Amp settings for surf

eekmons

Joined: Jan 06, 2010
Posts: 3

Posted on Jan 08 2010 10:21 PM

Hello all,

I'm kinda clueless when it comes to amp settings. I have a Blues Jr. amp and I play a Jagmaster. Of course my reverb is cranked but when it comes to the Master, Mid, Bass, and Treble I am lost. I've messed around with them a bit but I really dont know wtf I am doing lol. Can anyone help me to get a sweet surf sound and maybe explain what these do. Thanks.

Top

elreydlp

Joined: Sep 04, 2009
Posts: 1800
Temecula, CA
11 Calendar Pins

Posted on Jan 08 2010 11:15 PM

Things like this are subjective and a matter of personal taste, but I'll give you my take.
If you graphed the sound of a vintage Martin acoustic, you would see a pronounced "V" with emphasis on the high & low end and mids dipped. This is a sound that is pleasing to the human ear.
On my amps, I set the bass and treble at 7-10 depending on the amp and the venue and if there is a mid-control, I set it on 0-2. Since I primarily play in a duo or trio, I don't have to be concerned with "cutting" through the mix-I can get my sound and work with it. If there are more instruments in the mix, then I dial in additional mids as needed to stand out. The ear hears mid-range as an anomally and picks it up more readilly.
I used a Blues Jr. for smaller venues for a couple of years, and it's a great little amp. You should be able to get a good sound out of it.

Top

DannySnyder

Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 11062
Berkeley, CA
United States

Posted on Jan 08 2010 11:26 PM

HI Eekmons. I'd keep your reverb as low as you can while still sounding 'wet', too much reverb and your tone washes out. This advice refers to built-in or 'on-board' reverb, not the stand alone tanks many of us use. I aggre with Elreydip, keep your mids lower. Another thing, Jagmasters use doublecoil pickups which are much hotter than single coils, so play around with the volume on your guitar as well. It may sound better with it turned down some and the amp volume raised to compensate.

—

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

Top

eekmons

Joined: Jan 06, 2010
Posts: 3

Posted on Jan 08 2010 11:36 PM

Thanks a lot for your input and just a reminder to those not familiar with Blues Jr., the settings actually go from 1 to 12 as opposed to a 1 to 10. Yeah thats right 12! lol Well that helps clear the air on a few settings but I'm still confused on the Master part of it.

Top

elreydlp

Joined: Sep 04, 2009
Posts: 1800
Temecula, CA
11 Calendar Pins

Posted on Jan 09 2010 12:12 AM

Master Volume controls the power amp. Turning it up will make the amp louder. The Gain control works the pre-amp. Turning it up will make the amp louder to the point that it "clips" or starts distorting. For a clean Surf sound, when you reach that point, back off until it cleans up and use the Master Volume to make it louder if you need.
Thats why gigging Surf bands like big amps with lots of headroom. Again, find your own sound-whatever makes you happy.

Top

Ron-Rhoades

Joined: Aug 19, 2006
Posts: 958
Kekaha, Kauai, Hawaii
United States

Posted on Jan 09 2010 01:25 AM

Aloha eekmons...i have a Blues Jr. and i use it every week to play surf music and here's my take on settings using my Strat....
Master volume=12
reverb= at home 10/11 (i use a tank at gigs)
treble= 4/5
bass= 12
mid= 4/5
volume= 4....i had a more powerful output transformer put in so experiment with this...for me, at 5/6 it starts breaking up (which can be a good thing if that's what you need).
I also use a couple pedals (tremolo and delay) which change the tone too so i'm always tweeking my settings for different tunes. If you're in a working band...tweeking is an art!!! There's not much, if any, time to tweek so ya gotta be on it or you'll get caught between settings which can be useful if you like attention because everyone in the band will be looking at you with that WTF look!! I say pick a great tune that you like and make your stuff sound like that if you can.....or as close as you can get!
elraydip says..."Things like this are subjective and a matter of personal taste"....THAT'S FOR SURE!!
Good luck and have fun.
R-R

—

The TakeOffs
"Kauai's Only All-Instrumental Surf Band"
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-TakeOffs/312866840587

Top

psychonaut

Joined: Dec 08, 2007
Posts: 1303
2 Download Pins

Posted on Jan 09 2010 02:35 AM

It really depends on the particular amp and guitar and room. The best thing you could do is just mess around untill you find the settings that are most pleasing to your own ears. There is no right or wrong or ideal 'surf' setting, just whatever you feel is right. It's all very subjective, and can take a lot of time to find your voice. Although a great deal of tone comes from your fingers anyway, and the energy you put in is what's gonna come out. Two people could play on the same guitar and rig and sound completely different, and that's a good thing!

