Glen, to your point about speakers...I'm a bassist and was running two amps with my Ric 4003. At the time, they were a GK 400RB through a Hartke 4x10 and a pre-Fender SWR through a Hartke 2x10 and a homemade 15 with an Orion car stereo speaker. Decent sound but not what I was after. Hartkes started taking a dump and replaced the 4x10s with Eminence. Those speakers alone made a HUGE difference! Well, if some is good, then more is better. Replaced the 2x10s and the 15 with Eminence as well. Years go by, job pays more and I replaced both the amps. Micro VR (4 ohms) in place of the GK, Portaflex 350 in place of the SWR (8 ohms)...The sound I've been chasing is here. It all started by replacing the speakers.
I started using Eminence bass speakers about 25 years ago. Over time I’ve probably put 10-15 of them in different cabs. Except for a 1976 Ampeg 8x10 w/ the original speakers (that I did NOT remove) the Eminence are always an upgrade.
3 body problem is really good, just don't expect a resolution to the story in season 1. There were 3 (kind of 4) books in the series and this is just the start of a journey you can't even imagine. I just hope they continue making more seasons!
Thank you so much for everything! Not only am i learning really good lessons with home-recording, i did recommend your channel to a bunch of people that want to start playing -but dont know where to start. There are so many people out there that thinks you need the most expensive stuff to sound good. Not thinking about theory and practice! Love your stuff and you.. you handsome bastard ! Ps. yes we are all subscribed and i just bought two of your plugins.. they are f-in kickass! And guess what! One of the guys bought the blue Benton that you recommended and he loves it. I’ve recorded with it and boy.. what a kickass sound for the low cost! Stay awesome dude! ❤🤘🏻
I tremendously appreciate the work (well.. research really) that you have done here. I was unfortunate to have all my stuff stolen when I was young but insurance allowed we to recalibrate my belongings to an ADA MP-1, the matched power amp, a Quadraverb and a Carvin 4x12. I didn't understand how lucky I was in those choices. Moving forward now, after I gave up on a career in music, I am able to afford equipment I could only once dream of and I sort of organically began to understand precisely what you have brilliantly demonstrated. While I would say my SLO-30 does 'feel' a more capable piece of equipment than others I have, it wasn't until I built my own cabinet and challenged myself with dramatically different speakers that I stumbled upon big, and favorable, changes to my sound profile. My advice to those still in the denial stage would be to try 3-4 sets of speakers.. if it's an embarrassing result, no need to confess - but consider that for many, money is a finite and the cheapest lesson is one you learn at someone else's expense. btw - Foundation was slow.. but did get interesting. 3 Body Problem was solid. For All Mankind is also really solid in that genre if you haven't seen it.
I own an old cheap harley benton guitar combo amp, it has quite mediocre sound, but I just built a cabinet and put a Celestion midnight and a Celestion seventy 80 into it and now it sound awesome. I also have two really old (like 50 years old) Goodmans speakers, that are in a repair shop now, they need reconing, and ever since I heard the Goodmans sound in the video with you and Kristian Kohle I'm really excited to experiment with them. I cannot wait to get them back finally.
I've been playing the same Deluxe Reverb since 1983. It still works great. I eventually went into electrical engineering. Only mods were to the otherwise unused, "normal" channel to add reverb/trem and a couple of capacitors/resistors to tighten up the bass in that channel (ala early non-master Marshall) to make it more pedal and crank up friendly. Best money I've ever spent. I can mic it up for just about any tone you want and it is easy to carry.
Mate one more comment... One thing that I learnt & it's especially important to me because I've started busking {street performing}. Depending on where I'm sitting in my room or more so, when I'm on the street so to speak, the sound is usually fine but sometimes it just doesn't sound right & I'm pretty sure it always comes down to the "acoustics" of where I'm playing. Lol, can't remember what this comment was in reference to but I'm sure you'll figure it out for me. Too early. More coffee needed 🤣🤟🏻🎸
The magic- thing: Although I'm a big believer in data, we all know that when it comes to art, some things the artist works with have a certain "je ne sais quoi", that little extra you can't catch in data. That's why you get people who keep coming back to that one guitar, that one brush, that one thing that makes it special for them. Because you said it yourself; it's art.
You can catch everything with data, as long as you’re diligent enough and know what the variables are. I see two main reasons why people come back to that one thing: placebo, and “it just works”. “It just works” is not a problem because that’s what we ultimately want out of anything: that it does its job, and ideally does it exactly how we want to. Edit: art is not about mystical whatnots that “data can’t catch”. It’s about creatively expressing an idea, using the tools that we have.
@blackfowl75 I wasn't implying there's anything magical about them. Just that they care about their "gear" and the diner doesn't. BTW, Chefs spend hundreds on their knives. They don't walk into the kitchen and say, "Just bring me the sharp knives." They own their own knives and take them with them wherever they go.
@@castleanthrax1833 If you don’t agree with the “magic” thing, I’m not sure why you replied to this comment. Also, the reason chefs buy expensive knives is because they’re objectively better than cheap knives. And the reason why they have their own knives, is because it gives consistent results, which you can’t guarantee if you just take random knives in a kitchen. However, if there was some kind of standard which would guarantee that kitchens have great knives that are razor-sharp, it would be different. But I see now that this is diverging from the original discussion so feel free to disregard it.
What am I going to do with all this time that I used to spend researching gear? I guess I'm just going to have to practice.... I do think it would be helpful for some of us to have a speaker's frequency response graph described in terms of what it means for your tone with a few sound demos. Just a thought. Love the content, thanks man!
Somebody draw a cartoon of a waiter, but instead of a wine bottle he's got a Mesa Dual rec and he's offering the patron the tubes to sniff (Can't draw or I would myself) Step two: t shirts?
Hey Glenn, I'm just starting out recording and I've read a bunch of articles and watched a ton of your videos. I think I understand what I need to buy, but one thing still confuses the hell out of me. Do I need a Re-Amp box or a DI box? Or both? Could you please clarify what they are and which one a home recording person should buy. I just want to get the best recording I possibly can and not waste my money. Thanks and have a great day!
Im loving your content, i am returning to playing after nearly 20years off. I still have my old gear, Randall vmax head, and arrgh a Behringer 4x12 Jensens cab. Im definitely looking into replacing 2 speakers to work on getting a nicer tone. Im all for the new ways people are doing things, but i also wanna gig this rig aswell, so I'll stick with my old man amp for now. Thanks for the zero bullshit gear tests and reviews. Saves me buying more amps and guitars. 🤘🏻
On digital processing of vocals: Autotune is only ever bloody awful. Tuning correction during post-processing is a standard practice, but one expert has said (accurately I think) that the better you are as a vocalist, the more you have to lose by digital auto-correction. It's the imperfections that add artistry to vocal performance.
You would practically not touch a star-vocalist track with autotune, so that's already out of the question. It then cooks down to;: music with autotune in the mix are inferior, due to the lack of interest from real singers, so you had the neighbor's bonus-boy fill in on your latest nu-metal gone Bieber pop-rap ;D
I think that you’re forgetting that these tools not only have a threshold for correction, and that in the worst case scenario, you can automate the on/off state of that plugin.
This is a general comment, whenever I plug in, and try to record anything, since watching your videos, (especially when I want to cut a corner) there you are, like my fucking mum, over my shoulder, saying whatever I shouldn't be doing, and keeping me on the path of righteousness... Thank you so much, love your attitude, and the wisdom, much respect!
Shogun is awesome so far, I haven't finished it yet but so far I like it a lot. I only watched the first episode of Body but I thought it was great and can't wait to see the rest of it as well. Thanks for everything you do Glenn, you FN Rock!!
I know its not an exact science but I used a cab ir loader and downloaded cab irs for a few speakers that I was looking at. Recorded my amp direct so I had a control and swapped out the irs. There are of course differences in the cab, mic placement & distance, etc but it gave me a good idea of what the differences are and helped to make my decision.
@13:21 thanks for the shoutout! Just for the record, the majority of my videos get copyright claimed (despite me making absolutely sure that all versions compared are at EQUAL volume), not taken down.The only thing I get blocked is Ozzy and Dio comparisons and I wonder why that might be...🤔
Hey Glenn! I'd love your thoughts on this: if you record a dry signal for re-amping, that sounds smart. But I noticed that your guitar players will automatically adjust their playing to the amp for best sound. If you're using a re-amp, won't it sound worse on every amp that isn't the one originally recorded since the guitarist was likely playing to that amp? I think the re-amp box is the way to go for A/B tests, but I'd love to hear what your expierence has tought you about playing to the amp.
