Solid state head for brutal death metal

[Forced Chaos]

That is a damn good post, man. I totally agree with you on that first paragraph. I noticed right away that when I dropped the mids on my RM100, it sounded like total nuts, the tonal heft was completely gone at high volumes. Sounded fine at low volumes. Tube amps seem to need to have the mids cranked up for some reason, while you can generally get away with scooping a solid state. And yeah, certain tube amps can hold up under death metal riffs, but they seem to be few. Solid states just track it better. A lot of that probably comes down to your playing style as well. I prefer solid states for this kind of thing, it seems.

I forgot about the Warhead completely. Never tried one, but I saw a band once, they were sort of deathgrind sounding. The guitarist's tone was so horrid and satisfying, he was using a Warhead. Complete disgust.




Ultra, Treadplate, and Clean. I haven't gotten a single good tone out of the Treadplate module yet, and the Ultra is serving me well so far, but only for low volumes. Once I get it up to any volume, like I said it gets really harsh. Bear in mind my cab is open back, and knocked up in an afternoon out of spruce ply. It's not even finished in anything. Celestion Seventy/80's aren't looking like a good match for that head. Certainly going to be replaced with something professionally made sooner than later. It's got JJ 6L6's right now. I wouldn't mind trying KT88's/6550's sometime just to see. What did the KT88's do for the tone?

The JJ KT88's made a huge difference actually. They have alot more headroom so it stayed tighter but it also had more of a throatier sound to it afterwards. They were my fav tubes for that head. I was using the Ultra XL, SL+, and the Blackface mods. You def need a closed back cab with V30's. That would match up well with pretty much any head you bought and sound well. I have a Vadar 2X12 right now and I like that cab alot. Think it has Eminence Legends in it if I'm not mistaken.

 

[groph]

Jesus, the clips of the Prophecy on the Madison site sound WAY better than the Divinity which is all tube. The Divinity has that same tearing-paper in the high end that my Randall is currently suffering from for some reason.

 

[Forced Chaos]

Hells yeah....the Prophecy is a nice amp. Wonder how much they go for on the used market.

 

[Daemoniac]

I'm pretty sure they're quite cheap over your end Can't remember an exact price though...

 

[sami]

Ampeg VH140C.

This is prolly the best rec imo. Or you can get a JCM900. Even though it's a tube amp, it's gain relies on clipping diodes which is what solid states are.

 

[troyguitar]

Bear in mind my cab is open back,

You absolutely should close the back of your cab before buying anything else IMO. That will change your tone dramatically.

 

[groph]

You absolutely should close the back of your cab before buying anything else IMO. That will change your tone dramatically.

Yeah, I guess it solidifies the bass a lot doesn't it? I remember doing a comparison way back when I made the mistake of building this crap 2x12 cab of open back versus closed back, the open sounded airier. Definitely should have went closed, but for some reason I thought open sounded better back then.

As soon as possible, I'm getting a new cab, probably an AB Custom Audio.

 

[TomAwesome]

I've heard that open back cabs have a tighter bass response, because it lets the speaker "breathe" more instead of more or less sealing off an area behind the speakers that will compress and expand as the speakers move. I think that's why Dino was using 1/3 open back Mesa cabs for a while. I haven't tried it or heard it demonstrated, though.

 

[troyguitar]

I'm not very good at describing tonal differences, but there is a huge difference in sound between open and closed back cabs. Just take your open-back cab and play through it sitting in the middle of a room, then move it right up against a wall (or place something solid right behind it). If your cab is unfinished, then there's nothing to stop you from slapping a piece of plywood across the back.

Another thing that will change the sound is elevating the cab up on a stand/chair/table versus leaving it on the floor. You will get a much more "in your face" tone if the speakers are in your face

You also might consider trying distortion pedals since you're looking for a solid-state sound - that's exactly what they give you.

 

[Kagami]

the VH-140C is cool from when I used one briefly (through the ampeg full stack ) but I think the G2 RH series randalls sound better but they are definitely a lot drier sounding (also you need a setup that works with the randalls). Both great amps though.

Another head people rave about (or combo) is the Peavey Supreme 160 and Stereo Chorus 2x12.

randall rg75g2:
[media]http://project777.darktech.org:8080/stuff/MVI_4191.MP3[/media]
[media]http://project777.darktech.org:8080/stuff/old/MVI_3873.mp3[/media]

http://project777.darktech.org:8080/stuff/old/

3090,3091,3092,etc. there are some ashdown clips in there too but I think it's pretty obvious which ones they are (in the first half)

 

[Ishan]

I'd recommend a GT3500H too as I use one it's built cheaply but still sounds really good. Even better would be to find a GTX3500H as that's what Scott Hull used (he used the Tidalwave, NOT the Shockwave)

 

[highlordmugfug]

I'd recommend a GT3500H too as I use one it's built cheaply but still sounds really good. Even better would be to find a GTX3500H as that's what Scott Hull used (he used the Tidalwave, NOT the Shockwave)

My mistake, I reread the quote I looked at, and apparently I skipped over the 'x' every time I read it. I've never heard of the Tidalwave until now.

 

[Harry]

Maybe look into the Peavey XXL or Supreme 150, though the 8100 is pretty neat.

