Sarno Music Solutions!

[JonnyBoy]

I would test each component to see if they are all up to snuff. Test the speaker first through the other amp. If thats OK Then use the other amps effects loop to see if the SMS preamp (plug into effects receive) works well. If the SMS is OK, then plug the blues deluxe into the mesa through the effects send.You'l have to see if all are working properly.

That rig is a hell of a stage rig, maybe opening it up some (louder than most would enjoy practicing) would yield what you're looking for. Also if you don't have a buffer maybe try cranking the guitars volume to 9-10. Make sure the tone knobs are cranked too, then adjust to taste. You can also try doing a short run from guitar to a boss pedal in bypass to use its buffer. That is what I would try in your shoes. If you have the money I would seek out a tech and have him go over it tho.. Good Luck!!

[Jon S.]

In the quest for the "tone" there has been lots of discusion about the jerrys drive sound coming from the power section not the front end. I have a SMS mac 250 2-e120s like everybody else, but also battled the brightness and harshness we have all come to know and love. So since loud dbs are usually not possible I searched for a new piece of gear ( shocker). So I got the earth drive and love it. It doesn't color the tone what soever and I ran it on all the time in front of the pre. It sounded good rounded off the brights and gave a bit of dirt growl (you know what we are all after). I solved one problem but created another; slight compression and loss of head room. So I said what would happen if I put this after the pre and before the mac. Well I got my head room back and the dirt / growl to boot. It's a fine balance between the pad knob on the sms because you don't want to jam up the front end of the earth drive. So to make a long story short here are my settings guitar 60-75% volume sms between 9-10 oclock, sms pad knob 1:00 + - earth drive volume 75%-85% open or 3-4 oclock drive just under 9 oclock. Play around just keep in mind the goal is to push the mac not the pre or the front end of the ED.

Thanks for this post. It and the follow-up discussion have given me some excellent ideas to try.