I agree with you about the perfect performance, Glenn. The reason I love the Rolling Stones is because you can hear the imperfections coming through. I also loved Soundgarden for the same reason… Geez, I’m aging myself.👀 I think the easiest way to achieve” amp magic” is to use an eq in the effect loop
I have a Peavey Valveking. It's amazing!!! It was very cheap, I just had to invested and a couple of good quality 12" Eminence Governor Speakers. I have zero regrets. The tones are killer, I spent less than $800 in everything. All thanks to listen to you Glenn. Best regards from Costa Rica.
I don't remember ever hearing a "re-mastered" album that was an improvement on the original. EDIT: I appreciate the tips, but the idea was NOT to request suggestions, but to make a point about demographics. Cheers.
They can be. A lot of CDs from the 80s weren't that great. They tended to have too much treble and not enough mid and and bass, so they sounded "thin." The problem with a lot of remasters is instead of just tweaking the EQ, they crank the volume, causing two issues: loss of dynamics and clipped sound. Both of those things cause listening fatigue. Just search on the Loudness Wars for all the info. It's been covered to death, so I don't feel there's a reason for Glenn to add his two cents, but more power to him if he thinks he can add to the discussion.
@@glauer42 I'm familiar with the broad stroke aspects of the loudness wars. But yeah, just throwin' it out there. ...Not that there are NO albums that haven't been improved by a quality re-mastering ...I just haven't ever heard one in my personal listening experience. ....I think that alone, says something ...is my point.
Great video Glenn. I replaced my 4 EL84 valves/ tubes on my H&K Grandmeister Deluxe 40 with JJs bought from a local reseller here. Not because I wanted to - it was because i had a failure. I bought the amp from Thomanns shipped down to NZ. They RMA’d it at their cost, shipped it back after confirming the factory shipped Chinese valves were the issue. Being out of work I couldn’t afford a quad set outright but found a reseller willing to let me pay it off over a couple of months. Valves are in, no more issues and guess what? Sounds exactly the same which is good 😎 Tone valves/tubes hey ? 😂🤣😂🤣 Cheers from NZ 😎🎸🤘
I love the Peavey Valvekings and wish Peavey would bring them back. I almost bought a Valveking II combo last year for $350. I regret not snatching it up. Solid sounding amp for the classic rock/traditional metal tones I dig.
Glenn, i actually had the same strings on my Strat style guitar and my B.C. Rich. I needed a brighter sound and - guess what. THEY SOUNDED THE SAME. So i took my pliers and rewired the Strat to have some thinner, less metal sounding strings. And guess what - it worked! thanks!
Hey Glen, I'm trying to find my own sound right now and have started to look to the right part of the signal chain, thanks to you. So I think about equipping a cabinet with two different types of speakers, I'm really fond of the Celestion Greenback 24 Watts at 16 Ohm, but I'm not sure yet what would make a nice couple with it to make the sound a bit gnarlier, or if mixing different speakers in the same cabinet is a good idea at all. Cheers from Germany.
Hey, Glenn! I'd love to hear you talk about tube amp reliability and ease of repair. What are some good options for gigging musicians who want want a solid high-gain tube amp that holds up well and doesn't make amp techs run away in fear when it comes in for repairs?
@@shanealan2995 I've heard that about Peavey in general. I've got an old VHT Deliverance that has never given me a problem. But I've heard horror stories about Mesas. I imagine the Carvin V3 has also gotta be a nightmare considering everything going on in there!
@@DesertGuyAZ Yeah buddy, I had the V3M and on paper it was PERFECT. Power scaling, 3 channels, portable gig bag, cool LEDs etc. Then it arrived....I literally tried everything I could to make it sound decent. Tubes, speaker cabs etc and it was the most shrill unforgiving piece of junk I've ever heard. Like I said I really wanted to like it but even as a pedal platform it barely sounded decent, not even close to good. Never been more disappointed in a musical purchase.
Hey Glenn, been watching ur vids for a couple months and im really liking them so far, i wanted to ask you if you think sound and tone are different. Like, if i put one guitar player 1 to play through guitar player 2s rig. He wont get the sound of guitar player 2 but will get the tone of player 1 and vice versa. I just wanted to know what you think of that and if it could be a debunk to the “tone is in the gear/in the hand” stuff
Glenn, longtime viewer, recent subscriber. I'm an old school metal head. I love Black Sabbath (only with Ward and Ozzy), Judas Priest, Scorpions, and AC/DC. I can't deal with the Cookie Monster vocals of modern metal.Great phrase BTW, Cookie Monster vicals, i call it puke singing because to me it sounds like vomiting into a microphone. I got into post rock, basically soundscape-y ambient instrumentals to help me fall asleep 4 yrs ago during the dark times. I had been recording myself for friends and family doing 70s style classic rock and I found you looking for Reaper tutorials. The post rock thing is mostly very clean tones with lots of reverb. I have found your tutorials very helpful for recording clean tones. I've had some minor success with that style. I'm wanting to get back to I guess what is now called doom, I'd call it real metal. To me panning is a huge part of what makes that style sound so good. Like when I hear Black Sabbath Paranoid or Masters of reality, the panning of Bill Ward's drums makes me feel like I'm spinning. U love that. Panning on Van Halen I was incredible. Can you please do a tutorial on panning? It's also big in the ambient world and I'm always keen to learn better ways to achieve great sounds.
Glllleeeeennn ???? Love your content and appreciate all the helpful information you provide. I've taken your advice and have decided to replace the stock speakers in my 4 × 12 cab . I have purchased a Mojotone British Vintage 16 ohm / 60 watt & a Celestian Vintage 30 16 ohm / 60 watt to start the swap over ... Waiting for them to arrive ... *QUESTION* : is there a "wattage" preference you lean towards when changing speakers and if so why ?? I went with the 60 watt versions because that's what was closest to what was in the cab originally. Thanks in advance for your response !! Keep up the good work !!!
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Thing about speaker „breaking in”: you have to watch the coil temperature, it’s kinda obvious that hot coil gonna act a bit different. Common thing to tune the sound at the gigs due to coil temperature. The thing with speaker „breaking in” is some dudes claim that moving parts such as speaker suspension loosen up and therefore it sounds different. Supposedly. Worth checking
Speaking of expensive vs cheaper tube amps, would be curious to see a video comparing a "high end" tube amp to its Bugera counterpart. I had a Bugera 6260 (5150 knock off) back in the day but sold it. Wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts about that or about the Bugera brand in general. Cheers
I'm not Glen, but the Eminence Legend BP102 10-inch 400-watt Replacement Bass Amp Speaker - 8 ohm Works great for me in a 4x10 GK cab. But I have only tried a few.
Glenn, love your content! What are your thoughts on TECH 21(SANS AMP) Gear? I have the PSA 2.0. There is no tube amp tone that I cant get from it in my usage anyway. Was just inquiring about if you have ever used any of TECH 21 gear in your recordings?🤘
And for breaking in speakers. And iso box is great idea. What most people do at least in the hi-fi community is run white and pink noise through for anywhere from a few hours or a day or two. There could in theory be some merit to it. But I haven't seen any definitive tests.
I don’t record beyond an interface to my iPad so I won’t be getting a reload box. However, I do use a looper pedal at the end of my signal chain for testing my sound through different amps. It does comes in handy at a sound check when you don’t have a sound guy. I’ll record a simple loop and check the sound levels and tones from the audience perspective. When it comes to speakers, it is somewhat hard to do because you can buy a new speaker but companies like Sweetwater won’t let you return them. Oddly you can buy a cabinet and return it..
I have a tiny Blackstar ID Coe stereo 40, original version. . It sounds great for the diminutive size. with a pair of 6.5 in. speakers. I will soon add a pair of switched 1/4 in output jacks to grive a pair of 4X8 verticla tower cabs to stand to either sie of my xig screen . I will also intefrate the towera into the surround system through a switching box to select the signal source. from amp to surround ro to towers or any combo as I wish. I also just finished the Strat based Stellarcaster I built . ... 3 humbuckers each with P/P coil splitting 500 k vol. pots , # 500L tone pots one of which is also a P/p to activate the nec and bridge regardless of 5-way selector se. position .. It looks and sounds great with the stars and planets space theme paint on the body and head stock and the Pickups and controls are all mounted in a custom hand made stainless steel pick guarl. the control cavity and pick guard are extended further down and around the bridge with the output jack also in the pick guard. I added roller saddles and a ful size solid brass trem slock , a titanium nut and roller strin tree, as well as locking tuners. looks soo coool and plays great with 9-46 strin set tuner to E-Flat. llike any good Strat should be. ... Wanna Play?
