UNLOCKING THE MYSTERY OF THE FRAMUS COBRA

[jthompso]

Cool to hear keith. I've found that you can get much better Scooped sounds anyways with the MIDS at 9:00 and the NOTCH off. So, yes the NOTCH is basically worthless

 

I found that with the notched out my Hellraiser had this undesirable quality that I couldnt dial out, with the notch engaged it totally changes the quality of the tone and fixed that problem - for me its not worthless !!

[guitarman967]

I found that with the notched out my Hellraiser had this undesirable quality that I couldnt dial out, with the notch engaged it totally changes the quality of the tone and fixed that problem - for me its not worthless !!

 

Glad to hear it. I play around with the NOTCH here and there but I seem to move on Fairly quickly:D

With the mids dimed it's not that bad but its changes the voicing too much as the amp seems to loosen up quite a bit..

[Herald of Light]

Well maybe an EQ in the loop is what you need I don't know why people limit themselves by not using 10-15 band EQ's. The boss 7 bands are Okay i guess but are limiting also.

 

I don't see how a 7 band EQ is limiting for use with guitar. Guitar EQs typically have 7 bands because that's how many it takes starting from the bottom and going up about an octave at a time to span the entire usable frequency range. Going an octave higher or lower is basically pointless.

 

In the case of 10 band EQs, I'm going to guess you are referring to the MXR 10 band, which is set to different frequencies than the standard guitar EQ. It also has a few potentially useless to outright useless bands. I guess a 31.5 Hz slider is pretty useful if you feel like blowing speakers hehe. In the end, it's just different, not "less limited."

 

And as for the typical 15 band EQ, it will just have even more useless bands, because it will just add more to reach the full spectrum of human hearing, which isn't necessary for just guitar by itself. It will just end up the same way as the MXR 10 band, pretty much being a glorified 7 band that is maybe voiced slightly different. The possibility of one extra band or so within the same range as a 7 band EQ isn't going to make it more versatile, it's just going to make adjusting it different.

 

If you're worried about how limited an EQ is, then get a parametric EQ. A giant graphic EQ is pretty much always going to be far more limited than an EQ with just a few fully parametric bands. You don't need to go all surgical with a ton of bands on guitar. There just isn't enough going on to bother with it, and there's the potential that all those extra bands could be adding noise.

 

In most cases, a parametric EQ still wouldn't be terribly useful with guitar, though, which is why all the guitar pedals are just smaller graphic EQs. You'd just end up using it in the same way, likely still making an octave width's cut or boost in one or two places. It's already probably more than anyone will need.

[stangme01]

 

I don't see how a 7 band EQ is limiting for use with guitar. Guitar EQs typically have 7 bands because that's how many it takes starting from the bottom and going up about an octave at a time to span the entire usable frequency range. Going an octave higher or lower is basically pointless. In the case of 10 band EQs, I'm going to guess you are referring to the MXR 10 band, which is set to different frequencies than the standard guitar EQ. It also has a few potentially useless to outright useless bands. I guess a 31.5 Hz slider is pretty useful if you feel like blowing speakers hehe. In the end, it's just different, not "less limited." And as for the typical 15 band EQ, it will just have even more useless bands, because it will just add more to reach the full spectrum of human hearing, which isn't necessary for just guitar by itself. It will just end up the same way as the MXR 10 band, pretty much being a glorified 7 band that is maybe voiced slightly different. The possibility of one extra band or so within the same range as a 7 band EQ isn't going to make it more versatile, it's just going to make adjusting it different. If you're worried about how limited an EQ is, then get a parametric EQ. A giant graphic EQ is pretty much always going to be far more limited than an EQ with just a few fully parametric bands. You don't need to go all surgical with a ton of bands on guitar. There just isn't enough going on to bother with it, and there's the potential that all those extra bands could be adding noise. In most cases, a parametric EQ still wouldn't be terribly useful with guitar, though, which is why all the guitar pedals are just smaller graphic EQs. You'd just end up using it in the same way, likely still making an octave width's cut or boost in one or two places. It's already probably more than anyone will need.

