NEW peavey jsx!!! suggestions on how to get the "brootals"

[Gmork]

So as the title suggests, today i got myself a peavey JSX head! So far ive only played it at low home volumes but so far im blown away to be perfectly honest. its crazy but i think i may have heard the little voice in my head mention thata it likes my new jsx better than my 6505!!! i must say, pretty bold mind words!
the crunch channel sounds thick and awesome but not quite as saturated and gainy as id prefer, going for that whole "brootalz" defeated sanity, dying fetus, every indonesian brutal death metal band thing. you know what im talking about so i use the ultra channel surprisingly NOT boosted with an od (i never thought id play an amp and think, nah this sounds better without it, but thats exactly what happened with my jsx. weird, i know lol, its already pretty tight while simultaneously being kinda loose lol and sounds thicker without the od boost)
anyway with settings at presence 8 - resonance 7 - treble 7 - mids 4 - bass 8 - vol 5 - gain full - fat ON - noise gate full. keep in mind ive only played at the lowest possible volume really and expect to turn the bass down a bit as it gets louder. but it sounds really good. im really excited to get my mxr 10band eq in the loop with 250hz - 2khrz - 8khrz boosted!!! im dying waiting for and practice!
just wondering what settings you brutal folks outs there use? would like to try em out. do you have any tips and/or tricks for the JSX?
ps- james brown is an amp god

 

[Bearitone]

I had a JSX for awhile and the one thing everyone kept telling me was to swap the EL34's for KT-77's if I wanted it to get more "brootal" but, I never got to try it. Other than that I really recommend just using a 10 band EQ in the effects loop. I honestly believe the every single amp needs a 10 band EQ to reach its true potential. Its just a must have, always on, pedal for me.

Edit: Oh and congrats on the new amp! Word of advice though, don't sell your 6505 . I had a little honey moon phase with my JSX and thought about selling my 6505. At the end of the day the JSX got the boot and the 6505 stayed.

 

[maliciousteve]

The main thing with the JSX is that you need to get the volume up to really feel and hear how awesome this amp really is.

I'm in a metal cover band and I have to cover tones from low gain Zep, AC/DC right up to balls out Pantera. So my heavy settings are pretty much as follows

Ultra Channel

Treble - 6
Mid - 5
Bass - 5
Volume - 4
Gain - 6.5
Presence - 8
Resonance - 8
Master Volume - 5
Fat Switch - Off

I'm using an oversized 2 x 12 with Celestion G12-H30 speakers and the JSX is running EL34's. Not what you'd expect to play with metal really however, at band rehearsal volume it's perfect. Tight bottom end with the right amount of high end and mids to still cut through.

 

[Gmork]

oh god! theres NO way id ever sell my 6505. i love the thing. i dont get rid of amps that i love. my little brutal amp family right now consists of my 6505, ampeg vh140 and my new JSX, and i guess you could say my tightmetalpro/magnum44 is the kid lol my dual rec on the other hand UHG im SO glad to see that thing gone. no offence to the rectifier fans out there but i just HATED that thing. only amp i regret selling (this may sound silly) is my kustom quad200, was cheap as hell and had an awesome grindy thick tone.

 

[FILTHnFEAR]

I have JJ KT77's in mine. Pres around 5 Res around 3, relatively low because with those much higher, especially at drum level, it's a lot of fizz and mud.

The amp can very easily be crazy harsh. If you're not used to active eq on an amp, very small adjustments go pretty far. I'm guessing that you probably won't want to dial it in exactly like you would your 6505. The JSX wont' be as aggressive sounding as your 6505, but more refined and tighter. And also has the advantage of a far better clean channel, if that matters to you.

Also, your FX loop levels affect your sound, even if you have nothing in the loop. At lower volume I have them both at noon, at band levels they're all the way up.

