My Revelation Settings & Review

Dennis Detweiler · From: Solon, Iowa, US

I recently purchased a Rev and confirm a positive review after a few weeks of use and adjustments. The tone stack requires a different view of the dials in comparison to steel amps. Brad has installed a tonal parameter that has the natural sought after steel tone already built into the unit. I still use my ART Studio Tube Preamp out of my guitar which adds even more tube warmth. I also injected my Furman PQ-3 into the front effects loop on the Rev to cut the 3800hz, 400hz and 80hz. The Rev sounds great without the Furman and I could possibly narrow my sound with the Rev alone with a little more tweaking. My Rev settings:
Gain:6, Treble:2, Mid:5, Color:4, Bass:2.2, Effects:7, Master, 1.2

I'm using a Hall Of Fame reverb in the rear effects loop with the "Church" setting and controlling it from the Rev "Effects" frontal control knob.

Power head: Peavey rack mount Stereo 50/50 tube head.

Speakers: A pair of 1501 Black Widows in seperate cabinets. One is a deep basket with an obvious fuller sound than the other shallow basket.

Overall: A+ to Brad. General tone: comparable to Tom Brumley through a Fender 59 bassman. Or, Lloyd Green studio tone. Also, right for the B6th side of Universal. And, unbelievably loud for a total 100 watt output.

The guitar: 1976 maple body and neck MSA U-12 with Telonics 427 Humbucker (adjustable poles).
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8.

Ken Metcalf · From: San Antonio Texas USA

Don't forget to play with the Vari-Z.
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MSA 12 String E9th/B6th Universal.
Little Walter PF-89.
Bunch of stomp boxes

Dennis Detweiler · From: Solon, Iowa, US

Forgot, bright/dark switch on dark. Vari-z full counter clockwise.
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8.

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

Might I suggest ditching the ART pre? It completely disables the REV's vari-z function and "first buffer" purpose. That ART preamp thing has an input Z of over 800k Ohms. That's gonna make your pickup overly crispy and bright and harsh when compared to the Rev's black box input buffer stage, and the ART is a pretty cheap, chinsese-build-quality, transistor/opamp device that only uses a tube stage to help dirty that up and warm things over in a fairly crude way. By using that ART first, you're then stuck with this overly bright pickup response which then has you trying to fix it later. If you go directly into the Rev's input from the guitar, you can dial in a MUCH MUCH warmer pickup tone, and 100% tube at that. To put that before the Rev's "black box" buffer stage is virtually throwing the "black box" circuit in the garbage because it doesn't get to be the very first thing the pickup sees. If you let the pickup go directly to the Black Box stage of the Rev, you are making a very significant upgrade in pickup buffering.

If you try that, you then may find that the vari-Z knob sounds best up around noon, and you may find that the bright/dark switch sounds best off (in the middle position) since you're not fighting the overly bright response caused by the ART's high input Z.

And again, adding the Furman may be unnecessary. It too is adding a LOT of very marginal quality opamp stages, noise, and capacitors. The spirit of the Rev is pure, audiophile, tube minimalism. And for most, it's got all the tone control you would want. Adding two solid state devices like that, rendering the Rev's buffer disabled, and trying to override the EQ section with a solid state one all seems to be doubly reversing the core purpose of the Rev.

And I'm not saying that you can't get a killer tone doing what you're doing, and I'm thrilled to read your glowing report, but it seems that you're adding devices that are only there to try and fix their own problems, and if you remove both and leave the Rev's all-tube signal path intact, then spend time tweaking that, you'll likely find something even better, more open, natural, sweet, warm, and musical.

But, hey, it's my pre, so I'm a little biased in that way.

Let me know what you find... I'm very curious...

Brad

Tim Marcus · From: San Francisco, CA

great review but I am with Brad - ditch the ancillary devices. The ART tube preamp is not a real tube preamp - the gain stage is likely an operational amplifier IC that is in turn mixed through a tube stage running at low (starved) plate voltage.

Brads preamp is a real high voltage tube circuit with no ICs inside

chips are good.... with dip. Keep it 100% tube if you can Wink

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Milkmansound.com

Dennis Detweiler · From: Solon, Iowa, US

Sounds good. I'll eliminate the Furman and Art and connect with the volume pedal through the front return/send. I'm trying to cut down on the amount of gear I carry.
I haven't played the Rev on a live gig yet. However, used it on 4 songs in the studio on Saturday with good results. I had to tweak settings and still wasn't happy with the mids.
I'll mess with a simple setup today and post results here.
Thanks Brad and Tim!
Dennis
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8.

Dennis Detweiler · From: Solon, Iowa, US

If all fails, read the instructions. I got rid of the Art and Furman patching and ran the guitar into the input with Hilton pedal through the front return/send and voila! The Rev is doing what it was built to do all by itself. Rolling Eyes

I'm patching the Hall Of Fame through the effects patch at the rear with "church" setting controlled from the front of the Rev (very nice! But, will try the M-350.
I'm using the Peavey Stereo 50/50 for power and love the tone and response in combination, but the 50/50 is a heavy little power amp. Ultimately I want to combine the amp and Rev into one rack for quicker setup. I also have a Carvin HT400 stereo transistor rack head (lighter). But, tone?
Everything that Brad stated above was true. Controls are much more responsive and tubey.
Thanks!
Dennis
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8.

mtulbert · From: Plano, Texas 75023

Glad that Brad popped in here with that comment. The Revelation is such a good sounding pre-amp. Built rock solid and easy to adjust on the fly if necessary.

