Clean and high gain recommendations

[drbob1]

I have LOT of amps: Vox, Marshall, all generations of Fender, Hiwatt, newer Orange, Mesa Mk iii and Tremoverb, and a lot of smaller print stuff. I don't really want the Randall (Lynchbox) to cover ground I've already got covered. I currently have a JF modified SL+ that sounds great, it's not going anywhere. I also have a Blackface and an Ultra, which sound good but not different than other things I already have.

A different type of clean would be cool. Given what else I have, how clean can the Graphic OR or the Mandarine Stoner AD from SM be? How about the clean tones on the Rverb or OD Special from JF? Anything else I should look at for a different clean tone than I have?

As to a high gain tone, some flexibility seems like it might be useful. So something like the Mash-Oldano might be cool. How do the Soldano tones compare to JFs SL-OD100? Dzilla, Quickmod, Trilogy or XTC sound interesting from JF. I guess if I had to name a sound I hear in my head it's the Morin Preamp into modded 1959 SL power amp that Lynch used in the mid-90s. Less bass heavy, dryer and more pinch harmonics than most modern high gain amps. Perhaps like EVH with more gain...

I'm feeling my way in this search but any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Ulf]

Hello Bob,

as for a different type of Clean I like the darker tone of the Graphic OR. It is also my go-to-module if I want to use Fuzz pedals. The OD special is not a real clean module.

As for a modern high gain tone. You might try the JF Stein or the SM Angel E. Both delivers modern tones with lots of options. Both are more on the bright side.

 

[drbob1]

Thanks for that. Perhaps I should also say, that what I'm thinking for high gain is more along the line of smooth leads than brutalz?rhythm parts. More Santana (although I have all the Mesa I want) or Marshall 6100 or Morin than QOTSA or Metallica.

 

[Ulf]

Hi Bob,

the SM Buddy and Legacy sound fine for that. Plus most people seem to like the Salvation and Jaded Faith Soldano approaches. Probably also the JF Brahma or SM Camerock?

 

[drbob1]

I'd considered the Soldano type pedals as being likely to do what I wanted. Not sure if straight up or something with a hybrid character like the Mash-Oldano? The Camerock sounds great, but I wonder if the JF modded SL+ covers most of that territory for me. I've owned a Legacy, seemed kind of a generic high gain amp, but the mod might be different. I don't see the Buddy on the SM website, a Budda derivative perhaps? Hmm, thinking I have the Budda pedal I'll probably skip that. How about the XTC for searing leads?

 

[Ulf]

Personally, I have no experience with the hybrid designs. While I do not like the stock XTC I do like SMs Shiver and Xctasy - fat and with a round top end.
As for the Buddy, you are right. I heard a clip on SM's Facebook site, and liked it.
As for the Camerock - it is as versaitile unit with different gain stacks, differnet bright switches. I am sure it can do a lot more than the SL+.

I believe you can't go wring with one of the Soldano mods.

 

[Whoopysnorp]

I have both the Stoner AD and the Mandarine Graphic. The Graphic's clean tone is very, very good, in my opinion. It has some common ground with the clean tone in my Mesa Studio Preamp, but it's smoother and more compressed. It sounds awesome with a little bit of breakup in it. I'm not wild about the clean in the Stoner AD, on the other hand. Maybe it's just my particular setup, but to me it didn't sound like the natural channel on my friend's Rocker 30 at all. Whereas the real thing sounded nice, balanced, and juicy, the Stoner AD's natural channel sounds sterile to me. The lack of EQ makes it sound like a guitar plugged straight into a mixing board. Maybe I need to play with it some more, but the dirty channel is where it's at on that module, IMO.

 

[zepplin490]

Yeah in the clean dept i would whole heartily recommend the Jaded Faith SuperClean and stay right with JF and Grab a 59rr Custom!
-mp-

 

[grbassist]

The Super Clean or the KH-1 would be great for high overhead ultra clean tone that you couldn't get with the listed amps you have.
The Super Clean is its own thing, so clean it's almost characterless and dry, great for pedals.
The KH-1 is like a Mark IV clean or cleaner higher overhead version of a Twin.

I second the Angel E, one of my favorite high gainers. There are other mods with more gain, but it's usually too much (and I love high gain metal).
As for it being on the bright end, I disagree. It's very smooth and thick, not nearly as bright as a Stein or Mamba. You CAN make it bright...with it's 4 bands of eq and many switches, you can get anything. I usually run the low and low mid up to 3 o'clock, the others at noon for a huge sound. It's one of the most versatile and best sounding high gain amps you can get and not just in the MTS world....also doesn't sound like any of your amps.

 

[ricky]

If I need something really really clean, I go to the JF SuperClean. This may sound kind of weird, but it is like a tube sounding Roland Jazz Chorus.
I have a modded Deluxe that can do some nice clean tones and also get dirty. The Texas Special also has cool cleans.
In getting a clean tone on any of these, I always run the volume full out and the gain way back to next to nothing.
The RVerb is not a good clean amp at all.

 

[Torpus]

On the gain side, and I haven't played them all, but I like the Angel E and the Mamba. The sound clips for Jaded Faith's new Snakebite certainly sound interesting as well. Can't wait to hear feedback from those on the early list.

 

[JayDA]

Can't wait to hear feedback from those on the early list.

Can't wait to provide that feedback......hoping to pick mine up tomorrow.

 

[zepplin490]

I would say for high gain A salvation mods angel E or angel B, I have the Angel B and it is the best sounding high gain i have ever heard from an mts amp and I do not even use any of the switches that the beast has, The JF Ultra Lead is killer too for high gain just a hair below the angel but who knows u might like it better. For the clean side of things i would say the JF superclean or for a low gain slightly overdriven clean the JF PlexiTweed covers alot of ground for one module.
-mp-

 

[zepplin490]

I would say for high gain A salvation mods angel E or angel B, I have the Angel B and it is the best sounding high gain i have ever heard from an mts amp and I do not even use any of the switches that the beast has, The JF Ultra Lead is killer too for high gain just a hair below the angel but who knows u might like it better. For the clean side of things i would say the JF superclean or for a low gain slightly overdriven clean the JF PlexiTweed covers alot of ground for one module.
-mp-