From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Fri Nov 09 07:38:18 2001
Subject:Re: tube talk (again)

Galen,

>I have a Peavey rack mount Tube Fex guitar processor that I can't unload
>and am now thinking about using it for warming my clone's sound.
>
>As a general stance, should I stay away from this type of "made for
>guitar" box? (limited frequency range?) Further, should I even mess with
>it if I used a Leslie emulator that has a 12 AX7?

If you can't seem to sell the Peavey, you might as well try to use it for
your organ -- it's free, right? It's always worthwhile to experiment, but
I don't hold out a lot of hope for it:
* Guitar tube preamps are designed around the needs of lead guitarists,
which these days is mostly gain, gain, GAIN! I've found that the lowest
settings available on guitar preamps are usually about as high a level of
distortion as I'll ever need, leaving no adjustment range to get the warm
little growl that you need for organ.
* The tone that works well with a guitar is not very well suited to
organ tone; most guitarists like a sound that rolls off the low end --
never mind what the "Bass" control says; I'm talking about the actual
frequency response -- and punches up the upper mids, while an organ needs a
more flat response from the low bass to the upper midrange. A little
history: Back in the early 60's, Jim Marshall took the basic Fender-like
tube amp design, which is reasonably flat, and modified the preamp stage
components to emphasize the midrange frequencies. This became the design
for the Marshall stack -- i.e., the "classic" Marshall sound -- and it's
been the reference standard rock guitar tone for the past 20 years and
more. That's the tone that all of these guitar tube preamps are shooting
for. You can try to compensate with tone controls and outboard EQ, but the
end result probably won't be the same as a tube organ amp.
Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™ www.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group and HiNote moderator
978.386.7389 voice 978.964.0547 fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com