Yep, the 8100 is an excellent amp

 

[CrushingAnvil]

Maybe try and find a Randall Cyclone? I know these things got a bit of a rough rep, but Randall solid state tone + 9 band graphic EQ, i can't see a problem

For sure dude, built in EQ's are a fuckin' godsend...

I played the mesa mk3 and It's insanely versatile.

But for Brutal death, look in to an Ampeg VH-140C or a Marshall 8100.

I hear you about the Deathcore tone although there are Deathcore bands which use 5150's and then there is Decapitated, Vogg used a 5150II on The Negation and it didn't sound Deathcore at all (Partially because Deathcore hardly existed back then) so really man you could use any amp for Brutal death like the bands you mention - just fuck with the mids/treble and see where things go.

Are you going to ditch the RM100? I love mine...

 

[LEWY7777777]

The amp I use alot the- Line6 HD147 mimics tube output and response somewhat and still gets very dirty yet technical and clean , the only thing I didn't like is the sound changes with volume so you have to keep tweeking it if you don't use the exact volume every stage setting I had multiple presets for presets to combat this. But an excellent head alot different from standard line6 preamps.
For my new custom order 8 string I plan to further expand possibilities.
I am going to add the Madison Prophecy to my line up. I am anxious to do a sound test with my new 8 string and prophecy versus the HD147. I'm sure both will have alot of good sounds that I will use recording..
First- BOOTCAMP-. Ran will be building it anyway ...such a long wait,,,oh well it will all be worth it. Until then

 

[jackson1014]

i have to say go for the ibanez tbx150 its great ive had mine for a year and just love it.Best head for under 300$ IMO.

 

[Joseph Goodman]

The Crate Vtx350 is the same thing as the GTX3500 Tidalwave, but a bit easier to find.

 

[Setnakt]

The Hughes & Kettner Warp 7 is a good solid state head. Capable of enormously excessive amounts of gain, but sounds good at lower gain levels; very dry kind of tone.

 

[ellengtrgrl]

As soon as I saw this I was going to recommend the GT3500. I just got mine about a week or so ago, it is AWESOME for the scooped death metal tone. I got mine used for $199.99+tax.
Used Crate GT3500H Shockwave Amp Head-knob damage - Used Guitar Amps - Used Guitars & Amps - Used Instruments - Jim Laabs Music: The Midwest's Largest Music Store - Musical Instruments and Musical Equipment - Music Instrument Store
There's one for just out of your price range. It's 350W @ 2ohm, 220@4, and I was told by cCrate 150W @ 8ohm.
EDIT: OH, and at this musicgoround


9192 West 159th Street
Orland Park, IL 60462 708-873-9030
mgr40115@yahoo.com
Map - Hours


They had one for 239.99 (about that though that might have been including shipping to me in KY). I ordered it but my money order got returned to me in the mail and I found one that I could go pick up so I got that instead. You could call them and see if they still have it (I never recalled them to tell them that I found another one because I called a few times to see if they had gotten the money order and they, to me, sounded rude even though I only called 3 times, each almost a week apart, SO, they may still be holding it for me but if that's the case I can give them a call and set em straight if you want this one) .

I'd have to agree about the Crates. I have a GX1200H, that with the right tone/EQ settings, will easily do death tones. The Flexwave series are also capable of doing 'em too. Both can bought stupid cheap all day long, and are 120 watt amps into 4 ohms (70 or 80 watts depending upon the amp, into 8 ohms).

Yeah. CC used the Stealth on some of the old stuff, I think. My favorite old Corpse tone is definitely off of The Bleeding. That's a good death scoop right there.

Tom, I've heard numerous good things about the Peavey XXL. A friend of mine has the Supreme, but I don't know if it's a real death metal type of tone or not, maybe. This friend of mine can't dial an amp in to save his life though, and he has that horrid Behringer cab that makes anything sound terrible.

I had a Supreme for a couple of months. It's an OK amp, but as the voicing on the pushbutton says, the extreme voicing setting is more thrash oriented.

The Hughes & Kettner Warp 7 is a good solid state head. Capable of enormously excessive amounts of gain, but sounds good at lower gain levels; very dry kind of tone.

I'd forgotten about the Hughes & Kettner Warp Series. I used one to try out a guitar at Music Go Round a few months ago. The Warp Channel can easily do death metal. I preferred the sound of it to the Ampeg SS140 I also tried out once. My only complaint was that I thought it was a little flimsy construction-wise.

 

[boltzthrower]

Yeah, the Ultra module is what I use. I've used a 10 band EQ and wasn't all that impressed, I can't really see 30 bands simplifying things, I really prefer setups to be as effects processor free as possible. I have no idea what you're talking about with regards to this lower rated cap in the C3 position. What's this supposed to do? Fuck man, if I had a job I'd take that preamp off you and just use my head as a poweramp. If it's still kicking around after April when I am working, I'd take it.

Grail Tone - Randall MTS Series Module Modifications

Scroll down to the High Gain Mod section.

If you're handy with a soldering iron, this is a mod that should only cost you a few cents for parts. It basically decreases the low end and increases the attack, which is great 'cause the Ultra has way too much low end for death metal IMO.