 

 

dude what are you talking about? there are lots of bands in between octaves, like 1/3 octaves for instance. Believe me the 31hz slider and the high frequency sliders help ALOT on my MXR. I get alot of use out of those high frequency bands. they help shape the sound alot. Hey if you insist just limit your options no skin off my back. I couldn't live without my EQ's.

 

I used to be into high end home audio and car audio (SQ) for about a decade and multi 31 band EQ setups really gets you familiar with EQ's.

 

You are a cool guy and i don't mean to offend you, but i've seen you trying to talk like you know technical aspects of audio and electronics and its pretty obvious you really don't know what you are talking about. You are helpful, but not in these areas IMO

[The4thlast1]

Just to add alittle to this thread because it's great that it's still going.........

 

I a my Cobra with my Dual Rec one last time b4 it goes cause its on Ebay.

Wow I am not going to regret getting rid of my Mesa at all. Now that I know how to set up the Cobra for a great tone it sounds so much better than my recto. When I first got the Cobra I thought my recto sounded better cause I didnt know the ins and outs yet.

To me the Cobra sounds somewhat like a Recto with a cooler voicing, tighter bottom end, faster responce, and much more clarity, oh and I havent seen one bee yet. There is no point in keeping my Recto, the Cobra does everything better, even solos!

[cobrahead1030]

i had a cobra & recto at one point, it sounded awesome running them both together in stereo

[guitarman967]

 

I don't see how a 7 band EQ is limiting for use with guitar. Guitar EQs typically have 7 bands because that's how many it takes starting from the bottom and going up about an octave at a time to span the entire usable frequency range. Going an octave higher or lower is basically pointless. In the case of 10 band EQs, I'm going to guess you are referring to the MXR 10 band, which is set to different frequencies than the standard guitar EQ. It also has a few potentially useless to outright useless bands. I guess a 31.5 Hz slider is pretty useful if you feel like blowing speakers hehe. In the end, it's just different, not "less limited." And as for the typical 15 band EQ, it will just have even more useless bands, because it will just add more to reach the full spectrum of human hearing, which isn't necessary for just guitar by itself. It will just end up the same way as the MXR 10 band, pretty much being a glorified 7 band that is maybe voiced slightly different. The possibility of one extra band or so within the same range as a 7 band EQ isn't going to make it more versatile, it's just going to make adjusting it different. If you're worried about how limited an EQ is, then get a parametric EQ. A giant graphic EQ is pretty much always going to be far more limited than an EQ with just a few fully parametric bands. You don't need to go all surgical with a ton of bands on guitar. There just isn't enough going on to bother with it, and there's the potential that all those extra bands could be adding noise. In most cases, a parametric EQ still wouldn't be terribly useful with guitar, though, which is why all the guitar pedals are just smaller graphic EQs. You'd just end up using it in the same way, likely still making an octave width's cut or boost in one or two places. It's already probably more than anyone will need.

 

 

I don't think a Giant Graphic would be more limited than a parametric w/ a few bands..That's just silly talk

[Chrisjd]

A boss GE-7 in the loop works rather nicely.

[hc4965]

 

Just to add alittle to this thread because it's great that it's still going......... I a my Cobra with my Dual Rec one last time b4 it goes cause its on Ebay. Wow I am not going to regret getting rid of my Mesa at all. Now that I know how to set up the Cobra for a great tone it sounds so much better than my recto. When I first got the Cobra I thought my recto sounded better cause I didnt know the ins and outs yet. To me the Cobra sounds somewhat like a Recto with a cooler voicing, tighter bottom end, faster responce, and much more clarity, oh and I havent seen one bee yet. There is no point in keeping my Recto, the Cobra does everything better, even solos!

