Re: Getting close to Joe's tones with a Metro 50W Plexi...

Since getting my 18w Marshall the fenders havent seen out of my house.....
One thing I do miss though is still having clean even when on full whack with the Fender... The Marshall is responsive and you can roll back or pick lightly for cleaner sounds but its never quite as clean uno?

Re: Getting close to Joe's tones with a Metro 50W Plexi...

Fenders have an awesome clean, Marshalls have great gain... what do you use more?
Maybe save up and have both?

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping. cool

Re: Getting close to Joe's tones with a Metro 50W Plexi...

After realizing that my Bruno Underground 30 has no master volume I just started looking for a attenuator.  I dont have any money so I settled for a 60 dollar Little sucker i think is its name. I dont know if its going to be worth a crap but really i just want to turn down the Bruno so i can use it's amazing overdrive with my band. I am hoping that it will not affect the tone too much.

I cant believe the Aracom attenuator is 785 dollars.  Holy crap...  You can almost buy the metro for the price of the attenuator. Thats crazy. 

I would call Metro and ask them to include a master volume.  I bet it wont cost 785 dollars.

22 (edited by CarljMD 2010-10-12 23:18:26)

Re: Getting close to Joe's tones with a Metro 50W Plexi...

jgalvan8804 wrote:

After realizing that my Bruno Underground 30 has no master volume I just started looking for a attenuator.  I dont have any money so I settled for a 60 dollar Little sucker i think is its name. I dont know if its going to be worth a crap but really i just want to turn down the Bruno so i can use it's amazing overdrive with my band. I am hoping that it will not affect the tone too much.

I cant believe the Aracom attenuator is 785 dollars.  Holy crap...  You can almost buy the metro for the price of the attenuator. Thats crazy. 

I would call Metro and ask them to include a master volume.  I bet it wont cost 785 dollars.

Jg (Jeremy, is it?)  You can find THD Hotplates for around $200 or less on Craigslist, and I know some folks seem to like the Weber Mass models also.  I had my amp guy put in a PPIMV (fully reversible and out of the circuit on zero) on my 67 Bassman...works wonders.

Would love to come by and play some of your amps sometime....have heard good things about the Brunos...what ever happened to that poster from Alaska who had one???  Anyone remember who I'm talking about?

CarljMD

Takers get the honey, givers sing the blues

Re: Getting close to Joe's tones with a Metro 50W Plexi...

Hi!
Back for some update here. I have eventually sold my Super Reverb. The first guy who wanted to buy it owned a Blackface 66 Super and wanted mine as a spare to keep his beloved jewel at home, away from the risks of taking it out for gigs. So I had the chance to A/B his 66 and my blackfaced 73. They were darn close, but the 66 was still better, more open, clearer. Just a matter of a few components, but he didn't take mine. It got sold to another man who fell in love with it. I don't regret selling it at all because I heard a better Super than mine, so if one day I want that sound again I'll look into earlier silverface models (68/69) or if I get rich by then I'll get a Blackface!

Now I have completed my Metro 50W head build. I have ordered a large 1X12 cab from Tube Town in Germany (I'm in France). It's their British Gold model, which you can check out here: http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/produc … -Gold.html TubeTown are great, I've already had two cabs from them!

So I'm going portable! I saw a good deal for a great 4X12 cab around here but hell, that's too big, it doesn't even fit in my trunk...  hmm The British Gold will be carrying an EVM12L Classic!

I've also ordered an Alex's attenuator. It's not the hype Faustine or Aracom but it's handmade in the USA by a MetroAmp addict and it supposedly makes wonders. Guys say that it beats the crap out of a THD or even better the Ultimate Attenuator... It's also twice cheaper than a used Aracom... Go find his sale topic on TGP if you want one. Alex is a great guy and knows his stuff!

I'll let you know how my rig sounds when I get everything but I can't wait to crank the beast!

Re: Getting close to Joe's tones with a Metro 50W Plexi...

Hi!
Another update here!
Yesterday I played my first gig with my new rig:
MetroAmp 1987 50W plexi cranked to about 8/10, channels jumpered.
Strat and Les Paul
TubeTown 1X12 British Gold cab loaded with an EVM12L
Alex's attenuator with three clicks down (-9dB)
Dunlop Crybaby
Fulltone FD2
Boss RV-5

The Alex is wonderful. The tone remained constant despite the volume decrease (-9dB is huge!). I was quite happy with my tone, bearing in my mind that the Metro is quite new and so is the EVM12L. They both need some breaking time to sound their best but it's already pretty darn interesting! The letdown was the RV-5 though. It doesn't interact well with a cranked plexi. I have to find a solution to be able to turn it on. I didn't even bother trying to bring in my DD-3, it would have been horrid I guess... I was thinking a Xotic X-Blender maybe for the reverb and DD-3??? I think I read somewhere that it's what Joe used with his 100W Superbass and Superlead when he recorded with BCC...

