Conference napalm::guitar

2647.0. "Tube Amps & Digital Effects" by CHEFS::BRIGGSR (Four Flat Tyres on a Muddy Road) Tue Dec 22 1992 03:07

    
    This note has been raised as a result of problems I'd been experiencing
    with a BOSS ME-6 Multi Effects unit and a Fender Champ 12 amp. Read
    about this in 2627.2.
    
    In summary, I had been having all sorts of problems with my new BOSS
    ME-6 feeding my Fender Champ 12 amp. This was mainly harshness at
    volume. So much so that it was unusable in a live situation. I had
    asked many people why this could be without much luck (see my note
    referred to above as well). I had written to the BOSS UK distributor.
    Got a nice letter back which said nothing. In short I was on the point
    of selling the ME-6 until.....
    
    This weekend I borrowed a Peavey 100 watt amp. Suddenly the ME-6
    sounded brilliant and if you inserted it in the effects loop, well, even
    better. This seemed to prove a point that several people had put
    forward as a possibility and that was you shouldn't mix digital effects
    with valve (tube) amps. The Fender Champ is a valve amp, the Peavey
    solid state. What had made me doubt this was the SUPERB sound I get
    using an Alesis Microverb II through my Champ. However, hear this
    through the Peavey and it just blows your mind! So even the Alesis
    wasn't sounding its best through the Champ.
    
    Talking to a guy in a music shop yesterday (who obviously has to mix
    and match effects and amps on a daily basis for potential customers) he
    backed up my findings stating that the 'dirtier' the amp sound then the
    worse any digital effects will sound. So, if you want a nice warm
    overdrive valve amp, this seems to preclude using digital effects with same
    device.
    
    So my current thinking is to trade in the Champ for the cleanest
    sounding amp around. I have some questions though...
    
    1) Anyone have a views on the above?
    
    2) How can you measure the 'cleaness' of an amp (say choosing between
    two solid state amps).
    
    Richard
    Reading, UK
    
    

	I've used a DigiTech DSP 256 in the FX loop of my Super 60 -
	a tube amp - and it sounded wonderful.

	I now have a Boss RDD20 delay sitting between my QTR-1 tube
	preamp and the Fender Bassman that I'm using as a power stage.
	It sounds good, turned up loud it sounds very good.

	One thing that I think helps it to make sure that the FX unit
	gets to see a fairly consistent power level from the preamp.
	I can think of few things that sound as *NASTY* as the kind of
	distortion that comes from a digital unit on overload.