Convince me to keep my TH30
Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2018 4:33 pm
Hi there! Long time lurker, first time poster...
Please be patient with me as despite being a long time player, I am not much of a gear buff.
After being convinced by its versatility, affordability and portability (so many 'ities), I acquired a new TH30 earlier this year as a replacement to my venerable and beloved, yet often broken and maligned JCM2000 head. I wasn't able to afford a 'proper' Orange like the Rockerverb and so the TH30 seemed like a decent alternative. It sounded (and looked) absolutely fantastic when I tried it in my local music shop and I particularly liked the ability to limit its output for home use as well as its smaller form factor. The cleans were adequate and although not exactly 'vintage', the crunch tone was very usable for bluesy applications as well as hard-rock and metal.
"So yeah, what's the problem?", I hear you ask. Well, it's two fold:
It's simply not loud enough for me. I went in to this with my eyes open given I was downgrading from a 100w to a 30w head (probably mumbling something to myself about inverse square laws) but I simply was not prepared for the reduction in output. When mated to my 4x12 Marshall cab, my bandmates' ancient Line6 Spider IV 75 that he uses at rehearsals is easily MUCH louder than the TH30. I have to frequently ask him to turn down in order to be heard even though he is on half volume and I am near on full. I wasn't able to fully crank the amp before I bought but it sounded brutally loud at the time. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it as far as I can tell as it has never been any different since when I bought it.
The other issue is how incredibly muddy and indistinct the treble sounds are with any level of gain. I used a Marshall JVM a few weeks ago and it made me sad at how clearly I could pick out individual notes when compared to the TH30. I have tried putting an MXR EQ pedal in the FX loop, before the amp as well as messing around with the shape knob. Nothing ever improves the situation. I often like to play with a fuzz pedal in front of my amp and believe me, this just makes matters even worse (when I was able to get very nice results with other amps).
I was pondering whether to buy a new set of valves, but I am unconvinced it will remedy my issues. My question to you is this; does this sound normal to you or is there a problem with the amp? Should I try replacing the valves or should I cut my losses and buy another amp?
Thanks!
Please be patient with me as despite being a long time player, I am not much of a gear buff.
After being convinced by its versatility, affordability and portability (so many 'ities), I acquired a new TH30 earlier this year as a replacement to my venerable and beloved, yet often broken and maligned JCM2000 head. I wasn't able to afford a 'proper' Orange like the Rockerverb and so the TH30 seemed like a decent alternative. It sounded (and looked) absolutely fantastic when I tried it in my local music shop and I particularly liked the ability to limit its output for home use as well as its smaller form factor. The cleans were adequate and although not exactly 'vintage', the crunch tone was very usable for bluesy applications as well as hard-rock and metal.
"So yeah, what's the problem?", I hear you ask. Well, it's two fold:
It's simply not loud enough for me. I went in to this with my eyes open given I was downgrading from a 100w to a 30w head (probably mumbling something to myself about inverse square laws) but I simply was not prepared for the reduction in output. When mated to my 4x12 Marshall cab, my bandmates' ancient Line6 Spider IV 75 that he uses at rehearsals is easily MUCH louder than the TH30. I have to frequently ask him to turn down in order to be heard even though he is on half volume and I am near on full. I wasn't able to fully crank the amp before I bought but it sounded brutally loud at the time. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it as far as I can tell as it has never been any different since when I bought it.
The other issue is how incredibly muddy and indistinct the treble sounds are with any level of gain. I used a Marshall JVM a few weeks ago and it made me sad at how clearly I could pick out individual notes when compared to the TH30. I have tried putting an MXR EQ pedal in the FX loop, before the amp as well as messing around with the shape knob. Nothing ever improves the situation. I often like to play with a fuzz pedal in front of my amp and believe me, this just makes matters even worse (when I was able to get very nice results with other amps).
I was pondering whether to buy a new set of valves, but I am unconvinced it will remedy my issues. My question to you is this; does this sound normal to you or is there a problem with the amp? Should I try replacing the valves or should I cut my losses and buy another amp?
Thanks!