*** Share Your HRM Settings! ***

[Dave_C]

So, my Quinn SDO (Skyglider II with "Mr.H" post od tone circuit) has been sounding a little buzzy at lower rehearsal volumes (amazing at higher volumes), so I attempted again to adjust the internal HRM trim pots. I thought I had pretty much nailed it the first time, but NO. This time, I moved to the room that was giving me all the problems and made sure not to turn up too loudly...'cuz almost everything sounds good loud!

Ended up turning the HRM highs completely OFF (i.e. least high end). The bass ended up just slightly above the least bassy setting, right at the point where it took a jump from almost nothing to a nice full sound, but without any mushiness...tight and full. The mids were most interesting. Twisted the pot through the whole range to see what I was working with and went through my main OD settings to make sure the ones of most interest were focused on. Ended up starting at full ON (which is harsh) and slowly decreasing it till the harshness just disappeared. This was VERY dependent on overall gain, so I made sure to adjust it at the highest gain setting ever used, seeing that lower gain settings smoothed out on their own.

Brought the amp back to my normal practice room and played to some cranked music (about the rehearsal volume) and WOW, what a difference! Completely different amp! Completely smooth and fat, but with that classic bark and "explosion" of sustain and distortion common to the HRM platform when you dig in. Turning it up louder just made everything even better! I didn't measure resistances, but will do so next time I'm in the amp.

The HRM is really, really tricky!!! How are you adjusting yours?

 

[greg777]

I have a 100watt Quinn SDO Skyline II HRM amp w/ 2x12 TT alnico cab. I have not changed my HRM since getting the amp about 3 months ago. I have taken a look inside and tried changing the Gain trim which is about 65-70% up. I would like to try changing the HRM setting as well but it already sounds so good.

One of my favorite lead sounds is using my AM TS808 as a booster (Drive 10 o clock, Vol all the way up. into the Boosted HRM OD.

Settings Vol 6, Bright off Mid on or off, Rock, TMB don't matter w/ boost, OD 8, Vol 4, MV 4, Pres 3-4

All done w/ a strat w/ a HB.

Simply sweet amp thick versatile amp. I think that SHAD is one of the best to deal with as well.

Greg

 

[Dave_C]

I have a 100watt Quinn SDO Skyline II HRM amp w/ 2x12 TT alnico cab. I have not changed my HRM since getting the amp about 3 months ago. I have taken a look inside and tried changing the Gain trim which is about 65-70% up. I would like to try changing the HRM setting as well but it already sounds so good.

One of my favorite lead sounds is using my AM TS808 as a booster (Drive 10 o clock, Vol all the way up. into the Boosted HRM OD.

Settings Vol 6, Bright off Mid on or off, Rock, TMB don't matter w/ boost, OD 8, Vol 4, MV 4, Pres 3-4

All done w/ a strat w/ a HB.

Simply sweet amp thick versatile amp. I think that SHAD is one of the best to deal with as well.

Greg

Greg,

I haven't messed with the gain trim yet and probably won't. As for the HRM, if you're happy with it, there's probably no need to mess with it or you could end up like me and spend HUGE amounts of time getting it "just right". LOL.

But, yeah, what a fantastic amp! Shad is definitely fun to work with and provides perfect support.

I tend to like the amp best without any external pedals upfront, but have been experimenting with an RC Boost set for a tiny bit of totally clean boost to bring the unboosted OD channel up to the same volume as the mid-boosted OD channel. The boost also adds a little more breakup, which I don't always want, but I do want a little higher output level. One thing I mentioned to Shad in order to address this issue and provide a little more control without the need for an external pedal would be to add 4 knobs to the platform, if even just small ones above or below the main front panel knobs.

1.) Mid Boost Gain
2.) Mid Boost Level
3.) PAB Gain
4.) PAB Level

The Mid/PAB Gain knobs would simply be alternate versions of the regular Volume knob and the Mid/PAB Level knobs would simply be alternate versions of the regular Overdrive Level knob. I prefer the sound of using the regular Volume knob to control distortion level versus boosting/cutting externally with a pedal. The amp is so incredibly dynamic that even a half digit of variation in the Volume knob makes very large differences in the distortion range, tone and sustain. I wouldn't want to mess with that magic interplay, but only have the ability to automatically "twist" that Volume knob to preset levels with my foot (along with corresponding auto adjustment in output level)! :AOK

These additional relay controls (2 pins) could all be brought out to the footswitch connnector, giving the user the ability to control them with a multi-button footswitch or, better yet, MIDI! This is exactly what I do now with an RJM Amp Gizmp MIDI interface. I also added an Axess MIDI loop switcher to simultaneously insert pedals before the input of the amp. So, I can do things like toggle instantly with one MIDI footswitch between the clean channel with an OCD out front for crunchy rhythm to the OD channel with the amp mid boost for a high gain lead at a louder volume.

Most guys who use these amps tend to only use one or two modes and also tend to do a lot with their guitar volume knob. But, if you're trying to cover a huge variety of music and do it with minimal time between tunes, having the aformentioned rig can really make life easier on stage. The amp architecture is inherently capable of a super wide variety of tones , but the current architecture doesn't allow instant access to them all on stage. But, with minimal additional cost, that could all be addressed.

 

[lv]

So, my Quinn SDO (Skyglider II with "Mr.H" post od tone circuit) has been sounding a little buzzy at lower rehearsal volumes (amazing at higher volumes), so I attempted again to adjust the internal HRM trim pots. I thought I had pretty much nailed it the first time, but NO. This time, I moved to the room that was giving me all the problems and made sure not to turn up too loudly...'cuz almost everything sounds good loud!

Ended up turning the HRM highs completely OFF (i.e. least high end). The bass ended up just slightly above the least bassy setting, right at the point where it took a jump from almost nothing to a nice full sound, but without any mushiness...tight and full. The mids were most interesting. Twisted the pot through the whole range to see what I was working with and went through my main OD settings to make sure the ones of most interest were focused on. Ended up starting at full ON (which is harsh) and slowly decreasing it till the harshness just disappeared. This was VERY dependent on overall gain, so I made sure to adjust it at the highest gain setting ever used, seeing that lower gain settings smoothed out on their own.

Brought the amp back to my normal practice room and played to some cranked music (about the rehearsal volume) and WOW, what a difference! Completely different amp! Completely smooth and fat, but with that classic bark and "explosion" of sustain and distortion common to the HRM platform when you dig in. Turning it up louder just made everything even better! I didn't measure resistances, but will do so next time I'm in the amp.

The HRM is really, really tricky!!! How are you adjusting yours?

Interesting, the treble and bass on my Glaswerks are exactly where yours are. My mids are maybe 30% from off. I like a much smoother and darker tone than most guys. This setting also does the "overdrive that sounds clean" kinda tones the best.

Every 6 months or so I go in and tweak a little bit, just for some variety.

 

[greg777]

These additional relay controls (2 pins) could all be brought out to the footswitch connnector, giving the user the ability to control them with a multi-button footswitch or, better yet, MIDI! This is exactly what I do now with an RJM Amp Gizmp MIDI interface. I also added an Axess MIDI loop switcher to simultaneously insert pedals before the input of the amp. So, I can do things like toggle instantly with one MIDI footswitch between the clean channel with an OCD out front for crunchy rhythm to the OD channel with the amp mid boost for a high gain lead at a louder volume.

Most guys who use these amps tend to only use one or two modes and also tend to do a lot with their guitar volume knob. But, if you're trying to cover a huge variety of music and do it with minimal time between tunes, having the aformentioned rig can really make life easier on stage. The amp architecture is inherently capable of a super wide variety of tones , but the current architecture doesn't allow instant access to them all on stage. But, with minimal additional cost, that could all be addressed.

Dave,

I have a CAE custom rack setup that I use with this amp. I had Shad make me a custom interface box that could turn his DIN output to 4 1/4
jacks so I can control all the functions of the amp through MIDI. :AOK

I also had a switchable HRM switch that I don't use due to the significant volume changes.

I use an RS10 w/ exander to control everything. The amp sounds great w/ a Fuzzface running into the HRM Boosted too. Really thick.

The rig goes

Input
Loop 1 Fuzzface clone
Loop 2 VL microvibe
Loop 3 Octafuzz
Wah loop w/ Clyde wah pedal
Loop 4 TS-9 Boost
Loop 5 Pedal of the day RC booster or TS9 dist. Tube driver, other?
Loop 6 SCH-1
Pre-Volume Loop
Loop 7 L6 Echo pro for pre delay
Super Tremolo w/ controls for A/B Mode bypass
To 3 isoed switched outs So I can run 3 different amps w/ no noise

Quin SDO FX Loop to Post Volume loop to Mixer w/ MPX-1 for post Delay/ reverb. back to Loop return

I use an extra Axess CFX4 to control the amp functions.

It is amazing how versatile these amps are.

Typical settings
Vol 6
Bright off
Mid on/off midi controlled
Rock
T 8
M 4-5
B 3
OD 8
OD V 4
Master V 4-5
Presence 3-5
HRM in

Just using the OD w/ these setting is instant Fender OD as heard on the SRV version of Little wing. I havn't gotten tone like this before w/ any amp.

