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CHANNEL 1:
As mentioned earlier, Channel 1’s preamp is essentially a slightly revoiced Bright Channel from a ’67 Super
Lead. There are both beautiful cleans and amazing crunch tones in this channel – experiment!
MASTER
sets the overall volume of Channel 1.
ERA
provides 3 tonal options for Channel 1. You can think of this covering 3 different decades of tone. In the middle position,
the amplifier will be cleaner, less compressed, and very woody. We consider this our late ‘60s, or Plexi mode. The right
position is our ‘80s voicing. This adds saturation and compression, and is reminiscent of ‘80s modded Plexis coming out of LA.
The left position is our modern voicing and uses a different clipping circuit than the standard Zener-based ones by other
builders on the market today, but is the exact same as one of the most famous builders inspired by Jose circuits. This setting
adds even more saturation, and also evens the top end and overtones. We love this mode for all things metal and soloing.
NOTE
- Just like the original “Jose mods”, these different modes will impact the taper response of the MASTER control. In
other words, some settings might seem louder than others. In reality, equal volumes are happening sooner or later on the
control. The ‘60s mod hits stage volume soonest, and the Modern voicing hits stage volumes latest. Don’t be afraid to turn up
the MASTER control in the ‘80s and Modern modes!
BASS
adjusts low frequencies in Channel 1.
MIDRANGE
adjusts the mid frequency response in Channel 1.
TREBLE
adjusts the high frequency response in Channel 1.
GAIN
adjusts the amount of distortion in Channel 1. Both circuit-wise and performance wise, this is just like the channel
volume control in a vintage Plexi.
BRIGHT
is a high-frequency boost that can be used to add sparkle
and gain
to your tone in Channel 1. In the middle position,
BRIGHT 1 is defeated. In the left position, it boosts upper mid and high frequencies, and adds noticeable gain. With the toggle
switch in the right position, it boosts extreme high frequencies, and adds less gain boost than the right position.
