• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

question for Joe B

GastonG

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2001
Messages
1,397
Last edited:

JBLPplayer

Active member
Joined
Sep 29, 2010
Messages
1,136
Generally, with Old Marshall and Tweed Fender amps I have always found that the bass control is arguably the second most important dial from the actual volume. The higher the volume the lower the bass. That brings out the midrange. The midrange control on both Fender and Marshall if they have one, ( some tweeds don't ) acts as mid to high treble aka 2k aka harsh. Presence control is the super high 5k to 8 k depends on the amp and the actual Treble control is the amount of enemies you want to make among the audience, band and sound reinforcement personnel. On a JTM 45 I'd start at these settings. Again these are not legally binding.

Pres 6 Bass 4 mid 6 Treble 6 High Treble Vol 6.5 and normal Vol 6.5. All amps are different but all have a point in volume pot when the swell begins. A 300 to 400 hrtz nudge in thickness ( you will hear it and feel it ) that comes alive when you open up the amp. It's the max headroom the amplifier has before the amp starts to and eventually collapses. Very rarely on amps that it happens past 8 or 9 max if they are healthy. It is also very speaker specific and guitar specific ( humbuckers, single coil, active passive and those that prefer the three coil mother-buckers from the 80s. ) I digress , it really boils down to keep turning dials til it sounds good or not. That's when you know the amp is for you. Also, remember the two channels are sympathetic. Just because you are not pluggged into it doesn't mean it's not doing something.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Joe B


PS on non midrange control Fender tweed. Low Power Twin, Pro, Super and Bandmaster. The bass needs to be at least parity with the Treble and Presence. The amps are anemic and thin with out the bass up past 12 o'clock in my experience.
 
Last edited:

marfen

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2016
Messages
330
Valuable advice. Any advice for us single tone control/instrument vol/mic vol tweed owners for settings? many thanks Joe.
 

GastonG

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2001
Messages
1,397
Generally, with Old Marshall and Tweed Fender amps I have always found that the bass control is arguably the second most important dial from the actual volume. The higher the volume the lower the bass. That brings out the midrange. The midrange control on both Fender and Marshall if they have one, ( some tweeds don't ) acts as mid to high treble aka 2k aka harsh. Presence control is the super high 5k to 8 k depends on the amp and the actual Treble control is the amount of enemies you want to make among the audience, band and sound reinforcement personnel. On a JTM 45 I'd start at these settings. Again these are not legally binding.

Pres 6 Bass 4 mid 6 Treble 6 High Treble Vol 6.5 and normal Vol 6.5. All amps are different but all have a point in volume pot when the swell begins. A 300 to 400 hrtz nudge in thickness ( you will hear it and feel it ) that comes alive when you open up the amp. It's the max headroom the amplifier has before the amp starts to and eventually collapses. Very rarely on amps that it happens past 8 or 9 max if they are healthy. It is also very speaker specific and guitar specific ( humbuckers, single coil, active passive and those that prefer the three coil mother-buckers from the 80s. ) I digress , it really boils down to keep turning dials til it sounds good or not. That's when you know the amp is for you. Also, remember the two channels are sympathetic. Just because you are not pluggged into it doesn't mean it's not doing something.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Joe B


PS on non midrange control Fender tweed. Low Power Twin, Pro, Super and Bandmaster. The bass needs to be at least parity with the Treble and Presence. The amps are anemic and thin with out the bass up past 12 o'clock in my experience.

Thank you so much Joe, valuable info indeed and will help for sure. I have an old '67 plexi 100W (double rectifier) and is surprisingly sounding clean (biased hot) and needs to be almost at full volume to get the "right" amount of tone for lead but I'm with you about the bass control; "The higher the volume the lower the bass" but I'll start experimenting using your info.