Greg

 

[Dave_C]

Interesting, the treble and bass on my Glaswerks are exactly where yours are. My mids are maybe 30% from off. I like a much smoother and darker tone than most guys. This setting also does the "overdrive that sounds clean" kinda tones the best.

Every 6 months or so I go in and tweak a little bit, just for some variety.

Cool! I also like smoother/darker tones than many D-style devotees, but what's nice about these settings is that it seems to give so much more usable range out of the Treble, Middle and Presence controls on the front panel. I can turn up the Treble and Presence and get some nice bite and bark, but still retain lots of smoothness without the fizz. In fact, there are so many settings of all the controls that sound fantastic that it's tough to settle on just one at any given time!

 

[blues junkie]

I have a Quinn SDO Skyliner II HRM 50 watter. I've had the amp for about 2months and I have'nt even cracked her open yet. When I kick the overdrive & PAB on I allways think the amp is to bright ... but when I play in a band setting it sounds perfect and cuts right through the mix. The other guitar player has a Two-Rock LTD and declared the other night his amp most be broken after playing through my SDO. Let me just say his LTD IS A GREAT AMP.

 

[Dave_C]

Dave,

I have a CAE custom rack setup that I use with this amp. I had Shad make me a custom interface box that could turn his DIN output to 4 1/4
jacks so I can control all the functions of the amp through MIDI. :AOK

I also had a switchable HRM switch that I don't use due to the significant volume changes.

I use an RS10 w/ exander to control everything. The amp sounds great w/ a Fuzzface running into the HRM Boosted too. Really thick.

The rig goes

Input
Loop 1 Fuzzface clone
Loop 2 VL microvibe
Loop 3 Octafuzz
Wah loop w/ Clyde wah pedal
Loop 4 TS-9 Boost
Loop 5 Pedal of the day RC booster or TS9 dist. Tube driver, other?
Loop 6 SCH-1
Pre-Volume Loop
Loop 7 L6 Echo pro for pre delay
Super Tremolo w/ controls for A/B Mode bypass
To 3 isoed switched outs So I can run 3 different amps w/ no noise

Quin SDO FX Loop to Post Volume loop to Mixer w/ MPX-1 for post Delay/ reverb. back to Loop return

I use an extra Axess CFX4 to control the amp functions.

It is amazing how versatile these amps are.

Typical settings
Vol 6
Bright off
Mid on/off midi controlled
Rock
T 8
M 4-5
B 3
OD 8
OD V 4
Master V 4-5
Presence 3-5
HRM in

Just using the OD w/ these setting is instant Fender OD as heard on the SRV version of Little wing. I havn't gotten tone like this before w/ any amp.

Greg

Greg,

Awesome rig! I thought *I* was the only D-cloner that wasn't just using a pick and a guitar volume knob!!! LOL! I was starting to feel a little guilty of overkill but your rig rig makes me feel much better. Ha, ha, ha.


I forgot to mention that I'm also using a Red Plate "Dumbleator" in the loop with a TC Nova Reverb. The Dumbleator really smooths out the tone and makes any FX you use with it sound 10x better. Really an essential piece of gear with D-clones IMO. I run the amp Level and Master up half scale and the Dumbleator input volume at unity and use its output volume as the final master. For some reason (perhaps just the extra gain stages), this sounds much better than running the Dumbleator at unity gain throughout, the amp controls lower and using the amp Level/Master to control overall level.

Got the amp set up as follows:

Bright: OFF
Rock/Jazz: Jazz
Mid Boost: MIDI-controlled
PAB: Not Used
Overdrive: MIDI-Controlled
Volume: 7.7-8.5 (Song dependent - HUGE range of distortion/tone here!)
Treble: 5-6 (Room dependent)
Middle: 7-8 (Room/Song dependent)
Bass:3-5 (Room dependent)
Overdrive: 10 (Max)
Overdrive Level: 5
Master: 3-5 (depending on rhythm/lead balance desired)
Presence: 5-7 (Room dependent)

With RJM/AXESS MIDI stuff and Roland GFX-50 MIDI pedal (which has an A/B bank switch), I get these single footswitch rhythm->lead changes.

clean rhythm -> OD lead (no amp boosts)
clean rhythm -> OD lead (no amp boosts, RC boost out front)
clean rhythm -> OD lead (amp mid boost - great "high gain" bridge PUP tone)

(The crunch rhythm below inserts the OCD in front of the amp clean channel. Sounds and feels amazingly close to running straight into my Suhr Badger in light overdrive.)

crunch rhythm -> OD lead (no amp boosts)
crunch rhythm -> OD lead (no amp boosts, RC boost out front)
crunch rhythm -> OD lead (amp mid boost - great "high gain" bridge PUP tone)

Funny you mention the SRV LW tone. We do Los Lonely Boys' "Heaven" and as "generic" as you might think that lead tone is, I've never been able to get any rig to sound or feel right for that part. But, the "OD lead (no amp boosts)" tone on the SDO nails it perfectly. The "OD lead (amp mid boost)" tone is the closest I ever got to RF's higher gain bridge PUP tones.

