AndrewCE Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 My Mesa 5:50 combo amp has a single knob that is called "Contour". The manual and website says it "adds the power of a graphic EQ to your amp". That doesnt exactly tell me what it does. All I know is, my sound is better, thicker, ?heavier? when I have the contour knob all the way up, so I keep it that way. My amp already has a parametric EQ, so it's probably not a bass, mid, or treble knob, so...Can anyone tell me what the knob DOES? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borge Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 i haven't used that particular amp but IME its the "contour" of the midrange ie max =mid scooped, min= mid humped, in your case probably used to adjust the overall mid shape then the parametric EQ provides more focused adjustment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 generally this is associated with a parametric equalizer...so pretty much as borge describes but often interacting with another control...basically it boosts or cuts in the mid frequencies creating a kind of hump. So if it is thicker it is a more midrange kind of effect like HBs or a santana type of full midrange effect. The ooposite "scooped" effect is more associated with metal...to me it can sound like a be in a jar...but it has it's uses. Interestingly, it can also be a bit like a set wha pedal...the so called "half cocked" wha sound that has been used a lot over the years... good to see someone exploring what their amp has to offer in terms of tone shaping instead of relying so much on the punny little filter cut tone controls in the average guitar, pickup replacements or preset digital models...remember that a setting that works well with one guitar may work badly for another. It also highlights the potential so neglected with guitars to have some of this tone shaping potential on board with active electronics...and yes, the only way to get boosts and this kind of control is to put a battery in the guitar, but typically these things draw very little power (unlike a sustainer for instance) and have become quite popular on the bass scene...for some reason guitar players don't bother...but, there's no real need I suppose with so much tone shaping available in effects and amps particularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewCE Posted December 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 i haven't used that particular amp but IME its the "contour" of the midrange ie max =mid scooped, min= mid humped, in your case probably used to adjust the overall mid shape then the parametric EQ provides more focused adjustment. So you mean it's like just a "mid" control? My amp already has one of those. It's called "mid". Or "contour" it like a "Q" control for the mid knob? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imott Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 (edited) generally this is associated with a parametric equalizer...so pretty much as borge describes but often interacting with another control...basically it boosts or cuts in the mid frequencies creating a kind of hump. So if it is thicker it is a more midrange kind of effect like HBs or a santana type of full midrange effect. The ooposite "scooped" effect is more associated with metal...to me it can sound like a be in a jar...but it has it's uses. Interestingly, it can also be a bit like a set wha pedal...the so called "half cocked" wha sound that has been used a lot over the years... good to see someone exploring what their amp has to offer in terms of tone shaping instead of relying so much on the punny little filter cut tone controls in the average guitar, pickup replacements or preset digital models...remember that a setting that works well with one guitar may work badly for another. It also highlights the potential so neglected with guitars to have some of this tone shaping potential on board with active electronics...and yes, the only way to get boosts and this kind of control is to put a battery in the guitar, but typically these things draw very little power (unlike a sustainer for instance) and have become quite popular on the bass scene...for some reason guitar players don't bother...but, there's no real need I suppose with so much tone shaping available in effects and amps particularly. Go man go!!! So many types of guitar amp/settings. No matter how granular! Edited December 31, 2008 by imott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 My "contour control" is my Maestro Boomerang wah pedal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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