Here is a video of the band I play in at the Western Kountry Klub in Midlothian Texas.

I am using my QSC K10 speaker with the Revelation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8vQI6SX64U
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Mark T

Infinity D-10 Justice SD-10 Judge Revelation Octal Preamp, Fractal AXE III, Fender FRFR 12

Ken Metcalf · From: San Antonio Texas USA

Next step maybe upgrade the power amp a few watts.
_________________
MSA 12 String E9th/B6th Universal.
Little Walter PF-89.
Bunch of stomp boxes

Dennis Detweiler · From: Solon, Iowa, US

Updated settings after patching into the Rev by following the manual and Brad's post:
Vari-Z: 10:00-12:00
Tone Switch: Dark
Gain: 6
Treble: 4
Mid: 5
Color: 5
Bass: 3.2
FX (with Hall Of Fame Church selection): 7-8
Master: 1.25
The controls have much more range without additional EQ and preamp sources added in front of the Rev. These settings are found practicing at home and will likely need to be tweaked in a club setting.
The 50/50 tube power head combined with the Rev provides amazing volume. If I recall, tube power is louder than transistor. However, tube power is heavier to lug around.
I'm curious about other Rev owners settings?
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8.

Larry Hamilton · From: Amarillo,Tx

I am all over the place with my settings. things don't sound the same at a gig as they do at home. Even at home I am always adjusting and playing with it. I have even dialed in some pretty bad tones that still usable sometimes......This last weekend I was fighting my tone until I put the speakers on taller stands and could hear better. Every job is different. Have fun with it. Nothing is set in stone.
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Keep pickin', Larry

Dennis Detweiler · From: Solon, Iowa, US

Once I find my prefered tone, I have to slightly tweak the shift (700-800hz) and bass on my 400's at different clubs. Those are my "go to" knobs. The Rev is totally different, so I'm finding my way around on it yet. I'm sure, once I find those critical frequencies, it should be slight adjustments to them. Right now, I'm guessing it's the "color" control. I usually find the "woof" spot with shift and bass on the 400 and then roll one or both off a little. I know it's on the Rev as it is on the Session 400's, it's just a matter of learning the sweet spots with the knobs for my ears.
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8.

Ray DeVoe · From: Hudson, FL

Hi Larry and Dennis.

It's hard to recommend settings on any amp as there are many factors that affect the final sound and tone result. These factors include first and foremost, picking technique, guitar natural tone and signal path from there on. Everything in the signal path including the pickup right on down to the volume pedal and cords have some type of effect on the final results. And then there's the power section and speaker to muddy the water even more, and the biggest factor of all, personal preference.

I have two Revelation preamps and they have performed flawlessly for many years. I cannot even justify buying any other preamp equipment as I have achieved a sound that I am happy with.

I will list my signal path and settings but as stated, the final results are a blend of all of the above factors.

Guitars: Emmons PP with either BL 710 or stock single coils.

Volume pedal; Stock pot pedal with Tom Bradshaw /Dunlop pots.

Routing: 3 cord hookup to the preamp.

Rack: Revelation preamp with TC Electronics, M one in the rear loop.

settings:

Vari-Z: 10:00-12:00

Tone Switch: center or middle position

Gain: 6

Treble: 3.5

Mid: 4

Color: 6.5

Bass: 4 to 4.5 depending on whether I am using a 12" or 15" Furlong powered split speaker cabinet.

Master: 2.5 to 3.5

The above settings work very well for me. I hardly ever vary anything from the above unless its a really poor playing environment.

I do notice on the settings in one of your posts that you are running the master at 1.25. That's all right for the practice room but when you are out, it needs to be higher as you need to give the power amp something to work with.

These are my recommended settings. They were shared with me many years ago by one of the top shelf players in the Nashville area as they were the same ones that he used.

Good luck with finding the tone that's right for you. You started with a fine preamp. The other factors are up to you to experiment with.

Ray DeVoe
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Zum SD 10 Hybrid, Zum D 10 Hybrid, Emmons SD 10 P.P.
SMS: Revelation & Classic Preamps: Furlong 12" Splits.
Webb 15" Splits: Telonics 500 C: Quilter-T.T.12":

Dennis Detweiler · From: Solon, Iowa, US

Ray, Yes, there are several other factors in the chain. Looks like I'm within one number (ballpark) of your settings.
I have a deep basket and a shallow basket BW in seperate cabinets. Even those sound different. I prefer the deep basket. I tried a pair of JBL D-130F's. They sounded nice, but a little thin compared to the BW's to my ears.
Thanks for all of the input.
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8.

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