Got my new TM36, and a pair of 1x12s. Love'in the features on this amp. The sound - still working on that; not ready to judge yet.
The setup: Les Paul Standard, Fender 57 Reissue with a Hot Rail in the tail. And POD HD500X for effects only and channel switching, 4CM.
I have the TM36 sitting next to a Blackstar 60w Soloist so I can make really good comparisons of the two. Here are my initial thoughts on sound while excluding the HD500X from the chain - need to keep experimenting...
Cleans: First thoughts are the Blackstar's cleans are a bit creamier than the ice-clear TM36. Too cold maybe. I think the Blackstar is more to my taste - but also love the fact that I can dial in some gain on the TM's clean and get a really subtle breakup while still being in the clean category. Someone at HK should get a cash bonus and a promotion for adding that feature.
Crunch: The Blackstar is just OK. I noticed I have LOTs more control of the break-up on the TM. I can swing into the clean territory by just laying back my picking/strumming, while the Blackstar is pretty uncontrollable unless you pull back the volume on the guitar. I can dial in some nice crunch on the TM with a lot a variety and a lot of control.
Lead: The Blackstar is only two channels but has a pretty nice high gain sound. But like with the Crunch, the Blackstar high gain is pretty one dimensional. The TM has more personality, but with certain EQ settings I now found the fuzzz I've heard about. It can get more fuzzy than a smooth mechanical grind. You can dial the EQ and remove the fuzz. I found keeping the gain down a bit and rolling in a TS9 does wonders. The TS9 works really well with the crunch channel too. Real high gain on the TM is good stuff - a toss up with the Blackstar.
MIDI: With the Blackstar I had to jump through hoops to figure it out and finally made a custom cable for the Voodoo Labs Control Switcher so I could midi control the Blackstar- a giant pain in the arse. And yet another box to power and deal with. But I did get it working. The TM was too easy - it just works. plug in cable, learn button, press a pedal - done. After the Blackstar midi mess, that scored a lot of points for the TM.
And the TM has the power soak. and switchable effects loop. You can't argue with that. The digital verb is fine not great, but I'll likely use the HD500X for that.
Now back to it for more experiments.
More playing, integrate the HD500X and we'll see. This could be the one....
The setup: Les Paul Standard, Fender 57 Reissue with a Hot Rail in the tail. And POD HD500X for effects only and channel switching, 4CM.
I have the TM36 sitting next to a Blackstar 60w Soloist so I can make really good comparisons of the two. Here are my initial thoughts on sound while excluding the HD500X from the chain - need to keep experimenting...
Cleans: First thoughts are the Blackstar's cleans are a bit creamier than the ice-clear TM36. Too cold maybe. I think the Blackstar is more to my taste - but also love the fact that I can dial in some gain on the TM's clean and get a really subtle breakup while still being in the clean category. Someone at HK should get a cash bonus and a promotion for adding that feature.
Crunch: The Blackstar is just OK. I noticed I have LOTs more control of the break-up on the TM. I can swing into the clean territory by just laying back my picking/strumming, while the Blackstar is pretty uncontrollable unless you pull back the volume on the guitar. I can dial in some nice crunch on the TM with a lot a variety and a lot of control.
Lead: The Blackstar is only two channels but has a pretty nice high gain sound. But like with the Crunch, the Blackstar high gain is pretty one dimensional. The TM has more personality, but with certain EQ settings I now found the fuzzz I've heard about. It can get more fuzzy than a smooth mechanical grind. You can dial the EQ and remove the fuzz. I found keeping the gain down a bit and rolling in a TS9 does wonders. The TS9 works really well with the crunch channel too. Real high gain on the TM is good stuff - a toss up with the Blackstar.
MIDI: With the Blackstar I had to jump through hoops to figure it out and finally made a custom cable for the Voodoo Labs Control Switcher so I could midi control the Blackstar- a giant pain in the arse. And yet another box to power and deal with. But I did get it working. The TM was too easy - it just works. plug in cable, learn button, press a pedal - done. After the Blackstar midi mess, that scored a lot of points for the TM.
And the TM has the power soak. and switchable effects loop. You can't argue with that. The digital verb is fine not great, but I'll likely use the HD500X for that.
Now back to it for more experiments.
More playing, integrate the HD500X and we'll see. This could be the one....