Super Reverb against the band

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StevenO
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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by StevenO » Mon Feb 25, 2019 5:58 am

I have a Blackface Fender Showman that DISAPPEARS in a mix. Seriously. My Princeton Reverb and Vibrolux Reverb are quieter but cut so much better. The Showman just sounds bloated and tubby by comparison.

I've experienced this with a few amps that just kind of sound dull and scooped no matter what. If the amp isn't doing it for you, check out something different. Something with mids!

As far as pedals go, an EQ pedal might work to help you cut through, but my limited experience with them (I have an MXR 10 band) is that they kind of make your signal sound stiff and rigid. So maybe an EQ and a light compressor of sorts might help too, to squish and limit and compress all in one.

Wattage can only do so much sometimes. Sometimes it's just the amp's nature to not cut.

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by MechaBulletBill » Mon Feb 25, 2019 6:11 am

StevenO wrote:
Mon Feb 25, 2019 5:58 am
I have a Blackface Fender Showman that DISAPPEARS in a mix. Seriously. My Princeton Reverb and Vibrolux Reverb are quieter but cut so much better.
that's because vibrolux reverb's are the absolute best!!!

[this message is brought to you by a Vibrolux Reverb® owner]

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by garyfanclub » Sat Mar 02, 2019 8:06 am

Same boat here... I use a mid-70s Silverface Twin (basically the same as a Showman) in one of my projects and often run into the same issue, depending on what the other guitar player is using. If it's a middy amp, say a hot rod series Fender, I need to compensate by adding more mids and treble and removing bass -especially- at higher volumes.

I find that a nice throaty boost/overdrive helps me cut through a little better as well. In fact, my Land Devices EP5 is always on, regardless of what I'm using. Have you considered adding a couple mid-focused speakers to the amp and seeing if that would help?

Also, and I know this has been said, but turning down will help too. Nothing ever really sounds right to me at crazy high volumes, especially in a smaller room where the sound waves are colliding/cancelling each other out etc..

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by panoramic » Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:23 am

marqueemoon wrote:
Tue Feb 12, 2019 7:29 pm
Tell everyone else to turn down?
this, tell the volume warriors to chill the fuck out
I used to be cool, now I just complain about prices.

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by cyclopean » Fri Mar 15, 2019 9:29 am

torchindy wrote:
Tue Feb 12, 2019 6:05 pm
Hey dudes

Am starting up a 90s style punk band with some musician friends. The bass player uses a marshall 400 watt something or other and the other guitarist uses p90s into a 5150. I have an old 60s super reverb, and I seem to disappear into the mix which sucks because I'm supposed to play lead. I'm playing a Telecaster and a SG.

Cranking the volume and using a tube screamer sounds awesome on its own, but in the mix it brings me forward a little bit but ends up with some really unpleasant sounds relative to the rest of the band, like very very scooped and trebly and harsh sounding relative to the 5150.

I think I need something Marshall sounding, with heavy mids to bring me up to the same frequency area as the 5150. I think the super is so scooped that it is missing the midrange balls to run lead in this situation. So I have a few options:

1. Pick up a jcm800 head or something. Been wanting one for a while anyway but now they're all over a thousand bucks

2. Maybe there is a pedal I can put on the super that pushes meds more than a tube screamer? Or something that makes it less weird and scooped and harsh? Or is the EQ of the super always going to defeat any mids a pedal tries to add

3. Other options?
what kind of 90s punk?

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by ludobag1 » Sun Apr 14, 2019 5:56 am

the équaliser will help you cause some amp at hight level sound silly
my deluxe reverb was not enought powerfull to fight the bass and drum at rehearsale cause at high level it tend to compress and have the same frequency as cymbal and the bassist sound ,it became really harsh ,ear picking
the volume was the trouble ,too much level

now i have a quilter head with 200 watt and it is not use at 200 w but in the 20 to 50 w depend on venue and i ear me well
my bassman head 100 w tend to be a little to quieter with the marshall cab at rehearsale ,i put it at 8 to 10 to heard me really and this way the drum and bass tend to be to loud ,in fact it have frequency who disapear with the band, then more volume to hear it ect.....
depend of what you play but it is not the power of the amp who count ,is the way it work at band level ,also the guitar count a lot cause jazzmaster and distortion sound really trebly and tend to larsen easely to my taste

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by fuzzjunkie » Sun Apr 14, 2019 12:12 pm

unpleasant sounds relative to the rest of the band, like very very scooped and trebly and harsh sounding relative to the 5150.
The answer is to be a 70s punk band instead of a 90s punk band. Trebly and harsh is perfect for that. ;)

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by jthomas » Sun Apr 14, 2019 12:43 pm

My 2 cents:

Try to turn down and balance the amps first.