 

 

 

 

 

Cobra can do solos EXCEPTIONALY well. The lead channel has this SLO voicing which makes solos really soft, liquid and pretty defined, which is just great.

[FourT6and2]

If you think the Cobra's EQ is hard to use, try owning a Hot Cat.

 

The sweep and freq. range of the Bass, Treble, Reverb, and Presence all change depending on where you set each one, in relation to each other.

 

It's annoying.

[7 Stringer]

 

A boss GE-7 in the loop works rather nicely.

 

 

Where do you set your mix knob when using pedals in the loop?

 

I only tried once when i got the Cobra and it dramaticly changed the tone:mad: I don`t remember where i had the knob set myself though, i will have to re-try that.

 

Now i only use a DD-20 set to the proper level and it sounds great, the G-Major also sounds great in the loop.

 

Man i love this thread:thu:

 

Chris

[Dimes Bag]

Damn, guys. After reading so many of the tips and comments here, I really think I'm going to have to pick up a Cobra at some point this year.

 

 

+1. Thanks for the gas guitarman But, really...Nice thread, sounds like a noice high gain amp to have around with my 5150. Anyone know what DerekB is pricing these new for?

 

[Soulcrusher_X]

What's the going rate on some used Cobras? I haven't seen many around lately.

[stangme01]

Just bought mine for $1500 shipped in mint shape. New version.

[Chrisjd]

Bump

[KsE fan]

is it true that u can find one of these puppys on ebay for 1700 buy it now?

[Dimebag11]

I just bought mine for $1,500 with Road Case

[chemh0ser]

I just wanted to check in and see what further progress everyone has been making with this amp. I love the Cobra and I've barely scratched the surface of the possible EQ combinations. I know people are making new "discoveries" regarding EQ settings all the time. so what's the latest?

[ragnvald]

Do you guys have the notch switch engaged or not? I really like the Master of Puppets type sound you can get with the notch switch engaged on the Crunch channel but find it much harder to get the tone I need without the notch?

 

It really depends on your sonic needs really (not the most revolutionary concept ).

Though in this day and age, what constitutes a "good metal tone" equals that down-tuned, heavy mids thing, aka "modern metal tone".

I am not criticizing anything, and I know if I were to dialing in such a tone; and I have in the past; I would do it very differently than what I have set the amp to today.

The thing is, with my guitar and pickups, that tone won't cut it in the brutal death/slam/grind band I'm in at the moment. For me to conform to the sonic ideal of this genre (and not drown out the other guitarist) I have to use a the lead channel of the Cobra, notched.

I also feel I have to boost it (around the 500/1K/1K Hz-area) with my 10-band MXR to shape the way my guitar sounds going through this amp.

 

The settings I use will probably make some raise their eyebrows:

 

LEAD, notched.

Gain = 2:00

Pres = 9-10:00

Vol = 1-2:00

Bass = 1:00

Mid = 2:00

Treble = MAX

Mix = 12:00

Depth = 9:00

Master = 11-12:00 (at rehearsals/live)

 

Yes, I max the treble, and I only discovered this recently; how it adds all this saturated grind that I had a hard time finding in the amp by any other means. I almost grew to hate the Cobra, thinking how I had this big, heavy thing laying around that wouldn't bust out the tone I needed for the band. But now I know it can be done and I feel pretty good about owning this piece of machinery again .

 

BTW. I have the V2 Cobra (SN: F02123), which has the same EQ-response as the V1. Reportedly darker than the present day V5's.

[ragnvald]

 

Very Cool man. Keep me up to date on this if you can. I run my Channel Volumes at 2:00 for the gain Channels just for this Reason. I would probably go a bit higher but the Loop won't allow it..My processor's Input controls are set pretty low (which affects the highs a bit) and my Outputs are as high as they can go to achieve Unity gain. Doesnt seem Ideal. Maybe some send and return controls would be a Good idea for the Cobra's loop.

 

 

I know exactly what this problem is like as I used to run pedals in the loop. A channel volume at 3:00 would just pummel the input of those pedals..

