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Old 12-24-2017, 12:00 PM   #6
he/she/it
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Here's some of what could be contributing to MCIS' distortion sounds:

JMP-1
ADA MP-2
Mesa / Boogie Triaxis
Orange OR-120
Alesis 3630
MXR Distortion II
Digitech DHP-55

And various other pedals.

I think there there could still be a lot of Big Muff on MCIS, though perhaps different Big Muff versions, and used in different ways than they were on SD. But some of the fuzz / distortion sounds have a Muff sense to them, I think.

The Alesis 3630 compressor could be contributing to distortion if it was being used as a boost, to hit the preamps hard. If so, then it will add its own breakup quality to the overall sound.

The Digitech DHP-55 is a multi-effects processor, and it does have some distortion settings, and also input and output level dials, which could be used to add distortion to the overall sound. But, it might not have been used for distortion at all, and only used for its many other effects. I'm just listing it as a possible source for some distortion sound. I have one, and I think that the clipping on Love could be an example of the DHP-55's input level being cranked, when there was already distortion to the signal.

It looks like Billy's basic MCIS setup is able to run any combination of his JMP-1, ADA MP-2, Triaxis preamps simultaneously, and I suspect that some of the MCIS distortion sounds are created by blending different preamps together.

https://i.imgur.com/fs4vT8a.jpg


It sounds to me like the clean sounds heard in the 666 video are coming from an Orange OR-120 (or OR-80 - same amp), but it could also be serving distortion purposes, and Billy did run a fuzz pedal into it during the SD and MCIS tours, blending the OR-120 blended together with his other amps, according to the Reverb listing.

https://reverb.com/item/6319300-oran...-mellon-collie

https://i.imgur.com/aXR6h6b.png

Billy also said on Twitter, in 2011:

http://www.spfc.org/band/equipment.html?equipment_id=73

"Bat strat>Companion wah>Beano Boost>vintage Orange head=happy Labor Day everybody"


That quote is from the page for the Orange OR-80. The Orange OR-80 and Orange OR-120 are the same amp, but the OR-80 has two power tube sockets removed, and the output ohm selector switch re-wired accordingly for 2 tubes instead of 4, which the OR-120 has. However, the holes for the missing 2 power tube sockets in the OR-80 are present on the chassis, and the OR-80 can easily be modified to be an OR-120. The purpose of having the same amp with 2 less tubes is that it can be cranked to get full tube saturation at lower volumes, compared to the 4 tube version, which will require the amp to be cranked louder for the same quality of sound - but at the same time the 4 tube version can achieve louder volumes, overall. The OR-80 version would be attractive to use in studio settings, while the OR-120 could deliver more volume for large venues.



Quote:
Originally Posted by teh b0lly!!1 View Post
marshall jmp-1 preamp run into a mega boogie strategy 500 power amp, then into whatever amp they were using at the time - might be marshall jcm 800's or Orange amps. don't recall
The only thing that will be after the Strategy 500 power amp is the speaker cabinet. When using the JCM 800, or another amp, the rig with the Strategy 500 wouldn't be used.

The purpose of running an ADA MP-1 into the low gain input of JCM 800, in the Gish days, was to use the ADA MP-1 for the preamp sound, and then amplify it using the power amp section of the JCM 800. The same thing can be done with other amp heads by running a preamp into the amp head's effects loop, which bypasses the amp head's preamp stage, but will have the signal still sent through the power amp stage, and the signal made suitable for the speakers. In the case of earlier JCM 800s, which don't have an effects loop, plugging into the low gain input is the way to do it.

But the Strategy 500 is an amp setup's power section, and wouldn't be feeding into another amp's power section.


Quote:
Originally Posted by teh b0lly!!1 View Post
they nailed it

That sounds pretty good.

Last edited by he/she/it : 12-24-2017 at 12:49 PM.

 
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