3 body problem is pretty good, definitely worth a watch. A signature speaker would be sick, or even a small line of speakers that cover vintage and modern tones, high and low power.
If you want to "break in" a speaker fast then hook it up to a variac and adjust the voltage till the speaker is close to its X max and run it for a minute or two. Let the voice coil cool down and repeat three or four times. All you are doing is softening the spider and the cone surround. Cloth surrounds break in less that paper surrounds so keep that in mind.
Hey Glen! I think you should do a comparison video with the lunchbox heads vs there fullsize counterparts! That way we can see your attention to detail show what tube sound vs a solid state emulation of them sound like side by side!
3 Body Problem is a stellar show, pretty close to the book as well. I’m excited to see what they do with the rest of the series. It’s done by the showrunners for Game Of Thrones, but luckily when they have written works to go off of and they’re not having to go in their own they do a good job (ie the first 5-6 seasons)
Pleasantly surprised to see you mention the valveking I keep recommending the vk series from peavy to people but no one seems to care about them because no one well known is using them it seems, I have had the 212 for a long time and they're infinitely moddable with adding a resistor here a jumper there or a valve swap on the pre you can get it to sound like a jcm800 or even a mesa...you can even make the mods switchable and since it's not a highly sought after amp they're cheap af but the circuitry is almost identical to those other amps. The only downsides I can think of with them is I see a lot with wrecked pots that are not easy to find replacements for being proprietary 5 pin (though if you're willing to do some janky wiring you can get away with any in the right value) the texture pot on the back doesn't seem to do anything but make it a little louder it's supposed to allow you to blend between the power stage acting like an A or an AB class by blending the signal away from 2 of the 4 power tubes idk I never really notice a difference, the 2 channels are wired up in a weird way too I cant explain it but if you put a dummy plug (like a 6.3 to 3.5mm adaptor) into the second channel not connected to anything while plugged into channel 1 you seem to get a touch more gain then when you roll it off it responds a little more...predictably? I guess...they're not isolated from each other is the main point which is a bit weird. Also it would be nice if there was a master volume control...newer ones might have it but even mine SAYS master over one pot but it's talking about master volume of the reverb not the overall output I found putting an expression pedal in the effect loop is a pretty good way of getting the same thing though if you wanted to I guess you could solder a pot to two 6.3mm plugs at the right distance and use that. Other than all that I wouldn't say best amp in the world but definitely a seriously under appreciated amp that I imagine is going to get very expensive when people realise how good they are
Don’t get me wrong…. I love my quirky niche metal tube combo of choice… but I’m open to anything that sounds really good. The last time I went into the studio I trusted the guy running it, and ran through a boost and a real 5150 head into a cab sim. Sounded great. Love it. Gonna try it with the direct outs on my amp next time.
Hey Glenn! I am looking to upgrade my speakers for my cab. I am in a two piece rock band and often play with an octave pedal to fill the low end. Are there any guitar speakers you would recommend for that setup?
running two boss 2x12 cabs loaded with two Swamp Things + two V30s , the Mk ii 100 head with all the "sneaky amps" really shines now. It easily competes with any amp on the market!!
I just fitted new power valves to my Engl Powerball II and my Marshall TSL100. The Powerball went from Engl 6L6s to JJs, I couldn't perceive any difference in overall tone. The TSL100 had TungSols in it and as they're stupid expensive, that got JJs too. That was a huge difference. Same EQ positions (I know this amplifier inside and out as I've serviced and repaired hundreds of them easily). The reason I heard not much difference on the Engl is it has a very clean power section while its dirt and saturation is almost entirely preamp driven. Conversely, the TSL100 is very dirty on the power stage and the two sections like most Marshalls play off each other greatly. It's also a big reason why many suggest Marshalls tend to want to be loud. But to state that valves make no difference at all is a bit of a misnomer. While I can explain the now "fuller" sound of the TSL100 due to swapping tired and old power valves out for new ones, the apparent brighter high-end together with an overall lessened low end I cannot quite other than to say... valves do make a difference. I have also refitted countless preamp valves to the TSL100 (and other Marshalls besides) and learned over the years to try and avoid EH valves for it. The reason is they sound oversaturated and really make the high end quite nasty. None of this was brought from any internet forums, this is me, on my own, in a room just after repairing stuff for people or my own gear. In which case, if you could kindly tell to me how I am wrong on this when it's been my experience numerous times, I would be grateful.
GLEEEEEN! Can you please make a video where you take old modelers/multi-effect units like older DigiTech, or Boss, Zoom, or Line6 units and try to give them a new lease on life by pairing them with modern IRs? It would be a great experiment, I have even tried that myself with my old DigiTech RP500 with varying degrees of success.
Glenn! I went to a live show in South Korea. There was a guitar player using a Quad Cortex and an Artistides guitar. His tone was massive! Not a tube or piece of tonewood in sight. And there were 2 house JCM 2000 Marshall's with 4x12 cabinets. Some dummy guitar players kept putting the mics dead center of the speaker and it sounded awful. I told the sound guy, he moved it to be a little off the dust cap and it sounded better....guitar players put it back in the dead center.
Hey Glenn, I was curious to know what you thought about amp modeling vs real amps in a live setting. Recently went to a show where the opening act used amplifiers while the headliners used modeling. I myself have used modeling live and was blown away by how much real amps seemed to fill a void in the frequencies. The opening act was thick, you could distinguish each instrument from eachother while the Headliners drums, bass, and guitars seemed to ride the same line. With the mention of speakers on your channel, I was wondering how much of a difference it makes when going direct with impulse responses or cabs sims VS miking a live cab? Is it the same in the studio? Thanks!
glenn! i listened to your advice and bought a used 6505+ 60 watt combo for only 500! thats a good price nowadays, especially in norway. But i want to change out the speaker like you said, is using a greenback thats only rated at 25 watts a bad idea? i also really liked the sound of the EVH speaker, but its only 20 watts
2:05 Hey Glenn. You mention the sanitized artificial performances. How do you feel about the Kevin Shirley era of Iron Maiden from a recording perspective? I know people have mixed opinions about the lengthy songs, but the recordings themselves have a vibe about them that feel like the band are playing together in a room rather than something that has been meticulously mixed. How do you feel about this?
GLEN!!! I am struggling to get clarity in my mixes without crushing it with a limiter/clipper on the master channel. It gets the sound I want but I'm concerned about overwhelming the listener. Do you have any suggestions for threshold or ratios to avoid or should I just go by feel and if it sounds good just leave it alone?
I learned early on NOT to get hung up on amps. I would use anything that worked well, and in some cases I chose to use a particular amp because it was either lighter or more compact. When I was fourteen I was in a band and the drummer had a few amps in his garage, all owned by his big brother who played guitar but was off to college. A JCM combo, a Gallien Kreuger, and a Crate. I decided I liked the GK, not just because of how it sounded but because it was compact. It was very heavy for such a small solid-state amp, but it sounded massive with that stereo effect. Another time I chose to use my Randall RG75 because I liked how it sounded and it was lighter than my Marshall stack and took up less space. I never got hung up on amps. I would use what made sense and try anything. I still do. And now I'm going to take plugins for a spin on my own computer having tried them at a friend's studio.
To the guy wondering about the differences between cables. Ill try to ELI5 it TS: Stands for Tip/Sleave. These are just a 2 point connection cable, usually the case is that it is one signal wire and one shielded wire. There are exceptions to this rule as will be clarified later. TS cables are unbalanced. TRS: Stands for Tip/Ring/Sleave. These are are a 3 point connection cables. These cables consist of 3 wires and are very common in stereo headphones (Left, Right, Shield Ground) and balanced cables (Hot, Cold, Shield Ground). XLR Cables follow the same concept. Unbalanced Cables: TS cable that carries one signal and can be susceptible to picking up noise. Balanced cables: TRS/XLR cables that carries the same signal across both Tip and Ring cables, but one is inverted in phase. The reason is so that any noise that is picked up during the cable length will be cancelled out when the phase gets reinverted. That being said, both instrument and speaker cables are TS cables but there is a main difference: Instrument Cable: Consist of a signal wire and a shielded ground. This prevents incoming noise picked up along the length of cable. Speaker cables: Consists of 2 normal wires with no shielded ground. Any noise that is picked up during the cable length is inaudible as the speaker cable is carrying an amplified signal. Important note: while you can use an instrument cable over a speaker cable, in my experience the instrument cable is MORE LIKELY to break because of the shielded ground. If this happens when you are playing a tube amp, you run the risk of frying it. THIS IS WHY YOU GET A SPEAKER CABLE. *That manager should be canned*
GLEEEENNNNNNNN! Gigging for many years and getting sick of carting around 4x12’s or 2x12 cabs to rehearsals and gigs (alright yeah I’m old), I’d like to reduce weight and portability if possible. So with that in mind I’d like to build a 2x10 cab…. I know a fair few combos came with 10 inch speakers (epiphone and vox used some with 10” speakers). So with that in mind, do you know of /recommend any decent guitar speakers in the 10” size at all? Thanks Kev, UK
I see you use isolation under your monitors. ..I just want to tell I've seen a negative video on using concrete slabs. Mesurements were clear on that. Can't remember if he used isolation?
Glen is the real deal. Dill with it he backs everything he does. Don't see anyone else doing that. 😢and he is a great dude for trying to help and save musicians money 💰 how many others do you see do this..thanks Glen for all you do 🎉
I have several old Marshall amps from the late 60s to the late 70s. They all work, but I really don't play anymore (guitars are not for sale) . Are they worth anything?
I totally agree on the speaker thing. My V30 sounds great no matter what I plug into it, and I have another speaker that sounds like complete garbage no matter what I plug into it or how I tweak settings. I spent years twisting knobs and playing with different overdrives, then I snagged that V30 plugged my amp in and almost immediately got the sounds I was looking for. Night and day differences between them. I still love messing with real amps though. Probably more of a habit thing now, it's how I grew up. Funny thing is I'm a software developer, you'd think I'd be 100% on the modeler/digital train and have completely abandoned traditional amps by now. But you know, sometimes the process of plugging into the interface, firing up all the software, getting your presets/IR's loaded, oh wait, one has an update, let's wait for that to download as my motivation to play drops faster than the download progress bar completes.... is just a whole lot more work than plugging into the front of something you know will sound good, flipping a couple switches and jamming.
I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on the 70/80s. I've been using them in my Traynor YCV80 and absolutely love them for the real high gain stuff. What about them makes them any worse? I would've never pegged them as shitty speakers after playing v30s and or greenbacks.
The last time I plugged into 70/80s I thought they were nice! I bought an Orange AD30HTC last year and tested it in the shop through a Marshall Origin 212 cab. Sounded great. I didn't A/B it with anything else but then I wasn't exactly focused on the cab at the time. But I ended up buying the Orange. Sounded pretty awesome.
@@Polyphemus. I did a couple of A/B tests this last week to listen to the differences between the 70/80s and a pair of v30's and I honestly Loved them both on high gain. The 70/80's do the 80's treble high gain super well, but have basically a mid boost built into them. So as long as you're aware of what frequencies it boosts naturally and can control them, they sound amazing.
Yes definitely the valveking episode! I used to have one and love it but it was far too much for what I needed and sold it on. Had people turning their noses up at the cheaper Peavey rather than me getting a 6505/5150 but I always thought it sounded great
I once did an a/b comparsion between the original AC/DC "High Voltage" album and the remastered version. Turns out the "remaster" is just louder. There are virtually no differences when the volumes are matched. They didn't even bother to get rid of that high pitched noise/squeal that always annoyed the F out of me on the early AC/DC CD prints, which was my reason to buy the remaster in the first place.
A few months ago you suggested a viewer invest in a direct box (never a bad idea) in order to combat "the Focusrite sound" of his interface when tracking guitars. I'm curious what that 'sound' is, and how adding an extra transformer to the signal chain would help considering it still has to run through the same offending Focusrite preamp and conversion hardware. Not to be a nudge and keep asking, but I have an old Focusrite (like, pre-Scarlett old !) and my direct DIs never seem to have any snap, sparkle or shine and I'm worried that I'm trying to ice skate uphill with this interface. 😅 I don't gig or even jam with friends anymore, so I would LOVE to go entirely ITB and unload all these amps and cabs and pedals while there's still some semblance of a used market, but I cannot for the life of me get an even remotely acceptable sound using amp sims. Yes, I've checked/swapped out/etc the strings, pickups, cables, DI boxes, interface, headroom, gain staging, input level, monitors, room issues, etc and even with a sim's bass turned all the way down and treble all the way up my Strat bridge pickup sounds like the neck humbucker on a jazz archtop with the tone knob rolled off and two different cab IRs accidentally running at the same time. It's incredibly frustrating to say the least. 😆
Hello glenn, love your content, watch every single video, dumb question, what if instead i dont buy a 100 dollar speaker and use a 50 dollar EQ pedal instead?
Speaking of underappreciated Peavey's and the Windsor area... Have you heard of Peavey Windsor? I've heard only good things about them, but I'd love to hear Your opinion about them.
Do you have any knowledge as to what causes the differences on speakers that are so critical to the final sound? Buying speakers is still quite a black box beyond the response curves and still fall into the same traps of being described like pickups when viewing. Would be really interesting to see if design, cone, magnet, pleating etc and how this affects final tone
"Art is never perfect" You said it, Glen. Personally, I think one of the things that has made rock music in previous decades, especially before the 2000s, so great is that it absolutely was not perfect or amazing mind blowing high tech audio quality. But we love it anyways! Because it's art and it's fun!
Would be very interested to hear you put a Peavey Valveking to the test haha. I nearly bought one myself recently when looking for a budget live rig, but ended up going down the amp modelling rabbit hole instead.
For recording, I have a heavily gigged Marshall cab with G12s (still gig it) that sounds way better than a newish Mesa Recto with V30s that was bought for and stays in the studio. I chalk that up to the wear on speakers 'cause I can remember the Marshall sounding harsh in the 90s.
Warren Huart did a tour at the Audeze factory and they basically said the whole breaking in speakers is just to make it match a speaker (in this case, membrane) that has seen use from day 1 and as a quality control method. They didn't mention any increase in sound quality or openness.
One thing about mid- higher end wines, they generally are higher manufacturing quality and lower in pesticide concentration. Which lowering glyphosphate intake is nice.
Penn & Teller's Bullshit episode on Water was hilarious. Especially when they got everyone to sign that petition to ban water. Magic is measured in Unicorn Farts.
12:45 damn, I'm not in the Windsor area, but I actually just sold mine a year ago when I made the switch to a modeler. If I still had it I definitely would have sent it your way
Glen, to your point about speakers...I'm a bassist and was running two amps with my Ric 4003. At the time, they were a GK 400RB through a Hartke 4x10 and a pre-Fender SWR through a Hartke 2x10 and a homemade 15 with an Orion car stereo speaker. Decent sound but not what I was after. Hartkes started taking a dump and replaced the 4x10s with Eminence. Those speakers alone made a HUGE difference! Well, if some is good, then more is better. Replaced the 2x10s and the 15 with Eminence as well. Years go by, job pays more and I replaced both the amps. Micro VR (4 ohms) in place of the GK, Portaflex 350 in place of the SWR (8 ohms)...The sound I've been chasing is here. It all started by replacing the speakers.
I started using Eminence bass speakers about 25 years ago. Over time I’ve probably put 10-15 of them in different cabs. Except for a 1976 Ampeg 8x10 w/ the original speakers (that I did NOT remove) the Eminence are always an upgrade.
3 body problem is really good, just don't expect a resolution to the story in season 1. There were 3 (kind of 4) books in the series and this is just the start of a journey you can't even imagine. I just hope they continue making more seasons!
For the remaster episode, I think a null test is a must! Definitely willing to contribute to help make that happen.
Haha!!! You should see how the fart-sniffer Ludwig snare owners are like
Punchy, yet warm?
@@SpectreSoundStudios “With a bottom end that blooms when struck hard.”
It's obvious the real conspiracy is that @spectresoundstudios sells speakers, and is a share holder!
Glen, wft is a reamp boooooox?!?!? Please make a video for dummies about it! Ive watched your channel for a while, but i still dont know what it is...
@@Guilhermetmfrancohe has…a few times
Thank you so much for everything! Not only am i learning really good lessons with home-recording, i did recommend your channel to a bunch of people that want to start playing -but dont know where to start. There are so many people out there that thinks you need the most expensive stuff to sound good. Not thinking about theory and practice! Love your stuff and you.. you handsome bastard !
Ps. yes we are all subscribed and i just bought two of your plugins.. they are f-in kickass! And guess what! One of the guys bought the blue Benton that you recommended and he loves it. I’ve recorded with it and boy.. what a kickass sound for the low cost!
Stay awesome dude! ❤🤘🏻
Nothing like getting yelled at by Glenn in the morning. This is that part of this timeline I actually enjoy! 🍻 Cheers!
My wife is always like "Oh great it's the guy who yells alot😂" when ever I start the video
@@karterestill 🤣….. my wife too!
