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The Hughes & Kettner User Forum

The Unofficial guitar amp and cabinets forum for users of Hughes and Kettner products. We are not affiliated with Hughes and Kettner!!


2 posters

    Received my Pre-Ordered Grandmeister Deluxe 40 yesterday

    sms380
    sms380


    Posts : 7
    Join date : 2016-12-13

    Received my Pre-Ordered Grandmeister Deluxe 40 yesterday Empty Received my Pre-Ordered Grandmeister Deluxe 40 yesterday

    Post by sms380 Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:56 pm

    I ordered the 2X12 HK Cabinet, MKIII Midi Controller, and the Grandmeister Deluxe 40. Everything showed up yesterday.

    So far I'm happy with everything. I can get all the sounds I want out of the head and cabinet. I'm in a 90's Alternative Grunge Cover Band.

    I'm coming from a Fender Mustang III V2 amp. There are something's I'm used to on this amp that may not work for this new one. With that said I like the Grandmeister a lot so far. It sounds great and there are a lot of things I like about it already. I like the tone much better than a modeling amp, the sounds are a lot less harsh and notes pronounced compared to a modeling amp,  I like that it doesn't make any noise when switching channels, and the affects are much better than a modeling amp. So far so good........

    These are the things I need to figure out....

    1) I may use several patches for 1 song (1 for Rhythm, maybe 1 for a special modulation for one lead run, and maybe 1 for a lead with more volume). So lets say I program the 1st three patches on the Grandmeister for the first song. If I  program the next 2 patches for the next song to easily change between these 2 patches it would be between banks. This would not work well...   If I keep 1 song per bank that would only allow for 32 songs which would not be enough. I'm not sure how I'm going to work around this. I may have to change the way I think about using patches.
    Any Suggestions? How do you use your presets?

    2) I'm disappointed that I can not control the master volume using an expression pedal on this amp. I do this on the fender mustang III to make adjustments to the volume of all the patches on the fly. I either need to buy an analog volume pedal and put it in the effects loop as they suggested in their documentation or not worry about it and just adjust it on the amp itself.

    So far I'm happy and it's built well.

    Thx SMS


    Last edited by sms380 on Tue Dec 13, 2016 4:35 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : typo)
    bordonbert
    bordonbert


    Posts : 1772
    Join date : 2015-01-28
    Age : 72
    Location : Southern England

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    Post by bordonbert Wed Dec 14, 2016 7:12 am

    I've replied to the first point in another thread so here is a thought on the second one. The FSM432 has the facility to attach an expression pedal and allocate it to one of two external control channels. This will allow you to control the overall volume of the GM36 via a pedal. Look at section 3.3 - 'Control 1 and Control 2' in the FSM432 manual.


    _________________
    Newcastle Brown, can sure smack you down
    You take a greasy wh*re, and a rollin' dance floor
    You know you're jailhouse bound!

    Rock On Humble Pie
    sms380
    sms380


    Posts : 7
    Join date : 2016-12-13

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    Post by sms380 Thu Dec 15, 2016 1:28 am

    What I read in the manual is on the control inputs on the MKIII is that it can control the volume of the patch you are on and as soon as you change your patch the volume changes to what was programed for that patch. This makes no sense to me why they would want it like that. Their recommendation was to use an analog volume pedal in the effects loop.

    So far though overall I'm very happy with my purchase.
    bordonbert
    bordonbert


    Posts : 1772
    Join date : 2015-01-28
    Age : 72
    Location : Southern England

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    Post by bordonbert Thu Dec 15, 2016 10:20 am

    I certainly take your point that it doesn't control the Master Volume but I think there is a sound logic on their side, (as well as your own given that you are trying to achieve something sensible if different to their picture of things).

    From here I'm not sure what you are trying to get the pedal to actually do.  What you are saying seems to be that the level of every patch should be changed by the setting on the pedal as well as the Master Volume control.  If you are using it for a swell effect during playing then I can see that, but if you want it to be able to set the level for each patch as you select them then I would have thought you are using it in a redundant way.

    The Master Volume is intended to be used only to set the overall volume for the whole amp in the space in which you are using it.  It's kind of an 'on the night' setting which is why it is not storeable. It would ideally be a 'set and forget' control where you choose your playing volume in the soundcheck (or first number) and will only need to adjust it a touch on a couple of occasions throughout the whole performance.  It is a 'maximum volume' control in effect.

    The 'Volume' control setting for each patch is used to balance their volumes against each other when you set up and store your patches.  For example you may need a very Clean patch and a high gain Ultra patch in the same number.  The Clean channel will be quieter than the Ultra channel just by its nature, so once the gains are selected as a tonal choice the Volume (not Master of course) control would be adjusted high on the Clean and low on the Ultra for the patches for that number.  That way the two patches are brought into line with each other as you need them when playing.  At that point you have each patch correct in relation to its partners, (not necessarily all at the same volume but in terms of their relative volumes), and they are then all affected equally by the overall level set for them on the Master Volume. Each patch can be selected on the FSM432 knowing that it will be instantly at the right volume compared to the others and for the venue.

    And of course we have minute adjustments available on the guitar volume and even playing strength to use too.

    So I don't really see why you would need to constantly be adjusting the overall volume with a pedal.  It is possible to readjust and store a patch while playing in seconds during rehearsal time so this balance between patches is very easy to achieve outside of a performance.  Then the Master Volume takes care of the change of venue from place to place.  I'm not saying what you want is wrong, just that with the system able to be set up as I've described I can't see what you want that pedal to achieve.


    _________________
    Newcastle Brown, can sure smack you down
    You take a greasy wh*re, and a rollin' dance floor
    You know you're jailhouse bound!

    Rock On Humble Pie
    sms380
    sms380


    Posts : 7
    Join date : 2016-12-13

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    Post by sms380 Thu Dec 15, 2016 11:57 am

    In the past I have had to adjust the overall volume on the fly many times. Usually because we have two guitars in the band. If for some reason in a song it seems like the other guitar player is too loud I can adjust without taking my hand off the guitar. It's basically just what I'm used to doing with the Fender Mustang amp. Of course if we had a dedicated sound man like we did on our last gig that would help solve this too.

    I will just teach my self to reach over and adjust the volume on the amp. Not really that big of a deal.

    I do love this amp and I just need to adjust to using it. H&K definitely has a unique tube amp with lots of potential. I can see their future versions being even more packed with features. This can be as versatile and better sounding as any modeling amp.

    Note that I'm not complaining but I think it would  be cool if they had a built in tuner, built in compressor, and built in Wah. With the addition of those things I would never need more than the midi controller on the floor.

    Thx SMS

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