NAD - Finally Part of the ED Guild

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jdurso

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Finally picked up my new (OK its used) ED yesterday after selling my beloved Roadster last week. Obviously these are "first-ish" impressions because playing one in a story here and there is different than owning one. So here we go...

Cleans - Fan-fucking-tastic. Maybe not as sparkly as the LSC but definitely a bit better than the Roadster (which i felt were pretty awesome as well). I like the fact that even as you turn up the Volume the amp retains its headroom and doesn't compress into a brash territory. These were the tones that first drew me to the ED and even after playing for the last 6 hours I'm still blown away by how expressive they are.

Hi - I never really got the impression the ED could really do high gain all that well, or at least not in a way I'm used to (i.e. Recto high gain). After really digging in and getting my settings balanced I'm floored by the balance of clarity, chunk and size of the high gain you get from this amp. To me it sounds like a lot of other amps' characteristics put together to make a very unique sound. Even with the lower output of the 57/08s (compared to the EMGs in my other guitar), the bottom stays tight and aggressive similar to a Mark/Marshall but with the body of a Recto. The one thing that pushed me away from the Recto tone, at least in terms of what I play now, is that the string clarity would only be retained in Raw or Vintage (with the gain around 10), which sacrificed a bit of chunk. The ED seems to sound more like the Modern Recto mode but with a **** ton more clarity, which is something my Roadster couldn't do without a boost or EQ somewhere in the chain.

Lo - This channel is like a secret weapon and might be my favorite. I never really messed around with it all that much in the past but this may be the best rhythm tone I've ever attained. When I started recording a couple songs a few months ago using my Axe-FX I ended up settling on the Shiva model set with a moderate amount of gain. The Lo mode nails that tone but with a bit more bottom end which was something i couldn't dial in right on the Axe (but thats more my patch building skills than the Axe itself). This was THE tone I was after for the last 6 months and while I could get close with the Roadster, I found it with ease in the ED. This channel alone was worth the purchase.

Reverb - I tend to like digital reverb and delays so I'd take anything I say on the EDs reverb with a grain of salt. On the clean channel I find it quite usable but it seems waaaayyyy too springy for my taste. The Roadster's reverb seemed a little more tamed which I liked... still haven't found that sweet spot on the ED's reverb but I'm sure with more tweaking I'll find it. None the less its not a big deal to me because I will end up using the reverb out of the Eventide H9 I plan to purchase in the coming months.

Pedals - The OCD and the BB Preamp both sounds fantastic with the ED. I've loved the OCD with my Roadster since I purchased it and I'm getting similar results with the ED, especially in HI mode to get me a singing lead tone. The BB I was considering selling/trading as I wasn't really digging it with the Roadster anymore. I'm finding it takes very well with clean and lo to fatten up the sound and dial out some bass. Still might consider unloading it if i can find something else I like more. Right now I have an old Ibanez delay pedal in the loop and I have to say, even though the loop isn't switchable, its very transparent and I don't seem to loose any tone through it, which I've experienced in the past with many amps. I'm going to try a Earthquaker delay/reverb pedal with it in a few weeks as well as an Eventide H9 once that comes out, which should "complete" my rig for now. Still not sure if I want to rack mount everything with the RG-16 or build a pedal board with either the RG-16 or someother midi looper/switcher (One Control OC-10). What I can say is that with some sort of switching system, a few quality ODs and some patience, this rig may end up even more versatile than my Roadster rig.

Now with that said there are a few things that boggle my mind and both have been mentioned here countless times. This amp is loud.... and this is coming from someone who has always had amps in the 100-150 Watt range. The Roadster, even with the output at around 9 couldn't keep up with the ED with the Master at 7. I can now see why so many have put a built in attenuator on their wish list of things this amp should have. Overall though its not a huge deal to me because my room is sound proofed enough where the neighbors won't hear much of anything. I will however consider an attenuator or using something like an EQ in the loop to get the amp more opened up without shaking my house to rubble.

The other "issue" is the amount of bass this thing puts out. Granted it is a combo but the bass is thunderous. Definitely not woofy or flubby but more powerful to where I feel the floor vibrating like I would expect from a 4x12 cab. The previous owner replaced the Black Shadow with a Scumback H75... not sure that makes much a difference but the part that i find annoying is when I dial out the bass a little I seem to lose some body on the sound. Has anyone tried an Auralex board to try and deaden some of the bass being passed through the floor? Would elevating the amp on another cabinet or with casters help? I tried it on my Basson, but it didn't do very much to help as the Basson throws a lot of air and has a punchy bass to begin with. I'm thinking maybe another closed back cab with say a v30 in it might be something to try.

One last question... what size casters does the ED 1x12 combo take? It already has the rails on it but no caster so I was going to get a set at some point just to make it more mobile.
 
Hey, this is awesome. Lets see some sample settings!!!

Have you played around with 90 watts vs 45 watts? The two different power bands really affect the overall vibe and feel of the amp, the 45 watt mode being even more vintage and elastic while the 90 watt mode is urgent, punchy, and obviously louder, with an increased emphasis on the low mids. I find the most delicious heavy tones can be had on 90 watts while the 45 watt mode is great for classic rock, blues, and anything else where a more vintage vibe is desired.
 
So far here are my settings... still more tweaking to do:
Volume: 1
Treble: 12
Mid: 11
Bass: 11
Presence: 1
Master: 8

I've gravitated more towards 45 watts but that's more due to volume issues than tone. To be honest I don't hear a huge difference in either but with 45 watts the bass seems a little less pronounced.
 
I don't think the differences between 45 and 90 are really obvious until you get around 9:00 and above on the master volume. Below that you get a bit of a tone shift and less bass... above it 45w gives a more vintage flavour... more sag, compression, a softer midrange. I think Boogie has more going on than simply shutting off two power tubes when you flick the switch.
 
Best the part of this amp is its responsiveness to your pick attack. I love how you can vary the tone just with your pick... you can't ask for more in an amp than that. Well maybe a way to attenuate the **** thing. :wink:
 
YellowJacket said:
Why am I the only person who hasn't had serious volume problems with this thing?

I love the sensitivity to pick attack. This amp has SOUL!

You have the 1x12 combo? Also where are you typically playing it? Is the room carpeted?

Right now mines in a pretty wide open room, hardwood floors and facing a corner (probably the worst spot for an open back). I want to try running it only through my 2x12 and see if the bass response of cabinet itself is causing the impression of super high volumes due to the fact that you can feel the amp, not only hear it. Also mine had a Scumback h75 installed rather than a stock c90 or the v30s. Not sure if thats playing any part in it but if i get anywhere near 9 oclock on the master, my entire living room starts to rumble.

Any luck on getting a very "chewy" lead out of lo or high? My impression of the ED's gain is more of a biting/agressive sort any i thought I'd be able to get a more chewy lead tone using the BB preamp but I'm not nailing the sound in my head as there's still too much bite. I'm wondering if a different OD might get me there easier because I don't want to lose the biting character the amp has naturally. Maybe even something like the Bogner Blue (I've only tried the Red with the Dyne) or some of the Wampler pedals might do the trick infront of the clean channel.
 
jdurso said:
Right now mines in a pretty wide open room, hardwood floors and facing a corner (probably the worst spot for an open back).

IMO, the above doesn't contribute to the impression of volume... but for me it did contribute to making the bottom end harder to control.
 
jdurso said:
YellowJacket said:
Why am I the only person who hasn't had serious volume problems with this thing?

I love the sensitivity to pick attack. This amp has SOUL!

You have the 1x12 combo? Also where are you typically playing it? Is the room carpeted?

Right now mines in a pretty wide open room, hardwood floors and facing a corner (probably the worst spot for an open back). I want to try running it only through my 2x12 and see if the bass response of cabinet itself is causing the impression of super high volumes due to the fact that you can feel the amp, not only hear it. Also mine had a Scumback h75 installed rather than a stock c90 or the v30s. Not sure if thats playing any part in it but if i get anywhere near 9 oclock on the master, my entire living room starts to rumble.

Any luck on getting a very "chewy" lead out of lo or high? My impression of the ED's gain is more of a biting/agressive sort any i thought I'd be able to get a more chewy lead tone using the BB preamp but I'm not nailing the sound in my head as there's still too much bite. I'm wondering if a different OD might get me there easier because I don't want to lose the biting character the amp has naturally. Maybe even something like the Bogner Blue (I've only tried the Red with the Dyne) or some of the Wampler pedals might do the trick infront of the clean channel.

I have the wide body head with a 27" 1 x 12 extension cab. I have the stock c90 which, in my estimation, is a fantastic speaker for the amp. It gives a thick lead tone, especially with the gain trim switch set to 'clean' and the volume up around 3:00.

