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Post subject: "Unbox" your GT sound...
Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 4:28 pm
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Sun May 21, 2017 7:34 am
Posts: 14
Location: Portugal
I've bought a GT40 2 weeks ago. At the store the distortions/heavier amps sounded boxy but I bought it any way, the cleans were good, nice interface, nice design and it handle a low E slap bass note, the main things I wanted for a living room practice amp.
But after that decision I've spent most of my playing hours trying to get a decent distortion sound, and you have a lot of options, the best ones I've found are:

Put a Ranger Boost at the beginning of the chain.
Single coils sounded better then humbuckers.
Select another global eq
Lower gain with an overdrive/distortion pedal
Higher volume helps to open the sound (which is sad for use with headphones and low volume practice)

Nothing really new other then the pickups stuff, I've been using an Ibanez with dimarzio pickups and the coil tap sounds better then the full humbucker, that never happen on that guitar with my other valve, transistor or modelled amps. When I go for the humbucker switch, I go from a snapy gilmour/johnston sound to a muddier nobody sound... weird.

I've grown to like the little amp with the coolest name ever, made some nice tones that inspired me to play, can't ask for more for 235€, and I did get to play with the looper yet (no Portuguese stock yet).

Did you found the same issue? How did you fix it?

Best,


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Post subject: Re: "Unbox" your GT sound...
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:03 am
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Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:53 pm
Posts: 972
I applaud you ! There are so many that just play a few presets, maybe tweak it a bit and just give up, call the amp crap on a forum or 3 then box it up. You took the time and effort to rectify what you didn't like and found the solution. I did the same with both my old MIII and my GT and was paid off in spades. What people don't get is you have 2 choices when it comes to buying an amp. 1. one that has very few settings like a traditional amp so theres not much to dial in and make sure the sound will please a good potion of your customers. 2. or one thats capable of far more sounds that are nearly infinite so that a lot more people can find their tonal nirvana. They both have their strengths but what people don't get it when an amp is capable of so much variation it takes time to get the best from it, and many don't take the time like you and I. But instead of realizing that and realizing that type of amp is not for them, many just get angry and post their hate for the amp and move on. Thats got to be frustrating for fender.

It's like buying a painting vs a kit with a blank canvas and paint/brushes. Some just want a painting to hang on the wall, others want one that is exactly what they want and don;t mind spending the time to make it themselves. I'm a perfectionist and i can't easily be happy with the tone a manufacturer wants me to like. Thats why i went thru a endless parade of tube amps for decades and never had one as long as i owned the MIII. Now with the GT i see even more potential to be tonally satisfied and i don;t mind the time spent tweaking.

As to what u asked, things i found to eliminate issues i had with the tone are for one the sag. I liked it set in the middle on my MIII and the amp;s dynamics were fine like that. On the GT however the dynamics get squished too much with sag in the middle ("matched" setting) and you lose touch dynamics. So i leave it on "less' and it;s a definate improvement in the area of feel/touch. I also find that if the patch has that sound many are complaining about where it sounds like a recorded version of guitar tone, the sag setting helps there to for the feel, but sound wise i find that what helps is to change the TYPE of treble in the patch. If it has bright and presence in the patch and you have they up high at all, try turning the treble way up and lower the presence and bright till the top end is just enough. What you're doing there is trading higher range treble frequencies for lower treble frequencies. The higher ones make for a smoother more processed sound while lower trebles give more crunch and clarity and that tends to remove that process or as some say "recorded" sound and it sounds more like a regular amp in the room. And of course ALWAYS try different cab sims because thats the biggest difference by far. Nothing can improve or ruin a sound near as much as the cab, so rather then use what fender has as default, try them all. I lean towards the 412GB for all my presets because i find it the most natural sounding cab and far bigger/fuller than many of them.

Those are the only suggestions i can think of off hand other than try anything and everything to find what works best for you. There gold in them thar hills, but you ain't gonna find it unless you look.