@@darkonation Same here 🤣
I am certainly here for the abuse!
Glenn Danzig maybe...
I tremendously appreciate the work (well.. research really) that you have done here. I was unfortunate to have all my stuff stolen when I was young but insurance allowed we to recalibrate my belongings to an ADA MP-1, the matched power amp, a Quadraverb and a Carvin 4x12. I didn't understand how lucky I was in those choices. Moving forward now, after I gave up on a career in music, I am able to afford equipment I could only once dream of and I sort of organically began to understand precisely what you have brilliantly demonstrated. While I would say my SLO-30 does 'feel' a more capable piece of equipment than others I have, it wasn't until I built my own cabinet and challenged myself with dramatically different speakers that I stumbled upon big, and favorable, changes to my sound profile.
My advice to those still in the denial stage would be to try 3-4 sets of speakers.. if it's an embarrassing result, no need to confess - but consider that for many, money is a finite and the cheapest lesson is one you learn at someone else's expense.
btw - Foundation was slow.. but did get interesting. 3 Body Problem was solid. For All Mankind is also really solid in that genre if you haven't seen it.
I have a Tube head, A solid State modelr and amp sims of tube amps, I love them all
I own an old cheap harley benton guitar combo amp, it has quite mediocre sound, but I just built a cabinet and put a Celestion midnight and a Celestion seventy 80 into it and now it sound awesome. I also have two really old (like 50 years old) Goodmans speakers, that are in a repair shop now, they need reconing, and ever since I heard the Goodmans sound in the video with you and Kristian Kohle I'm really excited to experiment with them. I cannot wait to get them back finally.
I've been playing the same Deluxe Reverb since 1983. It still works great. I eventually went into electrical engineering. Only mods were to the otherwise unused, "normal" channel to add reverb/trem and a couple of capacitors/resistors to tighten up the bass in that channel (ala early non-master Marshall) to make it more pedal and crank up friendly. Best money I've ever spent. I can mic it up for just about any tone you want and it is easy to carry.
Mate one more comment... One thing that I learnt & it's especially important to me because I've started busking {street performing}. Depending on where I'm sitting in my room or more so, when I'm on the street so to speak, the sound is usually fine but sometimes it just doesn't sound right & I'm pretty sure it always comes down to the "acoustics" of where I'm playing. Lol, can't remember what this comment was in reference to but I'm sure you'll figure it out for me. Too early. More coffee needed 🤣🤟🏻🎸
The magic- thing:
Although I'm a big believer in data, we all know that when it comes to art, some things the artist works with have a certain "je ne sais quoi", that little extra you can't catch in data. That's why you get people who keep coming back to that one guitar, that one brush, that one thing that makes it special for them.
Because you said it yourself; it's art.
Yep. Gear is for the artist... not the admirer.
Nobody cares what knives the chef used to make that awesome "dish," but the chef certainly does.
You can catch everything with data, as long as you’re diligent enough and know what the variables are. I see two main reasons why people come back to that one thing: placebo, and “it just works”. “It just works” is not a problem because that’s what we ultimately want out of anything: that it does its job, and ideally does it exactly how we want to.
Edit: art is not about mystical whatnots that “data can’t catch”. It’s about creatively expressing an idea, using the tools that we have.
@@castleanthrax1833Pretty sure chefs only care that the knife they’re using is one that’s fit for the job and sharp.
@blackfowl75 I wasn't implying there's anything magical about them. Just that they care about their "gear" and the diner doesn't.
BTW, Chefs spend hundreds on their knives. They don't walk into the kitchen and say, "Just bring me the sharp knives." They own their own knives and take them with them wherever they go.
@@castleanthrax1833 If you don’t agree with the “magic” thing, I’m not sure why you replied to this comment.
Also, the reason chefs buy expensive knives is because they’re objectively better than cheap knives. And the reason why they have their own knives, is because it gives consistent results, which you can’t guarantee if you just take random knives in a kitchen. However, if there was some kind of standard which would guarantee that kitchens have great knives that are razor-sharp, it would be different.
But I see now that this is diverging from the original discussion so feel free to disregard it.
What am I going to do with all this time that I used to spend researching gear? I guess I'm just going to have to practice....
I do think it would be helpful for some of us to have a speaker's frequency response graph described in terms of what it means for your tone with a few sound demos. Just a thought. Love the content, thanks man!
I'm a Tube Sniffer! DEAL WITH IT GLENN!!!!!
I use my old tubes as a meth pipe
@@nicholaswechsler9150 ingenuity! You have it Sir.
Don't burn your nose
Somebody draw a cartoon of a waiter, but instead of a wine bottle he's got a Mesa Dual rec and he's offering the patron the tubes to sniff
(Can't draw or I would myself)
Step two: t shirts?
@chrispodesta8105 I'll have 2 Wiffs of the 6L6 good sir, extra hot please...😄
O it smells so warm and harmonicly rich!! Ughgugh
Hey Glenn, I'm just starting out recording and I've read a bunch of articles and watched a ton of your videos. I think I understand what I need to buy, but one thing still confuses the hell out of me. Do I need a Re-Amp box or a DI box? Or both? Could you please clarify what they are and which one a home recording person should buy. I just want to get the best recording I possibly can and not waste my money. Thanks and have a great day!
Im loving your content, i am returning to playing after nearly 20years off. I still have my old gear, Randall vmax head, and arrgh a Behringer 4x12 Jensens cab. Im definitely looking into replacing 2 speakers to work on getting a nicer tone.
Im all for the new ways people are doing things, but i also wanna gig this rig aswell, so I'll stick with my old man amp for now.
Thanks for the zero bullshit gear tests and reviews. Saves me buying more amps and guitars. 🤘🏻
On digital processing of vocals: Autotune is only ever bloody awful. Tuning correction during post-processing is a standard practice, but one expert has said (accurately I think) that the better you are as a vocalist, the more you have to lose by digital auto-correction. It's the imperfections that add artistry to vocal performance.
You would practically not touch a star-vocalist track with autotune, so that's already out of the question. It then cooks down to;: music with autotune in the mix are inferior, due to the lack of interest from real singers, so you had the neighbor's bonus-boy fill in on your latest nu-metal gone Bieber pop-rap ;D
The better you are, the less of that extra processing is needed
I think that you’re forgetting that these tools not only have a threshold for correction, and that in the worst case scenario, you can automate the on/off state of that plugin.
I agree with that. The better the vocalist the more they have to lose by adding poorly applied processing of any type.
@@blackfowl75 Or you can just render pitch correction to a couple of notes in the whole piece and leave the rest alone.
Amp magic is measured in "gnomes" ("gn"). Apparently, you get the best magic running a 16 gnome amp into a 4 gnome cab...
lol
Yep cause the 12 extra gnomes are free and that's where the magic is. Free gnomes
yeah, they are truly not resistance elves, but electricity gnomes man...
Gnomes Law?
This made me chuckle loads😂😂😂
This is a general comment, whenever I plug in, and try to record anything, since watching your videos, (especially when I want to cut a corner) there you are, like my fucking mum, over my shoulder, saying whatever I shouldn't be doing, and keeping me on the path of righteousness... Thank you so much, love your attitude, and the wisdom, much respect!
Shogun is awesome so far, I haven't finished it yet but so far I like it a lot. I only watched the first episode of Body but I thought it was great and can't wait to see the rest of it as well. Thanks for everything you do Glenn, you FN Rock!!
I know its not an exact science but I used a cab ir loader and downloaded cab irs for a few speakers that I was looking at. Recorded my amp direct so I had a control and swapped out the irs. There are of course differences in the cab, mic placement & distance, etc but it gave me a good idea of what the differences are and helped to make my decision.
@13:21 thanks for the shoutout! Just for the record, the majority of my videos get copyright claimed (despite me making absolutely sure that all versions compared are at EQUAL volume), not taken down.The only thing I get blocked is Ozzy and Dio comparisons and I wonder why that might be...🤔
Hey Glenn! I'd love your thoughts on this: if you record a dry signal for re-amping, that sounds smart. But I noticed that your guitar players will automatically adjust their playing to the amp for best sound. If you're using a re-amp, won't it sound worse on every amp that isn't the one originally recorded since the guitarist was likely playing to that amp?
I think the re-amp box is the way to go for A/B tests, but I'd love to hear what your expierence has tought you about playing to the amp.
Great video Glenn, love it when you piss people off! I just got done binging 3 body problem season 1 and I highly recommend it.
what Mac do you recommend? what Mac are you using?is m3 worth it? I currently have m1
Love the new segment Glenn, top shelf mate!
