Marcus, can I ask what kind of recording gear you use? Sound card, drum machine, software etc. I am thinking about getting into home recording, and think your sound is good. :-)
GT1 Review with clips
| Author | Comment | ||
|---|---|---|---|
 evergud |
Re: GT1 Review with clips | ||
|
Posts: 91 (05/10/07 16:09:53) |
|
||
|
Gareth |
Re: GT1 Review with clips | ||
|
Posts: 166 (05/10/07 20:26:40) |
What are your settings for the 'metal' tone? I like it, not the classic Matamp sound but it sounds similar to a friends Engl but better.
|
||
|
Marcus |
Re: GT1 Review with clips | ||
|
Posts: 342 (07/10/07 15:48:20) |
Kinda long reply to Gareth and evergud.
It's a MOTU 896HD sound card (8 analogue XLR ins/outs). Excellent! But my current sound is not representative for the studio I'm putting together as I haven't done the acoustical treatment yet. Also JoeMeek TwinQ stereo preamp/EQ/compressor. Nothing special, but definitely sounds warmer and clearer than the preamps in the MOTU card. Recorded in Logic for PC. Drums were BFD, just some imported MIDI track with no humanizing effects. Microphones used were 1 close-miked Shure SM-57 off-axis and a condenser microphone maybe 4-5 feet away, on axis. Everything doubled or tripled. The harshness or "metal" thing in the guitar came from two things - A dramatic EQ boost around 2.8 kHz in post-production and a Hot Plate attenuator boosting the highs during recording. Without the Hot Plate the sound would be as foggy as you'd expect from a Matamp. I honestly don't remember the settings, but I used GTL mode and kept the Master lower than the Gain. Bass, Gain and Master are more or less the only significant knobs on those levels anyway.. 
|
||
|
stonesafire |
Re: GT1 Review with clips | ||
|
Posts: 300 (23/12/07 22:43:32) |
you did the GT1 justice my friend
 excellent clipsNow a US Matamp Dealer! motorcitymatamp.com Motor City Matamp Detroit Michigan USA |
||
|
Marcus |
Re: GT1 Review with clips | ||
|
Posts: 342 (02/01/08 23:55:15) |
A little something from today's recording session. Watch your speakers, haven't mixed the low-end.
GT1 guitar and Guitar Rig 2 bass.
|
||
|
Orphin |
Re: GT1 Review with clips | ||
|
Posts: 377 (07/01/08 15:20:14) |
Sounds great, now all you need is a tuner for your guitar!
|
||
|
Marcus |
Re: GT1 Review with clips | ||
|
Posts: 342 (07/01/08 16:35:39) |
NEVER! Misfits didn't need one. Obviously.
Any idea how I can take a 4-string bass down to A? Some magic strings I need to get? The ones I use now are a bit thicker than normal gauge ones (tuning in E would break the neck), but they "only" go down to C or so before becoming overly flappy. |
||
|
underground player |
. | ||
|
Posts: 195 (07/01/08 19:33:13) |
Reminds me a bit of Sunn O))).........with drums!
|
||
|
Fuhgawz |
|||
|
Posts: 1 (01/08/08 18:34:59) |
Wow some of those clips just sound amazing! That is exactly the tone I am looking for, and I am really interested in this amp and am thinking about buying one.
However, it seems like you really have to crank these things to get it to sound distorted enough for at least some Sabbath type grind. Is that true or can you
also get some nice heavy overdrive at 'normal' practice volumes without absolutely overpowering your bandmates? I am also really interested in the type
of speakers you think work best with these amps. Thanks!!
|
||
|
rockinron1 |
|||
|
Posts: 157 (01/08/08 18:55:56) |
As far as speakers go general consensus is that celestions go best with matamps (often V30's)
Its worth bearing in mind with any valve amp distortion will increase with volume as the power stage will distort. so it should be posible to get overdrive sounds at lower volumes, but they may not sound as good Of course if you want the amp only for distortion then it could be set with a lower bias to reduce the wattage output and still get the full overdrive sound My 60watt LX provides enough headroom for cleans (with highish spl speakers), but when you crank it it is extremely loud. Have an attenuator fitted for when your practicing? Hope that helps |
||
|
Fuhgawz |
|||
|
Posts: 3 (01/08/08 19:51:21) |
Thanks that does help! However, buying an amp and then having to buy an attenuator to make it sound good just seems really... silly. :P I only have so much
money to spend on one great amp so it has to be right the first time. The real difficulty here is that there is nowhere to go and test these amps here in the
Netherlands. And although I really LOVE the tone/sound/gain generally associated with Matamp GT series amps and in most of the clips in this topic I want to be
at least 99% certain that I can also get those tones when playing in my own band. Which is at lower than unGodly volumes.