Gaston :salude
 
Last edited:

Speedtaco

New member
Joined
Nov 4, 2015
Messages
7
Would you mind discussing your settings for fender blackface amps Joe? My two favorite amplifiers are my 1966 super reverb, and my 1965 Vibrolux reverb. Thank you
 

F-Hole

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 2, 2015
Messages
2,171
FYI, the bass on that amp during the recording was on about 2.
 

GastonG

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2001
Messages
1,397
FYI, the bass on that amp during the recording was on about 2.

MY GOD !!!!! Thanks so much Joe, did not know that by lowering the Volume, it would add fat to the tone that much !!!!!
Hey, thanks a lot F-Hole for the information !

PlexiJoeBsettings.jpg

settings on the second part of the audio file: Presence 6, Bass 2, Middle 6, Treble 6, HT Volume 6.5, Normal Volume 8

short soundfile demonstration : http://dicitte.com/images/MarshallPlexi_TestingJoeBsettings.wav

First part is with the Middle at 10, second part: the "JoeB" settings with the volume at 8 and the Bass at 2 ... (before reading F-Hole's post)
the third part is the Bass at zero and the Volume at 10 !

I don't know for y'all, but starting today, it's Joe's way for me: thicker, fat and more rich tone.

Thanks again !

Gaston :salude:salude:salude

p.s. recorded with a ZOOM not big science here, but it's guitar science I guess... (Ha! Ha!) :hank
 
Last edited:

marfen

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2016
Messages
330
thanks for posting the sound bits and cool pic Gaston! What geetar were you using?
 

fernieite

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 3, 2010
Messages
609
Beautiful gear Gaston, and excellent setting info Joe. Thanks. :biggrin:

Btw, judging by this last pic you must be an extremely tall man! :hmm
 

GastonG

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2001
Messages
1,397
Beautiful gear Gaston, and excellent setting info Joe. Thanks. :biggrin:

Btw, judging by this last pic you must be an extremely tall man! :hmm

Thanks fernieite, and about the last pic, maybe an extremely tall tripod ! :rofl

:salude
 

JBLPplayer

Active member
Joined
Sep 29, 2010
Messages
1,136
Valuable advice. Any advice for us single tone control/instrument vol/mic vol tweed owners for settings? many thanks Joe.

Thats a speaker preference thing. My best sounding Harvards / Vibrolux have later mid 60's Fender / Oxfords in them. I'm not sure if it's a happy accident or they were put in there for a reason. It's the way I bought them.
Joe B
 

JBLPplayer

Active member
Joined
Sep 29, 2010
Messages
1,136
Would you mind discussing your settings for fender blackface amps Joe? My two favorite amplifiers are my 1966 super reverb, and my 1965 Vibrolux reverb. Thank you

I learned from BB King. I would loan him my twin before he started carrying a Lab Series on the road. He'd show up and plug through whatever but he liked my twin cause it was loud. I remember getting my amp back after a show in 1990.
The settings were..

vol 10, Treble 10, Mid 10, bass 4 Rev 2 and the bright switch was off. He also pointed out that there was more "sustain" from the normal channel. He meant gain but I knew what he meant and always remembered that when using Gibson guitars and Fender amps. The volume on the guitar served as your master Vol, overdrive pedal and master tone. Good enough for BB good enough for me. Lol
Joe B
 

lloydloar

New member
Joined
May 17, 2015
Messages
26
Joe,

That's one awesome post. Thanks for your amazing contributions to this forum! This is the kind of stuff that makes The Les Paul Forum great!!

Jeff
 

Speedtaco

New member
Joined
Nov 4, 2015
Messages
7
Thanks for the response and great story Joe. It’s much appreciated and very interesting. Not sure I have ever cranked my twin to 10!
 

Kris Ford

New member
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Messages
4,003
Semi related, my '74 JMP Super Bass is a gainy MOFO..bass is always on 0.
 

Jon Brook

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2016
Messages
177
JBLPplayer;2778609 Just because you are not pluggged into it doesn't mean it's not doing something..[/QUOTE said:
Right so .. on my 2 channel 66 BF i need to set both om them the same even when using just the one?
 
Top