So, I have my rig here in all of the essential components!
First of all, the "dirty" amp:
The grandmaster is
very poppy and scratchy. That will have to be fixed. However, the amp is functional, as long as you don't change the master's level while the amp is on. That seems to be the only problem with it. Fantastic, considering that it just hurdled across the country in 9 days in nothing but bubble wrap and packing tape.
However, both channels are pure gold. Exactly the throaty overdrive I've fallen in love with. I had no clue that the green (clean) channel could be so ballsy! The red (higher gain, different tube) and yellow (red and green stacked) pick up where the green channel leaves off. So when I have the TW on green and the Mesa's gain cranked on Channel 2, the two sounds blend really well, but when I switch on the Tube Works' red/yellow channel, it turns into mayhem.
The Mesa on its own pumps through so much fundamental that even (or should I say especially) when I have it juiced, it still keeps everything together. But when it's soloed (I have it running through the Mesa cab--they match so perfectly), it sounds wicked huge and very Lemmy-like.
As you can tell, I am a fan of the mids.
The Tube Works, when you play a guitar through it with these settings has a great "Slaughter Of The Soul"-type sound. When you plug in a bass, it can turn into something similar to E's sound throughout most of Watain's Casus Luciferi album. When I get everything sussed out, I HAVE TO make a video about this...so I'm not just blowing smoke out of my ***.
And drummer's point of view
:
My plan for today is to put the Peavey cabs on top of one another (kinda a big deal in its own right. If you've ever tried to lift or move one of these cabinets by yourself...yeah you'd know), put the Mesa cab right next to it, rack up the amps, and stick the rack on top of the Powerhouse. See how that feels. Might make a little bit more space out there. I'm excited!!
I wanted to wait until I got everything on hand before I started really organizing my plan. I need cables. I think I'm going to go with ProCos (21ft) for the instrument cables. Those I'm going to loom together. I need another speaker cable. At the moment, I have two. The reason why I got the 400+ was so that I could run two 4 Ohm cabs together. I'm especially glad I got it now because the MosValve can only handle a 4 Ohm load or higher. So The 400+ will go to the Powerhouse and the Peavey cab on bottom, the TW will go to the Peavey on top.
Also, since both amps have multiple channels and I find myself wanting to switch between them a lot (the different combination of sounds that can be had is really cool!), I want to get or make footswitches for each one. With the 400+, I'm probably going to do an A/B into each input and with the Tube Works, I want to take advantage of the switching system for all 3 channels and reverb that they have set up. So preferably, I'd like to find a clean Tube Works footswitch (shouldn't be too hard) or something similar to do that.
Then, I'll get some effects. Each amp will probably get an ample dose of chorus/flanger, delay, etc. depending on how what sounds where. But I know I'm going in the right direction! Never sounded so good. And I've never heard a jazz pickup sound so killer! I'm perfectly content with how my Hamer's laid out at the moment. Like with the rig, it just needs some adjustments here and there to get it running smoothly.
Now, I'm going to reorganize it and rack up the 400+ (I'm not sure how I'll fit the Tube Works in...I'll have to get someone's advice). I'll take pictures when I'm done!
So that's my "bass therapy" for today...just as long as I keep the music cranked, I seem to be doing good!
Here's the view from the 400+'s perch.
