Need some help, please.

I'm currently using a Fender Hot rod Deluxe amp. And i want to get a heavier sound out of it then i am at the moment. I tired turning the treble and bass all the way up, and turning off the mids completely, but it still has a twangy sound to it.

I did buy from pedals though from musiciansfriend, havent reveiced them yet. I bought a smashbox ( distortion pedal) and a Boss super octave pedal. My plan is to use both the pedals at the same time, im sure that would beef up my tone.

But without effects or anything, any suggestions on setting my amp to get a meaty, heavy full sound?

Thanks alot ;)

I also use a HRD, and the only thing I could think of was change the speaker. The eminence speakers are junk. I'm going for a Jensen or Celestion.

Other things ; Use humbuckers, lots of drive, lots of bass and mid, less presence, barely any reverb, use the "more drive".

thanks tele...is there a site online about those speakers? I wanna know how much they go for.

Also, my amp is a 40watt grade A- and my speaker is i think 8' or 12', i forget....say if i bought a jenson or something else, would it have to be 40watt and nothing above that? And it would have to be the same size right?

You could just get another amp and then switch between amps depending on the sound you want. I'm not sure what cheap amps get you a heavy sound but i know some fender stage amp could do a pretty good heavy sound and they dont cost too much either.

Do you like the sound on your amp at all ? Or do you just want to be able to get a heavy tone from it too ?

I have a peavey classic 50 which I think is fairly similar to the fender hot rod amps. I agree with tele about getting a better speaker. the speakers on these amps just don't allow the chunkyness you (and myself) desire. I haven't changed my speakers yet, so i can't give you much help on that, except that you might want to check out weber speakers. As for settings. I have the ovedrive channels volume maxed and the gain on aorund 10 (goes to 12) and the master volume to taste. (note: all knobs go to 12) presance 9-10, bass 5-7, mid 6-9, trebel 7-10. Those settings give me about all the chunk the amp and speakers are capable of. A really hot bridge pickup would help too. One more thing I would like to point out is that your overall sound will sound much heavier and chunky when playing with a full band, so it's not alway's necessary to try to get the heaviest high gain sound while playing alone. Hope some of this helps you out :o

ah, thank you all, helped me out quite a bit :)


Yeah, i like the sound of my amp, its a good amp, i mean its loud as hell and screams,..i think one reason might be im in a very small room, with a large drum kit right next to me when i play.

But i recived my ibanez sm7 smashbox pedal and boss oc super octave pedal, and my tone is pretty damn crunchy now. I'm also thinking about getting an EQ, to tighten it up a big.


Thanks again guys.

No, you can get a larger rated speaker. It means the speaker won't break up easy, which is good.

Try yahoo, then Celestion or Jensen.

You can spend your money based on reputation, or you can check out Weber VST and know what you're getting before you part with your coin. Read through the user's comments. A lot of them describe what the particular speaker they selected did to improve their sound - and a lot of them use Fender amps. There's another section that gives the specs on each speaker, along with charts to give you an idea of what the voicing is like, and what the breakup character is like. I'll never buy another CTS, EV, Eminence, or Celestion again!

The Smash Box is crap! Try out a Digitech Hotrod, they sound Tubular!

i acutally like the smashbox, it has a really heavy full sound, esp when i use it with the octave pedal.

Originally Posted by: I SufferI'm currently using a Fender Hot rod Deluxe amp. And i want to get a heavier sound out of it then i am at the moment. I tired turning the treble and bass all the way up, and turning off the mids completely, but it still has a twangy sound to it. ... ;)

AAaargghhh! That's the classic 'bedroom guitarist' setup! :eek:

People mistake the overall mix of a track on a disk for the hot amp setting - not so! Too much bass muddies your sound, and also steps all over the bass lines. Too much treble especially with a lot of distortion, just sounds harsh and tinny.

The guitar does it's best stuff in the midrange. Roll off the bass to about 3/10. Cut the high end enough to reduce the harshness, but not so much that it doesn't cut. Say, 5 or 6 of 10. Run the mids up strong. Try 7/10 and move up or down from there.

haha, good deal ,lords. Thanks for the advice. ;)

I figured when recording into this type of machine, i should just boost everything up and scoop the mids, then work around in the EQ and compressor in the recorder. obviosuly thats wrong, :cool: