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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Where do you place your amps nobs for surf sound.

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Just curious where others adjust their Bass, Mid, and Treble on their amps clean channel. I am kinda new to the surf guitar sound, and i am trying to tweak it just right.

Shouldn't listen to me by my Treble is 6-8, Mid is 8, and bass is 10. It is going to vary amp to amp. Most of the people's amps here might not have mid controls.

I have a Showman by the way.

No Mid control on my Bandmaster. I usually set the Bass around 3-5 and the Treble around 5-8. The Treble gets more action when it comes to changing the depth of the reverb on the tank. For example, if I'm playing something not to drippy I'll have to turn the Treble up, but when I crank the reverb up I have to ease back on the Treble or else it's just too much.

It also depends on the Jaguar's pickups set up. I can get away with more Treble on the neck pickup, but the bridge pickup and too much Treble will make my ears bleed.

"as he stepped into the stealthy night air... little did he know the fire escape was not there"

https://www.facebook.com/reluctantaquanauts/
https://www.facebook.com/TheDragstripVipers/

I keep my knobs in my pants.... err... sorry had to do that,

Treble is slightly higher, like 7-8 mids around 5, and bass at 6 or so, and that can change if the amp is pushed louder, then the bass goes down...

Bright switch on.

THe NEpTuNeS

Yeah, I forgot.... bright switch off here.

I think it's really important to mention that all amps differ to a certain degree. I've played different heads through my cabinet and found my "normal" settings to be way off. When it comes to vintage amps this really factors in. My Bandmaster is supposed to be 40 watts, but I just had her serviced and the report was a healthy 49.7 watts of clean power.

"as he stepped into the stealthy night air... little did he know the fire escape was not there"

https://www.facebook.com/reluctantaquanauts/
https://www.facebook.com/TheDragstripVipers/

Bassman:

I play through the "bass instrument" channel, with the "deep" switch off:

image

Treble on 7, bass on 6: volume from 3 to 7.

-dp

Just a note to Bandmaster owners.....

(This also applies to Tremolux, Vibrolux, Deluxe, etc.)

I'm about to suggest a modification for Tone, take it for what it's worth. For truly vintage amps, this is nearly sacrilege, but it is a reversible mod, just save the old part for future re-use.

Inside your amp's chassis, you'll find a 6.8Kohm resistor hanging off the Bass control, and going to ground. That resistor is the same thing as the 10Kohm control found in the bigger amps, meaning that you have the equivalent of a Mid control set to about 6 or 7.

If you want to change that, you go higher in value to get closer to a Mid control at 10, or you can jumper it completely to imitate a Mid control at 1. Personally, I prefer the "scooped" sound of the Mid control set as low as possible, but that is subject to change under varying room conditions. YMMV! Very Happy

unlunf

MY RIGHT HAND IS FASTER THAN YOURS!
(copyright 2003, Bruce Welch)

On my Line 6 Guitar POD, I keep all the upper controls (treble, mid, bass, reverb) turned all the way up, and tweak the effects control as necessary, depending what amp/model settings I'm using. When I started playing my new Fender So-Cal Speed Shop Strat through it, trying different amp/cab/fx models, I finally put it on "Line 6 Clean" and "Bypass," and started jamming with just the top 3 strings. I quickly found out, with those settings, that I have a rockin' lil' hot rod/surf guitar, in my So-Cal Speed Shop Strat! Twisted Evil

Matt in Indiana

Fast Cars & Loud Guitars!

If I'm playing on a Fender Tube amp, I tend to keep the treble around 8. Bass is usually good around 4-5. If it's got a mid control, usually between 7-10. My '63 R/I Reverb usually is 6/6/7 for all-out splashy surf.
If playing a Ventures or Fireballs tune, I usually set the Reverb "mix" control at 3, while leaving dwell and tone at 6 & 7.

Bruce D Smile

unlunf
Just a note to Bandmaster owners.....

(This also applies to Tremolux, Vibrolux, Deluxe, etc.)

I'm about to suggest a modification for Tone, take it for what it's worth. For truly vintage amps, this is nearly sacrilege, but it is a reversible mod, just save the old part for future re-use.

Inside your amp's chassis, you'll find a 6.8Kohm resistor hanging off the Bass control, and going to ground. That resistor is the same thing as the 10Kohm control found in the bigger amps, meaning that you have the equivalent of a Mid control set to about 6 or 7.

If you want to change that, you go higher in value to get closer to a Mid control at 10, or you can jumper it completely to imitate a Mid control at 1. Personally, I prefer the "scooped" sound of the Mid control set as low as possible, but that is subject to change under varying room conditions. YMMV! Very Happy

unlunf

I also saw recomended to raise the mid pots value (= larger resistence to ground = more signal going through/less bleeding away) to get a more tweed like sound. (you wouldn't want that for surf though I guess)

but hey, unlunf, how abou this one I thought up: route the mid chain via the bright switch (which I NEVER use) and wire it for two mid options, say the standard 6.8K and one around 3 for a more scooped sound. sounds like a good idea? (might try it on my bassman)

WR

Rules to live by #314:
"When in Italy, if the menu says something's grilled, don't assume it is."

https://www.facebook.com/The-Malbehavers-286429584796173/

I play a Musicman "sixty-five" 112 and use the following settings:
Volume: 4-4.5
Treble: 5-6
Mid: 3
Bass: 8
Reverb: 7.5-8
Master: 6-7 depending on room size
Bright switch: On
Deep switch: On

Live - Fender Prosonic (Red Tolex)
Treb -between 5 and 7.5
Mid - 7
Bass - 6 to 8
Reverb - at around 5.5

Channel 2 is all 0.

Practice -
Fender Blues Deluxe Re-Issue
treb - 6.5
mid - 8
bass -7
reverb - 7

bass 7
middle 10
treble 5
reverb 7

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