amplifier sound question

Posted by Craig Cox on July 27, 2010 at 10:24am
Hi everyone,
just finished my second cbg using a smallish Padron box. it looks pretty good:
but I want to tweak the sound as it is a bit twangy. 

Don't know much about amplified music. I have a Vox Pathfinder 15w amp with bass & treble, reverb and tremolo controls, but no other way to change the tone and "shape" of the notes. What would help me do this with this amp (relatively inexpensively). basically, my amp is giving me a louder version of the acoustic sound. should I look at pedals? any suggestions? I like the sound that John McNair and Mike Snowden get, if that helps. the tone seems "round" and full. 

thanks

You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!

Join Cigar Box Nation

Email me when people reply –
Follow

Replies

  • Craig Cox December 5, 2010 at 8:38pm
    I think a big part of John's sound is the magnetic pickups on his guitars. I've used piezos on all my builds so far, and of course they pick up the acoustic vibrations of the box rather than the electro-magnetic vibes of the strings. anyway, my next build will have mag pups. if that doesn't work, I guess I'll buy a Red Dog!
  • Mama Mojo December 5, 2010 at 3:09pm
    That's pretty much what I do and it works well.... I also have a couple of different effects boards like the POD XT and the Boss ME-50 (love the ME-70 as well) and a pocket POD for walking around the house with. I have an older Peavey Classic 30 with the spring reverb built in and it works much like a separate high-end reverb unit and then use the delay through one of the boards to get the type of sound that John is getting. Backing off the treble and cranking the bass and mids is really important as well.

    John H. Maw said:
    John McNair suggest amp settings in his training DVD. Essentially it seems to involve starting clean and just giving it reverb and delay to get the sound that he uses for the more haunting pieces that he plays. Hope that is of some help.
  • Roadkill a.k.a. John Maw December 5, 2010 at 2:39pm
    John McNair suggest amp settings in his training DVD. Essentially it seems to involve starting clean and just giving it reverb and delay to get the sound that he uses for the more haunting pieces that he plays. Hope that is of some help.
  • Outhouse Instruments July 28, 2010 at 6:15am
    I like to use a Danelectro Fish&Chips. It's a 7 band eq pedal. You can add a little bass , boost the mids full and cut the treble to really round out the sound. I 've had mine a few years, but itwas like 38 bucks.
    Go to a git shop .... they should let you try the pedals out.

    Matt
  • Pilgrim July 28, 2010 at 12:37am
    Overdrive will make it sound fuller and louder too. Maybe something like a Danelectro fab overdrive, cheap so not much risk.
  • Wichita Sam July 27, 2010 at 7:51pm
    you can try "blues/tubes" type pedals..... you can take a little of the "twangy" out with heavier strings... but, I really like those boxes for "strummers" because the do naturally have that twangy sound.
  • Chris Tinker July 27, 2010 at 10:50am
    The reverb and Tremelo are effects already in your amp so play with those and you should get more than just a louder version of the acoustic sound. If you put the reverb up high, you should get a good 'surf' sound. If you want it to sound round and full I'd suggest something like a chorus pedal. Meanwhile turn the treble down and the bass up and it should sound less twangy.
This reply was deleted.