jwmanz
Junior Member
Posts: 50 
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Post by jwmanz on May 15, 2017 10:30:40 GMT -7
How pronounced are the mids in the Carmen Ghia? How much impact does the tone control have in adjusting the mids. Personally, I don't care for the scooped blackface tone, but I do like some adjustment of mids when going between single coils and humbucker equipped guitars.
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Post by eggman on May 15, 2017 10:45:39 GMT -7
Howdy,
My Ghia has a natural upper mid in it's EQ. The tone knob adds tonal girth as it's rotated clockwise. Past 12 noon it seems to add a little gain as one rotates the knob, also. You'll spend less time dialing in your Guitars with a Ghia than with any other amp. Plug in and enjoy!
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Post by John on May 15, 2017 13:17:05 GMT -7
Most 'tone' controls either add bass/treble....or take it away. The Ghia's tone control is different. The best way to describe it is a 'mid sweep'. Yes, it does effect bass and treble too, but it's much more of a mid sweep. At least in the 10:00-2:00 range where most people use it. (I always kept mine 11:00-12:00)
The Ghia, to me, doesn't have the recessed mids of blackface amps.
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Post by simpleton on May 15, 2017 13:45:52 GMT -7
The Ghia has been described as 2/3 Marshall and 1/3 Vox ... the mids aren't scooped to me....speaker choice can and will adjust the MID signal. The Tone control has a great sweep and really changes the amp feel.
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Post by Russell B on May 15, 2017 14:33:13 GMT -7
I think the Ghia is "mids forward" and it sounds great!
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Post by lowbudget on May 15, 2017 16:36:55 GMT -7
I think the Ghia is "mids forward" and it sounds great! IMHO Russell nails it right here. |
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Post by ss "Shane" on May 15, 2017 17:54:22 GMT -7
The only reason it took me so long to get a Ghia was the fact that it only has one tone knob. I couldn't make myself pull the trigger on something I thought would be so limited. I came across some unexpected cash and ordered one with my fingers crossed. It only took me 2 minutes to realize I made a great decision.
That single tone knob is not what you might think. I see it as kind of a modeling knob. It's like getting a different amp with just a hair of a turn in either direction. The mids are never scooped and it has chime. If you don't like chime, turn past 12 o'clock clockwise.
I play blues, classic rock and country with telecasters.
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jwmanz
Junior Member
Posts: 50
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Post by jwmanz on May 15, 2017 18:14:45 GMT -7
Thanks for all the feedback. I realize they are different animals, but I've been a bit torn between a Carmen Ghia and a Cure. I had my mind set on a Carmen Ghia and then the Cure came out. Currently waiting on a guitar to sell so I can fund the purchase. Then I had the silly idea of listening to some Tele-into-Carmen Ghia videos and I might be back on the CG train. So I'm mostly a Tele player these days and I enjoy playing roots rock/Americana type stuff as well some various forms of church music. So volume is something I have to think about.
Russell B, your signature shows you have both. What do you think?
Shane, like you, I play a Tele. Did you ever consider the Cure?
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Post by freddieg on May 15, 2017 20:19:14 GMT -7
I just took a Ghia 1x10" to a jam session with about 5 different bands. Fender, PRS, Gibson, Epiphone, Taylor T5, all sounded awesome with the tone on noon. It sits in the mix just right for a live band in a small to medium sized venue. I know people love their Fender tone but mid scoop doesn't work for me in a live band setting.
If you want a little more clean and less grit, look at the Z28.
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Post by TelePrankster on May 16, 2017 2:10:29 GMT -7
I got my Ghia last year and it's the only amp I kept together with a Princeton Reverb Reissue 65 which I use mostly as a clean platform. While the PRRI is a more mid-scooped and generally cleaner/"polite" amp, the Ghia is much, much more fun to play. I use the PRRI mostly for Chet Atkins/Travis picking stuff with a 6122 Gretsch or straight up Jazz with a Gibson ES-165. When it comes to any other genre, I'd pick my Ghia all day every day.
Back to the original question... it does have mids, they're not extremely pronounced but neither scooped. It sounds very natural and organic to me, and when pushed hard produces some of the best if not the best overdrive tones I ever got with my '75 Telecaster.
