NEWBIE QUESTION

[distortion101]

OK, Im new here as i found this forum by searching this question with no luck what so ever. I have an Ibanez TBX150 Head that i loved in the store because it had great amounts of distortion. (I am a metal guitarist on a budget)

Well as a year has passed i dont want to buy a bunch of stomps but thought about sending in my head to have it modded to push out as much distortion (i.e. Gojira and like bands) with that deep punch but tight with a possible mid sweep. But i can almost get that but the lack of distortion is pretty bad now.

Does anyone know of a company that mods amps?? i came up with nothing on google:(

thanks

[J M Fahey]

Save yourself a lot of frustration (and $$$$$$) and don't send it away to be modded.
Besides, these amps with lots of tiny SMT parts, probably with some digital processing included, don't allow easy modding (if any at all).
Lower your "help" pedals to two.
1) anything reasonable to add (even more?  :duh) distortion.
You don't need a *killer* pedal which does it all by itself, you simply need to add 10 to 20dB (which is a lot) gain and distortion to something that already works very well (TBX150 built in distortion).
Remember, you are not replacing it, but adding grind and balls, how's that?
2) something reasonable to add thunk, punch, attack, you name it: an equalizer in the effects loop.
If possible, a parametric one; if not, a good graphic.
10 bands minimum but maybe you can find a used 31 band one: huge tweaking power.
3) nothing of that will come out unless the speakers (the weak link)  can stand it and deliver the goods.
Go for a 4x12" with *good* speakers.
Because if you pump "4x12" sound" through a small, open back 10" combo speaker ... that's the sound you'll get, no matter what.

By the way, what does Gojira use?
I bet they have a massive wall of speakers.
Good luck. :tu:

[Kaz Kylheku]

I don't get this. This TBX150 head had "great amounts of distortion" in the store, but doesn't any more? A year has passed and "The lack of distortion is pretty bad now?" 

Why?

In the store, did you try it with the same guitar that you are using now?

Maybe you have active pickups and the batteries are dying?

Speaking of which, one way to get more distortion is to get louder passive pickups, active pickups, or an on-board preamplifier for your guitar to boost passive pickups.

Sometimes the reason for weak distortion is silly, like the pickup being way too far away from the strings.

Then there are poor contacts, cold solder joints, worn volume pots ...  These things tend to rob your signal of bass, where you get much of the drive for distortion.

And then there are these factors: your guitar setup/action, the condition of your hands and fingers (calluses, strength) and the grooming of your fingernails. Anything that interferes with your guitar playability makes it feel like there is less distortion.  When the guitar feels great, you don't need that much distortion to shred.

Soft fingertips rob your tone of sustain. And if your fingers hurt, you cannot press down the strings properly. If you take a three month vacation away from the guitar, you will not sound like Gojira (or whoever) when you first plug in simply because your fingers will not be conditioned for guitar.

Sometimes to overcome a "bad tone" day, all I have to do is slightly file my left hand fingernails from underneath, so they don't dig into the flesh as much. The whole feeling of the fretboard changes. I also find nails that are too long on the right hand somehow interfere with picking in a way that just adds "nonspecific suckage". (I need some right hand nail length for fingerstyle guitar!). Over the years I have always noticed that when I trim the overgrown right hand fingernails, the flat-picking becomes cleaner and more accurate.

One more thing is that if you play with heavy distortion all the time, your ears and fingers somehow get used to it, and it seems like less. 

Develop a taste for other tones. Crunches, bluesy tones, jazzy cleans, etc.  These will get the "distortion adaptation" out of your head, so that when you come back to it, you will hear properly how heavy it is.

I have a MIDI pedal board, through which I select among a bank of 10 different tones. It's like having a 10 channel amp.  Switching among these keeps it fresh.

EQ is very important, as J M Fahey notes, and you will find that your ears like different EQ at different times. After a good night's sleep, you may find your ears are sensitive to highs and you need to back off on the "presence".

Adding highs to tone can make it seem like there is more distortion. If you take a heavy, crisp, distorted tone and EQ out all the highs, it becomes a wet noodle.

[Roly]

If possible, a parametric one; if not, a good graphic.
10 bands minimum but maybe you can find a used 31 band one: huge tweaking power.

:dbtu:

@Phabb likes this approach too.  Graphic EQ's have gone out of fashion in home stereos and turn up in junk/thrift/2nd hand shops, garage sales, &c, for $10 and $20, and I not long scored one from my local tip shop for nothing.

You'll need an adapter lead to go between the Fx loop connections on the amp and the RCA connectors on the graphic, and you're away.

@Kaz Kylheku -  :dbtu: - to which I would add, when did you last have your guitar set up for action and intonation?  Never?  Tops missing?  Last fresh strings (and a good clean of nut, fretboard and bridge saddles)?

A proper action/intonation set up is well worth it in terms of playability and your sound meshing with the other instruments.  As a soundie and keyboard player there have been times when I have corrected the intonation of entire bands, from piano accordion through guitars to drum kit, and the difference has been quite remarkable, from a bit of a not-quite-right struggle to a well oiled music machine.

[distortion101]

its not that the amp lost some distortion over the years its my never ending evolution that has to do with the distortion. compared to distortion that others use mine is now i find not even in the same relm...

thanks guys for the info maybe i will try a booster or amptweeker and see

[Enzo]

I would add that if you are on a budget, sending the amp off for mod work will be a hell of a lot more expensive than a few pedals.

[Kaz Kylheku]

I would add that if you are on a budget, sending the amp off for mod work will be a hell of a lot more expensive than a few pedals.

Also, more than second-hand market prices for SS heads that have tons of "brootalz" to support the new realm of distortion into which you have evolved.

[Roly]

One of the strong arguments for rolling your own, particularly with stomps which are fairly simple and safe, is that you become master of your own destiny, not a sitting duck in the shooting gallery of the marketplace.

Once you have a box with some knobs and switches mounted on it, trying different electronics in it is almost trivial, and there are dozens if not hundreds of clones and original designs to try on the Net.

A dead stomp (at a flea market or garage sale) is a golden opportunity, and one of the guys on AGGH found an old metal cocktail shaker and built a stomp into it;



http://www.guitargear.net.au/discussion/index.php/topic,33540.0.html

[J M Fahey]

The big problem with cocktail shakers is "testing" them too much before building the pedal or whatever.  :lmao:

[Roly]

Yep.  Actually in this case it was poor "stompability" and he had to rebuild it into something a bit more durable after he stomped the switch right through the top.  Good while it lasted, but you stomp and learn I guess.   

[Enzo]

What should have been a moving experience, left me shaken, but not stirred.

[Frank]

Actually in this case it was poor "stompability" and he had to rebuild it into something a bit more durable after he stomped the switch right through the top.

That gives a new meaning to crunch.