They all sound the same...

[bansheeburner]

Its like one day every module I have sounds different, then the next day they all just sound the same. No matter what I do to try and eq them out of the same tone, it just doesnt work. Does anyone else run into this problem?

 

[alboz28]

Yes - it does happen - not to worry. When it happens though, the best thing to do is walk away and come back later. Too many factors in the human senses to pinpoint exactly what happens, but when it does it is very frustrating. Hang in there....

 

[Mattfig]

Totally understand...On those days I play around alot with different tubes and EQ settings...You just have to decide what you want to use each module for and set it up to meet that criteria...It's pretty easy to dial high gainers in the same way, especially if you use the same tubes in each...Just last night I found a tube that made my Salvado Deluxe sound EXACTLY like my Erecto with full EQ, then just like my Marshall amps with another...Just a V1 tube change can do that...Every module has crossover potential as they're all built off a limited variety of boards...Just gotta know what each does best...If it can't do what you expect, flip it and move on...

 

[fuzzboat]

use to feel that way with my RM4 and these

Brahma
SL+
Scary
HBE


now they all have distinct "dead-on" tones


Brahma - old plexi-ish tones
SL+ - stock & hotrodded JCM800 tones
Scary - Lynch's lead tone on mr scary
HBE - VH1 and alot more !


the difference is lower gain pickups and a danelectro CTO-1 *timmy clone* (also, use a CO-1 sometimes )

I luv these dano pedals they work perfectly with all my modules

I tried others like bad monkey & sparkle drive and wasn't too impressed
but that was with hi-gain pickups. I'll have break them out sometime and try again

btw, got a gigmods ulta which is a beast unto itself - does not sound anything like the others Super Tight Bass and so extremely touch sensitive that it feels like I'm playing a different guitar by that I mean leads are really "effortless" the guitar practically plays itself.

hope it helps

I should add that with the tones I'm now getting I happily sold

Lee Jackson XLS
JCM800 2203X
Splawn Pro Mod
2555SL Slash Marshall
Rivera Knuckle
Rocktron Pirahana
Mesa Boogie Quad

I still have a Splawn Modded JCM800 and a Voodoo Hex Modded Sovtek100 but not for long !

 

[riff19]

Yes, they do all eventually sound the same.

There's only so many ways you can slice distortion.

After dozens of modules, I'm just about at the point to stay with my JTM, OCD pedal, and call it a day.

 

[Mattfig]

Yes, they do all eventually sound the same.

There's only so many ways you can slice distortion.

After dozens of modules, I'm just about at the point to stay with my JTM, OCD pedal, and call it a day.

Hell no! Not me man! I'm gonna try 'em all...'Cause it seems about 1 in every 5 impresses me in a new way...I write differently with different tones and I'm inspired greatly by different colors of tone...

Having said that...I could get away with my Twinface and Salvado Deluxe and no one would probably notice 'cept me...

 

[m0jo]

Yes, they do all eventually sound the same.

There's only so many ways you can slice distortion.

After dozens of modules, I'm just about at the point to stay with my JTM, OCD pedal, and call it a day.

Hell no! Not me man! I'm gonna try 'em all...'Cause it seems about 1 in every 5 impresses me in a new way...I write differently with different tones and I'm inspired greatly by different colors of tone...

Having said that...I could get away with my Twinface and Salvado Deluxe and no one would probably notice 'cept me...

This is exactly how I feel about it!

Although I do like to have different channels for gain and eq settings.. but yeah I could get by with my twinface and 2 salvado's ..
Like you said though, different tones give different inspiration
I definitly write different riffs with the Mash-all than with the Salvado

 

[rhequiem]

I totally ran into the same thing, man. That was the major reason why I decided it was time to try the Axe FX and see if my ears were mushed out, or if I just needed something else to get what I was after. I found that I used my beloved Dr. Feelgood 90% of the time

 

[Hamner1]

I've run into this as well a couple of weeks ago in fact. I thought the Plexi on 10 sounded like the SL+ & I thought the Scary sounded like the SL+. I was ticked off. I was fidgeting with knobs left & right. Trying to dial in a lead tone with the SL+ & a rythm tone with the Scary (as of today they are switched again). The 1086 was even dialed in and similar to the SL+. I took some sage advice & decided pick a tone & style & stick with it. SL+-rythm, Scary-lead, 1086-slightly scooped-rythm, Plexi-cleanish to pretty gritty (not quite 800 but more gain than AC/DC or 70s KISS).

