Vibrolux = bright.what pedals do you use to get some love with strats.

[phsyconoodler]

I love my vibrolux but what pedals do you guys use to tame the brightness when doing single coil leads?I hate icepick!
  Maybe I need to change the speakers from the Jensen P10R's?
 I tried a modded Boss BD-2 and it sucks the hind tit even modded.Works ok with darker amps.
I'm leaning towards a speaker change.Maybe a 12and a ten? Hmm....

[Fresh_Start]

Which Vibrolux?  Tweed, Brown, Blackface...

Maybe a Tube Screamer with low gain & tone tweaked to blunt the icepick?

If you're using new Jensens, how about a Weber 10A100 or 10A125-O added to the mix?  The 10A100 is warm and lends itself to nice, slightly crunchy breakup.  (Not modern crunchy - toned down, warm crunchy)  Just guessing about the 10A125-O based on the description.

HTH

Chip

[phsyconoodler]

It's my Custom Vibrolux that I modded to Vibroverb specs.The Jensens are indeed new.Fine with no pedals but very bright with tube screamers and dirt pedals.I'm thinking a move to darker speakers would do it for me.I like the chime now but can't take the overdriven treble spikiness.

[rafe]

I don't use many pedals but I really like my compressor just a tad to even things up. You should be able to darken it up a bit to where you like it with all the control options. What pickup setting do you use?
I tend to use the neck pickup with that tone control just rolled out of the detent a bit and keep the treble rolled back a enough to take the fangs off on the bridge, but still plenty of bite. if I choose to use it
I have a 64 reissue vibro verb I use a lot and a vibro champ..... and quite a few others that are falling into stillness. Give those speakers a bit of time (maybe?)

[Cups]

A Fuzz Face or a Big Muff. Great single coil lead pedals. Easily moddable too.

[softwarejanitor]

I love my vibrolux but what pedals do you guys use to tame the brightness when doing single coil leads?I hate icepick!
  Maybe I need to change the speakers from the Jensen P10R's?
 I tried a modded Boss BD-2 and it sucks the hind tit even modded.Works ok with darker amps.
I'm leaning towards a speaker change.Maybe a 12and a ten? Hmm....

What pickups are you running?  If you have ceramics now (most MIMs, lower end Squiers, etc) you might consider upgrading to Alnicos.  Try the neck or middle pickup instead of the bridge since you get tone control on the guitar that way or consider doing the switch mod to move one of the tone controls to work on the bridge as well.

[tubesornothing]

If it is only the strat through that amp was too bright, then my first like of atrtack would be another pickup.  I really like what lollar does for strat pickups.

After that, the barber direct drive is awfully nice crunch/distortion.  A keeley modded BD2 is a nice thing too - I am not a fan of them unmodded.  I think you can get the little kit for your BD-2 for about $20.

[OldHouseScott]

A Timmy pedal would work great, allowing you to cut the treble without affecting the bass and mids.

I like the Emi Legend 105 for nice vintage sounding 10s with a strong bottom and a smooth top. Still has plenty of sparkle on the top when set for clean.

[phsyconoodler]

Yeah maybe it's my guitars I don't know.I use a Godin LG with splitable humbuckers and a 72 custom Tele with widerange humbuckers and sometimes an American strat.
  I have a feeling it's either just me and my fussiness or a combination of me and the speakers.The amp is not new so it's not a speaker break-in issue.I just love Fender amps for the clean with an edge.Maybe a distortion pedal would be better than an overdrive.
  Because it's a reissue and not a vintage amp I'm eventually going to hand-wire it with the normal channel using a more aggressive preamp structure.
  I have a double muff that is too bright with this amp too if you can believe that!Maybe even an EQ pedal would help.
I'm having a senior moment I guess,approaching my 55th birthday and still hanging out at jams.There's a 20 yr old kid that is a virtuoso on a guitar and he makes me want more from my gear.

[phsyconoodler]

Well i think my search is over for the perfect pedal.I tried a Diamond Fireburst pedal and it flat out rocks with this amp just the way it is.Oh my it sounds good!

Now if I can cop some licks from the young whippersnapper I'll be happy!

[tubesornothing]

Congrats. Finding good tone is a hell of a challenge.

It has taken me well over a year to find the right LP bridge pickup.  Its a PRS McCarty. My guitar buddies think its "OK", but I love it.

[LooseChange]

This weeks favorite tone... Next weeks eBay sale.
Isn't it amazing how you think you got it and then it's gone.
I remember 20 amps ago when I thought I got everything I need.

