Tightening up Bottom End

[Joe2000]

Im loving my new VM. Just one little thing I'd like to achieve. I want to tighten up the bottom end so I can palm mute without getting too flabby. I know that too much body will do this but there is a fine line in getting balance with the detail.

Am I looking in the wrong place with the KT66's and Greenbacks? I dont need to get Metalica like palm muting, but I do like to get into 80's style territory every now and then.

Any recommendations with EQ's?

Thanks

[Slashwannabe1]

Man when I first read the thread title "Tightning Up The Bottum End" I thought this was going to be an easy answer... tell her to do more leg exercises! then I remembered we're talking about amplifiers not girls! lol.

Greenbacks and KT66s have nothing to do with the lack of tightness. Your settings do! unless of course your speaker cab has not been broken in properly yet then it can get flubby and lose deffinition, in which case you'll need to nearly dime the amps volume for a few hours and wait till it comes out naturally.

I think this is a pretty tight sound here at around 15-28 seconds:



This is my 2466 Vintage Modern half stack straight guitar to amp. I think it has plenty of tightness...Detail 7, Body 5 The rest are straight 7s except the presence which is at 8.5 and the Master Volume which is at 8.

Other than settings I think, the cab needs a good beating (break in period)...crank the amp very loud (above 7-8) and jam for a few hours should loosen up the speakers and get them flexing the way you want.

[Spitfire]

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[Slashwannabe1]

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[sugarkane]

It's traditional to put an Ibanez Tube Screamer in front of a Marshall and this, along with other consequences, will tighten up the bottom end in away that can't be achieved with the amp alone. That's not to say that the VM can't be tight low down - just that a Tube Screamer will give a unique flavour of "tightness" that isn't like the amp by its self.

Many thrash guitarists favour this approach in a genre where palm mutes and stacatto low strings define the songwriting.

The Tube Screamer is also popular for an extra push to lead channels when going into a big solo. I find it rounds out the transients in a pleasing way. Gary Moore (and many famous others) uses it in this way and Eric Johnson uses his for a bit of grit on his semi-distorted rhythms.

Another school of thought is that the use of pedals sucks the life out quicker than Dracula on a first date. My own view leans me this way. But a lot are happy with them - including many of my favourite tonal players - so consider it.

[Slashwannabe1]

I think you can get a tight tone without pedals....just using the right cab alone can correct the problem!.

Hell when I plugged into a friends JCM 900 G12-75 cab... I was wondering where the fuck all my tightness & distortion went! and I was convinced on the way home I was going to have to change some tubes, till I plugged into my cab and it sounded great as ever...then the next day I went and tried my buds cab again and had the same issue. Fact...some cabs do not acuratly portray the sound coming out of the VM.

Now could be a bad cab or a cab that needs a break in, but I never hear anyone bragging up the G12-75s so yeah there you go!.

[Joe2000]

Thanks all. I EQ'd 4 Body and 6 Detail. Biggest thing I found in tightening the bottom end was the master volume. Of course we all know that amps sound their best cranked. But the VM is extremely special and sensitive where you gotta find the right mix. Master needs to be around 7 to get good bottom end for me. Really fills up the sound.

Thanks again.