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ADA Preamps => MP-2 => MP-2 Patches => Topic started by: Chucky on October 13, 2018, 11:47:48 AM

Title: Chucky BOSTON tone #1
Post by: Chucky on October 13, 2018, 11:47:48 AM
I'm onto a "Bostonish" project lately and have been tweaking a lot of gear in the pursuit of achieving
a potent Scholzian tone.
Aside from using a Rockman X100 and a Distortion Generator, I'm trying other things too.

I have to say that I'm closing in pretty well with the MP-2.
I still have a bit of refining to do but I feel that I'm in the ball park now.
Tom Scholz' signal chain is quite unique...But the MP-2 is flexible enough to cover most bases on its own.
You only need the MXR 6 band EQ at the input to make it closer.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v325/natasri/Mxr_Settings.jpg)

BOSTON

Voice: 6
Drive: 79
Master: 90
Comp: 4:1
EQ:
Low: +6
Mid: +8
Treble: +4
Presence: +6

Graph EQ:
100Hz  -2
170  +4
280  0
470  -4
800  +6
1.3  0
2.2  -4
3.8  +2
6.3  -2

Wah: in  Pedal mode 30

Gate in Threshold: 52
Title: Re: Chucky BOSTON tone #1
Post by: rabidgerry on October 13, 2018, 02:09:14 PM
As you may or may not know, I just bought a DG.

But regardless,  it's all about the 800hz  :thumb-up:

Generally before distortion.

I like the tone too or variations of it.  Boss gear can get it ok also.  Any eq in front will do.
Title: Re: Chucky BOSTON tone #1
Post by: rnolan on October 13, 2018, 10:33:12 PM
Hey RG, cool  :thumb-up: , I wouldn't have thought to chase 800hz
Title: Re: Chucky BOSTON tone #1
Post by: Chucky on October 14, 2018, 12:20:21 AM
Well night always brings rest and the next morning you have fresher ears, cleaner brains...

Although I'm still very happy with my first MP-2 Boston tone, it fits for certain songs/parts as
Boston albums have a flurry of various tones, although all circling around the same center target.

I took my first patch and redialed it around the intro riff of "Smokin' ".
It only needed a few tweaks to get right there.

Voice: 6
Drive: 55
Master: 90
Comp: 4:1
EQ:
Low: +6
Mid: +8
Treble: +6
Presence: +6

Graph EQ:
100Hz  -2
170  +4
280  0
470  -4
800  +6
1.3  0
2.2  -4
3.8  +2
6.3  -2

Wah: OUT

Gate in Threshold: 55
Title: Re: Chucky BOSTON tone #1
Post by: Chucky on October 14, 2018, 12:29:50 AM
As you may or may not know, I just bought a DG.
Sweet!! Love mine too!

But regardless,  it's all about the 800hz  :thumb-up:

Generally before distortion.

I like the tone too or variations of it.  Boss gear can get it ok also.  Any eq in front will do.
Well I've been doing some serious research over the last few months and the Boston sound isn't all that simple.
Of course cranking the 800hz will get you close right off the bat.
But after a while you will start feeling that something is missing.

The signal chain is quite extensive actually.
From what I gathered, you have that 6 band EQ going pre-distortion, sometimes it may be coupled with
either a cocked wah about halfway or some parametric EQ simulating the same idea.
Then you get in your distortion/amp stage. (Tom seems to favor rather SS types over tubes)
Out from the amp there is yet another EQ, ten bands, pretty much in a sawtooth/notchy manner.
Then he applies either or both chorus and delay (Around 200 ms).
There's a lot of multi-layering in his work, so he uses also pitch transposition/detuning to fatten the track.

All the guitar sounds we hear on albums are pretty tweaked and layered...

So there, only boosting the 800hz won't take you there.
At least not to the point where I want to take it.

Note: While direct recording, the ROOM EQ knob on the MP-2 front panel comes in handy for final overall hi-end adjustment.
I'm starting to (finally) dig the MP-2!!!
  :bow:
Title: Re: Chucky BOSTON tone #1
Post by: rabidgerry on October 14, 2018, 04:03:41 AM
Oh yeah I hear ya, it's extensive alright.  I just meant in the EQ department, the 800 seems to be important in the Scholze method.  It's weird he designed the ROCKMAN EQ to have a slider at 700hz,  I have one of those also.  Very musical sounding EQ indeed.
Title: Re: Chucky BOSTON tone #1
Post by: Chucky on October 15, 2018, 03:30:43 AM
Oh yeah I hear ya, it's extensive alright.  I just meant in the EQ department, the 800 seems to be important in the Scholze method.  It's weird he designed the ROCKMAN EQ to have a slider at 700hz,  I have one of those also.  Very musical sounding EQ indeed.
Well the ROCKMAN EQ is designed to do the after amp notching while the preamp EQ is a regular MXR 6 band EQ.
I programmed a few post EQs in Reaper that I apply to tracks after recording.
It makes all the difference!
Title: Re: Chucky BOSTON tone #1
Post by: rabidgerry on October 15, 2018, 11:50:36 AM
Oh I know, I just meant it's an unusal number to see on any guitar EQ, normally it's 800hz, but Scholtz figured 700hz was best.  He based it on a modified boss eq from what I've read.

Ok so just got the DG, it seems there is a loose connection somewhere.  Only seems to work, when I press down on the top of the unit, or set it sideways and hit it a few slaps and generally jiggle about with it.  Controls seem fine, apart from one thing, Autoclean.  Chucky what is this supposed to do?  On the sustainor I never used it but if I remember correctly it's meant to turn to clean the lighter I pick string correct?  Mine seems bust, pressing the button in made the output go insane and also the distortion much, much fuller, less hollow.  Should I saw to the ebay seller he sold me a dud?

I think though if I get this baby working properly I will enjoy it a lot though.  I have the tone there, I can hear it, however it's a little dull so might need post EQing for further brightness.
Title: Re: Chucky BOSTON tone #1
Post by: GuitarBuilder on October 20, 2018, 09:28:49 AM
There's a wealth of info on Jark's website:

http://www.rockman.fr/Reviews/DG.htm (http://www.rockman.fr/Reviews/DG.htm)

Quote
The next significant addition is the circuit called Autoclean. We all know that turning down the volume pot of the guitar reduces the gain of the distortion: to a certain extent, we can go down from plain distortion to light overdriven sounds. To a certain extent only: the balance between the treble and the bass frequencies is messed up, and we lose a lot of dynamics. Moreover, it is virtually impossible to go as low as a clean sound with this technique.

Well, all in all, the Autoclean circuit allows doing all that: total control over the saturation without signal loss, without dynamics loss, from the guitar volume pot! It is even possible to reduce the gain down to the clean sounds range.

Though the basis of the Autoclean circuit doesn't look complex, it was actually very tricky to design, and as a matter of fact, only the younger Sustainors have an Autoclean that really works great.

http://www.rockman.fr/Reviews/SP.htm (http://www.rockman.fr/Reviews/SP.htm)
Title: Re: Chucky BOSTON tone #1
Post by: Chucky on October 23, 2018, 07:22:20 AM
Controls seem fine, apart from one thing, Autoclean.  Chucky what is this supposed to do?
Basically it turns your volume up while turning down the volume knob to get less gain on distortion settings.
To mimmick a "clean" tone while remaining on the distorted channel...and keep being heard in the mix.
Pretty cool idea actually.