Too much treble on my amp!

Xroadkid

Hi there,

I have a very nice Boss GT8 but when I plug it into my Marshall JCM2000 it just sounds too treble on most the settings. Even after severe emulations and EQ tweaking it's still way too treble, especially on my overdrive patches. I know that these units are meant to be plugged into mixing desks and so on and I'm also aware of the 3 and 4 wire cabling system through the effects loop. However, I want to plug my GT8 into the normal input of the amp because it's just the simplest way.

I've read somewhere about a stand-alone unit (with multiple settings) that can be plugged in between the multi-effects and the front of the amp that will take care of the unwanted treble and make it sound more like normal in-line pedals plugged into the front of an amp.

Does anyone know about such a unit or any info about how to achieve this?

[deleted]

Before you invest in any standalone units... I don't follow how you're unable to get rid of the treble. A fizziness in the treble I can understand, and that's more complicated. What kinds of EQ settings have you got on the GT-8 and amp? Which settings are you referring to, when you say "just sounds too treble on most [of] the settings"? With the controls on both the amp and GT-8 at your disposal you should be able to get a workable tone out of that setup. What's the high cut on your EQ at the moment, and how much Q have you used on the hi-mids setting? (i.e. have a got a spike there, or a more gentle curve?) Have you tried the Tone Modify function (a bit of a last resort, but some people swear by it)?

When you say a standalone unit might have "multiple settings"...they're probably not going to be much more exhaustive than what you have to work with right now.

Bob-Dubery

Have you tried removing the GT8 from the signal path completely? Could it be that your combination of guitar and amp happens to be too trebly for your ears?

So if your path is
Guitar -> GT8 -> amp
then try
Guitar -> amp

If your path is
Guitar -> stuff -> GT8 -> amp
or
guitar -> gt8 -> stuff -> amp

Then remove the GT8 and go
guitar -> stuff -> amp

Take the GT8 (and only the GT8) out of your signal path. If the problem goes away then you need to start looking on the GT8 for the source of the problem. If the problem persists then the GT8 was not the problem anyway.

MoJo-JoJoe

Switch off the amp simulations and speaker simulations on the GT-8 and just use the drive pedal emulations for dirt. That should sort you out. Amp simulations into a preamp (the input of your Marshall) don't work well.

Another option would be keep the amp sims and to plug the output of the GT-8 into the effects return of your amp and bypass the pre-amp of your Marshall in doing so. I'm not sure, but I think the effects loop on your amp is a parallel effects loop so you might want to crank the loop level (if there is one) to max if you try this method.

inflames

I want to plug my GT8 into the normal input of the amp because it's just the simplest way

I tried this with the GT-10 and it killed my JCM2000 as well. Multi-FX into a pre-amp = not cool in my opinion.
Use the effects loop and then use only the delay's chorus etc of the pedal.

Switch off the amp simulations and speaker simulations on the GT-8 and just use the drive pedal emulations for dirt. That should sort you out. Amp simulations into a preamp (the input of your Marshall) don't work well.

Good advice from MoJo.

The GT-8 will sound much better into a solid state amp or mixing desk.

Xroadkid

Thanks for the info everyone.

In case I confused anyone. I have standard pedals that I use with the JCM 2000 and they sound just fine with my guitar. The amp's EQ is more than enough to get my tone right. If I plug straight into the amp the tone is just fine too. I don't care for the overdrive channels on the JCM 2000 and use the clean channel only in clean mode. So my overdrive tones are derived from pedals, which is what I like, no problem. It's when I only use the GT8 that it sounds too metallic/digital/fizzy/treble for my ears. All the sounds just end up sounding too digital.

I have switched all the amp & speaker emulations from my patches and it does sound a bit better now but still not what I want it to sound like. I've also tried going into the effects return but I don't like that sound either and I lose the EQ of the amp completely.

I thought there might be something similar to a DI box that could be used between the GT8 and the input of the amp to take away that overly treble digital sound, something like a buffer or something.

Gearhead

Good. So you have pinpointed the source of the trouble, now get rid of it. There might actually be something wrong with that particular GT8, plug it into someone else's amp or take it to a store. Personally I would sell a piece of gear I didn't like, but the market is not so good now. Whatever you do, please do not try to add more gear to 'solve' the problem, what you are trying to do should work.

MoJo-JoJoe

I think the device you're remembering reading about is the Harmonic Generator. I read a lot of conflicting reports about it when it was developed. I haven't been to the site in ages (long time since I've owned a BOSS multi-fx), but you might find some info at www.bossgtcentral.com.
Have you re-looked at your effects chain on your GT-8 patches also? There's SO much EQ available on the GT-8 I'd be very surprised if you still can't tame that fizz. That said, once you hear digital artifacts you'll always hear them ... unfortunately it's part of digital modelling in products of that type.

AlanRatcliffe

MoJo JoJoe wrote: I think the device you're remembering reading about is the Harmonic Generator. I read a lot of conflicting reports about it when it was developed.

I remember that. I always suspected snake oil.

Have you re-looked at your effects chain on your GT-8 patches also? There's SO much EQ available on the GT-8 I'd be very surprised if you still can't tame that fizz.

+1. If it's too much treble, then it's how the patches are programmed or a funny setting somewhere. What I'd do is turn off all the effects and see if you still have the problem. If you do, check things like the Global EQ are off. If it still messes with the tone, get rid of it, if not, start building your FX up one at a time, getting the tone right before you move on to the next effect.

Xroadkid

Global EQ? This might be it. It's obviously the general EQ settings that I'll have to master I suppose. Just more work! ?

I don't understand why it has to be so complicated? Why not just make the thing to sound great when you plug it into the front of the amp. Or maybe have some simple settings for choosing between plugging into an amp or mixing console. I'm sure they'll sell a lot more ???

Thanks everyone!

AlanRatcliffe

Xroadkid wrote: I don't understand why it has to be so complicated?

It's a powerful unit. Power always comes with complexity ?.

Why not just make the thing to sound great when you plug it into the front of the amp.

That's not what they are primarily designed for. If you want simple you should look at stompboxes or the ME range of multieffects.

Or maybe have some simple settings for choosing between plugging into an amp or mixing console.

Umm... they do have relatively simple settings for that in the global menu (under "output select" or something like that IIRC).

Sidecar

Also, if all else fails, check all your cables to be absolutely sure. Cables can do some Whack stuff. ???