Yamaha THR 10c, I'd like a bit more gain please :)

Fishguy

I really like my Yamaha's Thr 10c which I've had for a while. Most of the time it's sounds great for home practicing through both headphones and the speakers.
Starting to also want a bit more gain though. Wondering if I could use a different preamp and run it into the flat channel. Would this work?
Have looked at a Laney irt pulse, sounds good in videos. Has anyone tried one? Or can anyone think of a better idea?

TTony

Just checking that you've already played with the preset editor software and tweaked the standard settings?

There are a lot of freely downloadable ready-configured presets out there too ...

scovell001

I 'used to' have one of these. I used the  deluxe setting with the gain & volume around 9-9.5 to get the right 'amp drive' sound, then tamed the overall level with the master volume.

I also used to use the mini Z setting (which I thought was pretty high gain) & used to use this with the gain dialled back to get the growling tweed deluxe sound that I wanted.

In short, I tried the 2 overdrive pedals I had at the time (a thorpy peacekeeper & a Catalinbred Formula 5) into the amp on both the clean & the flat setting. What I found is that because of the style of the amp (ie no real tubes), I didn't think it sounded very good & the pedals 'clipping' became more obvious (ie it didn't mix with the natural drive as it would with a standard tube amp).

What I did do was use the compressor in the amp quite a bit. There's a compressor pedal as well as the rack compressor. If you switch to the compressor pedal & couple it with say the mini Z, it should give you some serious 'metal' gain.

I hope this helps

Fishguy

Thanks for the responses. I have had a good mess around with the settings, I haven't done much with the compressor settings though. I might have a play around with those for a bit.
Thanks again.

Kebabkid

How much more gain? For heavier blues, heavy rock? Have you thought about the THR10X? It has a deluxe clean channel as well.

stickyfiddle

I quite like a Rat or Tubescreamer in front of the Deluxe channel. Works well to my ears

Fishguy

Kebabkid said:

How much more gain? For heavier blues, heavy rock? Have you thought about the THR10X? It has a deluxe clean channel as well.

I have thought about it, but most of the time I think I'd prefer the Thr10c. I'm just being greedy I suppose!

boogieman

scovell001 said:

In short, I tried the 2 overdrive pedals I had at the time (a thorpy peacekeeper & a Catalinbred Formula 5) into the amp on both the clean & the flat setting. What I found is that because of the style of the amp (ie no real tubes), I didn't think it sounded very good & the pedals 'clipping' became more obvious (ie it didn't mix with the natural drive as it would with a standard tube amp).

This was the reason I sold mine on. It worked really well for what it was designed for: the clean and crunch tones were lovely but as soon as I put drive pedals in front of it.... 

They’re great little things, just didn’t suit me. 

Matt_McG

I have a THR10 (not the C), and I find some pedals work really well in front of it, some don't. So, high gain pedals -- BE-OD, and the like -- work pretty well and sound good with the THR set to a clean sound. Some other 'just breaking up' type pedals -- I have a modded ODR-1 clone, BJFE Honey Bee clone, had a Royal Blue -- also sound wonderful. I can get what are, to my ears, some really great sounds with the THR and pedals. Even those elusive 'on the edge of breakup' tones.

On the other hand, some other pedals I have (OD-250 type, some fuzzes, tube screamer types) just don't seem to work for me. They don't sound terrible, just a bit harsh and 'clippy', and I think it's something to do with the expected interaction between pedal and amp and the way that the THR compresses and rolls off the top end (or rather doesn't). 

I'd recommend trying a high gain pedal that's designed to sound good into a clean amp, rather than one that's expecting to give a push to an already overdriven amp. It'll probably work pretty well.

Fishguy

Thanks for the responses. Matt that makes sense and that be od pedal sounds amazing. Might have to treat myself soon. At least if I get a pedal like that if I did get a bigger amp I could transfer it across.
Playing with the compressor settings has helped a bit so I don't think I could justify trading it out for another amp at the moment. Especially as it's also working as sound system for my computer and I can use it without winding up everyone in the house.

Matt_McG

Yeah, that's the reason I keep the THR as my main home thing. It works really well as an audio interface, it's easy for recording, jamming with tracks, etc. And the clean and 'AC' type sounds on mine sound great. I'm less keen on the high gain sounds, but I can get there with pedals (although I'm still searching for the elusive perfect high gain pedal).

Fishguy

They really are incredible little amps, it's one of those things which gets used every day.