Another great upload Glenn! I've only been watching for a few months and have already saved money on production equipment.
Happy to help!
I agree with you about the perfect performance, Glenn. The reason I love the Rolling Stones is because you can hear the imperfections coming through. I also loved Soundgarden for the same reason… Geez, I’m aging myself.👀 I think the easiest way to achieve” amp magic” is to use an eq in the effect loop
I have a Peavey Valveking. It's amazing!!! It was very cheap, I just had to invested and a couple of good quality 12" Eminence Governor Speakers. I have zero regrets. The tones are killer, I spent less than $800 in everything. All thanks to listen to you Glenn. Best regards from Costa Rica.
Okay... that "conspiracy" bit with the X-files theme is just goddamn priceless. 😂
Isn't Ritchie Blackmore's speaker a Rivera Rock Crusher with the EQ band? You should definitely check that out! It's just the load box with the EQ
I don't remember ever hearing a "re-mastered" album that was an improvement on the original.
EDIT: I appreciate the tips, but the idea was NOT to request suggestions, but to make a point about demographics. Cheers.
Rush - Vapor Trails
They can be. A lot of CDs from the 80s weren't that great. They tended to have too much treble and not enough mid and and bass, so they sounded "thin." The problem with a lot of remasters is instead of just tweaking the EQ, they crank the volume, causing two issues: loss of dynamics and clipped sound. Both of those things cause listening fatigue. Just search on the Loudness Wars for all the info. It's been covered to death, so I don't feel there's a reason for Glenn to add his two cents, but more power to him if he thinks he can add to the discussion.
@@glauer42 I'm familiar with the broad stroke aspects of the loudness wars. But yeah, just throwin' it out there. ...Not that there are NO albums that haven't been improved by a quality re-mastering ...I just haven't ever heard one in my personal listening experience. ....I think that alone, says something ...is my point.
@@swanofnutella4734 The Castle remasters of Iron Maiden's albums, which were done in 1995, are excellent
Megadeth's 2002 reissue of Killing is My Business... counts
Great video Glenn.
I replaced my 4 EL84 valves/ tubes on my H&K Grandmeister Deluxe 40 with JJs bought from a local reseller here.
Not because I wanted to - it was because i had a failure. I bought the amp from Thomanns shipped down to NZ. They RMA’d it at their cost, shipped it back after confirming the factory shipped Chinese valves were the issue.
Being out of work I couldn’t afford a quad set outright but found a reseller willing to let me pay it off over a couple of months.
Valves are in, no more issues and guess what? Sounds exactly the same which is good 😎
Tone valves/tubes hey ? 😂🤣😂🤣
Cheers from NZ 😎🎸🤘
I love the Peavey Valvekings and wish Peavey would bring them back. I almost bought a Valveking II combo last year for $350. I regret not snatching it up. Solid sounding amp for the classic rock/traditional metal tones I dig.
I just bought a Valveking 4x12 cab in damn near mint shape for $240 CDN. I love that people hate the Valveking. Bring on the hate :)
@@Vander_berg I think they are some of the finest amps Peavey or any company have ever produced.
Glenn, i actually had the same strings on my Strat style guitar and my B.C. Rich. I needed a brighter sound and - guess what. THEY SOUNDED THE SAME.
So i took my pliers and rewired the Strat to have some thinner, less metal sounding strings. And guess what - it worked! thanks!
Hey Glen, I'm trying to find my own sound right now and have started to look to the right part of the signal chain, thanks to you. So I think about equipping a cabinet with two different types of speakers, I'm really fond of the Celestion Greenback 24 Watts at 16 Ohm, but I'm not sure yet what would make a nice couple with it to make the sound a bit gnarlier, or if mixing different speakers in the same cabinet is a good idea at all. Cheers from Germany.
Hey, Glenn! I'd love to hear you talk about tube amp reliability and ease of repair. What are some good options for gigging musicians who want want a solid high-gain tube amp that holds up well and doesn't make amp techs run away in fear when it comes in for repairs?
EVH 5150 III. If you want something used and really affordable try a Peavey JSX, Carvin Legacy.
@@shanealan2995 I've heard that about Peavey in general. I've got an old VHT Deliverance that has never given me a problem. But I've heard horror stories about Mesas. I imagine the Carvin V3 has also gotta be a nightmare considering everything going on in there!
@@DesertGuyAZ Yeah buddy, I had the V3M and on paper it was PERFECT. Power scaling, 3 channels, portable gig bag, cool LEDs etc. Then it arrived....I literally tried everything I could to make it sound decent. Tubes, speaker cabs etc and it was the most shrill unforgiving piece of junk I've ever heard. Like I said I really wanted to like it but even as a pedal platform it barely sounded decent, not even close to good. Never been more disappointed in a musical purchase.
Hey Glenn, been watching ur vids for a couple months and im really liking them so far, i wanted to ask you if you think sound and tone are different. Like, if i put one guitar player 1 to play through guitar player 2s rig. He wont get the sound of guitar player 2 but will get the tone of player 1 and vice versa. I just wanted to know what you think of that and if it could be a debunk to the “tone is in the gear/in the hand” stuff
I was wondering if you can go over the pros and cons of buying new speakers vs buying an eq pedal.
Glenn, longtime viewer, recent subscriber. I'm an old school metal head. I love Black Sabbath (only with Ward and Ozzy), Judas Priest, Scorpions, and AC/DC. I can't deal with the Cookie Monster vocals of modern metal.Great phrase BTW, Cookie Monster vicals, i call it puke singing because to me it sounds like vomiting into a microphone. I got into post rock, basically soundscape-y ambient instrumentals to help me fall asleep 4 yrs ago during the dark times. I had been recording myself for friends and family doing 70s style classic rock and I found you looking for Reaper tutorials. The post rock thing is mostly very clean tones with lots of reverb. I have found your tutorials very helpful for recording clean tones. I've had some minor success with that style. I'm wanting to get back to I guess what is now called doom, I'd call it real metal. To me panning is a huge part of what makes that style sound so good. Like when I hear Black Sabbath Paranoid or Masters of reality, the panning of Bill Ward's drums makes me feel like I'm spinning. U love that. Panning on Van Halen I was incredible. Can you please do a tutorial on panning? It's also big in the ambient world and I'm always keen to learn better ways to achieve great sounds.
You don't like Ronnie James Dio? Your opinions are invalid =P
Glllleeeeennn ???? Love your content and appreciate all the helpful information you provide. I've taken your advice and have decided to replace the stock speakers in my 4 × 12 cab . I have purchased a Mojotone British Vintage 16 ohm / 60 watt & a Celestian Vintage 30 16 ohm / 60 watt to start the swap over ... Waiting for them to arrive ... *QUESTION* : is there a "wattage" preference you lean towards when changing speakers and if so why ?? I went with the 60 watt versions because that's what was closest to what was in the cab originally. Thanks in advance for your response !! Keep up the good work !!!
Thing about speaker „breaking in”: you have to watch the coil temperature, it’s kinda obvious that hot coil gonna act a bit different. Common thing to tune the sound at the gigs due to coil temperature. The thing with speaker „breaking in” is some dudes claim that moving parts such as speaker suspension loosen up and therefore it sounds different. Supposedly. Worth checking
Speaking of expensive vs cheaper tube amps, would be curious to see a video comparing a "high end" tube amp to its Bugera counterpart. I had a Bugera 6260 (5150 knock off) back in the day but sold it. Wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts about that or about the Bugera brand in general. Cheers
Hey Glenn. Bass speaker recommendations?
I'm not Glen, but the Eminence Legend BP102 10-inch 400-watt Replacement Bass Amp Speaker - 8 ohm
Works great for me in a 4x10 GK cab. But I have only tried a few.
Glenn, love your content! What are your thoughts on TECH 21(SANS AMP) Gear? I have the PSA 2.0. There is no tube amp tone that I cant get from it in my usage anyway. Was just inquiring about if you have ever used any of TECH 21 gear in your recordings?🤘
"...Clutch their pearls" Man that's awesome!
I just keep learning with this channel. You mention re amp box, don't know if you have made an episode about that but would be a good one.
And for breaking in speakers. And iso box is great idea. What most people do at least in the hi-fi community is run white and pink noise through for anywhere from a few hours or a day or two. There could in theory be some merit to it. But I haven't seen any definitive tests.
I don’t record beyond an interface to my iPad so I won’t be getting a reload box.
However, I do use a looper pedal at the end of my signal chain for testing my sound through different amps.
It does comes in handy at a sound check when you don’t have a sound guy. I’ll record a simple loop and check the sound levels and tones from the audience perspective.