Second- try a treble boost pedal. Back a long time ago, in a loud band, an EHX Screaming Bird pedal (actually, mine plugged into the amp directly) took care of this issue for me.

https://www.askaudiomag.com/treble-booster-pedal/

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by mynameisjonas » Sun Apr 21, 2019 7:03 am


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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by sessylU » Tue Apr 23, 2019 6:54 am

torchindy wrote:
Tue Feb 12, 2019 6:05 pm
Hey dudes

Am starting up a 90s style punk band with some musician friends. The bass player uses a marshall 400 watt something or other and the other guitarist uses p90s into a 5150. I have an old 60s super reverb, and I seem to disappear into the mix which sucks because I'm supposed to play lead. I'm playing a Telecaster and a SG.

Cranking the volume and using a tube screamer sounds awesome on its own, but in the mix it brings me forward a little bit but ends up with some really unpleasant sounds relative to the rest of the band, like very very scooped and trebly and harsh sounding relative to the 5150.

I think I need something Marshall sounding, with heavy mids to bring me up to the same frequency area as the 5150. I think the super is so scooped that it is missing the midrange balls to run lead in this situation. So I have a few options:

1. Pick up a jcm800 head or something. Been wanting one for a while anyway but now they're all over a thousand bucks

2. Maybe there is a pedal I can put on the super that pushes meds more than a tube screamer? Or something that makes it less weird and scooped and harsh? Or is the EQ of the super always going to defeat any mids a pedal tries to add

3. Other options?
A solution might be for all of your band members to work on your EQ together. Between the other two amps, there might not be much space up for grabs, you all might nee to work out whereabouts in the spectrum you sit.
a total idiot jackass

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by torchindy » Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:24 am

So I was searching for something else entirely when I found this old thread and figured I’d post a follow-up. Ended up getting an 800 with a bunch of 80s mods and it sits perfect, the other guitarist got a 2204 JMP so we’re pretty balanced now.

We actually just released our debut single, if anybody is interested! I posted a link up in the member’s music thread.

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by ElephantDNA » Tue Apr 06, 2021 4:47 pm

torchindy wrote:
Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:24 am
So I was searching for something else entirely when I found this old thread and figured I’d post a follow-up. Ended up getting an 800 with a bunch of 80s mods and it sits perfect, the other guitarist got a 2204 JMP so we’re pretty balanced now.

We actually just released our debut single, if anybody is interested! I posted a link up in the member’s music thread.
Nice choice, man. Will check out the band for sure. No one believes me but the answer is always British amps lol ;)

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by Beebe » Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:20 pm

This is a cool thread. Glad the 800 is working for you. Getting the right amp for the band is super important. Especially for loud styles. The right pickups are really important too. I switched from strat like single coils to P-90s and our other guitarist switched from humbuckers to P-90s. He has a bassman and I play through a dual showman. With the bright switch on, I keep bass and treble at 3 and mids and volume at 9. My amp eq settings have a big impact on how the output stage behaves. ...doing my best to make the most fender-y amp sound marshall-y.
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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by Sauerkraut » Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:58 pm

Another option would have been to modify one of the two channels by reducing the mid scoop, cutting out a bit of bass, and maybe adding some gain. Worked really well for me with my Tremolux. Just enter „Rob Robinette lead channel mod“ into your favourite search engine. If that’s somehow still not enough, try running it through Celestion speakers.

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Re: Super Reverb against the band

Post by Beebe » Wed Apr 14, 2021 9:25 am

Sauerkraut wrote:
Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:58 pm
Another option would have been to modify one of the two channels by reducing the mid scoop, cutting out a bit of bass, and maybe adding some gain. Worked really well for me with my Tremolux. Just enter „Rob Robinette lead channel mod“ into your favourite search engine. If that’s somehow still not enough, try running it through Celestion speakers.
Cool! Thanks for posting. I was looking for just such a mod. In the meantime I'm going to give the Carl Martin PlexiTone Lo- gain pedal a try at practice tonight (into my dual showman). Testing it out into a Tech 21 Blond pedal with character set to blackface... It seems to add the wanted "cut" and sounds pretty good.
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