Since I'm mostly a country/classic rock kind of guy I usually set my Ghia on the verge of breakup (volume around 9-11 o'clock), lower the guitar's volume for cleans and/or goose the amp it with a good old Tube Screamer for middy lead tones, if needed.
I recently re-discovered the beauty of analog delays into a dirty amp (or into a dirt pedal) so I'm using my Ghia almost exclusively. Like I said, it's much more fun to play and it can do a lot of things.
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Post by Russell B on May 16, 2017 3:29:05 GMT -7
Thanks for all the feedback. I realize they are different animals, but I've been a bit torn between a Carmen Ghia and a Cure. I had my mind set on a Carmen Ghia and then the Cure came out. Currently waiting on a guitar to sell so I can fund the purchase. Then I had the silly idea of listening to some Tele-into-Carmen Ghia videos and I might be back on the CG train. So I'm mostly a Tele player these days and I enjoy playing roots rock/Americana type stuff as well some various forms of church music. So volume is something I have to think about. Russell B, your signature shows you have both. What do you think? Shane, like you, I play a Tele. Did you ever consider the Cure? They are both great amps. Both amps have a lot of mids as well and sound great. At the same time, they are both different from each other. The Cure will sound warmer due to the 6V6 tubes while the Ghia will have a little more brilliance. The Cure has more features, but the Ghia has stood the test of time. I think it was Doc's first amp and it is still in production after all of these years. That should tell you something about the Carmen Ghia! With all of that said, both are great amps. You'll have more control over the volume of the Cure than the CG if you crank the amp for overdrive. |
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Post by ss "Shane" on May 16, 2017 4:26:27 GMT -7
Thanks for all the feedback. I realize they are different animals, but I've been a bit torn between a Carmen Ghia and a Cure. I had my mind set on a Carmen Ghia and then the Cure came out. Currently waiting on a guitar to sell so I can fund the purchase. Then I had the silly idea of listening to some Tele-into-Carmen Ghia videos and I might be back on the CG train. So I'm mostly a Tele player these days and I enjoy playing roots rock/Americana type stuff as well some various forms of church music. So volume is something I have to think about. Russell B, your signature shows you have both. What do you think? Shane, like you, I play a Tele. Did you ever consider the Cure? I don't think the cure existed when I made my CG purchase. I'm actually considering the cure at the moment. One thing you should know about the Ghia is that it's a loud little beast and the volume knob is extremely sensitive. Don't look the CG as a typical mass produced 18 watt amp. To me it's more like a Fender 40 watt. Sometimes I play with a band who are scared of getting too loud. My Ghia gets its sweet spot beginning at about 9 o'clock, which is pretty loud. I always take my Therapy when I jam with those guys. |
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Post by TelePrankster on May 16, 2017 4:35:15 GMT -7
Thanks for all the feedback. I realize they are different animals, but I've been a bit torn between a Carmen Ghia and a Cure. I had my mind set on a Carmen Ghia and then the Cure came out. Currently waiting on a guitar to sell so I can fund the purchase. Then I had the silly idea of listening to some Tele-into-Carmen Ghia videos and I might be back on the CG train. So I'm mostly a Tele player these days and I enjoy playing roots rock/Americana type stuff as well some various forms of church music. So volume is something I have to think about. Russell B, your signature shows you have both. What do you think? Shane, like you, I play a Tele. Did you ever consider the Cure? I don't think the cure existed when I made my CG purchase. I'm actually considering the cure at the moment. One thing you should know about the Ghia is that it's a loud little beast and the volume knob is extremely sensitive. Don't look the CG as a typical mass produced 18 watt amp. To me it's more like a Fender 40 watt. Sometimes I play with a band who are scared of getting too loud. My Ghia gets its sweet spot beginning at about 9 o'clock, which is pretty loud. I always take my Therapy when I jam with those guys. I use mine always with a Brakelite at home, sometimes I need the Brakelite even when playing with other people, if I want more dirt from the amp. At 9 o'clock without an attenuator it is loud as hell and still clean-ish though. I don't crank the volume usually but if I remember correctly the volume keep rising up to 12 o'clock, after that is just gain. Is it correct? |
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Post by ss "Shane" on May 16, 2017 4:53:51 GMT -7
