Getting a sharper sound out of my amp

homerun_homer

I own the below model of a Hughes & Kettner amp and have only recently started using it without a Boss GT-6 multi effects processor, which I always used along with my regular pedals. With the GT6 I have a nice crisp sound - think Interpol tones since they are a band I love to play on guitar.

Without the GT6 hooked up I am trying to get a sharper tone, something like what I am used to but can't quite get it right.

I've been playing for years but I'm no tech head when it comes to this. Currently I have a the bass at 9 o'clock, middle to about 2 o'clock and Treble near 4 o'clock.

Would anyone have any tips to get it the desired sound I'm looking for?

Sandvich

Probably a new Speaker. EQ issues are very heavily influenced by the speaker. A lot of good amps have ****ty stock speakers.

That amp seems kind of nifty though. I might check it out. I'm looking for a more farty tone than sharper tone.

population

Have you tried other guitars through it?

homerun_homer

population wrote: »

Have you tried other guitars through it?

Yeah. My primary guitar that I use is a Fender 72 delux Telecaster. I've tried it out with my Fender Jag Stang and it's similar results, although the Jag doesn't sound as good regardless of what sound settings are on the amp.

sentient_6

Can i suggested maybe dropping the bass down to about four, & the mid & treble up to 5. The high bass could be mudling the sound.

Thomas from Presence

A big problem I find is that guitarists set their tone with the amp flat on the floor pointing straight ahead. Treble is directional, i.e. its broadcast pattern from the speaker comes straight out. If the amp isn't angled anyway towards your ear you're not getting the full whack of treble it's actually delivering.

When it comes to gigs a lot of the time guitarists might have their amp pointing into the crowd way below ear-level. Because their amp is designed to throw the treble into the crowd the guitarist can't hear it and boosts the crap out of the top end taking the heads off the crowd in the front row.

One of the best things you can do is to get your amp on to a stand on an angle if its for your personal monitoring. That way you'll get to judge the tone in more even terms.

Sandvich

Cheaper amps like that will often tend to have "Muffled" sounding speakers too.

Paolo_M

The first thing I think you should try is to use the shortest lead possible to plug the guitar into the amp.
What length of lead are you currently using?
Pedals, including the GT6, buffer your signal and so you can use real long cable and not worry about getting a muffled tone.
Your guitar cannot do this and it will sound more and more muffled the longer the cable. Better quality cable also produces less of this muffling effect.


Secondly, and this is gonna sound silly at first but bear with me; use the GT6.
If that's the sound you want then go with it.
This is especially true if it's not the length of cable at fault.
Your speaker, speaker angle etc. and amp itself are fine as you already know that you can get the tone you want from it.
But why stop using something that's working for you?

homerun_homer

Paolo_M wrote: »

Secondly, and this is gonna sound silly at first but bear with me; use the GT6.
If that's the sound you want then go with it.
This is especially true if it's not the length of cable at fault.
Your speaker, speaker angle etc. and amp itself are fine as you already know that you can get the tone you want from it.
But why stop using something that's working for you?

The reason I'm trying to ween myself off it is because the GT6 has become unreliable (certain pedals and buttons don't work) and now that I'm gigging it's one extra hassle to bring along and set up, especially since some of the stages we play have been small for the amount of kit we've set up it's a nuissance for me.

Live wise I'm ok with the amp sound because I'm always playing distorted guitar, but at home is where I'm trying to fix the sound, and hopefully as a result better the sound I produce live.

Quatre Mains

if anyone you know has an MXR dynacomp try runnig that ahead of any other fx you might be using. I found them a nice pedal for a bright sound (ANdy Summers used to use them)