—

https://www.facebook.com/coffindagger
http://coffindaggers.com/
http://thecoffindaggers.bandcamp.com

Top

Rio

Joined: May 22, 2006
Posts: 500
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada

Posted on Jan 09 2010 08:10 AM

psychonaut
It really depends on the particular amp and guitar and room.

Absolutely correct.

But for what it's worth, my tone controls tend to be centred around the "5" (or maybe in your case, "6" level). If things sound bright, I may bump the bass to 6 and reduce the treble to 4, or vice versa if bass heavy, but I'd say my tone knobs never go below 4 or above 6, typically. The volume level is set as necessary for the room, club etc.

Some guys I know (not surf musicians, actually) just turn the bass & treble up all the way, and only adjust the volume or master volume, and the guitar controls, on the basis that that's what the amp somehow "should" sound like... I don't get that, personally, but each to his or her own, I suppose.

—

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/rockinrio.delrosa

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/TheHighTides

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/pages/The-Blue-Demons

Top

Jagshark

Joined: Nov 05, 2008
Posts: 745
Colorado, home of The Astronauts
1 Link Pin

Posted on Jan 11 2010 11:12 AM

Usually my tone controls are all straight to the middle. I play in a trio so I try to keep the tone fairly full range to fill up tonal range.

—

(defunct) Thee Jaguar Sharks

Plus! Other stuff not surf: https://soundcloud.com/jamesmileshq
Enjoy every minute

Top

SGF

Joined: Jul 08, 2007
Posts: 106
Brittany

Posted on Jan 18 2010 09:37 PM

Lots of variables here. What type of sound are you after? The DD sound is pretty focused on the lows, a bit less on the mids and even less on the highs. In my experience blonde showmen have more mids than blackfaces and silverfaces (even with the mid knob cranked) and I wouldn't say Dick's sound constitutes a V graph. The reverb unit does add a lot of high freq. harmonics so it's best to keep that treble knob in check while still trying to retain enough "splash". The early Hank Marvin sound has lots of mid, quite a bit of high and very little low. It's pretty pleasing to my ears though.

—

Matter is just energy waiting to happen.

