Improving my heavy tones.... Help

Okay, you all are gonna think I am nuts and a simpleton but I figured out my problem...

My guitar wasn't grounded properly and as a result, any attempts to get my guitar "juiced up" enough resulted in so much noise that I had to back-off.

This inability to crank it up was my problem. I have the local guitar repair shop doing a number on my axe, it should fix the problem.

But in all honesty, that line 6 "insane" mode is pretty nice. It really is, I am not just nuts.

Thanks for the input and I think I am gonna buy one of those cabinets. Pretty sweet

Phinnin

I don't think you are nuts or a simpleton. You figured out the problem, sounds very smart to me. :D

Yeah, the HRD is really a very good sounding amp. But it really is a little difficult to get heavy tones out of it. Anything else it's great. You can get Country, Jazz, Classic Rock, Blues, Surf... easily. And they sound great. But modern "heavy" distortion is difficult.

But I think it is difficult to get these heavy sounds out of any amp known for it's clean channel. And experience has shown me that amps that do get a great heavy sound usually have a terrible clean channel.

My Marshall DSL401 is much more a Rock sounding amp than my HRD. I can get very heavy tones out of it. But no way are you gonna get Surf out of this thing. You aren't gonna get that tone Albert King had on that video or a SRV tone. Impossible. It colors the sound much more than the HRD. The tone is always darker no matter how you set the EQ.

Keep experimenting. I have had my HRD about 4 years now. I am just starting to learn how to get the heavier tones out of it. As you can see by Joe's post, it really takes a lot of trial and error (and blowing things up) to find that perfect tone you are looking for.