Vibe: sounds great clean but like poo dirty......

[jimmyohio75]

Anyone have this issue? I realize that my amp, speakers and guitar will all contribute to the final product but in short I can't get my Micro Vibe to sound good under heavy gain. My dual terror does not have an effects loop so I am running it out front. Any suggestions on how to make it sound better? It seems to get muddy and hard to distinguish.

 

[MoonshineMan]

How much gain on the amp? Are you running SC's or HB's? My vibe is a lot better with my Strat than my LP. It also works better after my fuzz, fwiw.

 

[MoonshineMan]

And I run mine right after my wah, second in the chain

 

[Mr. Kite]

I think the micro vibe has a buffer that's on only when the effect is on. I noticed it doing some weird things in front of dirt when other vibes sounded just right.

 

[jordane93]

i use my vibe after dirt with some medium gain and it sounds fine

 

[jimmyohio75]

How much gain on the amp? Are you running SC's or HB's? My vibe is a lot better with my Strat than my LP. It also works better after my fuzz, fwiw.

Pretty good amount of gain. Using humbuckers on my LP Standard.

 

[bratch]

I run my VL MV after fuzz and before my comp and od. It never disappoints, except this one time, when I ran it before a big muff. It didn't do right.

How much gain is your orange pumping out? I'm curious, since I would like to get one of those el84 orange amps one day for playing dirtier stuff. And I use my MV almost every time I plug in (not in every song; I have to stop myself at some point).

 

[bratch]

Pretty good amount of gain. Using humbuckers on my LP Standard.

maybe this is the deal. The effect should get harder to distinguish if there is a lot of gain going on after it.

 

[Kid Casseroli]

A vibe is like a bass boost, or bass resonance, in one part of the modulation cycle. That's what characterizes a good vibe and many users look for this...the low end throb. My Micro Vibe does this well.

An amp set for a "good amount of gain" commonly cuts better with less bass than what you would use without gain. Adding the bass boost of the vibe will drive the amp past a usable level of gain to a point where the sound is "muddy and hard to distinguish".

To balance the bass of the vibe, try connecting it in a separate loop stacked into a TS-9 or an EQ with reduced bass, still out in front of the amp. The idea is to have the guitar/amp combination set and balanced to sound good when using a good amount of gain. When you switch in the loop with the vibe, no additional bass or gain is added.

Other options would be to use the bridge pick-up and single coils. Test out other vibes with less throb. Reduce the depth control of the MicroV. At very high gain, you might find that a simple Phase 45 provides all the effect you need.

 

[Tone_Terrific]

^
+1.
Turn things up until it sounds good and stop before it sounds bad.
That is all you have to work with before you become one of those guys with bad sound. A mans gotta know his (gears) limitations.

 

[trower]

I think it depends on your gain source and amp. I can only assume your diming the gain on the Terror or that's your source of gain? My Vibe sounded crappy with my high gain Diezel but simply swampy with my Deluxe Reverb. Maybe try a good gain pedal into the clean channel and run your Vibe first in the chain? I know my Micro Vibe sounded oh so much more responsive and clearer first in my chain with a good high quality gain pedal than the gain coming from my Diezel and Budda's. It was more buried in the mix hitting the amp gain for some reason. I also use to run it second after my Wah but simply putting it first was an improvement. Now I always run my Vibe's first, Robin does the same.

By the way ...and I'm sure I'll get some grief for this statement but I think EL84 tube distortion is compressed and thin. Again, I'm only assuming your using amp gain but a different amp if your looking for that thick traditional Fuzz/Vibe sound? ..........O.K..Let me have it!

 

[jimmyohio75]

I think it depends on your gain source and amp. I can only assume your diming the gain on the Terror or that's your source of gain? My Vibe sounded crappy with my high gain Diezel but simply swampy with my Deluxe Reverb. Maybe try a good gain pedal into the clean channel and run your Vibe first in the chain? I know my Micro Vibe sounded oh so much more responsive and clearer first in my chain with a good high quality gain pedal than the gain coming from my Diezel and Budda's. It was more buried in the mix hitting the amp gain for some reason. I also use to run it second after my Wah but simply putting it first was an improvement. Now I always run my Vibe's first, Robin does the same.

By the way ...and I'm sure I'll get some grief for this statement but I think EL84 tube distortion is compressed and thin. Again, I'm only assuming your using amp gain but a different amp if your looking for that thick traditional Fuzz/Vibe sound? ..........O.K..Let me have it!

My Dual Terror is anything but compressed and thin. It is fat and punchy. Like you said, maybe the amp gain is causing the problem with my vibe.