Peavey Transfex 208s, Can I produce distortion heavy enough to crush Options

[TuckerG]

I would like to get the best distortion sound I can, however I am not really sure what great distortion should be, as opposed to a layer cake of indistinguishable flavors that result in something that tastes like a doughnut... Not so much just like Metallica, but any distortion heavy and massive enough to create a galaxy crushing tear in the fabric of the universe? Any distortion advice would be much appreciated, or optimal setting for this amp maybe?

-Tucker

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This post has been edited by TuckerG: Mar 26 2012, 10:58 AM

[Slavenko Erazer]

Hmm, i have never heard that amp in live, but i checked on youtube clips of that amp, seen the guy playing Metallica with it, and he can get really heavy sounds, but he uses Gibson Explorer with EMG's
The most important part of your sound is your guitar's configuration and you have'nt mentioned it...If you got good guitar with enough heavy pickups, you can get that sound, if not...

I also have the simmilar problem with my amp - Laney Tfx2 - i can get excellent clean and crunch sound, but when it goes to extremely high gain solo distortion, it simple lack it...maybe it has to be cracked to the top so i can get it, maybe some distortion boost pedal or valve processor will solve the problem...

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[Ben Higgins]

Hey Tucker, I also saw the other post and SpaseMoonkey is right about the basic EQ to get a 'scooped' thrash tone.

I used to do this a lot but there came a time where I realised it sounded very thin and if you ever play live it doesn't cut through at all. Plus, for lead it sounds horrible. You always want mid for lead because it makes it thicker.

Bear in mind Metallica have thousands of dollars worth of gear and they always used to record loads of rhythm tracks which thickened up the overall sound and made it sound bigger than it was. Also, the entire band would be mixed accordingly and the record mastered to enable the scooped guitar sound to work. When they play live I would imagine their mids get boosted a lot more to enable to the guitars to cut through. Sorry, a bit off topic but it's quite interesting..

2 things I thought worked years ago and realised they sounded cheap and horrible were scooped mids and lots of chorus. I'm not familiar with your gear but to start with I'd start with all the EQ set in a neutral 12 o clock position and find a distortion preset that you like the most and go from there. Try and avoid the fizzy tones and go instead for one that's smoother.

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[SpaseMoonkey]

Hey Tucker, I also saw the other post and SpaseMoonkey is right about the basic EQ to get a 'scooped' thrash tone.

I used to do this a lot but there came a time where I realised it sounded very thin and if you ever play live it doesn't cut through at all. Plus, for lead it sounds horrible. You always want mid for lead because it makes it thicker.

Bear in mind Metallica have thousands of dollars worth of gear and they always used to record loads of rhythm tracks which thickened up the overall sound and made it sound bigger than it was. Also, the entire band would be mixed accordingly and the record mastered to enable the scooped guitar sound to work. When they play live I would imagine their mids get boosted a lot more to enable to the guitars to cut through. Sorry, a bit off topic but it's quite interesting..

2 things I thought worked years ago and realised they sounded cheap and horrible were scooped mids and lots of chorus. I'm not familiar with your gear but to start with I'd start with all the EQ set in a neutral 12 o clock position and find a distortion preset that you like the most and go from there. Try and avoid the fizzy tones and go instead for one that's smoother.

WHOA!!! You mean people turn mids up? Mine are always scooped but they aren't off I just roll mine back to about 9 o'clock like posted, because most people turn it off basically and it really kills the tone like Ben said. I also have a presence knob on my amp and I don't turn it up high so I get more of a scooped sound in the mid section.

Personally the easiest and kind of spending money way if your amp can't do gain that great is. Get a distortion pedal, I had an Egnator head a few years ago and the most gain it got was like a SRV sound so I used pedals.

I was thinking of buying a reverb pedal.... *facepalm* this is a great time to remember it... I was just at the music store last night.

I agree with Ben on the making it flat (all noon) and go from there.

My amp settings are as followed. Which I hardly change except the mids.
Orange Channel: Bass: Noon , Mids: 1:00 , Treble: 11:30
Red Channel: Bass: 11:00 , Mids: 9:30 , Treble: 2:00

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