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Post subject: Re: "Unbox" your GT sound...
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 9:06 am
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Wed May 10, 2017 2:13 pm
Posts: 44
Finding the hidden gold can be fun and all, but why would someone trying to sell you something make it more difficult to find the good qualities in their product? Fender could have made the positive qualities of the GT more apparent.

Personally, I don't mind going rogue and using whatever software tricks I find to get the sound I want, but conceptually, other users are going to think of the virtual equipment (amp and effects) that the software represents as being what the label of the item states that it is. So if what they pick doesn't sound reasonably similar to what they expect, then it is therefore wrong and they're not going to bother adding more effects and tweaking obscure stuff like sag and bias to get closer. (Come to think of it, I don't beleive that I've seen a single stock preset from Fender that adjusted sag and bias, lol).

I'm reaching the end of the time period where I can return my GT200 to the store, if that's what I decide to do. I'm hoping that one more firmware update comes out before that happens, so I can see where they are going with this product.

_________________
Products Own(ed):
GT-200
GDEC-3/30
GDEC (traded in for the 3/30


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Post subject: Re: "Unbox" your GT sound...
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 10:33 am
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Roadie
Roadie

Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 2:19 pm
Posts: 270
'Preset collections' used to be the domain of the synth guys, and the
synth was judged on the presets rather than the engine and steering.
The sound designers tended to provide a lot of wild/crazy/weird sounds,
which dazzle for a moment, but won't get used in songs.

Along come the Mustangs, with 100 or 24 sounds on the dial,
and presets are now in the game. What do customers want/need?
Over-the-top showboat sounds, useful classic/hit sounds, basic neutral amp tones,
or a blend?

I actually like Fenders blend. There are few useless gimmick sounds,
and plenty of raw amp tones to help people hear the nuances
of different amps, of which I have no personal experience, beyond
a circa 1970 Twin Reverb.

Gain staging is important. When you get gain profiles you like
for clean crunch rock and metal, the effects will decorate the cake,
but not melt it.

@ozcad your tips are excellent. These amps are so deep in potential,
that knowing what others have learned, inspires exploring
the many options, but without going walkabout.
I hope a 4x10 cabinet will be added soon.
Cheers


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Post subject: Re: "Unbox" your GT sound...
Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 4:50 pm
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Sun May 21, 2017 7:34 am
Posts: 14
Location: Portugal
Thanks @ozcad for your words and input that defensibly be using on my patches.
I like to tweak and learn so I don't mind the extra mile, but fender could added some better distortions paches.

@guildorf the bassman cad should be a 4x10 no?

From my experience, on the gt, a Fender Amp with a pedal sounds better than a "Marshall" / "Mesa" alone, did you find the same?


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Post subject: Re: "Unbox" your GT sound...
Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 6:22 pm
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Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:53 pm
Posts: 972
danielblues wrote:
Thanks @ozcad for your words and input that defensibly be using on my patches.
I like to tweak and learn so I don't mind the extra mile, but fender could added some better distortions paches.

@guildorf the bassman cad should be a 4x10 no?

From my experience, on the gt, a Fender Amp with a pedal sounds better than a "Marshall" / "Mesa" alone, did you find the same?


Well, depends on the mesa or marshall. I don't care for mesas at all, but i gigged with marshals for many years and love them. And i can't say the GT sounds better then them, thats to much of a generalization. I can say it sounds better then some of them but the main thing is it just sounds great and cuts thru great and consistently sounds great every time you plug in and has tons of built in effects and a tuner and....well, you get the idea. Even if some of my marshalls sounded a bit better at times, they often sounded worse because they are so affected by whatever conditions make tube amps change from room to room, moment to moment. They're very temperamental unlike SS amps. So considering that and then considering the 8 million benefits of the mustang over a tube amp i do like the GT better then any of my marshalls. But it does on average sound as good and thats saying something for a chip connected to SS a power amp ! I do have a sort of soft spot for some of my better tube amps that i loved and do miss that smell of hot tubes at times and those moments where they DID sound killer. I do miss that vibe. But in the end what matters is when you're playing and that the tool you are using works perfectly and the mustangs do that and so far it;ls looking like the GT will too. (only just begun tho)


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