Top

eekmons Joined: Jan 06, 2010 Posts: 3	Posted on Jan 08 2010 10:21 PM Hello all, I'm kinda clueless when it comes to amp settings. I have a Blues Jr. amp and I play a Jagmaster. Of course my reverb is cranked but when it comes to the Master, Mid, Bass, and Treble I am lost. I've messed around with them a bit but I really dont know wtf I am doing lol. Can anyone help me to get a sweet surf sound and maybe explain what these do. Thanks. Top
elreydlp Joined: Sep 04, 2009 Posts: 1800 Temecula, CA	Posted on Jan 08 2010 11:15 PM Things like this are subjective and a matter of personal taste, but I'll give you my take. If you graphed the sound of a vintage Martin acoustic, you would see a pronounced "V" with emphasis on the high & low end and mids dipped. This is a sound that is pleasing to the human ear. On my amps, I set the bass and treble at 7-10 depending on the amp and the venue and if there is a mid-control, I set it on 0-2. Since I primarily play in a duo or trio, I don't have to be concerned with "cutting" through the mix-I can get my sound and work with it. If there are more instruments in the mix, then I dial in additional mids as needed to stand out. The ear hears mid-range as an anomally and picks it up more readilly. I used a Blues Jr. for smaller venues for a couple of years, and it's a great little amp. You should be able to get a good sound out of it. Top
DannySnyder Joined: Mar 02, 2006 Posts: 11062 Berkeley, CA	Posted on Jan 08 2010 11:26 PM HI Eekmons. I'd keep your reverb as low as you can while still sounding 'wet', too much reverb and your tone washes out. This advice refers to built-in or 'on-board' reverb, not the stand alone tanks many of us use. I aggre with Elreydip, keep your mids lower. Another thing, Jagmasters use doublecoil pickups which are much hotter than single coils, so play around with the volume on your guitar as well. It may sound better with it turned down some and the amp volume raised to compensate. — Danny Snyder "With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF Top
eekmons Joined: Jan 06, 2010 Posts: 3	Posted on Jan 08 2010 11:36 PM Thanks a lot for your input and just a reminder to those not familiar with Blues Jr., the settings actually go from 1 to 12 as opposed to a 1 to 10. Yeah thats right 12! lol Well that helps clear the air on a few settings but I'm still confused on the Master part of it. Top
elreydlp Joined: Sep 04, 2009 Posts: 1800 Temecula, CA	Posted on Jan 09 2010 12:12 AM Master Volume controls the power amp. Turning it up will make the amp louder. The Gain control works the pre-amp. Turning it up will make the amp louder to the point that it "clips" or starts distorting. For a clean Surf sound, when you reach that point, back off until it cleans up and use the Master Volume to make it louder if you need. Thats why gigging Surf bands like big amps with lots of headroom. Again, find your own sound-whatever makes you happy. Top
Ron-Rhoades Joined: Aug 19, 2006 Posts: 958 Kekaha, Kauai, Hawaii	Posted on Jan 09 2010 01:25 AM Aloha eekmons...i have a Blues Jr. and i use it every week to play surf music and here's my take on settings using my Strat.... Master volume=12 reverb= at home 10/11 (i use a tank at gigs) treble= 4/5 bass= 12 mid= 4/5 volume= 4....i had a more powerful output transformer put in so experiment with this...for me, at 5/6 it starts breaking up (which can be a good thing if that's what you need). I also use a couple pedals (tremolo and delay) which change the tone too so i'm always tweeking my settings for different tunes. If you're in a working band...tweeking is an art!!! There's not much, if any, time to tweek so ya gotta be on it or you'll get caught between settings which can be useful if you like attention because everyone in the band will be looking at you with that WTF look!! I say pick a great tune that you like and make your stuff sound like that if you can.....or as close as you can get! elraydip says..."Things like this are subjective and a matter of personal taste"....THAT'S FOR SURE!! Good luck and have fun. R-R — The TakeOffs "Kauai's Only All-Instrumental Surf Band" http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-TakeOffs/312866840587 Top
psychonaut Joined: Dec 08, 2007 Posts: 1303	Posted on Jan 09 2010 02:35 AM It really depends on the particular amp and guitar and room. The best thing you could do is just mess around untill you find the settings that are most pleasing to your own ears. There is no right or wrong or ideal 'surf' setting, just whatever you feel is right. It's all very subjective, and can take a lot of time to find your voice. Although a great deal of tone comes from your fingers anyway, and the energy you put in is what's gonna come out. Two people could play on the same guitar and rig and sound completely different, and that's a good thing! — https://www.facebook.com/coffindagger http://coffindaggers.com/ http://thecoffindaggers.bandcamp.com Top
Rio Joined: May 22, 2006 Posts: 500 Hamilton, Ontario	Posted on Jan 09 2010 08:10 AM psychonaut It really depends on the particular amp and guitar and room. Absolutely correct. But for what it's worth, my tone controls tend to be centred around the "5" (or maybe in your case, "6" level). If things sound bright, I may bump the bass to 6 and reduce the treble to 4, or vice versa if bass heavy, but I'd say my tone knobs never go below 4 or above 6, typically. The volume level is set as necessary for the room, club etc. Some guys I know (not surf musicians, actually) just turn the bass & treble up all the way, and only adjust the volume or master volume, and the guitar controls, on the basis that that's what the amp somehow "should" sound like... I don't get that, personally, but each to his or her own, I suppose. — http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/rockinrio.delrosa http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/TheHighTides http://www.facebook.com/?sk=lf#!/pages/The-Blue-Demons Top
Jagshark Joined: Nov 05, 2008 Posts: 745 Colorado, home of The Astronauts	Posted on Jan 11 2010 11:12 AM Usually my tone controls are all straight to the middle. I play in a trio so I try to keep the tone fairly full range to fill up tonal range. — (defunct) Thee Jaguar Sharks Plus! Other stuff not surf: https://soundcloud.com/jamesmileshq Enjoy every minute Top
SGF Joined: Jul 08, 2007 Posts: 106 Brittany	Posted on Jan 18 2010 09:37 PM Lots of variables here. What type of sound are you after? The DD sound is pretty focused on the lows, a bit less on the mids and even less on the highs. In my experience blonde showmen have more mids than blackfaces and silverfaces (even with the mid knob cranked) and I wouldn't say Dick's sound constitutes a V graph. The reverb unit does add a lot of high freq. harmonics so it's best to keep that treble knob in check while still trying to retain enough "splash". The early Hank Marvin sound has lots of mid, quite a bit of high and very little low. It's pretty pleasing to my ears though. — Matter is just energy waiting to happen. Top

SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Musician »

Amp settings for surf