Yet another Question, My Amp Is Driving Me Nuts!Help!!

[Erik2005]

Hello everyone,

Here is the problem: I have a Fender Champ 12 amp (12 watts I believe) and a DOD Metal X Distortion pedal. When I turn up the volume on the amp to play in the garage with my brother on drums its just sounds kinda blurry; kind of a higher pitch and blurry, not clear, smooth and a comfortable sound (this is with distortion on). It really hurts my ears and everything just kind of sounds run together. How can I fix this or tune it to where it will sound good. I also have a Boss Super Chorus CH-1 pedal and it has some EQ stuff on it, do I use this to help tune the amp, what am I doing wrong? Thanks!

[lalimacefolle]

well, get another amp, 12 watts can't be satisfying, you need at least 50, maybe 80, to play with a comfortable sounding distortion at a high volume (to cut through the drums..)

[Erik2005]

Thanks for the reply,

I am looking a t getting a Marhsall JCM 800 Amp Head (50 watts) ans getting sometihn along the lines of a 4x12 cab, will a 50 amp head power a 100 wat 4x12 Cabinet or will it blow it due to being underpowered? Or do they have to matched like say a 50 watt amp head to a 50 wat cab etc? Thanks in advance!

[lalimacefolle]

you should get a combo, because the head and the cabinet are too much hassle to carry, unless you have a roadie...
I think there's a 100 watts combo based on the jcm 800...

[PonyOne]

Stick w/the combo's for now.... you don't need anything heavy like that yet. Stacks are more for when you start playing to large crowds in larger venues. Higher-watt combos are the way to go for recording, playing parties or small shows, and general playing around. Look at Behringer's.

I use my 15-watt vox and it sounds great at high volumes. One of the reasons you're not sounding good is that DOD MAKES TERRIBLE PRODUCTS. I have a Grunge pedal that I use as a doorstop now, that's all it's good for. They whine and whine and whine, it's better to save up for a Boss of some type. The DS-1 ($40, give or take) is good, and so is the MT-2 ($80-90), the latter being my weapon of choice. The DS-1 gives a more vintage Marshall-esque sound, and the MT-2 lets you do all the really loud metal stuff. I use the MT-2 in conjunction with a Dano flange and a sometimes a compressor (good for ska/surf-ish blunt stuff).
What you're describing sounds like exactly what my problem with my Grunge pedal was... it's squealy, it gets feedback too easily, and everything sounds the same, even w/the distortion and level turned waaaay down. The Grunge and Metal X pedals use the same basic circuitry, but with more emphasis on different ends of the tone spectrum. They're very tempting since they're so cheap, but I'd stay away. The only DOD i'm OK with is the IceBox chorus.
One thing you might want to make sure of is that if your amp has any built-in distortion (aka Gain, or a Boost button) make sure that the Boost is off and the Gain is at 45 degrees. Combining amp and pedal distortions can be nasty sometimes.

Oh and just curious, what guitar did you finally end up getting?

[Erik2005]

I ended up getting a Fender Strat (Mexican) and a Fender Champ 12 amp, with the pedals (a DOD Metal X, Boss CH-1 Super Chorus Pedal, and a DOD Digital Syntheizer<--not sure if that is spelled right). My dad's boss came down and he is always interested in what my bro and I are doing; my Dad told him that I was getting a guitar and he gave me all of this stuff, pretty awesome! I really enjoy the Strat! But when I crank my amp in my garage to play with my bro and my friend, it feedbacks, squeels and sounds horrible when its turned up! My ears feel like there bleeding by the time im done. I think ill go check out that Boss DS-1 =). Anyways I have been practicing everyday form I guess maybe a month now? I can play some whole songs and im addicted to the guitar. But I want to be able to get over my bro playing the drums without feeling like im going deaf from all the squeeling. Thanks for the reply, I am also looking into a PA system (Kustom Profile One) do you know if these are any good? I tohught about micing the amp to it, what do you think? Also, for you Fender guys, sohuld it be as hard as it is to hold the frets down? I have Ernie Ball Heavy Top Skinny bottom, and unless I hold really hard towars the front of the fret, it wont make a good clean tone, but my friend has a Iceman ICX### (not sure the rest of the model number, but its the value Iceman that is smaller and lighter) and you can just put your finger on the fret barely and without any effort the note sounds perfect. Am I doing something wrong? This Strat was bought about 7 years ago if that helps at all... Thanks!

-Erik

[Edited by Erik2005 on 12-15-2001 at 05:01 PM]

[PonyOne]

Are you putting your finger ON the fret or BETWEEN them? You're supposed to do the latter, that could be the problem...

Also, if the guitar's seven years old it could be that the frets have been worn down from bending and such. If that's the case, you may need to get it refretted.

[Erik2005]

I put my finer on them I guess, should I put it between them? Also how is one refretted, what does it involve?

[David Gilmour]

Sounds like you need some lessons, at least from a friend or maybe your dad's boss...

Feedback happens when a sound goes through a "loop" at high volumes, that is, the noise from your guitar is amplified through your amp, and the amplified guitar noise is picked up by your guitar pickups, which, in turn, send it right back to the amp, over and over and over. That leads to that sometimes beautiful, mostly annoying and deafening sound we call feedback.

It may be that you're turning your amp too loud, rather than not loud enough; or maybe you're standing too close/right in front of your amp. Try wither turning the amp down a notch, or moving the amp further away from the guitar.

You're guitar probably doesn't need refretting, unless your dad's boss wear sandpaper gloves to play guitar. Instead, it's most likely a combination of your friend's guitar having lighter gauge strings and the fact that your fingers need to develop some strength and calluses to play perfectly clean.

[PonyOne]

If that's the case, then I am the king of string bending... I've had my SG for 2 years and have needed to refret twice... not a total refret, just the first 9.

When you get a guitar refretted, they remove the frets (the metal parts on the fretboard) and replace them with new ones. This usually is done w/fretwire, and is best done by a pro. Freom what it sounds like though, it's probably not the frets.

Yeah, Erik, I don't wanna sound like a prick... but you should find someone who can give you a few lessons, just so you can get down some of the rock-bottom basics. When you play, you generally put your fingers BETWEEN the frets. So if you're going to play the third fret, you don't put your finger on the third fret, you put it between the frets where the first dot is on the fretboard down from the headstock. Try that and you'll get considerably better results.

For a good speed/fingering lesson, try playing the opening guitar riff to "Headup" by the Deftones. You can either get the cd or download an MP3 to get the tempo right, the fingerings are (on the low E, or, the thickest string): 3-2-0-2-0-2-0-2-0-1 and then it recycles. Pretty easy and it'll help out.

I'd also use medium guage strings when starting, they'll help build up callouses better than lighter ones, but are less painful than thicker. I used Gibson Ace Frehly Signature guage strings when I was starting, they're $6 a set but sonce you're a newbie you should only have to replace them once every month or so. Also buy a bottle of Finger Ease and spray it on your guitar every time you play. For the first year or so, after every time you seriously start rocking out, it's gonna hurt some, but it'll come to pass.