Jez6345789

I had the original Thr 10 that blew up doing the firmware update. I then bought a 10c and have missed the more over driven sounds.

for moderate gain my 10c works well with zen drive which is moderate but also amp in a box type pedal so using a Supro in a box design and that gets enough for what I would call rock, for metal again an amp in a box style metal pedal I would presume is the way to go.

i had hoped Yamaha would make a slightly bigger version that had all the 10 models in one machine boutique metal etc but they seem to have gone off THR a bit at the moment

Fishguy

Jez6345789 said:

I had the original Thr 10 that blew up doing the firmware update. I then bought a 10c and have missed the more over driven sounds.

for moderate gain my 10c works well with zen drive which is moderate but also amp in a box type pedal so using a Supro in a box design and that gets enough for what I would call rock, for metal again an amp in a box style metal pedal I would presume is the way to go.

i had hoped Yamaha would make a slightly bigger version that had all the 10 models in one machine boutique metal etc but they seem to have gone off THR a bit at the moment

I really think they are really missing a trick by not doing this, could imagine a lot of people upgrading. They could even just package up 3 models in a  small pedal/ tiny box and sell them separately. 

rivercider

I have had each of the three THR10s at various times; lots to love about all of them, although none was quite perfect for me on its own.  (I also found there was too little gain in the C model, for example, despite the great sounds it did have) but eventually I sold them all and replaced with the Vox Adio Air GT. Quite simply I find this outperforms them in every way and the bluetooth is the icing on the cake for me as I just switch presets on my ipad or phone from the comfort of my sofa.  The Vox gets used every day without fail (as did the THRs, too) and I wouldn't be without it.  Shame it looks so damn ugly but you cant have everything. 

Fishguy

rivercider said:

I have had each of the three THR10s at various times; lots to love about all of them, although none was quite perfect for me on its own.  (I also found there was too little gain in the C model, for example, despite the great sounds it did have) but eventually I sold them all and replaced with the Vox Adio Air GT. Quite simply I find this outperforms them in every way and the bluetooth is the icing on the cake for me as I just switch presets on my ipad or phone from the comfort of my sofa.  The Vox gets used every day without fail (as did the THRs, too) and I wouldn't be without it.  Shame it looks so damn ugly but you cant have everything. 

I haven't looked at those. Wondering if my best option is just to to take the amp to a shop and see if they may let me try and few different pedals and try a couple of different amp options too. Hadn't even looked at that vox.

AndyR

If I want more gain, I just use the Rack compressor model in the THR itself. I set a ratio of 1:1 (no compression - none of the other settings, except Output, matter when you do that). Then I turn up the compressor Output til I've got what I want. It goes all the way to +40db if you need it, it soon starts pushing the preamp on whatever amp model is in use.

Fishguy

AndyR said:

If I want more gain, I just use the Rack compressor model in the THR itself. I set a ratio of 1:1 (no compression - none of the other settings, except Output, matter when you do that). Then I turn up the compressor Output til I've got what I want. It goes all the way to +40db if you need it, it soon starts pushing the preamp on whatever amp model is in use.

That works

chickenchaser

I have a 10c and the compression works incredibly well, to the point where I dont need any more. The issue I have beyond that (especially with the burstbuckers on the LP) is that the speakers are overloaded and start to buzz. 

I've just bought the Adio, so when that comes later this week I hope to A/B it against the THR. As much as the THR is an incredible bit of kit and looks the part (not like the ugly Vox), most people who seem to have had both say that the Vox is overall a better option. 

rivercider

chickenchaser said:

I have a 10c and the compression works incredibly well, to the point where I dont need any more. The issue I have beyond that (especially with the burstbuckers on the LP) is that the speakers are overloaded and start to buzz. 

I've just bought the Adio, so when that comes later this week I hope to A/B it against the THR. As much as the THR is an incredible bit of kit and looks the part (not like the ugly Vox), most people who seem to have had both say that the Vox is overall a better option. 

Make sure you download the free Tone Room app for the Adio. It gives you about twice as many amp models & effects, plus boatloads of preset slots which save on your phone/iPad etc.
In fact I have hardly ever made any adjustments to the physical controls on the Adio itself; it just sits on my TV unit and I control everything (other than switching it on) from my android phone or my iPad which I have next to my fat lazy ass on the sofa on the other side of the room. Lovely. 

chickenchaser

rivercider said:

chickenchaser said:

I have a 10c and the compression works incredibly well, to the point where I dont need any more. The issue I have beyond that (especially with the burstbuckers on the LP) is that the speakers are overloaded and start to buzz. 

I've just bought the Adio, so when that comes later this week I hope to A/B it against the THR. As much as the THR is an incredible bit of kit and looks the part (not like the ugly Vox), most people who seem to have had both say that the Vox is overall a better option. 

Make sure you download the free Tone Room app for the Adio. It gives you about twice as many amp models & effects, plus boatloads of preset slots which save on your phone/iPad etc.
In fact I have hardly ever made any adjustments to the physical controls on the Adio itself; it just sits on my TV unit and I control everything (other than switching it on) from my android phone or my iPad which I have next to my fat lazy ass on the sofa on the other side of the room. Lovely. 

Your review of it some time back has led me to keep coming back to it. It sounds like what i've been looking for from the THR upgrade but its never materialised.