Unfortunately, my last band of 13 years, which played out 3-6x/month, broke up last year and I've gone through FIVE bassplayers in an effort to put a new band together, so I haven't even played the SDO out yet! Just low volume rehearsals! And, it's driving me nuts! :NUTS I really wanna' hear this thing at gig volume!

 

[Dave_C]

I have a Quinn SDO Skyliner II HRM 50 watter. I've had the amp for about 2months and I have'nt even cracked her open yet. When I kick the overdrive & PAB on I allways think the amp is to bright ... but when I play in a band setting it sounds perfect and cuts right through the mix. The other guitar player has a Two-Rock LTD and declared the other night his amp most be broken after playing through my SDO. Let me just say his LTD IS A GREAT AMP.

Very cool! Yeah, I don't even use the PAB and didn't use it on my Fuchs TDS either. Always sounds too piercing and harsh, but as I said above, I haven't even had a chance to use the SDO at a gig, so it may work great in that context, especially with the latest HRM changes, which smooths out everything.

I've played a number of Two-Rocks over the years and always wondered what the fuss was all about. They sound bland to me in person although I've heard some great recordings of them. Not a lot of complexity goin' on there in person though. The SDO is all about air and complexity!

 

[heady dude]

I traded my SDO for a TR Emmy Pro and both myself and the guy I traded with were shocked at how similar these two amps are. I have to say I miss the Quinn, but the TR excels in certain places as well. I never touched the internal HRM on the Quinn, they were set by Shad at the previous owners request and they sounded great as is.
Ive been meaning to open up the Emmy and do some knob turning, they are currently at factory settings and could use some tweaking. Any suggestions?

 

[Dave_C]

I traded my SDO for a TR Emmy Pro and both myself and the guy I traded with were shocked at how similar these two amps are.

I guess I'm really not too surprised by this. TAG had done a few clips with the TR-EP back in his infamous Politician thread that all but nailed the RF tones of that era. Even after my first HRM adjustments on the SDO, I was getting closer to those tones (or even the non-HRM 80's tones) than I ever had with any D-clone or pedal/amp rig. TR had "the circuit" early on, but it seems to be pretty much public domain now...and people are tweaking it quite nicely and offering these amps at very fair prices too. Shad's SDO is obviously a prime example ($5500 Two-Rock Emmy Pro level tone for less than half the cost!!!) and for some really amazing non-HRM tones, check out the Red Plate Garth Webber and Tommy Castro clips. WOW!

I have to say I miss the Quinn, but the TR excels in certain places as well. I never touched the internal HRM on the Quinn, they were set by Shad at the previous owners request and they sounded great as is. I've been meaning to open up the Emmy and do some knob turning, they are currently at factory settings and could use some tweaking. Any suggestions?

It depends on what you want to hear and the rest of your signal chain, but, as mentioned above, I like to run the HRM Treble completely off, the Bass just a little higher than OFF (right above the point where it "digitally" goes from thin to full) and the Mid somewhere below the point where it starts getting too harsh...somewhere around 60-80% of full scale. I've got it pretty much nailed for my tastes right now, but the HRM pots really need to be made externally accessible, preferably with numbered dials, to allow minor adjustments for different rooms/guitars/PUPs/speakers/cabs/tubes and to allow tracking of settings.

I dialed mine in for the harshest room in my house, but in the more forgiving room that I actually practice in, I could probably use a touch more HRM Mid and/or Treble. Between the guitar and amp front panel knobs, I can partially compensate for that but the real fix is to put those darn knobs on the front panel(!)...even if they were smaller knobs placed above or below the OD section knobs. The whole reason HRM was invented in the first place was to balance out the EQ differences between the clean and OD channels, but I'm not sure anyone can successfully do that once and forget about it forever. Even relatively small changes in the Volume knob (and hence the level hitting the OD section) causes significant changes in Overdrive EQ that can only be compensated for via the HRM pots.