Normster wrote:I spent some time with the 100watt HRM this weekend. (Built with Funk's chassis and boards. Pretty much a straight "HRM 101" build.) Still some tweaking, but I'm liking the slightly overdriven tone with my Ibanez semi-hollow.
As a tribute to dogears, it's a "bathrobe" clip. First verse is clean (neck pu), second is OD at 9:30 (neck pu), third is OD at 9:30 w/mid boost (bridge pu, tone rolled off slightly).
I think the OD is still a little dark so I may up the treble a bit. Anyway, comments and suggestions welcome.
Very soothing to my ears after too much coffee this AM...I like the smooth transistions between clean, OD and OD + mid boost. Are you using .002 and 324pf as your treble selections? Interesting comments about the Tele hardware. I am considering a Mex Tele purchase but want it to sound like the 60's Tele I had decades ago
Normster wrote:Here's a clip I did last night over the same track. It's the Tele with low gain on the OD. (Same settings as verse 2 above.) I'll get around to some clean clips this weekend. http://bad-domain/MP3/HRMbluesTele.mp3
Wow, no slam on your Artcore pal but THATS what I'm talking about!!!
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That Tele clip is the shitt, baby! Sounds very fine - tone and playing. I am with you on the orphaned Strat thing. I am trying hard to tune my HRM into a Stratocaster lover. Congrats on another great sounding build.
stelligan wrote:
I am trying hard to tune my HRM into a Stratocaster lover.
I used a Strat with my old HRMs, and I had to put a humbucker in the back to make it work. With the HRM I built this year, the key to the Strat was losing the HRM board.
But, if you're a Strat kind of guy, the good news to me was that the HRM amp minus the HRM, i.e., 220/150, 180/120 plates. etc., sounds very good with the Strat even with the Skyliner stack. Probably better than my 100K amp with Skyliner stack. Still, the "classic" stack (.047uF mid cap) non HRM is probably the smoothest one with the Strat.
Gil,
Are you saying that just removing the post OD tonestack and keeping all the other HRM values throughout the rest of the circuit makes it sound good with strats?
yeahyeah wrote:Gil,
Are you saying that just removing the post OD tonestack and keeping all the other HRM values throughout the rest of the circuit makes it sound good with strats?
It will definitely make it better, yes. If you, furthermore, replace the pre OD network with 220K+100K trimmer, it will make it even better still. You can then check how you feel about adding the V1B NFB loop (40Meg + .047uF from plate to grid).
Now, since most HRM amps don't have snubbers at the V2 sockets, removing the HRM board without putting some kind of treble gate (resistor + cap to ground) may result in an overly bright sound. When I take out the HRM board, I replace it with a board that has: a .005uF coupling cap into a 150K (you can use 180K for a smoother, more "compressed" sound), followed by a 100K trimmer set at 50K to ground. From the input of the trimmer you connect a trimmer (variable resistor, 250K or 500K) in series with a .001uF cap to ground. All of that feeds the master volume.
In other words, what I am saying is that the HRM itself is, as per my experience, the number one cause of a Strat not sounding good through the amps. NOTE: if you are a bridge pickup player with a Strat, like say Eric Johnson, then the HRM may sound very good. I am mostly speaking about positions 2 and 4, which is the only reason I have a Strat in the first place.
yeahyeah wrote:Gil,
Are you saying that just removing the post OD tonestack and keeping all the other HRM values throughout the rest of the circuit makes it sound good with strats?
It will definitely make it better, yes. If you, furthermore, replace the pre OD network with 220K+100K trimmer, it will make it even better still. You can then check how you feel about adding the V1B NFB loop (40Meg + .047uF from plate to grid).
Now, since most HRM amps don't have snubbers at the V2 sockets, removing the HRM board without putting some kind of treble gate (resistor + cap to ground) may result in an overly bright sound. When I take out the HRM board, I replace it with a board that has: a .005uF coupling cap into a 150K (you can use 180K for a smoother, more "compressed" sound), followed by a 100K trimmer set at 50K to ground. From the input of the trimmer you connect a trimmer (variable resistor, 250K or 500K) in series with a .001uF cap to ground. All of that feeds the master volume.
In other words, what I am saying is that the HRM itself is, as per my experience, the number one cause of a Strat not sounding good through the amps. NOTE: if you are a bridge pickup player with a Strat, like say Eric Johnson, then the HRM may sound very good. I am mostly speaking about positions 2 and 4, which is the only reason I have a Strat in the first place.
ayan wrote:
But, if you're a Strat kind of guy, the good news to me was that the HRM amp minus the HRM, i.e., 220/150, 180/120 plates. etc., sounds very good with the Strat even with the Skyliner stack.
Gil
I gotta quit whining and start soldering I guess. I have all these ideas to try - all collected at my bench. Messing with my bass trimmer has helped some. And Gil - you don't like those noisy positions? Those are my favorites
ayan wrote:
In other words, what I am saying is that the HRM itself is, as per my experience, the number one cause of a Strat not sounding good through the amps. NOTE: if you are a bridge pickup player with a Strat, like say Eric Johnson, then the HRM may sound very good. I am mostly speaking about positions 2 and 4, which is the only reason I have a Strat in the first place.
Gil
+1 I Don't think the EJ thing even works. I could not get "Fat" Strat tones until I lowered my HRM mid cap to around .005 - .0068 . Also I like the 220k, 150K plates all the way across. Norm's got me wanting a Tele...
Still, the "classic" stack (.047uF mid cap) non HRM is probably the smoothest one with the Strat.
Gil, I agree, and removing the OD2 snubber was another improvement. It gave a little more top end w/o being too much. The 2 and 4 positions really chime.
Still, the "classic" stack (.047uF mid cap) non HRM is probably the smoothest one with the Strat.
Gil, I agree, and removing the OD2 snubber was another improvement. It gave a little more top end w/o being too much. The 2 and 4 positions really chime.
my .02
Sure, that's the whole problem with the Strat: position "4" (if we call that middle + bridge, my favorite) -- and "2" as well, but I seldom use it -- can easily be very dull sounding if the amp is not dialed in just right. And if you go overboard with the highs, then it will sound "bad." This is the reason I do use a brightness cap in the OD master volume on two of my amps. I size the cap so I can get the pick attack (can otherwise easily get lost) to be noticeable with the Strat , but not so much as to hurt the sound with humbuckers. It seems like a contradiciton, I put the brightness cap on the master and at the same time I am dumping highs to ground at the output of the overdrive... But that combination is what has worked the best for me in almost a decade.
In the end, I usually have some kind of a compromise, though: I dial in enough chime so that a Strat in position "4" will be usable, but not so much high end in overdrive that will cause my 335 to sound too bright on the bridge pickup. The most interesting thing is that, my MIJ Tele doesn't care and will sound terrific on the bridge pickup, seemingly no matter what.
First verse is clean (neck pu), second is OD at 9:30 (neck pu), third is OD at 9:30 w/mid boost (bridge pu, tone rolled off slightly).