I don't think the cure existed when I made my CG purchase. I'm actually considering the cure at the moment. One thing you should know about the Ghia is that it's a loud little beast and the volume knob is extremely sensitive. Don't look the CG as a typical mass produced 18 watt amp. To me it's more like a Fender 40 watt. Sometimes I play with a band who are scared of getting too loud. My Ghia gets its sweet spot beginning at about 9 o'clock, which is pretty loud. I always take my Therapy when I jam with those guys. I use mine always with a Brakelite at home, sometimes I need the Brakelite even when playing with other people, if I want more dirt from the amp. At 9 o'clock without an attenuator it is loud as hell and still clean-ish though. I don't crank the volume usually but if I remember correctly the volume keep rising up to 12 o'clock, after that is just gain. Is it correct? I think the volume level stops at a around 1 o'clock and from there the Ghia just gets more saturated and compressed, in a very good way. The CG flexes its muscles greatly between 9 and 12. Anywhere below 9 it just sounds like a good amp, but nothing all that special. I don't think my little beast was designed to be played below 9 anyway lol, and that's ok by me. I personally don't like attenuators on amps. To me they seem to take a little something away from the overall quality of tone. I know other great players on this forum will disagree, but I can always notice. Maybe my dog ears are too sensitive. The CG is surely a wonderful amp and I will never part with it. The volume issue is no real issue for me since I also own the highly controllable Therapy. If I get invited to jam with a band who like to just let it all out and get rowdy, I'll grab my Ghia. Only problem is, everybody wants to plug in and sometimes it gets annoying. No big deal though because that's the highest gear compliment a musician can receive and I take it with a grain of salt. |
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jwmanz
Junior Member
Posts: 50
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Post by jwmanz on May 16, 2017 5:27:14 GMT -7
This all good info. Thanks! In most of my playing settings, I imagine I'll have to keep the amp below the sweet spot. So that means either an attenuator or the Cure with the level control.
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Post by TelePrankster on May 16, 2017 5:48:31 GMT -7
This all good info. Thanks! In most of my playing settings, I imagine I'll have to keep the amp below the sweet spot. So that means either an attenuator or the Cure with the level control. I play mostly at home or studio, that's why I need an attenuator to benefit from the beautiful natural distortion of the amp at low volumes. For cleans I just put my Air Brake on 2 or 3 and keep the amp's volume at least at 9 o'clock. As other members suggested, I found that that's where the amp starts to sound very good even for cleans, rolling the guitar's volume down a little bit. I thought about getting a master volume Z amp back in the day, but I'm not sure it would sound like a Carmen Ghia. This is a very simple and raw amp that forces you to keep contact with your instrument. |
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Post by soupbone on May 20, 2017 11:06:30 GMT -7
How pronounced are the mids in the Carmen Ghia? How much impact does the tone control have in adjusting the mids. Personally, I don't care for the scooped blackface tone, but I do like some adjustment of mids when going between single coils and humbucker equipped guitars. It depends on the speaker but in general the Ghia doesn't have scooped mids. The VIN 30 is a pretty mid humpish speaker. A Blue Dog would counter that effect. The tone control is a fat boost and doesn't have any effect on eq. To the left is thin, to the right is fat. |
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Post by TelePrankster on May 21, 2017 1:54:21 GMT -7
Yesterday I compared my Princeton (Jensen C10-R 10'') and my CG (Celestion Gold 10''), both set pristine clean at the same volume and almost identical EQ settings. I know the amps are voiced differently but I did my best to understand the differences.
Both speakers have plenty of high end and very good bottom end but I heard that "mid-scooped" thing in the Jensen, it was definitely audible.
The G10 sounded way brighter with my Telecaster and with the guitar's tone full open in the bridge position is almost unusable while the C10-R is more balanced in the high frequencies but less twangy and with less bite.
Both speakers sounded very good for cleans but the CG seems more neutral and reminds me more of those vintage clean tones I always loved. It's strange because is a modern amp but it sounds "older".
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