TOURMASTER
TM
Earlier in this manual you found a
brief description of the four indi-
vidual channels. The following sec-
tion will help explain the different
features and how they affect your
tone. Remember to take advantage
of the master PRESENCE and
DENSITY controls to enhance
the depth and brightness of all the
channels.
CLEAN / VINTAGE 1:
As we said earlier, this channel
is the cleanest of the four. The
BASS, MIDDLE and TREBLE
controls are basically the familiar
passive style tone controls found
in 80% of guitar amps over the
past few decades. We have chosen
to voice them with a bit of a Brit-
ish flair to keep the low end more
defined and provide tons of clean
headroom. The most pristine tones
are typically achieved by cutting
the MIDRANgE and setting the
VOICINg switch to MODERN.
Of course, you can turn down the
MIDRANgE knob but often that
is just not enough, especially with
humbucking pickups. This is where
the CONTOUR knob comes in.
The additional control makes the
Tourmaster
TM
tone circuit one of the
most versatile around. To activate
the CONTOUR control, depress
the pushbutton next to the knob and
turn the control to hear how effec-
tive the midrange cut can be for
your clean sound. It can almost turn
your humbuckings into single coils
and your single coils into a more
acoustic tone. For more of a Vin-
tage style tone, flip the vOiciNg
switch to CLASSIC. This revoices
the channel to have a bit more
drive, more midrange and tighter
low end much like the cool old
amps from the 60’s ad 70’s. The
cleanest tones are achieved in ei-
ther mode by setting the VOLUME
knob full up (or close to it) and us-
ing the gAIN control to control the
loudness. Even though the intent of
this channel is for beautiful clean
sounds, it can be pushed into mild
overdrive by increasing the gAIN
control and reducing the VOLUME
accordingly. The breakup is quite
raw and “in your face”. great for
classic rock. Please refer to the
SUggESTED SETTINgS for a
good starting point. These settings
are merely just that…suggestions.
They provide a good starting point
to aim in the right direction.
CLEAN / VINTAGE 2:
This channel is voiced very much
like the CLEAN / VINTAgE 1
channel except we’ve added more
gain. It can play almost as clean as
channel 1 but can also create some
really cool overdrive tones. All of
the control functions are basically
the same as channel 1. Classic
overdrive tones are best created
with the VOICINg switch set to
CLASSIC and the CONTOUR
control off. You’ll get that great old
midrange bark that was so much a
part of the early British rock scene.
If a more modern crunch is your
style, try cutting the MID-RANgE
or switching on the CONTOUR
and backing down the CONTOUR
knob. Keeping the BASS knob
lower will help to tighten and
define the low end. Your guitar
volume knob can be quite effective
for cleaning up the tone. Classic
Zep or even some sweet blues can
be effortlessly coaxed out of this
channel. You could probably play
all night on this channel alone.
Again, check out the SUggEST-
ED SETTINgS.
OVERDRIVE 1:
As we said, this channel covers a
lot of bases all by itself. With the
gAIN control set lower, VOICINg
set to CLASSIC and CONTOUR
off, this channel is pure classic
rock. British invasion revisited. See
BRIT gRIND in the SUggESTED
SETTINgS. Brit grind not your
thing? Switch in the CONTOUR,
set the VOICINg switch to MOD-
ERN, crank the gAIN and enter
modern rock territory. Many great
high gain tones are here - experi-
ment to find yours. cut the cON
-
TOUR even more and enter the
modern metal rhythm world.
OVERDRIVE 2:
High gain heaven (or hell). De-
pends on your point of view. In
the cLASSic mode you’ll find
the ultimate in aggressive drive.
MIDRANgE up and CONTOUR
off will produce the singing fluid
sustain so prevalent in the days
of hot rod solos. Switching to the
MODERN mode pours on “over
the top” gain and sustain for days.
Try the MODERN SOLO setting
in the SUggESTED SETTINgS.
Outrageous metal grind is simple to
conjure up. Cut the MIDRANgE,
activate the CONTOUR, turn up
the BASS and TREBLE and pre-
pare to crush the opposition.
THE CHANNELS
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