 

I was really looking for some attenuated signal cables, but I ended up acquiring this: http://www.adesignsaudio.com/atty.html

 

Now I could passively attenuate the send to whatever level I liked. Such an attenuator could be mod-ed into the amp.

 

But now I had to up the master to 3:00 because the signal back to the amp was weak. And I had no way of driving the PI hard (which is what high-vol, 12:00-mix does..).

So I ended up getting the MXR M-401 line booster/driver, and it solved that problem.

I don't think you you had a problem with make-up gain anyway, so it's not too relevant to you.

 

I hope to clear out all the pedals in the loop now as I have tweaked the de-hummer pot due to noise issues. I hope I won't need to use the ISP Decimator in the loop anymore.

BTW, I figured I could drive the ISP via 18V which gave it enough head-room not to warrant the use of a attenuator/make-up stage pedal.

It will shift the threshold values on the pedal though.

[SnaxSlingerAns]

Marked.

 

 

-A-

[meadows.83]

Hey guys. I'm a new Cobra owner, and I need to get a cab for it so I was wondering if someone could maybe describe the differences between speakers (v30 vs greenbacks) and cab manufacturers like mesa, framus, splawn. I'm mostly into metal tones. Thanks.

[guitarman967]

It really depends on your sonic needs really (not the most revolutionary concept ). Though in this day and age, what constitutes a "good metal tone" equals that down-tuned, heavy mids thing, aka "modern metal tone". I am not criticizing anything, and I know if I were to dialing in such a tone; and I have in the past; I would do it very differently than what I have set the amp to today. The thing is, with my guitar and pickups, that tone won't cut it in the brutal death/slam/grind band I'm in at the moment. For me to conform to the sonic ideal of this genre (and not drown out the other guitarist) I have to use a the lead channel of the Cobra, notched . I also feel I have to boost it (around the 500/1K/1K Hz-area) with my 10-band MXR to shape the way my guitar sounds going through this amp. The settings I use will probably make some raise their eyebrows: LEAD, notched. Gain = 2:00 Pres = 9-10:00 Vol = 1-2:00 Bass = 1:00 Mid = 2:00 Treble = MAX Mix = 12:00 Depth = 9:00 Master = 11-12:00 (at rehearsals/live) Yes, I max the treble, and I only discovered this recently; how it adds all this saturated grind that I had a hard time finding in the amp by any other means. I almost grew to hate the Cobra, thinking how I had this big, heavy thing laying around that wouldn't bust out the tone I needed for the band. But now I know it can be done and I feel pretty good about owning this piece of machinery again . BTW. I have the V2 Cobra (SN: F02123), which has the same EQ-response as the V1. Reportedly darker than the present day V5's.

 

Wow, great post as usual.. I'm gonna have to give your settings a spin..

BTW, The older Cobra's definitely are darker sounding, I have one of the First Version 5's made and I had just come from a version 2 and I noticed right away the differences. I've never been able to put my finger on what may have cause the tonal changes though. The Schematic hasnt changed too much but the parts have here and there..

[guitarman967]

 

Hey guys. I'm a new Cobra owner, and I need to get a cab for it so I was wondering if someone could maybe describe the differences between speakers (v30 vs greenbacks) and cab manufacturers like mesa, framus, splawn. I'm mostly into metal tones. Thanks.

 

 

Cobra Cab really is a great match for the Cobra if you want metal tones.. Framus did a Great job designing the Perfect Cabs for there amplifiers. The Dragon cab just rules for the Head.

Splawns are really nice if you want a Rear loaded cab, probably the best out there IMO.

Greenbacks work the best with this head but V30's can give you a nice middy rhy. tone as well if you use the Lead Channel.

[TheAbomb12]

this is a very nice rig guitarman...

 

what do you have in it (in terms of rack stuff, and the pedals tucked away there)?

 

where did you get that rack case, cause I want one of those now