[phsyconoodler]

Yeah I hear ya!
  I'm getting pretty set about what I like these days....I think.I get the best tones from my own amps but I have yet been able to keep one for myself,so I bought the Vibrolux so I would have something to play.

[jojokeo]

I think.I get the best tones from my own amps but I have yet been able to keep one for myself,so I bought the Vibrolux so I would have something to play.

You crazy man!

Those speakers can be on the bright side and diff ones make a big difference. Have you tried a Tone Tubby yet? They seem hard to get used to at first (by not being a bright speaker) and you have to use different than normal settings but once you do get used to them, they're hard to beat. I have almost a complete 10" inventory and the Red Fang, 125-S Weber, and alnico Gold Celestion are all real nice too (for 10s) and not too bright.

This weeks favorite tone... Next weeks eBay sale.

True story

It has taken me well over a year to find the right LP bridge pickup.  Its a PRS McCarty. My guitar buddies think its "OK", but I love it.

Have you tried a JB Seymour Duncan? Impressions?

[tubesornothing]

Have you tried a JB Seymour Duncan? Impressions?

Long time ago with a different guitar.  Cant really remember it.  I have tried in the bridge: Throbak PAF, Sheptone Tribute, Burst Bucker, Lollar Imperial.  They are all a little to bitey in the treble for me.  The McCarty is a little darker, although it still has lots of treb.

[phsyconoodler]

Ok,played live last night and swapped one alnico for a Celestion Vintage 10.Way less treble live but seemed not much different at home.Had to turn the treble up on the amp for cleans.Using the Fireburst pedal for single coil leads was quite nice,but tried a friend's Liquid sunshine pedal and was pleasantly surprised.It didn't have much gain on tap but it drove the amp nicely.
  I had to urn the Fireburst gain down low but then it got really sweet.I stayed on single coils all night except when I did 'The thrill is gone',then I used the neck humbucker on my Godin.Fat and sweet.
  Hmmmm....nice combination of speakers even using the bridge single coil for a bit of Peter Green's 'Rattle snake shake'.
Hitting the pedal with that pickup gave it a really nice bitey top end that was never shrill.
  I think the flavour of the week has been satisfied.Now to try the Boss BD-2 again.Maybe it won't rip my head off with these speakers.

[jojokeo]

I like the Vintage 10 too. I didn't name it earlier but currently it's set up w/ my Firecracker/Firefly derrivitive amp. It's got good efficiency, is clear, sounds good driven or at low volume, clean or distorted. I do think these have nice high end response though which is why I didn't name it since you were having brightness issues already.

On the BD-2, I got a used one a short time ago for modding it and liked what I read about it being relatively transparent. I've read and heard about the Keely mods but like what I've read and heard by Monte Allums a bit more. Especially since he's used and tested various dual op amp chips. In my past experiences, I've always liked the NE5532s and have a number of them already in stock. What I learned and like is his use of stacking them w/ his special little fabricated pcb.

I'm wondering if you or anyone has personally heard or tried his stuff yet and what you think?

[phsyconoodler]

I did the Monte Allum mods on my BD-2 but it does not change things the way he describes in his post-mod description.
  For example he says changing one part will remove the spikey treble,but it didn't at all.In fact it did pretty much nothing.Overall the mod made a difference but no where near as much as I had expected and he advertises.
  But that being said,I haven't tried it with the new speaker combination yet,so I'll reserve total judgement until I do.
  The mod I did was the first one on his list of mods for the BD-2.I did not do the other mods.
A friend borrowed it after I did the mods and he gave it back saying "get thing thing away from me!"
 We will see.

[jojokeo]

I can kind of see why you're saying that but there's not much change in the pedal when only swapping the diodes. But, they can and will make a difference, it's just if you like the difference? Plain rectifier diodes suck but the signal diodes are better along w/ LEDs but again, it's personal preference on grainy vs smooth kind of stuff. The caps don't seem to make a whole lot difference to me if they're the same values & only changing the types. Changing out the op-amps though like on the Blues Stack, then you'd get a whole lot of change. This was what I was talking about earlier. Changing out op amps is like changing out a 12ax7 Telefunken for a Bugle Boy, Mullard, Tung Sol, and RCA or more likely to a newer made EH, Sovtek, or JJ. They can make all the difference.

[phsyconoodler]

No,what I meant was I did the whole first mod kit which includes different cap and resistor values as well as diodes and a germanium diode(that's the only thing not done yet).
  I did it one step at a time and tried the pedal.Not much difference from the stock to the fully modded one.
Kind of disappointing overall.I even tried subbing in some different values to try and tame the treble but it just didn't do much of anything.With a bright amp it just stayed very,very bright no matter where any EQ controls were set.