the living room somewhere else and make that his playing room.

Actually, a friend of mine who owns a studio and works at the Sanderson Centre (where a lot of plays, symphonies and artists like Chantal Kreviashuk or hoever you spell her name) and he says for recording purposes it's best to have as dead of a sound as possible. This correct?

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

....The ceiling goes up at least 18 feet

Is it that tall? I didn't think it was but 10 or 12.

I did notice when I was over at the house that you do have a lot of natural reverb.

Actually, a friend of mine who owns a studio and works at the Sanderson Centre (where a lot of plays, symphonies and artists like Chantal Kreviashuk or hoever you spell her name) and he says for recording purposes it's best to have as dead of a sound as possible. This correct?

It depends on preference. Some people like to hear the room. The ambience you hear in old recordings is due to the reasons Jeff and Christian stated.

Luke

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

He could always move the living room somewhere else and make that his playing room.

Actually, a friend of mine who owns a studio and works at the Sanderson Centre (where a lot of plays, symphonies and artists like Chantal Kreviashuk or hoever you spell her name) and he says for recording purposes it's best to have as dead of a sound as possible. This correct?

This is a common misconception. Most people who have small recording studios or are trying to record in a small room should try to kill the sound of their room . . . simply because it will not sound very good. A large room however will impart a distinctive reverb sound on instruments and vocals. If the large room is properly tuned and dampened, the resulting sound should be much nicer than what you can add after the fact with reverbs.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

I bet a nice baby grand piano would sound awesome in that big 'ol room in Greg's house.

Start with some nice size space rugs. That'll knock down some of the natural reverberation a lot. If it's still too much, then go with some nice fabric panels that also fit the room but serve the purpose (DIY with some 1x2's and fabric).

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

Is it that tall? I didn't think it was but 10 or 12.
Luke

Im glad Im not the only one that noticed that...

 

[Gunny47]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

The room can definiely change the sound. Whever I want to play and for it to sound RELE good, I bring my amp downstairs into my computer room. Theres a big old fireplace in here made of bricks, no carpets, hardwood floors, slightly higher ceilings, and the amp has this natural reverb that adds a TON of sustain and makes me not want to raise the volume for thickness: it's already given. Another cool thing to point out, when I jam with my brother sometimes, and I bring the amp into his room where the drum set is, the amp sounds better. Why? The guitar tone resonates through the wood of the drums and just makes it sound more full and adds that extra reverb factor. Good stuff, dude

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

Sounds like it's time to fill that room with deer heads and bear skin rugs. That should solve it! LOL

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Revolutionary, yet simple discovery I made.......

:werd: