- Published: 19 September 2019 19 September 2019
OK, all you metalheads out there, this one’s for you!
Our new FlatTop module compares to the Wampler Triple Wreck, which is designed to give you those killer high-gain tones you might normally find in a Peavey 5150 or Mesa, which are cousin tones to the EVH Brown Sound and Marshall high-gain tones. All a bit different, but all a bit similar, too. The FlatTop is a high-gain, metal monster. If you dime the Level, Gain, and/or some of the Bass/Mids/Treble tone stack, you will undoubtedly overload the front-end of your amp and get a squealing out-of-control mess of feedback and amplified noise. Start backing off from that point, and you’ll find your metal tones. Screaming leads, no problem. Chugging chunkin’ palm-muted power cords, no problem. Super-sensitivity and harmonics – yep. When it comes to gain, this module has more than you can safely use. First time we tried it out, all our fire alarms went off – really! Turned out not to be related. Yeah, sure it wasn’t – this thing is hot. Plus it weighs *a lot* less than our 5150 combo and our Mesa and Marshall half-stacks.
This module is about the gain. But if you dial the gain down, you actually end up with some reasonably clean low-gain tones. It does not clean up with your guitar volume – only with the effect Level control. The Bass/Mids/Treble tone stack gives you opportunities for scooping the mids, boosting the bass and/or treble, or whatever you need to do to create your own sonic mayhem. And if that isn’t enough, there is, wait for it... a boost. It’s a funky boost. It does give you a bit more volume, but it is actually more like a second tone stack, or a “contour” or “voice” control. It has a bigger impact on the tone than the gain and volume. Some may not care for that boost, since it takes a while to adapt to it. In that case, we offer a couple of our other boosts as built-in options. You would likely only find a normal boost usable at lower gain and level settings, since the main circuit has such high gain.
These is also a Vintage/Modern switch that changes between full highs and trimmed highs so you can choose how brutal you want to treat your speaker cones.
Stop by our booth at the Amigo Ft Worth Guitar Show on Oct 5 and Oct 6 to give the FlatTop a try, along with some of our other new modules. You can see more details about the FlatTop at FlatTop. Also take a look in our Amp Sim modules to get info about some other high-gain modules we offer for when it is time to get brutal and melt some faces.