Scott Henderson Discussion

[Wiznik]

Hi Scott,
I've followed the topics about an amp to small vol gig, and i noticed that you use Fender amp.
As i am a Marshall guy, i would like to know which setting you use with the Fender, cause it is not the same EQ from the Marshall, and so, not the same sound...
So i believe your don't have the sound.

Also, when you play with your setup (i mean with your SH-100) with another guitar player who uses a Fender. Which setting would you believe is good for the two guitars to have geat tones for the audience ?
Nicolas

[Scott Henderson]

Fender amps sound different than Marshall's, but settings vary between the same brands. I have an SH-100, which is basically a plexi clone, a '71 Marshall, and when I rent an amp on the road I use a DSL 2000. To get the same tone from those three amps, I have to set them like this:

SH-100 presence 6 bass 2 middle 5 treble 4 volume 4 gain 7
'71 presence 6 bass 2 middle 3 treble 4 volume 6 gain 6
DSL presence 5 bass 2 middle 5 treble 1 volume 6 gain 10

The only consistent setting between the three amps is the bass. The settings for my Fender HRD can't be shown in numbers because the knobs go from 1 to 12 instead of 0 to 10, but they're closest to the '71 Marshall. Even though I can set both a Fender and Marshall amp to have the same exact balance of bass, treble and midrange, the color of the two amps is different, because the frequencies of each band are voiced in a different place.

So, I can't answer with any accuracy about amp settings, since they're usually a bit different on every amp.

[countandduke]

These settings would also reflect the cabinet being a 4x12 with Greenback speakers too right?

Chris

[Scott Henderson]

There's a huge difference between a 4x12 cab and a combo. I like the combination of the two, which is the cabinet I use live - there's a picture of it on the gear page of my site. Kerry Wright built it, but it was Mike Landau's idea - it spreads out the sound and isn't as directional as a closed back 4x12, but it has that big sound which you can only get from a 4x12 (in my opinion).

The main difference people hear between a Fender and a Marshall isn't the amp itself, but the difference between a closed back 4x12 and an open back combo - two completely different sounds.

[Wiznik]

Hi, thanks for your answer.
Yes, my worry is about the difference of color.
A friend lends me a Fender amp, but i didn't succeed to attuning this color to my pedals and to my playing yet.
Things i wanted to mean is that as the sounds are really different, when you play only with your Fender amp, do you have to adapt your playing and your effets?
And do you play the same songs?

[Scott Henderson]

I'm able to EQ the Fender to have close enough to the same tone and amount of gain as the Marshall, so I don't have to play different music, and I'm used to the open back sound because the 4x12 I use with my SH-100 is also open back. However I only use my Fender for low volume gigs - it's just 40 watts and I'm used to 100. I have to sit down when I play, otherwise I can't hear it well enough or get good feedback from it because the pickups are too far away from the amp. There are Fender combos which are much louder than my HRD, but they're still low to the ground and that causes problems for me. I'm a Marshall guy too.

[Wiznik]

Thanks again Scott!