Could you (or anyone else) be a bit more specific about the speakers you use/like/recommend with your Matamps. There is a huge difference between a Celestion V30 and a Celestion Greenback. So here's another question: would it be possible to get those heavy drive sounds when cranking the master on the GTL mode but lowering the preamp gain? When I try that with my Laney AOR it is just waaay too noisy but a clean built amp like a brand new Matamp should have a lot less hiss. At least that's what I would expect.. So please help me! Or would it be better if I just e-mail the Matamp company with my questions? |
||
|
rockinron1 |
|||
|
Posts: 158 (01/08/08 20:34:14) |
Well matamp will actually fit attenuators to their amps for you but i dont know what the extra cost is
The way i set my LX up is allways with the master on max (i could do with it taking out actually) and then increasing gain to suit so you will have no problem with noise, they are very quiet This will allow you to get the sound you want, the only problem being for really high gains youd have to have more volume I'd contact the factory personally as there great guys and will sort out any amp you want (don't forget the models you see on the website are only a base to create your amp from, you can cutomise it anyway you want) As far a speakers go im a bit of an odd one out, i either use 2X300watt eminence bass speakers with a couple of tweeters in the cab (so i can crank it and it not be too loud) or 2, 212 fane crescendos which sound amazing but are hard to find (amoun will attest to that) So id let someone else chime in on speakers Don't know if you know but Matamp have a dealer in the Netherlands 'Marble Amps' (see the link on the homepage) Also my friend has a 1990 Laney AOR (with greenback 412), we put it up against my matamp and the matamp wiped the floor of it, the AOR was really thin gain, i didn't like it at all.You wont be dissapointed with the matamp in any way |
||
|
Fuhgawz |
|||
|
Posts: 4 (02/08/08 03:56:15) |
Alright, thank you very much for responding. Again! I was so focussed on this model I forgot about the fact that I could go custom. I will contact them
personally. Thanks!
|
||
|
Marcus |
|||
|
Posts: 234 (11/08/08 16:37:57) |
Fuhgawz wrote: In short - No, lowering the Gain while maxing the Master won't give you a lot of distortion. "Dark AC/DC" maybe. Try the other way around - Max Gain and maybe 50% Master, that should produce a raw and uncompressed distortion. The GT1 tends to compress a lot once maxed, I don't like that. Gets too JCM800-like. However, it's not possible to enjoy a GT1 on "humane levels" without an attenuator, and an attenuator sucks too much tone. Nothing you should rely on. The sound gets lifeless and fizzy, which may be heard in some of my clips. I like the Celestion Hot 100's (Matamp's factory standard) because they're not as efficient as the V30, producing a more organic and warm "papery" sound, allowing you to crank the amp higher. V30 spits razor sharp mids and highs, which I find unpleasant and only good for sharp cleans or fizzy metal. But Matamp is all about the lower-mid GROWL. So don't fight it with harsh and fizzy speakers that only mellow out when pushed harder than you probably need at "lower than ungodly levels".
I suggest a 1224 and having it voiced similar to GT. Dark. Or you could always play around with YellowJackets in a GT1, and take it down that way. But I wouldn't recommend an attenuator today. The GT1 just sounds too good untouched. I'll probably add some more clips sometime soon that are unaltered. |
||
|
Marcus |
|||
|
Posts: 235 (11/08/08 17:02:31) |
Fuzz -> EQ -> GT1. Old recording from a song I'm currently re-recording. I
think it's a D*A*M Meathead.
Last Edited By: Marcus
11/08/08 17:30:25.
Edited 1 times.
|
||
|
Marcus |
|||
|
Posts: 236 (11/08/08 17:09:40) |
.
Last Edited By: Marcus
11/08/08 17:29:46.
Edited 1 times.
|
||
|
Fuhgawz |
|||
|
Posts: 8 (12/08/08 03:37:40) |
Wow man that clip sounds... gnarly! Thanks for the response btw. What are YellowJackets? I am sad to hear you think the GT1 cannot be enjoyed on volumes that
are not earshattering. Just as I was thinking it can be done based on the GTL thread. We don't play at High On Fire volumes, but we are not exactly
'soft' either. I am glad though that I will have the opportunity to try a few Matamps half september at Marble Amps so I can judge for myself then. It
is just hard to wait that long!
One thing I do know though is that I absolutely want a matching Matamp cab with the Hot 100s. Lots of people seem to love
them with their Matamps.
|
||
|
Marcus |
|||
|
Posts: 237 (12/08/08 09:20:05) |
Yellow Jackets are something from THD that allows you to use EL84 tubes in EL34 amps! You put the "jacket" in the tube socket and then an EL84 in the
"jacket". It's perfectly safe and will make your usual 4x30W amp (EL34) a 4x10W amp (EL84) instead. I'm not sure about the tone differences,
but I'm suspecting it would sound similar but lacking in the low-end department as the tubes are smaller. But in any way, theoretically you could take a
GT1 down to 20W in half-power mode without the use of attenuation, moving into KingStreet turf. So yeah, if you're a tube nerd you could definitely go for
a big amp, use EL34 on stage and EL84 when practising. Keep in mind though, this is what the 1224 was made to do "built in".
It's great that you can go and try them all out! What I think you'll find is that the lower wattage amps such as First Lady, KingStreet and Minimat are much louder than you may think. |
||
|
Fuzzyface |
GT1 at sensible volume | ||
|
Posts: 274 (12/08/08 16:51:48) |
What`s all this crap about putting yellow jackets and EL 84`s in a GT1???????????? All you need is to ask Jeff to put in a power scaling circuit when it`s
being built. That way you can have whatever tone you want at any volume.Look back on this forum for the threads posted by Rob and Carol with links to video
clips featuring Neil Cowlan demo- ing Rob`s GT1.It`s a no brainer!!!!!!!
Trev |
||
|
Fuhgawz |
|||
|
Posts: 9 (12/08/08 18:15:38) |
Well I contacted Matamp asking for just that, but got the following message back:
Hi Dennis, We don,t do the GT1 with power scaling, we did one with a custom EPS circuit but most people prefer the standard GT1. |
||