When it comes to speakers, it is somewhat hard to do because you can buy a new speaker but companies like Sweetwater won’t let you return them. Oddly you can buy a cabinet and return it..
I have a tiny Blackstar ID Coe stereo 40, original version. . It sounds great for the diminutive size. with a pair of 6.5 in. speakers. I will soon add a pair of switched 1/4 in output jacks to grive a pair of 4X8 verticla tower cabs to stand to either sie of my xig screen . I will also intefrate the towera into the surround system through a switching box to select the signal source. from amp to surround ro to towers or any combo as I wish. I also just finished the Strat based Stellarcaster I built . ... 3 humbuckers each with P/P coil splitting 500 k vol. pots , # 500L tone pots one of which is also a P/p to activate the nec and bridge regardless of 5-way selector se. position .. It looks and sounds great with the stars and planets space theme paint on the body and head stock and the Pickups and controls are all mounted in a custom hand made stainless steel pick guarl. the control cavity and pick guard are extended further down and around the bridge with the output jack also in the pick guard. I added roller saddles and a ful size solid brass trem slock , a titanium nut and roller strin tree, as well as locking tuners. looks soo coool and plays great with 9-46 strin set tuner to E-Flat. llike any good Strat should be. ... Wanna Play?
3 body problem is pretty good, definitely worth a watch. A signature speaker would be sick, or even a small line of speakers that cover vintage and modern tones, high and low power.
If you want to "break in" a speaker fast then hook it up to a variac and adjust the voltage till the speaker is close to its X max and run it for a minute or two. Let the voice coil cool down and repeat three or four times. All you are doing is softening the spider and the cone surround. Cloth surrounds break in less that paper surrounds so keep that in mind.
Hey Glen! I think you should do a comparison video with the lunchbox heads vs there fullsize counterparts! That way we can see your attention to detail show what tube sound vs a solid state emulation of them sound like side by side!
3 Body Problem is a stellar show, pretty close to the book as well. I’m excited to see what they do with the rest of the series. It’s done by the showrunners for Game Of Thrones, but luckily when they have written works to go off of and they’re not having to go in their own they do a good job (ie the first 5-6 seasons)
Pleasantly surprised to see you mention the valveking I keep recommending the vk series from peavy to people but no one seems to care about them because no one well known is using them it seems, I have had the 212 for a long time and they're infinitely moddable with adding a resistor here a jumper there or a valve swap on the pre you can get it to sound like a jcm800 or even a mesa...you can even make the mods switchable and since it's not a highly sought after amp they're cheap af but the circuitry is almost identical to those other amps.
The only downsides I can think of with them is I see a lot with wrecked pots that are not easy to find replacements for being proprietary 5 pin (though if you're willing to do some janky wiring you can get away with any in the right value) the texture pot on the back doesn't seem to do anything but make it a little louder it's supposed to allow you to blend between the power stage acting like an A or an AB class by blending the signal away from 2 of the 4 power tubes idk I never really notice a difference, the 2 channels are wired up in a weird way too I cant explain it but if you put a dummy plug (like a 6.3 to 3.5mm adaptor) into the second channel not connected to anything while plugged into channel 1 you seem to get a touch more gain then when you roll it off it responds a little more...predictably? I guess...they're not isolated from each other is the main point which is a bit weird.
Also it would be nice if there was a master volume control...newer ones might have it but even mine SAYS master over one pot but it's talking about master volume of the reverb not the overall output I found putting an expression pedal in the effect loop is a pretty good way of getting the same thing though if you wanted to I guess you could solder a pot to two 6.3mm plugs at the right distance and use that.
Other than all that I wouldn't say best amp in the world but definitely a seriously under appreciated amp that I imagine is going to get very expensive when people realise how good they are
Don’t get me wrong…. I love my quirky niche metal tube combo of choice… but I’m open to anything that sounds really good. The last time I went into the studio I trusted the guy running it, and ran through a boost and a real 5150 head into a cab sim. Sounded great. Love it. Gonna try it with the direct outs on my amp next time.
Hey Glenn! I am looking to upgrade my speakers for my cab. I am in a two piece rock band and often play with an octave pedal to fill the low end. Are there any guitar speakers you would recommend for that setup?
running two boss 2x12 cabs loaded with two Swamp Things + two V30s , the Mk ii 100 head with all the "sneaky amps" really shines now. It easily competes with any amp on the market!!
I just fitted new power valves to my Engl Powerball II and my Marshall TSL100. The Powerball went from Engl 6L6s to JJs, I couldn't perceive any difference in overall tone. The TSL100 had TungSols in it and as they're stupid expensive, that got JJs too. That was a huge difference. Same EQ positions (I know this amplifier inside and out as I've serviced and repaired hundreds of them easily). The reason I heard not much difference on the Engl is it has a very clean power section while its dirt and saturation is almost entirely preamp driven. Conversely, the TSL100 is very dirty on the power stage and the two sections like most Marshalls play off each other greatly. It's also a big reason why many suggest Marshalls tend to want to be loud. But to state that valves make no difference at all is a bit of a misnomer. While I can explain the now "fuller" sound of the TSL100 due to swapping tired and old power valves out for new ones, the apparent brighter high-end together with an overall lessened low end I cannot quite other than to say... valves do make a difference. I have also refitted countless preamp valves to the TSL100 (and other Marshalls besides) and learned over the years to try and avoid EH valves for it. The reason is they sound oversaturated and really make the high end quite nasty. None of this was brought from any internet forums, this is me, on my own, in a room just after repairing stuff for people or my own gear. In which case, if you could kindly tell to me how I am wrong on this when it's been my experience numerous times, I would be grateful.
GLEEEEEN! Can you please make a video where you take old modelers/multi-effect units like older DigiTech, or Boss, Zoom, or Line6 units and try to give them a new lease on life by pairing them with modern IRs? It would be a great experiment, I have even tried that myself with my old DigiTech RP500 with varying degrees of success.
Glenn! I went to a live show in South Korea. There was a guitar player using a Quad Cortex and an Artistides guitar. His tone was massive! Not a tube or piece of tonewood in sight. And there were 2 house JCM 2000 Marshall's with 4x12 cabinets.
Some dummy guitar players kept putting the mics dead center of the speaker and it sounded awful. I told the sound guy, he moved it to be a little off the dust cap and it sounded better....guitar players put it back in the dead center.
Hey Glenn, I was curious to know what you thought about amp modeling vs real amps in a live setting. Recently went to a show where the opening act used amplifiers while the headliners used modeling. I myself have used modeling live and was blown away by how much real amps seemed to fill a void in the frequencies. The opening act was thick, you could distinguish each instrument from eachother while the Headliners drums, bass, and guitars seemed to ride the same line. With the mention of speakers on your channel, I was wondering how much of a difference it makes when going direct with impulse responses or cabs sims VS miking a live cab? Is it the same in the studio? Thanks!
glenn! i listened to your advice and bought a used 6505+ 60 watt combo for only 500! thats a good price nowadays, especially in norway. But i want to change out the speaker like you said, is using a greenback thats only rated at 25 watts a bad idea? i also really liked the sound of the EVH speaker, but its only 20 watts
I never thought of it, but yes…Glenn is the Penn (minus Teller) of metal production (with a little Jon Taffer from Bar Rescue thrown in)! 🎸
2:05 Hey Glenn. You mention the sanitized artificial performances. How do you feel about the Kevin Shirley era of Iron Maiden from a recording perspective? I know people have mixed opinions about the lengthy songs, but the recordings themselves have a vibe about them that feel like the band are playing together in a room rather than something that has been meticulously mixed. How do you feel about this?
GLEN!!! I am struggling to get clarity in my mixes without crushing it with a limiter/clipper on the master channel. It gets the sound I want but I'm concerned about overwhelming the listener. Do you have any suggestions for threshold or ratios to avoid or should I just go by feel and if it sounds good just leave it alone?
I learned early on NOT to get hung up on amps. I would use anything that worked well, and in some cases I chose to use a particular amp because it was either lighter or more compact. When I was fourteen I was in a band and the drummer had a few amps in his garage, all owned by his big brother who played guitar but was off to college. A JCM combo, a Gallien Kreuger, and a Crate. I decided I liked the GK, not just because of how it sounded but because it was compact. It was very heavy for such a small solid-state amp, but it sounded massive with that stereo effect. Another time I chose to use my Randall RG75 because I liked how it sounded and it was lighter than my Marshall stack and took up less space. I never got hung up on amps. I would use what made sense and try anything. I still do. And now I'm going to take plugins for a spin on my own computer having tried them at a friend's studio.