Yet,  big_smile I have to say that I would like more thickness in my sound. I know it also comes from volume, but have you guys any ideas as to what I could do to have a "thicker" sound? I was thinking getting a Xotic EP-3 or maybe a Fulltone Mini Deja Vibe. I'm quite into Robin Trower's tone as well... He is amazing! Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA1THYhQl10

Help me thicken my tone guys! (The audience was quite happy with it and several persons came to me at the end of the show to tell me that I had a great sound... big_smile ) but you know, can a guitar player ever be happy with what he does/has????

Thanks!

Re: Getting close to Joe's tones with a Metro 50W Plexi...

Yes I would try the X-blender if you are having trouble dialing in your wet signal (delay/verb).  You could also install an effects loop as there are many nice ones out there.  As for 'thickening' your tone here's what I would try:

1) bigger strings
2) lowering your tone controls
3) adding more gain with the FD2, then lowering the volume on the LP.  The electronics on most Les Pauls are wired such that when you lower your volume things get a lot more mellow and thick sounding.  Joe does this all the time.  cool
4) like you said, there's sometimes no substitute for volume  sad
5) perhaps try the 'FM' mode on the Fulldrive, this mode has more low end and less pronounced midrange than Vintage mode
6) If you are after the THICK tone, I've never tried anything thicker than the BK Butler Tube Driver.  A close second would be the Xotic BB preamp.  These two pedals are very thick and make even the thinnest guitars have meat!  The Xotic BB is wayyyy more transparent and would work very well stacked with the Fulldrive I'm guessing.  The BK Butler kind of takes over the signal chain and is less transparent than the BB.

'67 and '74 Fender Twin Reverbs, '74 Marshall 1987 lead mkII, Metro Superlead 100. Pedals from TC Electronic, Ibanez, Dunlop, BK Butler, Electro-Harmonix, Fulltone, Maestro/Gibson, Loopmaster switching, VoodooLab, Boss. Gibson and Fender guitars, Dimarzio pickups.

Re: Getting close to Joe's tones with a Metro 50W Plexi...

twistingcrow wrote:

Hi!
Another update here!
Yesterday I played my first gig with my new rig:
MetroAmp 1987 50W plexi cranked to about 8/10, channels jumpered.
Strat and Les Paul
TubeTown 1X12 British Gold cab loaded with an EVM12L
Alex's attenuator with three clicks down (-9dB)
Dunlop Crybaby
Fulltone FD2
Boss RV-5

The Alex is wonderful. The tone remained constant despite the volume decrease (-9dB is huge!). I was quite happy with my tone, bearing in my mind that the Metro is quite new and so is the EVM12L. They both need some breaking time to sound their best but it's already pretty darn interesting! The letdown was the RV-5 though. It doesn't interact well with a cranked plexi. I have to find a solution to be able to turn it on. I didn't even bother trying to bring in my DD-3, it would have been horrid I guess... I was thinking a Xotic X-Blender maybe for the reverb and DD-3??? I think I read somewhere that it's what Joe used with his 100W Superbass and Superlead when he recorded with BCC...

Yet,  big_smile I have to say that I would like more thickness in my sound. I know it also comes from volume, but have you guys any ideas as to what I could do to have a "thicker" sound? I was thinking getting a Xotic EP-3 or maybe a Fulltone Mini Deja Vibe. I'm quite into Robin Trower's tone as well... He is amazing! Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA1THYhQl10

Help me thicken my tone guys! (The audience was quite happy with it and several persons came to me at the end of the show to tell me that I had a great sound... big_smile ) but you know, can a guitar player ever be happy with what he does/has????

Thanks!

Wow! Thank's for posting this youtube-link! I've never heard of this man, but holy mother of guitar.... I loved his sound! I played around with my new MJM Uni Vibe yesterday, and was trying some different crunch sounds with it. Very cool. Now I have a new sound to inspire me and quite a few albums to buy:-)

Keep rocking!
André

Re: Getting close to Joe's tones with a Metro 50W Plexi...

Yeah, Trower is unique, Joe used to open gigs for him when he was a kid... He has been despised for too long for being a so-called Hendrix clone, which I think he is not. To me he's much more on the melancholy side and his writing skills are second to none. Check out the other videos of the same concert: Daydream, Bridge of Sighs, Too Rolling Stoned etc. they're all awesome. The growl he gets with a strat is amazing... This must have something to do with the two 100W Marshall heads running in stereo though...

I would love i if Joe could chime in here and tell me what HE would do with a 50W plexi head to make it sound the righteous way... Settings, pedals and so on...  smile