Machine Head 5150s ... help maybe?

[Slayer89]

Here are some screen shots I took from The Making of the Blackening vids on YouTube. I took them in hopes of catching Rob's settings ... but didn't get a decent angle.

I noticed in these pictures that he has cables plugged into both the high gain and normal inputs. Would you think this is for ease of switching guitars/inputs or is he running through both at once?

Also, in the second pic it looks like the rhythm channel light is on when he's playing. Does anyone know if he uses any sort of boost?

I love Rob's tone, and while not trying to completely replicate it for myself, I would like to play around with it. I remember closeups of his 5150's and their settings posted on HC a while back, but the host took them down. If anyone here might have saved them or anything, I'd love you forever.

 

[Ext789]

I know when you have two guitars plugged in, one in each input, it makes them both normal gain instead of one being high gain and normal gain.

 

[Slayer89]

Does that mean it can actually run two guitars being played through it at once? That sounds like an odd idea to me, but I guess I've heard stranger things, haha.

 

[TomAwesome]

I think someone said in another thread earlier today that their 5150s are modded, so it may be more than just a matter of settings.

 

[LordOVchaoS]

Their 5150s are modded all to hell. You'll never get their tone with a stock amp. Get a hold of Jerry from FJA Mods tell him what you want, and he'll get ya fixed up!

 

[Slayer89]

Their 5150s are modded all to hell. You'll never get their tone with a stock amp. Get a hold of Jerry from FJA Mods tell him what you want, and he'll get ya fixed up!

Thing is ... I don't know what I want, haha. I don't think a message saying, "I WANT TO SOUND LIKE T3H MACHINE HEADZ!" would do too much good.

Have any idea what mods would get close to that sound?

 

[Ruan7321]

 

[Groff]

Keep in mind that most of the tone comes from the hands as well.

 

[sakeido]

Keep in mind that most of the tone comes from the hands as well.

Even Machine Head's feedback is more brutal than normal feedback. Their amps have had some magic worked on them. When I saw them live, I have never heard such a scooped extreme gain sound cut so well.

 

[thedownside]

rob's chorus settings to me are what make his tone just that good. i wish i could duplicate them

 

[LordOVchaoS]

Thing is ... I don't know what I want, haha. I don't think a message saying, "I WANT TO SOUND LIKE T3H MACHINE HEADZ!" would do too much good.

Have any idea what mods would get close to that sound?

Actually, Jerry can work with a message like that! I don't recommend writing it in intarweb dweeb language but if you give him a general direction of what you're looking for he can make it happen! Who knows? He may have done their amps for them! Most modded 5150s out there are done by Jerry.

 

[thedownside]

i dont have a 5150, but i've considered one many times, partially to get something like there tone. how much roughly would mods like that cost?

 

[Slayer89]

Actually, Jerry can work with a message like that! I don't recommend writing it in intarweb dweeb language but if you give him a general direction of what you're looking for he can make it happen! Who knows? He may have done their amps for them! Most modded 5150s out there are done by Jerry.

Haha, okay. Sounds good, then. To be honest, I was wondering how they got their leads to sound as clear and clean as they do. I guess that would explain it.

i dont have a 5150, but i've considered one many times, partially to get something like there tone. how much roughly would mods like that cost?

I was wondering that myself. After looking at the FJA page, it looks like just a few mods could practically add up to how much the 5150 cost would itself.

 

[FoxZero]

Their 5150s are modded all to hell. You'll never get their tone with a stock amp. Get a hold of Jerry from FJA Mods tell him what you want, and he'll get ya fixed up!

Thanks for the link!

I was seriously about to ask this myself.

Also anybody know what kind of cabs/speakers they use. Their tone is damned close to what I want. I'm not crazy about them but the tone on the last album was amazing, hell their tone is always awesome, even when they suck.

The Blackening really shocked me, the phrase "best album since Burn my Eyes" is no hype. I actually have always hated MH after that album. They really turned around.

 

[Slayer89]

The Blackening really shocked me, the phrase "best album since Burn my Eyes" is no hype. I actually have always hated MH after that album. They really turned around.

I dunno, I will agree that most stuff after Burn My Eyes paled in comparison, but I think Through The Ashes of Empires was awesome. I loved that one. Hell, I might even like it more than the Blackening.

But I will agree about them having bad ass tone .... hence why I started this thread! haha.

 

[budda]

if you want to play clean and clear lead lines... practise your technique. that will help a LOT. your tone can be tight and articulate, but if your playing is a bit sloppy then that's what you'll hear.

 

[Slayer89]

No, I meant the tone. All the tones I've dialed in have had a fair amount of noticeable fizz on them when it came to the higher pitched notes.

 

[ibznorange]

in my experience a good retube takes care of that on those amps.

 

[FoxZero]

I dunno, I will agree that most stuff after Burn My Eyes paled in comparison, but I think Through The Ashes of Empires was awesome. I loved that one. Hell, I might even like it more than the Blackening.

But I will agree about them having bad ass tone .... hence why I started this thread! haha.

Imperium was awesome yeah! But Days tuern to Grey or whatever sucked, it was hit or miss for me. The Blackening just blew me away.

 

[Edroz]

in my experience a good retube takes care of that on those amps.

Alan, since this 5150 you bought is used, most likely the tubes might be a little beat... that should be your first order of business right there, next step i would try is a tube screamer (nothing too over the top if you only want to add some clarity, the Maxon VOP9 is perfect for this). maybe try out some different pickups too if you still find things not to your liking.

yeah, alot of this stuff will add up ($), but that's the fun in owning a tube amp! there's always things you can do to enhance and improve them.