Crunch channel
Bass - 5
Mids - 3
Treble - 5
Gain - 8
Ge-7 in the loop. Bump at 800 and 1.6, and cuts at 100 and 6.4
Green Rhino - volume max, drive zero, 100hz at 8 o'clock Mid curve 10 o'clock
Decimator
Fat switch - off
Gate - full

I don't frequent the Ultra channel nearly as much and can't remember settings off the top of my head.

Honestly imo Crunch is where it's at for the aggressive sound you're looking for. When I got the amp I thought I'd be using the Ultra channel a lot more and I did for a while. But after spending some time it, I can't stay away from Crunch. Ultra sounds suited better for leads. To me anyway. YMMV

What cab/speakers are you running? I'm running through my Mesa Recto 2x12 V30's at the moment.

 

[budda]

I actually ignore the ultra channel when I had mine - ch2 gets there without sounding like a saw

1. set your fx loop to 10 on send and return, and leave it on. Welcome to the full volume of your amp.

2. Ch2, fat switch off, 6/6/6 EQ to start (adjust to taste). You don't need a lot of gain, but I get that a lot of gain can be fun - especially at home!

3. Use your resonance and presence controls wisely. If you plan to be gigging, EQ with your head at the speaker. What you hear standing up doesn't matter if it's not what the mic will be picking up.

Enjoy!

 

[Bearitone]

oh god! theres NO way id ever sell my 6505. i love the thing. i dont get rid of amps that i love. my little brutal amp family right now consists of my 6505, ampeg vh140 and my new JSX, and i guess you could say my tightmetalpro/magnum44 is the kid lol my dual rec on the other hand UHG im SO glad to see that thing gone. no offence to the rectifier fans out there but i just HATED that thing. only amp i regret selling (this may sound silly) is my kustom quad200, was cheap as hell and had an awesome grindy thick tone.

Daaammn thats a sweet collection. Have you ever ran the TM-Pro into the 6505 power section? How do you like the tightmetal compared to the 6505's preamp?

I'm really happy with my AMT P2 and I've been thinking of adding another preamp pedal like it to my board.

 

[Gmork]

no i havent. but i should try it out sometime. but just comparing the 6505 sound and tightmetalpro. they are definately similar. i honestly dont reeeeally favor one over the other, the tightmetal is amazing and sounds SO flippin good cranked. i guess the 6505 wins just slightly due to it being able to sound a bit beefier due to its resonance knob. but really its subjective. they both sound wicked as hell. fyi the tightmetal is based off of the 6505 AND the ampeg vh140! and it shows! it really does sound like a combination of the 2. my tightmetalpro is hooked up tp my magnum44 power amp (size of a small ehx pedal) and stuck to my pedalboard as a handy back up amp. something starts acting up i just plug into the tightmetal and hook up the magnum to the cab and BLAMO! new killer amp that completely fits on my pedalboards spare space!!!

 

[Thanatopsis]

Other than that I really recommend just using a 10 band EQ in the effects loop. I honestly believe the every single amp needs a 10 band EQ to reach its true potential. Its just a must have, always on, pedal for me.

Definitely. I never had an EQ until a couple years ago when I picked up a GE-7 with the Sniper mod. Best thing I ever did for my tone. I leave it on all the time in the loop for the crunch & ultra channels of my Rockmaster preamp.

 

[Bearitone]

^^^see? I'm telling you, OP, once you try a properly dialed EQ in the loop you'll never play without it.

Sometimes I shut my EQ off just to see what the amp sounds like alone and wow... its pretty sad.

 

[sage]

+1 on the KT77s. I had them in mine and it absolutely breathed fire.

 

[Thanatopsis]

^^^see? I'm telling you, OP, once you try a properly dialed EQ in the loop you'll never play without it.

Sometimes I shut my EQ off just to see what the amp sounds like alone and wow... its pretty sad.

Absolutely. Just out of curiosity I turned mine off for a minute a couple days ago and forgot what a difference it made after having it always on for so long. I liked my tone before I had it but now wonder how I ever went without an EQ. It's amazing too the difference it makes depending on where in the signal chain it's located. I keep mine in the loop since it doesn't make nearly the improvement in front of my preamp. When I first got it I recalled something I saw in a Petrucci video where he was talking about his amp settings and how he cut the mids with the EQ knobs and boosted them with the sliders(or maybe the reverse, but he definitely cut them in one and boosted in the other). I find that works very well.