I'm currently using the amp in a carpeted so there is a lot of sound absorption. I do agree that the taper on the master is quite extreme but this is because of two things:
1) The Electra Dyne does not have 'channel masters' and an 'overall master' like the Roadster does.
2) The amp is set up so that you can overdrive the power section in the 45watt mode. The headroom gets eaten up pretty fast in the 45 watt mode and by the time you get to about 10 O'Clock on the master, you start to get power tube breakup even in the clean mode.

So yes, 9 O'Clock on the master is already gig levels and I honestly never have gigged with this amp with the master higher than that. Typically, I have it at 8:30 for gigs. For practtice, I just turn the master off and bring it up slowly until I get a good bedroom tone.
 
jdurso said:
Any luck on getting a very "chewy" lead out of lo or high? My impression of the ED's gain is more of a biting/agressive sort any i thought I'd be able to get a more chewy lead tone using the BB preamp but I'm not nailing the sound in my head as there's still too much bite. I'm wondering if a different OD might get me there easier because I don't want to lose the biting character the amp has naturally. Maybe even something like the Bogner Blue (I've only tried the Red with the Dyne) or some of the Wampler pedals might do the trick infront of the clean channel.

It's hard to say for sure since we may have differing opinions as to what constitutes "biting", but I'm thinking that biting tone might be a function of the speaker. I've got the 27" 1x12 combo with the stock MC90 and the amp is what I'd call thick and somewhat rounded.

Running the amp through a Recto cab w/ V30s produces a more aggressive yet dark 90s rock sort of tone with the top end rounded off even further.

So far as I know H series speakers have a more aggressive top end bite to them, but I've honestly never played through one so I could be wrong.
 
screamingdaisy said:
jdurso said:
Right now mines in a pretty wide open room, hardwood floors and facing a corner (probably the worst spot for an open back).

IMO, the above doesn't contribute to the impression of volume... but for me it did contribute to making the bottom end harder to control.

I should have articulated my thought more clearly... by impression of volume I meant that because there is no absorbtion in any part of the room (i.e. no carpet, very little furniture), plus the fact that its on hardwood floors, you "feel" the bass response more than you normally would contributing to the impression that its louder than it actually is. In my head I'm thinking "if my feet are feeling this rumble it must be too loud" whereas if the room was carpeted or better insulated I wouldnt "feel" like its too loud. Not sure if that makes sense or not... basically what I'm saying is that feeling so much bass response in via the hardwood floors (vs say carpet which would dampen it more) tricks my brain into thinking its louder than it is.
 
screamingdaisy said:
jdurso said:
Any luck on getting a very "chewy" lead out of lo or high? My impression of the ED's gain is more of a biting/agressive sort any i thought I'd be able to get a more chewy lead tone using the BB preamp but I'm not nailing the sound in my head as there's still too much bite. I'm wondering if a different OD might get me there easier because I don't want to lose the biting character the amp has naturally. Maybe even something like the Bogner Blue (I've only tried the Red with the Dyne) or some of the Wampler pedals might do the trick infront of the clean channel.

It's hard to say for sure since we may have differing opinions as to what constitutes "biting", but I'm thinking that biting tone might be a function of the speaker. I've got the 27" 1x12 combo with the stock MC90 and the amp is what I'd call thick and somewhat rounded.

Running the amp through a Recto cab w/ V30s produces a more aggressive yet dark 90s rock sort of tone with the top end rounded off even further.

So far as I know H series speakers have a more aggressive top end bite to them, but I've honestly never played through one so I could be wrong.

I guess by bite I'm thinking a bigger emphasis on upper mids and agressive while by chewy I'm thinking more round and fat, maybe more of a mellow attack.
 
jdurso said:
I guess by bite I'm thinking a bigger emphasis on upper mids and agressive while by chewy I'm thinking more round and fat, maybe more of a mellow attack.

That's the way I think about it too, in which case I'm thinking it might be the speaker. Fat with a rolled off attack is how I'd describe my Electra Dyne.
 
FYI, the mid and presence knobs are both the 'aggression controls' on the amplifier. Turning the presence down specifically really phattens the tone up.

Also consider the guitars you are using and the kind of pickups that are installed. My Godin LG has a Seymour DUncan Custom Custom in the bridge and this setup definitely has a round and phat tone until I start dialing in lots of mids and presence. Then it shifts into 'metal' territory.
 
YellowJacket said:
FYI, the mid and presence knobs are both the 'aggression controls' on the amplifier. Turning the presence down specifically really phattens the tone up.

