Hook 1A tip

hippietim

hippietim

Axe-Master
A buddy of mine came over this weekend with his Axe II to check out running it through a CLR. So we dialed in some fresh patches while we were at it. I wanted to check out the new Hook amp models. I dialed in a very sweet clean with the 1A model - it was in breakup territory if you hit the strings hard with humbuckers. The settings were pretty much defaults with a drop in bass and a decent boost in presence. I'm pretty sure this patch used factory cab 95 with the low cut at like 80-90 to lose a little boom.

We were both wondering what tubes the real amp had so I flipped to the amp page with the tube parameter. Just for the heck of it I tried some different tube types. When I landed on 6v6 the whole flavor changed in a most outstanding way - a little more edge and a lot more chime. This is a seriously killer sound for hard open chord strumming.

I also had the FAS clean boost in front of the amp and when you kick it in you get a nice sparkly crunch added to your chime :)
 
6v6s are magical power tubes to me. Not sure why. used to be an el84 guy but I seem to come back to 6v6. will give this a shot thanks
 
I keep meaning to give the Hook a go. Maybe if I get some free time this week? I normally don't like smaller glass for whatever reason. Probably because I grew up a metalhead digging on high power marshall tones or 5150/boogie stuff. Thanks for the tip!
 
hippietim said:
... When I landed on 6v6 the whole flavor changed in a most outstanding way - a little more edge and a lot more chime. This is a seriously killer sound for hard open chord strumming.... :)
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Thanks for the tip: I'll give that a go when I get the chance. I already dig the Hook 1A in its more or less default settings, and love the way it takes pedals. I've been doing a little virtual tube swapping here and there and the 6v6 can shine in the clean to mildly distorted range on some of the EL34 amps. A bit soft at higher gain IME. The ideal pentode comes in handy in some of those high gain situations on the EL34 models.

EDIT: tried out the 6v6 in Hook 1A,2A,2B,3A - Overall: for where I was at: Though some nice tones can be had, the 6v6 wasn't showing itself to best advantage here IMO. Seems like it would take a fair bit of advanced parameter tweaking to retain the wide tonal range and compatibility with pedals of the stock/default EL34s. (more than I'm willing to mess with tonight). (6v6 in the ODS-100 HRM Mid is a favorite for medium gain lead and much more)

As the abbreviation goes: YMMV. But hey, so easy: no shorts, no soldering, didn't fry any screen resistors or blow up a transformer: Just hit save or delete:

I have learned something on my quest. Though another may accomplish something where I have not, I have abandoned the wandering in the wilderness, my faith in the mighty EL34 reaffirmed: and I now return to the safe glow of the stock bottles. I'll mess with success from the guitar end of things, and leave the tubes alone with this one.

I'll be sticking with EL34s in the Captain: A dynamic roller-coaster of EL34 magic.

Whaaaaawooooooweeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!
 
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Don't tell me how to live my life!

I like the default version, but I'll give the 6v6 option a go for the sake of experimentation :)
 
It's kind of funny that, with all of the bazillion options open to us in the Fractal world, it's easy to overlook such simple tweaks such as this until someone brings up a 'mod' like this. I plan on doing a deep dive into the Hook amp tonight and will be sure to try this one out. Sometimes you don't see the nose in front of your face...

Haven't had my AFX at home for quite some time so I've not had a chance to really dig in to some of these kind of 'tonal experiments' and am looking forward to doing so. One of my standard experiments to an amp is to change the tonestack; a simple tweak that can really do a lot to the character of an amp.

Very cool suggestion; will be sure to play with swapping tubes on the Hook shortly. I really, really like this amp...the 1A has a great, full bodied 'snap' to it that feels awesome to play.
 
Played with the 1A for some time tonight and I'm using it in one of my gigging presets now.

Went back and forth with the various power tube types; yea, the 6V6 is a bit smoother in the transition to distortion vs the EL34's, which sound like they clip more abruptly yielding more upper harmonics and are a bit more colder/harsher. The 6V6 really sounds and feels good; a little fuller indeed and is a nice variant over the slightly more brittle/thinner EL34.

If you like the 6V6 try the KT66 as well; a little more bolder vs the 6V6 but still has that certain sweetness and roundness....
 
ej altec ej 1250 speaker 4 12 30 cab sounds good 30 blue bell sounded ok with that amp I saved a few speakers and cabs for the hook need to try the evs with it.. Figure which speakers I like with that amp.... need to try cab listed think superverb 2 12 and he mentions cutting some bass.. need to try those
 
Stratoblaster said:
Played with the 1A for some time tonight and I'm using it in one of my gigging presets now.

Went back and forth with the various power tube types; yea, the 6V6 is a bit smoother in the transition to distortion vs the EL34's, which sound like they clip more abruptly yielding more upper harmonics and are a bit more colder/harsher. The 6V6 really sounds and feels good; a little fuller indeed and is a nice variant over the slightly more brittle/thinner EL34.

If you like the 6V6 try the KT66 as well; a little more bolder vs the 6V6 but still has that certain sweetness and roundness....
Click to expand...


What speaker are you using with the kt66 ?
 
artzeal said:
I've been doing a little tube virtual tube swapping here and there and the 6v6 can shine in the clean to mildly distorted range on some of the EL34 amps. Not as usable at higher gain IME. The ideal pentode comes in handy in some of those high gain situations on the EL34 models.
Click to expand...

Yes, that mirrors my thoughts on those tubes for those applications; I can see the "ideal pentode" working great for high gain as it has an edge to the distortion/upper harmonics that gets the tone to stand out more...perfect to counter the 'wash' of lower frequencies when using a ton of gain. The 6V6 is a killer tube for cleaner/overdriven tones for sure.
 
Tex Axe said:
What speaker are you using with the kt66 ?
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I used two of my standard cabinet IR mixes from the more recent FAS IR collections while playing with the 1A tonight:

The main one is a mix of the Fender 2x12 SuperBrown with M160 and 4047 mics. I have several custom mixes for the various FAS speakers but that one is my favorite for clean and overdriven/bluesy tones. Full, lots of body and a sweet high end. Pairs nice with cleaner/mildly overdriven amps.

I also used another custom mix of the FAS 4x12GB again with the M160/4047 mics. This is my standard 4x12 I use for rock/high gain/lead tones. The 1A really sounded good with this cab mix; more 'rude' then the SuperBrown and is a nice option for a different feel and vibe.

I have those cabs in X/Y and switch between them when rehearsing/jamming/gigging for different colors...they both have their own thing going on.

I liked both the 6V6 and KT66 tubes with the 1A a lot; just a little sweeter and a different feel vs the EL variants.
 
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