 

[Gmork]

oh i agree on the EQ pedal. i also ALWAYS have my mxr 10 band eq in my loop of any amp i use. been using one religiously for years

 

[viesczy]

I have a XXX, had it for 15 years, the secret to really thump is to dump the EL34/KT77 tubes. Too much mid to really thump as compared to 6L6s.

EQs for a sonic boost that doesn't raise your decibels is great, but on all the time? You have no where to go but adding decibels. The active EQ in the XXX/JSX/3120/XXX II takes a little time, but trust your ears/not your eyes.

Derek

 

[vick1000]

This is how I set up mine before I sold it like an idiot.

Hand picked High gain JJ ECC83s Gold Pins in V1-V3 Balanced JJ ECC803S Gold Pin in V4

Matched JJ Cryoset 6CA7s for power

Favorite noise gate and boost out front. Now you can crank the hell out of those mids without that spanky cocked WAH getting in there. Crunch can get as British as you like, Ultra slays. Cleans suffer a bit though.

 

[Gmork]

why did you sell it ?!?!? it sounds SOOO good ! lol

 

[Thanatopsis]

oh i agree on the EQ pedal. i also ALWAYS have my mxr 10 band eq in my loop of any amp i use. been using one religiously for years

Anyone that doesn't have an EQ, whether it be 7 band, 10 band, parametric, whatever needs to get one. I'm keen to pick up a parametric sometime soon. I've never used one but really like the idea of being able to choose the exact frequencies I'm cutting/boosting.

Anyone recommend a particular parametric? Either pedal or rackmount would be fine since I have a rackmount rig. Nothing too expensive though. But I don't want something that sucks, so if anyone knows of one out there that's a particularly good value, I'd love to hear it.

My rack looks so empty with an 8 space rack and only my Rockmaster preamp and Classic 60/60 power amp are in it. I used to have an effects unit(Digitech GSP5) but it sucked. I had bought it for $15 on eBay so figured why the hell not. The delay was kinda cool as was the chorus but that's about it. Distortion was complete garbage. So I listed it back on eBay and ended up selling it for $60.

 

[Bearitone]

Anyone that doesn't have an EQ, whether it be 7 band, 10 band, parametric, whatever needs to get one. I'm keen to pick up a parametric sometime soon. I've never used one but really like the idea of being able to choose the exact frequencies I'm cutting/boosting.

Anyone recommend a particular parametric? Either pedal or rackmount would be fine since I have a rackmount rig. Nothing too expensive though. But I don't want something that sucks, so if anyone knows of one out there that's a particularly good value, I'd love to hear it.

My rack looks so empty with an 8 space rack and only my Rockmaster preamp and Classic 60/60 power amp are in it. I used to have an effects unit(Digitech GSP5) but it sucked. I had bought it for $15 on eBay so figured why the hell not. The delay was kinda cool as was the chorus but that's about it. Distortion was complete garbage. So I listed it back on eBay and ended up selling it for $60.

MXR 10 band parametric EQ. Its just amazing.

If they made a 12 or 15 band EQ pedal I would totally jump on it

 

[MASS DEFECT]

Do you use the JSX cab with your head? How does it sound?

 

[B.M.F.]

Empress ParaEQ is my new favorite EQ pedal.
It's parametric, unlike the MXR 10 band which is graphic. I can do with one knob on the Empress, what I could do with all 10 sliders on the MXR (set a general smiley-face EQ curve and shape the overall tone of my amp.)
It also has up to 30db of clean boost which you can run in front of the amp. But since I always run an EQ in the loop and a Maxon OD9 in front I don't need it.
The Empress reminds me of that old Furman P3 and P4 rack EQ that Dimebag used except in pedal form.