Also consider the guitars you are using and the kind of pickups that are installed. My Godin LG has a Seymour DUncan Custom Custom in the bridge and this setup definitely has a round and phat tone until I start dialing in lots of mids and presence. Then it shifts into 'metal' territory.

You maybe on to something and that might be partially to battling the fact that there's only one set of controls. I tend to like my cleans on the bright/sparkly side so thats why i keep the presence between 12-1. But when I start to kick in Lo or Hi, the presence in tha position will definitely add some more bite as i'm adding more of the upper mids. I might have to tweak a little more with the Mid and Treble to see if I can find a happy medium. If not I'm confident the right boost might do the trick, especially if I set it to filter some of those higher frequencies out.

As for the pups i my guitar, they tend to be on the mellower side. The PRS 57/08s tend to be pretty balanced with a medium output... with the Roadster I was able to get those chewier tones out of channel 2 fat with a boost of channel 4 modern for something a little more molten o the high gain side. When I get back for my business trip I'll play around a little bit more with the Mid controls and the EQ on the BB preamp to see if i can get close.
 
I was just doing a little research on flooring couple and bass response primarily on bass forums... seems like the Auralex Gramma might be good solution for taming the ED's (or maybe my Ed's) excessive low end from giving me a foot massage half way across the room. Might have to give one a try.
 
jdurso said:
You maybe on to something and that might be partially to battling the fact that there's only one set of controls. I tend to like my cleans on the bright/sparkly side so thats why i keep the presence between 12-1. But when I start to kick in Lo or Hi, the presence in tha position will definitely add some more bite as i'm adding more of the upper mids. I might have to tweak a little more with the Mid and Treble to see if I can find a happy medium. If not I'm confident the right boost might do the trick, especially if I set it to filter some of those higher frequencies out.

As for the pups i my guitar, they tend to be on the mellower side. The PRS 57/08s tend to be pretty balanced with a medium output... with the Roadster I was able to get those chewier tones out of channel 2 fat with a boost of channel 4 modern for something a little more molten o the high gain side. When I get back for my business trip I'll play around a little bit more with the Mid controls and the EQ on the BB preamp to see if i can get close.

The Scumback is most likely an amazing speaker but you might owe it to yourself to try an mc90 in the combo. I'll just say that while the Electra Dyne is an amazing amp, it is a very unique one and the design is such that I would not recommend trying anything that is not stock with it.

That being said, just a few points.

1) The presence control on the Electra Dyne actually reduces negative feedback in the power section of the amp which really alters the response while playing it. It 'recto-izes' it in a way. Think of it as the 'aggression knob'.

2) What pickups to you use for clean vs dirt? Are you a neck pickup for clean and bridge for dirt kind of guy? If so, I suggest fiddling with your pickup height to optimize the guitar to work in various modes. If you bring the pole pieces higher you'll get a brighter tone that emphasizes the pick attack while if you turn the pole pieces down and raise the pickup, you can 'phatten' up the tone. I found that adjusting my pickups in both my guitars really helped smooth out the setup in a good way.

3) Play with the Gain Trim switch. Setting it to 'clean' will have the same effect of turning the volume back three hours on the clock face for the clean mode. (Mesa put a bright cap on that mode that disengages as you turn the volume up) The more you turn the volume up, the more the clean signal compresses and phattens up in the low end. Mesa suggests that as the volume surpasses 12 noon, the bass needs to be lowered and the treble raised to compensate. On the flipside, if you turn the volume down, you will find that the clean tone becomes skinnier and much more spanky. Since I prefer a phat thick clean, I generally push the volume up into the 1 0'Clock region in this mode, although I'll push it less with a Les Paul which has a thick and buttery tone by nature.
The Vintage Lo and Hi mode also compress more and really phatten up in the bottom end as the volume comes up but the low end here is higher and tighter than in the Clean mode.
 
Great review! WELCOME TO THE GUILD lol

Gotta love the ED pick attack response. That presence knob makes the biggest difference in the bass, so usually the bass knob just kind of stays at noon for me-
This amp finally made me start to bring both a strat and a les paul to every gig, because the amp really brings out the subtle differences in different axes!

I also find myself using the clean master on the back to gauge the volume for every different venue we play, so I never have the volume issue.. but I don't really use the ED for bedroom practice either.
 
elvis said:
ED Guild? Is that like the Lollipop Guild?

(Just saw Oz the Great and Powerful...)

Sounds classier and more distinguished than ED Club or slightly less juvenile than ED Brotherhood. The ED is a classy amp... Guild seems to fit it better.
 
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