Members johanwastaken Posted March 15, 2008 Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 I've noted recently that while my clean sound is quite good, my distortions/overdrives just sound dull. I've recently had my amp with the bright switch on, but I played around with the EQ a little and it sounds better with bright off. My clean sound isn't that dull at all. However, both my Tubescreamer and my RAT2 sound dull. Even if I use the treble pickup with the Tubescreamer's tone very high, there is still some dullness to it. There is icepicky treble, but also some dullness. The same thing occurs with my RAT which doesn't have a tone knob, but a high-cut filter knob which doesn't help. With the bright-switch on, it gets better but it's also kinda harsh. This just doesn't seem normal. What is the problem you think? Amp not being cranked? Impedance problem? Signal loss? I have a Laney VC30 with treble at about 2 o' clock, middle at 12 o' clock and bass at 1 o' clock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members huskerjohn Posted March 15, 2008 Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 Are all you patch cables of good quality? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members melx Posted March 15, 2008 Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 I always run my brightness switch on, and turn the treble down if needed. I get the feeling that the VC30 just isn't the sound you are after? maybe a more modern sounding amp would suit you better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johanwastaken Posted March 15, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 I always run my brightness switch on, and turn the treble down if needed. I get the feeling that the VC30 just isn't the sound you are after? maybe a more modern sounding amp would suit you better? Well...I'm not sure. I really like the clean sound I'm having. The sound I'm looking for is a vintage-y sound, like an AC30 or similar. All my initial complaints were due to misinterpreting the names of the inputs and having bad tubes. Now I'm quite satisfied. The clean is smooth and sparkly just like I want it. A weird thing is that I must have my RAT at almost no volume to reach unity gain. I mean, the knob goes to 11 and I need to have it around 1 to reach unity gain. Everyone else seems to run it at at least half but that would just blow me away. Something seems weird, or maybe it's just normal variation? Different guitars and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members huskerjohn Posted March 15, 2008 Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 They aren't the most expensive, but not the cheapest either. Does this sound like a cable-issue? It could be a cable issue. I run a lot of pedals on my board and a poor quality patch cable suck tone big time. I use hosa pros and these work fine. If it isn't a cable issue, then maybe run one pedal at a time to see if it may be in one of your pedals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tinwhisker Posted March 15, 2008 Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 try running the volume/level at unity gain, (same level as turned off), and the drive/fuzz/distortion down, then tweak your tone and adjust levels from there. Your pedals are going to suck tone, some worse than others...the more in the chain, the more tone suckage. You probably didnt notice it so much until you discovered the difference with the bright switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members josh27 Posted March 15, 2008 Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 try running the volume/level at unity gain, (same level as turned off), and the drive/fuzz/distortion down, then tweak your tone and adjust levels from there.Your pedals are going to suck tone, some worse than others...the more in the chain, the more tone suckage. You probably didnt notice it so much until you discovered the difference with the bright switch. That all depends on the bypass of each. I believe the RAT2 should be true-bypass (if its a newer one) and while the TS9 may not have the greatest buffer, it shouldn't be that bad. Do you have any other (good) buffers in yours signal chain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johanwastaken Posted March 15, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 That all depends on the bypass of each. I believe the RAT2 should be true-bypass (if its a newer one) and while the TS9 may not have the greatest buffer, it shouldn't be that bad. Do you have any other (good) buffers in yours signal chain? My signal chain is only the Keeley TS9, LM308N-RAT2 and Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai, so not really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members josh27 Posted March 15, 2008 Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 My suggestion is to get a Dano fish & chips EQ to throw after the dirt. Bring back the treble a bit. I don't think you would need another buffer because those all have fine bypass. It probably wouldn't hurt though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Collapse Posted March 15, 2008 Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 The only thing cables are going to suck is treble, and homeboy already said "There is icepicky treble." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johanwastaken Posted March 15, 2008 Author Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 The only thing cables are going to suck is treble, and homeboy already said "There is icepicky treble." Well...there is a lack of treble with the dirt on. If I turn the tone-knob up on the Tubescreamer however, makes it icepicky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members byteblock Posted March 15, 2008 Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 why don't you try you pedal chain on a different amp? I'm curious as to if it is a functional problem with one of the pedals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members josh27 Posted March 15, 2008 Members Share Posted March 15, 2008 Will probably do. What's a good buffer then? I've heard the DT-10 is good? Catalinbread Serrano Picoso Catalinbread Super Chili Picoso MI Audio Boost n Buff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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