To the guy wondering about the differences between cables. Ill try to ELI5 it
TS: Stands for Tip/Sleave. These are just a 2 point connection cable, usually the case is that it is one signal wire and one shielded wire. There are exceptions to this rule as will be clarified later. TS cables are unbalanced.
TRS: Stands for Tip/Ring/Sleave. These are are a 3 point connection cables. These cables consist of 3 wires and are very common in stereo headphones (Left, Right, Shield Ground) and balanced cables (Hot, Cold, Shield Ground). XLR Cables follow the same concept.
Unbalanced Cables: TS cable that carries one signal and can be susceptible to picking up noise.
Balanced cables: TRS/XLR cables that carries the same signal across both Tip and Ring cables, but one is inverted in phase. The reason is so that any noise that is picked up during the cable length will be cancelled out when the phase gets reinverted.
That being said, both instrument and speaker cables are TS cables but there is a main difference:
Instrument Cable: Consist of a signal wire and a shielded ground. This prevents incoming noise picked up along the length of cable.
Speaker cables: Consists of 2 normal wires with no shielded ground. Any noise that is picked up during the cable length is inaudible as the speaker cable is carrying an amplified signal.
Important note: while you can use an instrument cable over a speaker cable, in my experience the instrument cable is MORE LIKELY to break because of the shielded ground. If this happens when you are playing a tube amp, you run the risk of frying it. THIS IS WHY YOU GET A SPEAKER CABLE. *That manager should be canned*
GLEEEENNNNNNNN!
Gigging for many years and getting sick of carting around 4x12’s or 2x12 cabs to rehearsals and gigs (alright yeah I’m old), I’d like to reduce weight and portability if possible. So with that in mind I’d like to build a 2x10 cab…. I know a fair few combos came with 10 inch speakers (epiphone and vox used some with 10” speakers).
So with that in mind, do you know of /recommend any decent guitar speakers in the 10” size at all?
Thanks
Kev, UK
I see you use isolation under your monitors. ..I just want to tell I've seen a negative video on using concrete slabs. Mesurements were clear on that. Can't remember if he used isolation?
Glen is the real deal. Dill with it he backs everything he does. Don't see anyone else doing that. 😢and he is a great dude for trying to help and save musicians money 💰 how many others do you see do this..thanks Glen for all you do 🎉
WOW, Glenn mentioning Critical Drinker was NOT the cross over I expected today! Lol
I made my own re amp box and it works a treat 😀
If you ever get around to it. Mojo tone makes a real cool ISO cab. Just a FYI.
I have several old Marshall amps from the late 60s to the late 70s. They all work, but I really don't play anymore (guitars are not for sale) . Are they worth anything?
I totally agree on the speaker thing. My V30 sounds great no matter what I plug into it, and I have another speaker that sounds like complete garbage no matter what I plug into it or how I tweak settings. I spent years twisting knobs and playing with different overdrives, then I snagged that V30 plugged my amp in and almost immediately got the sounds I was looking for. Night and day differences between them. I still love messing with real amps though. Probably more of a habit thing now, it's how I grew up. Funny thing is I'm a software developer, you'd think I'd be 100% on the modeler/digital train and have completely abandoned traditional amps by now. But you know, sometimes the process of plugging into the interface, firing up all the software, getting your presets/IR's loaded, oh wait, one has an update, let's wait for that to download as my motivation to play drops faster than the download progress bar completes.... is just a whole lot more work than plugging into the front of something you know will sound good, flipping a couple switches and jamming.
are you going to experiment with metal types for bridges? Aluminum, brass etc?
I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on the 70/80s. I've been using them in my Traynor YCV80 and absolutely love them for the real high gain stuff. What about them makes them any worse? I would've never pegged them as shitty speakers after playing v30s and or greenbacks.
The last time I plugged into 70/80s I thought they were nice! I bought an Orange AD30HTC last year and tested it in the shop through a Marshall Origin 212 cab. Sounded great. I didn't A/B it with anything else but then I wasn't exactly focused on the cab at the time. But I ended up buying the Orange. Sounded pretty awesome.
@@Polyphemus. I did a couple of A/B tests this last week to listen to the differences between the 70/80s and a pair of v30's and I honestly Loved them both on high gain. The 70/80's do the 80's treble high gain super well, but have basically a mid boost built into them. So as long as you're aware of what frequencies it boosts naturally and can control them, they sound amazing.
Do you have a re-amp tutorial video or can you suggest someone else's?
Glenn! Make that video! Show me how to turn lamp wire into a speaker cable.
Please do a speaker comparison with combo amps.
Yes definitely the valveking episode! I used to have one and love it but it was far too much for what I needed and sold it on. Had people turning their noses up at the cheaper Peavey rather than me getting a 6505/5150 but I always thought it sounded great
"we are making art" it's so easy to lose sight of that. Well said.
I once did an a/b comparsion between the original AC/DC "High Voltage" album and the remastered version. Turns out the "remaster" is just louder. There are virtually no differences when the volumes are matched. They didn't even bother to get rid of that high pitched noise/squeal that always annoyed the F out of me on the early AC/DC CD prints, which was my reason to buy the remaster in the first place.
A few months ago you suggested a viewer invest in a direct box (never a bad idea) in order to combat "the Focusrite sound" of his interface when tracking guitars. I'm curious what that 'sound' is, and how adding an extra transformer to the signal chain would help considering it still has to run through the same offending Focusrite preamp and conversion hardware. Not to be a nudge and keep asking, but I have an old Focusrite (like, pre-Scarlett old !) and my direct DIs never seem to have any snap, sparkle or shine and I'm worried that I'm trying to ice skate uphill with this interface. 😅 I don't gig or even jam with friends anymore, so I would LOVE to go entirely ITB and unload all these amps and cabs and pedals while there's still some semblance of a used market, but I cannot for the life of me get an even remotely acceptable sound using amp sims. Yes, I've checked/swapped out/etc the strings, pickups, cables, DI boxes, interface, headroom, gain staging, input level, monitors, room issues, etc and even with a sim's bass turned all the way down and treble all the way up my Strat bridge pickup sounds like the neck humbucker on a jazz archtop with the tone knob rolled off and two different cab IRs accidentally running at the same time. It's incredibly frustrating to say the least. 😆
Hello glenn, love your content, watch every single video, dumb question, what if instead i dont buy a 100 dollar speaker and use a 50 dollar EQ pedal instead?
Speaking of underappreciated Peavey's and the Windsor area... Have you heard of Peavey Windsor? I've heard only good things about them, but I'd love to hear Your opinion about them.
Do you have any knowledge as to what causes the differences on speakers that are so critical to the final sound? Buying speakers is still quite a black box beyond the response curves and still fall into the same traps of being described like pickups when viewing. Would be really interesting to see if design, cone, magnet, pleating etc and how this affects final tone
"Art is never perfect"
You said it, Glen. Personally, I think one of the things that has made rock music in previous decades, especially before the 2000s, so great is that it absolutely was not perfect or amazing mind blowing high tech audio quality. But we love it anyways! Because it's art and it's fun!
SWEET. the Valve King Vk100 is really a good amp I bought mine for $700. looking forward to that comparison.
Would be very interested to hear you put a Peavey Valveking to the test haha. I nearly bought one myself recently when looking for a budget live rig, but ended up going down the amp modelling rabbit hole instead.
For recording, I have a heavily gigged Marshall cab with G12s (still gig it) that sounds way better than a newish Mesa Recto with V30s that was bought for and stays in the studio. I chalk that up to the wear on speakers 'cause I can remember the Marshall sounding harsh in the 90s.
Warren Huart did a tour at the Audeze factory and they basically said the whole breaking in speakers is just to make it match a speaker (in this case, membrane) that has seen use from day 1 and as a quality control method. They didn't mention any increase in sound quality or openness.
One thing about mid- higher end wines, they generally are higher manufacturing quality and lower in pesticide concentration. Which lowering glyphosphate intake is nice.
I think you are awesome! Thanks for both informative and entertaining contents. 👊. Keep it up
I have a Valve King 100 head you are welcome to use. Is Windsor near Mississippi? But seriously, I'll check on shipping costs.
Glennnn there's a video over two hours long where they go to the schecter factory and build a guitar ,it''s pretty cool
Penn & Teller's Bullshit episode on Water was hilarious. Especially when they got everyone to sign that petition to ban water.
Magic is measured in Unicorn Farts.
Thanks Glen for being Canadian!
12:45 damn, I'm not in the Windsor area, but I actually just sold mine a year ago when I made the switch to a modeler. If I still had it I definitely would have sent it your way