 

[eedude]

& I thought the Scary sounded like the SL+..

fwiw, the scary and SL+ are nearly identical in design.

 

[bansheeburner]

Thanks for all support to help me through the same sound blues...I'm going to try some power tube and pre tube changes to find new life in my tone. If that doesn't work I might have to take a page out of the Fig Flip book, and send some packin so new can come in.

 

[Mattfig]

& I thought the Scary sounded like the SL+..

fwiw, the scary and SL+ are nearly identical in design.

I just found this out too! Right after I bought a Mr. Scary...I guess a few components are upgraded and that's it...I hate that kinda ****...That should be known info...'Cause the skull knobs and such are not why I wanted it...The positive reviews were...Why duplicate modules and sell them under different names...I a/b'd them....They ARE the same...So now Mr. Scary is off to become a super Terrier 2011!!!! And I just paid an extra 50-75 bucks for some ******* knobs... :evil:

Happy Tofurkey Day!!!

 

[crankyrayhanky]

I thought the Scary had a bit more thickness in the mids than SL+....but yes, the difference is tiny. Maybe the Skulls hypnotized me :shock:

 

[Hamner1]

From a circuit perspective I have no idea, but it makes sense that tone wise they would be similar. Modded JCM800-Soldano.
I just dialed them both in with identicle settings & there is a slight difference. I agree with Ray in that there is more thickness in the mids. with the Scary module. There is also more presence (articulation?). It just seems that the Scary module jumped out at me more. Also I had to have the bright switch off on the Scary & the SL+ bright on to get the same/similar tone. With the bright on, the Scary had more of a bite than the SL+.

 

[eedude]

fwiw, differences documented here.
Part....Sl+................ Scary......Note
-----------------------------------------------------
C3 0.0022uF.... 0.0010uF.....Makes Scary sligtly tighter
R16 4.7k............ 2.7k............Gives scary more gain
C11 470pF......... NP...............Makes scary a little brighther
C13 NP.............. 0.68uF.........Gives scary more gain

Tone stacks are the same

if you want to go beast on 'em :twisted:
put a 100k across R13 - more gain!
place a 1k across R16 - more gain!!
populate c6 w/ 1uF - more gain!!!
put a 470k across R26 - more gain!!!

(do one, more or ALLL!) this is a simple "pull no parts" mod.

 

[slashnstrings]

I traded a stock SL+ for a gigmod scary, and all i can say is , 50% more mid Crunch, 10-20% more bass and about 20% more gain then the SL+

 

[SacredGroove]

I compared the SL+ and MrScary about a year ago and found they're identical. I didn't get to compare the pots, so the difference, if any, would be in those. :roll:

A/B'ing these 2 modules wouldn't be any different than A/B'ing 2 SL+ or 2 MrScary modules to themselves, with identical tubes. One SL+ might sound slightly better/worse than the other, and same with the MrScary. It's the nature of analog. :wink:

 

[Julia]

It's the weather. Humidity and atmospheric pressure changes the way we hear things. It affects the strings on the guitar. It affects the set up of the guitar. It affects the way the speaker cones vibrate. It affects the way sound travels through the air.

But still after sitting through the high gain amp shootout I could only find 3 that sounded different from the other 25. High gain amps all sound the same after a while to me.

 

[Daryl]

I think to some degree hearing can be like smelling or tasting. You have to have a palate cleanser. It's like smelling a hundred different flowers and trying to pick out the subtleties. At first, you can point out all the different tones and timbres, but after a while it becomes confusing and they all sort of smell the same. Then you smell something else, like coffee grounds, and voila!! You can smell the details again. With sounds it's a similar thing. When you can't hear the differences you might need a break, listen to some harpsichord and lute music, and then come back later with fresh ears.

 

[slashnstrings]

I think to some degree hearing can be like smelling or tasting. You have to have a palate cleanser. It's like smelling a hundred different flowers and trying to pick out the subtleties. At first, you can point out all the different tones and timbres, but after a while it becomes confusing and they all sort of smell the same. Then you smell something else, like coffee grounds, and voila!! You can smell the details again. With sounds it's a similar thing. When you can't hear the differences you might need a break, listen to some harpsichord and lute music, and then come back later with fresh ears.

:idea:
I agree, go get yourself a cheap distortion pedal use that for a week or two then go back to the clear crisp sounds of the Randall and see how you feel then