i recently bought an ashdown fallen andgel 60 head and the matching 412 cab (yes i wanted a bv but the shop i was buying at couldnt order them in (sound control).)

ive been playing the amp for a few days but the tone isnt exactly impressing me.

(oh and dont say go and buy a different anp coz i cant!!)

my setting are

bass: 10
mids: 3/4
trebel: 7
gain: 10

the sound i seem to be getting is slightly muddy (maybe due to shit stock jackson pickups)

and when i play an open string (not muted) it sounds quite dull and undefined.

i have a boss ds1 dist pedal and when i run this strait into the input of the amp it just gets more muddy.

what do you suggest? should i get something like a mesa bottle rocket or maybe a 10 band eq?

im getting an emg 85 to put in the bridge soon so hopefully this will make a diffrence.

the amp does sound brutal and it does a nice brutal death metal sound but the notes dont stand out enough.

any suggestions?
i am in need of help.

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I believe that the 81 is much better in the bridge. ive also heard from others who have an 81 in the bridge that its much brighter than the 85

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ok but what about help with the amp? anyone?...........

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just tweak around with it to find your unique sound. you wont know what its capable of if you dont fuck around with it

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Turn down the gain. More gain = more mud. Always start with less than you think you'll need and add a little more until you get a good balance of gain to tone.

I'd say turn up the mids to 6 or 7, turn the bass way down (turn up to desired level, but 10 seems excessive) back up on the gain as lord_diemos said too The stock Jackson pups won't do you any favours too, i'd recommend upgrading them soon.

Is there a soundcontrol in Bristol then?

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yup, roll back the gain and bass a bit, more mid can't hurt, the main guitar frequencies are in the mids and make your sound more livelier, and it'll be less muddier that way. After you do that, change the highs to whatever sounds good.

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Yea lower the gain untill the mud stops.. If you wanna try, you can lower the gain even more to have a crunchy, not so distorted tone and then use your SD-1 infront of it with output at max

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trouble is my pedal sounds absolutely shite, it makes the amp sound like a cheap solid state.

i was thinking of getting a dimarzio x2n in the bridge, it says its designed to throw a tube amp into total overdrive.

also without the ds1 there isnt enough gain at lower gain levels. i was thinking active pickups would help this or possibly an emg booster switch thing.

maybe a mesa bottle rocket but they seem to be rather expensive just for the pedal.

thanks for the advice though.

also i think an eq would help, if i put it in the fx loop. what do u think?

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the fallen angel amps are suppose to be really bassy so turn it down, also add some more mids, u could also change the tubes with some better quality ones and perhaps get a attenuator

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Maybe you should sell the amp and buy some amp you like

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x2n is A great pickup to me. i dont even remember what playing without it was like but it sucked

I owned a fallen angel,and know it pretty damn well.Its voiced pretty bassy,so keep it low.They sound great dimed,and have plenty of gain.
Oh and the gain doesnt go muddy,I can have it on ten and its still useable.You just really need to adjust the eq to get the mud out of the lows and low mid freq.They are great amps.

why can't you buy another amp? you can't return it? or sell it and buy another?

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im just going to have this amp for a couple of years and then buy a new one when the opportunity (if it ever happens) to record an ep or something shows up.

i mean i saw this band live and they were running a peavey valve king head (without any rack equipment) dry and it sounded brutal as fuck.

dont get me wrong they're not the best heads but it still sounded awesome.

i guess my ashdown would be ok to play live but im just going to wait untill i can buy a mesa or a powerball or something.

ive been tweaking my ashdown and im getting quite a brutal sound anyway. it will improve alot aswell when i get my emg in the bridge and a ten band eq

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could be the cab too. what kind of speakers do the cabs come stock with=

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I'm going to temporarily hijack this thread. What do you folks mean by running an amp "dry"? I've heard the term plenty of times but still am a little confused on the meaning. Does it mean without effects?

Anyways, back to your problem. It seems like you might have your gain and bass too high (as the other's have stated). And the 10 band EQ certainly can't hurt your tone. I'd just play with it until it fits your needs.

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Yeah,no external effects.

the speakers are like ashdown designed ones, i cant imagine that theyre amazing but i doubt they are thecause for the muddiness.

im going to try the head with my mates cab with celestion vinatge 30s and if it is alot better i will sell the cab and buy a new one.

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http://www.avatarspeakers.com/

try this out, might be cheaper than buying a new cab alltogheter..

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The cab isnt that bad.