Amplifier questions

[EugeneSmasher]

Erm, I know this sounds really stupid, but I gotta have peace of mind, ya know?

Because I'm a rock / metal guitarist, and pretty new to electric guitars, I'm wondering what I should do if my amplifier's distortion (or gain) decreases overtime. I'm doubtful this will happen, but better to be silly than sorry.

 

[sleepykitty]

It won't happen lah bro.. :wink:

 

[Crawldaddy]

Hmm.

Chances are it would not happen, but in any case I would advice you to not waste your time on cheap amps, but rather get a decent one with good cleans and dirt channel. Look up the various Vox AD series amps or Laney amps esp if you budget is below $600, and especially so if you're a guitar direct into amp kinda guy.

 

[keithC]

ur a starting guitarist? actually, another alternative will be to get a cheap amp, but one that takes pedals well...
then get something like fab metal or boss MT2, it SHOULD give you what you want... may be cheaper then a 600bucks amp, and gives you more variety should u need to change pedals to find different tones... yep.
i'm more into pedals i guess..

 

[WestPunx]

Roland Cube 30X is what you need.

You don't already have an amp, do you?

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Ok cool so its an amplifier problem, not the pick-ups. Thanks guys!

But I have another question, if I wanna use effects pedals, must my amplifier have an extra port? Or how are the pedals connected?

 

[loldude333]

Nope, although there is something known as an effects loop, which is present on the Ibanez ValBee. Basically the pedal modifies the original sound of the guitar. Therefore, wat most ppl do is they plug the amp to the pedals, then to the guitar. Go look at the pedalboards in the gallery section, u'll see wat i mean. Effects loop basically alllows u 2 plug ur guitar into the amp and then connect ur pedals thru a seperate wire into the amp. The circuits will merge the signals so the end product is still the same.

 

[subversion]

connecting through the FX loop will result in a different tone voicing (parallel connection) than those employing the series connection (ie: guitar-pedals-amp). through the parallel means, the guitar's tone goes to the amp unprocessed as oppossed to the latter.

more discussion here: http://soft.com.sg/web/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=11532&highlight=paralell+parallel

 

[gsonique]

dude ...seriously what is this *parallel connection* ? !

An effects loop is nothing freaky... but just a breaK in the pre-amp section and some go a bit fancy with buffered out ...thats it !!

....and whatever way you *poke* it ... it get's processed !! 8O

 

[subversion]

yes, it gets processed- when it reaches the amp.

 

[gsonique]

Well putting anything in the effects loop gets *pre-amped* or boosted and given the fact of differant dc current, pedal 'pops' and noise gets exagerrated .....its a dying trend !

 

[subversion]

i hear you- the tone purists would cite this as the reason for fx-loop tone 'difference', hence the love/ hate. it's indeed another method of connection, the end result being preferred is another story.

 

[gsonique]

Yes the *tone-purist* prefer the pre-amp saturation to be intact then use effects to ....wth ...its the same right :?

Btw ..its all still series sub ...it becomes parallel if the *unadulterated* signal is bleed through together with the effects.
If its a break in the signal then its still series!

Some go to the extent of having post recorded material played through effects ...silly fellows !

 

[subversion]

quote: it becomes parallel if the *unadulterated* signal is bleed through together with the effects.

with reference to the above- do all amps featuring an FX loop connection have internal circuitry allowing parallel output? or do selected amps have such? because i talked to this guy who swears by his mother land's amps featuring a parallel connection... :roll:

 

[gsonique]

If it's parallel there should be at least *blend knob* imo ...

There are a couple of boutique amps giving parallel bass and treble with two separate volumes (blend) ....

 

[subversion]

...then the guy who's defending his mother land's amp is right :smt019

 

[gsonique]

huh ??!!

:lol:

 

[subversion]

i was talking to a guy online who says that his amp brand offers one of the best parallel connection ever because he can blend his straight through tone + parallel tone in parts. i said you can't have both in a single activation, then he said there's always a blend knob to play with... :toimonster: