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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Bassman LTD & the quest for tone
Bassman LTD & the quest for tone
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Adam Pritchard
31 posts
May 24, 2014
4:07 AM
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Hi all. Firstly let me say how much I appreciate this forum and all the good natured advice I've received from members in the past. I've been playing harp for over 25 years on and off as a slightly obsessed amateur but it's only in more recent years since I joined a full on blues band that I've started to get to grips with the amplified sound and the advice I've received here has been invaluable.
I used to play through a Peavey Delta Blues 210 and managed to get a decent sound out of it, especially when using the Lone Wolf Tone+, but on the louder numbers my sound was too muddy and couldn't cut through. The answer seemed to be "get a Bassman" so I bought a second hand LTD, swapped out some of the tubes and bam! Cutting through is no longer a problem (although the Tone+ has become redundant - must eBay it one of these days).
However I'm finding the sound I get from the Bassman a little harsh at times. There's almost a ringing quality to it on the higher notes and I'm wondering whether it could be the Jensen P10R speakers? I've read Rick's experience with Eminence Lil' Buddys and was wondering whether it would be worth the investment in a couple of these to replace the bottom set of Jensens? I guess my question is, is the difference in sound from a speaker swap only something a highly tuned ear is going to detect (a bit like a hi-fi enthusiast spending $500 on gold cabling that makes no difference to the average ear) or is it really noticeable? Anyone got any experience of swapping speakers in an LTD?
Alternatively could it be my tube set up? I'm currently running with the following with the bias at around 30.
5U4GB
6L6
6L6
12AU7
12AT7
12AY7
Thanks in advance guys. Feel free to check out the amp in action at www.charltonblueskings.com
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Frank
4348 posts
May 24, 2014
5:41 AM
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Experimenting with the knobs- especially when switching from lower to higher keyed harps... and trying out different mic handling techniques to dial in the tone your looking for... Plus our attack on notes can cause things to sound muddier or harsher then they need to be, these are a few options too consider, which you probably already tried :)
Last Edited by Frank on May 24, 2014 5:53 AM
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5F6H
1779 posts
May 24, 2014
9:34 AM
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Some people do find the Italian P10Rs harsh & a little lacking in harmonic content (brassy, metallic?). Speakers make a significant difference to tone, of course you can change parts & tubes, but if your speaker is scooped around 400Hz (like the Jensen) you can't change that, you can only take away other frequencies, not boost the missing ones.
I'd certainly trying subbing a couple out, if not all of them.
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