using a jazzmaster through boss frv-1 on a fender stage lead 212. it's a 100w 2-12 speaker solid state. use flatwounds. not new to surf, but new to playing loud with a band. getting a loud, slightly obnoxious piercing treble sound on high e and b strings, strangely when i hit a lead on these strings my volume drops significantly. got the low up to 8, mids cut, high is between 3-4. too much dwell, tone? picking too hard?

what do you guys have your amps, tanks set at? i like the drippy sound so i like the dwell up. after that i'm open. thank you!

p.s my apologies if this is on the wrong thread im new here

Last edited: Jul 19, 2012 11:50:59

Not too many people here admit to owning Fender Stage amps, probably because not too many own one. I own a Fender Stage 112SE and someone here who lives in France also has one. I've never read a single post from someone who owns a Stage 212 but that doesn't mean no one here does.

My standard amp Clean settings are Trebble 8, Mid 7, Bass 3. I leave them here for both Inputs. I just leave the Gain Channel set to Gain 3, Contour 5, Trebble 5 and Bass 5 because I don't use it for surf music, and it works fine for anything else.

I know this seems biased for highs, and it is. But I set the Tone on my FRV-1 to 3, and I now do the same on my Texotica Reverb tank. The low Tone setting leaves it bright but not pierceing. Mix and Dwell are always all the way on unless I'm mixing in fuzz, tremolo or delay; then I either turn them WAY down on my tank (same on the FRV-1) or just turn off the tank and use the amp's considerable spring reverb set to 10 instead.

I also use these settings for my Strat. But I use 11 flats on the Jag and Strat, and 12 flats on the JM, so they are all biased to sound warmer, which also cuts down on the piercing highs.

I usually use both pickups on my JM and Jag Lead Circuit and leave the Lead Tone switch off. Then I turn down the Lean Tone knob as necessary. I have the Rhythm Circuits on my JM and Jag set for a more accoustic sound.

Hope this helps.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

deanjordan wrote:

thanks noel! i bought the amp for forty dollars and it's all i got right now. hope i don't get laughed outta sg101 for this.

very useful tip about cutting down the verb with trem.

was unsure about maxing out the mix and dwell but i will try that too.

thanks again

They let me stay here. Actually, everyone here is amazingly helpful, supportive and encouraging. Everyone once started out in the beginning, and some more than once.

Needless to say, these settings max out reverb wetness for huge crash and drip for Surf, effects not often used in full (if at all) for Jazz, Cowboy, Blues, Folk, Gospel and Country.

Your amp is fine. 212's moves more air than 112's. I'd have preferred a 212, but they're not found everywhere. And I paid more than you did. Does yours also have a spring reverb pan?

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Last edited: Jul 19, 2012 13:09:15

I'd try the settings before playing with a band, unless you mean only rehearsing. Yes, amp's reverb with trem pedal will sound great. FRV-1 with lower dwell and mix will be okay too. The idea is a reverb tail falling away from the tremolo. I also use a reverb tail with delay pedals. That means lower settings that all out drip and crash.

Lots of people play only with FRV-1 and it's just fine. Others not so much.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

The EQ has been done before, and not just to solve FRV-1 brightness issues. Fender demo the FRV-1 by pairing it with their FDR-1 amp sim pedal to do the same thing. I tried it and it did make a significant difference; darkened it down a lot, made it thicker, heavier. But when I hear people just play the FRV-1 by itself it also sounds great.

I think it depends on what sound you want; heavy deep surf or bright light surf.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

a 2.0 pick will help

also, i tried your settings with success after rolling down the tone knob. on high end jazz/jag you can toll the tone knob down a little to kill the shrillness but my jazzmaster blacktop has crappy pots.

i use a dunlop nylon .73
didnt think too much about about picks till now but maybe ill experiment a little with that too

thank you surfocaster. i had a feeling that the pedal is too harsh and the tank will (of course) give me what i want. i will be purchasing one in the next week. thank you for the response. my surf band in maine is really taking off can't wait to get the reverb unit!