Amp settings for blues

I’ve had this amp for a few months now. But never really done anything but plug in and play.
I’ve no idea what most of it does.
Can anyone help with how I’d get that glassy BB king blues sound out of it?
Or something similar…

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BB King was ultra clean in his tone and used no pedals through a loud solid state amp.
For general clean blues try Clean Warm or Clean Bright, perhaps add just a gain (balance your gain and volume so it is at a good overall level of sound but the gain adds richness and not distortion). Add a small touch of reverb if it sounds good to you.

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I am interested in the reply(s) since I too have a Blackstar amp with similar controls and an aspiration to develop rich, full, clean bluesy tones.

I prefer the Clean Warm to the bright. And do as Richard suggested in terms of adding reverb and often delay. I turn down the level almost all the way, so that I notice a difference if the effect is turned off but not so I can hear obvious reverb and delay.

You should also experiment with the EQ knob. My amp also has a bass and treble knob. I play with the combination of the three controls plus the guitar pickup position, volume, and tone to find something that sounds good.

I don’t know what type of guitar you have. BB King generally playing guitars with humbuckers which would also contribute to the tone.

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My brother saw him live in a small venue. Apparently it was astonishingly loud and powerful, perhaps not what one might expect listening to recordings, YT clips etc.

Thanks Richard
I’m on it :+1:

Thanks David
I’m using a Telecaster at the moment.
Unfortunately not a Fender but made by Jet.
It’s got a great sound and really all I need to get me going.
I’ve been playing around with the settings and it seems clean bright with a bit of reverb and the Gain about half way seems ok still missing something…

There is of course BB Kings fingers and especially vibrato :grin:

I don’t know how much the pick-ups on the tele may colour the sound. Some say the humbucker can get a bit ‘muddy’. When I sampled, I found the strat and tele, to a lesser, extent to be a little ‘thin’.

Maybe try pushing the gain, backing off the amp volume, and using the guitar volume to clean up the sound if it gets too dirty?

And I suppose keep working till it sounds good, even if not exactly the way you hear BB King’s tone?

And what about a little noodle over a 12BB BT to share how it sounds?

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Great!
Yes obviously I’m missing a little something when comparing to BB! :rofl:
I’m happy to play my acoustic. blues contemporary repertoire, singing, basically anything but putting my lead skills on show for all to see is a little frightening!
I’m a long way from performance ready.
I’ll try and get something ready :flushed:

If you’re playing a Telecaster try it on the neck pickup and try rolling a bit of tone off until it sounds nearer; you will have a job getting it spot on but you should get a reasonably good sound.
He played through a Lab L5 200W amp, then later went onto a Fender twin both which had an excellent clean sound, on your EQ I would try around 9 O’clock but maybe further down towards 7/8 O’clock bit of trial and error should get you there.

Some may wish that I shared your sensibilities, but no such luck. :rofl:

Jokes aside, one of the best things you can do is record and share regardless of play-grade. The feedback and encouragement is invaluable, has always made me feel like I am learning with supportive friends rather than alone at home.

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That’s exactly where my thoughts went, @DavidP. Give it a go and pass along your best attempt at the tone you’re after. Personally I’m less interested in sounding like someone else and more interested in getting a good tone. That said, I would use the clean channel, low to moderate gain and a touch of delay. Rolling back the tone on your guitar is a good idea as previously suggested.

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Hi Jason, I bought the id core v3 20, which is the same amp, only has 20 W instead of 10.

Have you seen the handbook already? Delivers at least some information about the basic functions.
There are a few videos of different sound options on YT too.
Good to read your question, hope you get some useful feedback, interesting for me too.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwitsb-Nprf4AhW18rsIHRuNAI8QFnoECB0QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fblackstaramps.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F05%2Fidcore-v3-handbook.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3GAG807w9jPr63RGCn1ScU

That’s what I’m interested in too :slightly_smiling_face:
Let me know, when you have found the ultimate setting :wink:

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@Helen0609
Andrea, I have a feeling, could be/likely wrong, that sometimes a wonderful bluesy tone sounds so bluesy when the band is playing the blues and the player as mastered the art of playing with blues vibe and feel. I just posted a noodle and don’t think the tone is bluesy, but would it be if I played the same settings over the 12BB I used in the previous noodle?

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David you make a valid point and it is usually the sum of the whole. Depending on the BT a clean bluesy tone that sounds great when noodling on your lonesome, will be lost or a least buried when everything else takes their spaces. And you adjust accordingly. For example my latest romp, several take Saturday and still not in the can is over an Albert Collin’s style Texas Blues BT, so call me Diablo but I am using something close to JK’s recent SolCal Punk sound but seems to work. It will always be horses for courses but I still seek the Madman’s Signature noodle tone ! Nosh time approaching so will seek out the JohBerg Blues while I chow down ! :wink:

And to the OP - Follow the Tisherman @CT Yes record, post, share and get feedback. It really does help progress.
:sunglasses:

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Thanks Andrea
I’ve been trying different settings and I’m actually liking a bit of crunch.
Sounds nice when playing single notes and bends as opposed to chords.
I’ll let you know if I discover the ultimate blues settings :smiley:

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I have the same amp and have been trying for a similar tone and found the neck pick up with the tone rolled back and lots of reverb gives me a sound I am happy with. Have a strat and been thinking of adding a reverb pedal into my set up and maybe a tube screamer for that extra kick.

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Great!
Any idea on EQ…?

To get the best out of it you need to connect to a computer as you get more settings to play with, plus lots of user settings from the community. I start with everything set at half way and go between the manual and pre set settings and love a good clean sound with reverb and the crunch as well sometimes.

Ah ok
I’ll check that out. Had no idea you could connect to a PC.