Secrets of the Sonic Titan ( Tips and Tricks here)
Seeing how there is quite a few ST players now a days, I think it's time we all put together a list of user tips and tricks. The Titan is one of those pedals that can be mysterious and difficult to truly figure it's functionality. It has so many tonal options, that to really hear what's going on... one needs time and perspective. With this thread, I hope to share what I've learned about the pedal, and also learn some more trick for myself too! So thanks to all of you who helped me thus far, and here's what I think is useful to know about the Titan. (keep in mind, my ST is an old colored box one and does not have the internal pot trim.) 1. Tone (bias) knob and output knob work conversely. Meaning... that the more highs you have backed off and turned counter-clockwise, the less amplitude output your ST puts out. This is very useful thing to know, as the Titan produces some super cool sounds with the volume level turned up more. So settling for a warmer tone can give you more flexibility with your output level. 2. Output Level creates it's own inherent "power tube"-esque harmonic distortion once the level is set to 1:00 or more. Very cool for adding a nice sheen to the over-all distortion quality. Also feels more "open" somehow and more dynamic. If you're feeling like your ST is sounding "choked" a bit.... turn up the level and your signal will soar through. Then if it's too loud adjust your picking style to lower your over-all output. This is also important for goosing the ST with other peds. Once the Level is cooking on the ST, then fuzzes and boosters all come to life in a very cool way when running into the ST's input. 3. Gain control interaction- Often I see ST's on boards with the level and the gain dimed. This produces a super fat tone, that is obviously top choice for Doom bands. But another cool sound of the ST is to use it as a dirty boost. Which is what I prefer because of the ST's tremendous dynamic responsiveness. I also tend to like to kick in other pedals before the titan, so using it this way allows more tonal options in my set-up as well. I have found that the key to doing this best is in the setting of the tone (bias) knob accurately. Without doing so, tones can become a tad shrill with unnecessary noise, or too muddy while being on the verge of unwanted feedback. Don't get me wrong, I grew up on feedback, but the ST has a tendency to want to sing more than other dist. boxes.... especially with hollow-body guitars. So it's a fine line to walk here. Therefore, to set the tone (bias) knob correctly, what works for me is this: First, get you best clean tone dialed into your amp. Then turn on your ST with the gain 3/4's to all the way down. Play you hardest picking attack across your strings switching between your clean and ST driven signals. Set the output level of the titan so that it matches roughly the loudess playing of your clean tone. Then dial in the tone knob so that it best matches the tone of your guitar when you're dynamicly playing. (In my set-up it usually is somewhere just past noon.) Then slowly bring up the gain to taste. The gain will definitely add chubbiness, but you'll find that when you did in to your strings, there will still be string clarity. Typically, I slowly raise the gain up until I hear the mids in the gain match the mids in my guitar tone... (800 to 1k) Looking forward to hearing more tips!
Seeing how there is quite a few ST players now a days, I think it's time we all put together a list of user tips and tricks. The Titan is one of those pedals that can be mysterious and difficult to truly figure it's functionality. It has so many tonal options, that to really hear what's going on... one needs time and perspective. With this thread, I hope to share what I've learned about the pedal, and also learn some more trick for myself too! So thanks to all of you who helped me thus far, and here's what I think is useful to know about the Titan. (keep in mind, my ST is an old colored box one and does not have the internal pot trim.) 1. Tone (bias) knob and output knob work conversely. Meaning... that the more highs you have backed off and turned counter-clockwise, the less amplitude output your ST puts out. This is very useful thing to know, as the Titan produces some super cool sounds with the volume level turned up more. So settling for a warmer tone can give you more flexibility with your output level. 2. Output Level creates it's own inherent "power tube"-esque harmonic distortion once the level is set to 1:00 or more. Very cool for adding a nice sheen to the over-all distortion quality. Also feels more "open" somehow and more dynamic. If you're feeling like your ST is sounding "choked" a bit.... turn up the level and your signal will soar through. Then if it's too loud adjust your picking style to lower your over-all output. This is also important for goosing the ST with other peds. Once the Level is cooking on the ST, then fuzzes and boosters all come to life in a very cool way when running into the ST's input. 3. Gain control interaction- Often I see ST's on boards with the level and the gain dimed. This produces a super fat tone, that is obviously top choice for Doom bands. But another cool sound of the ST is to use it as a dirty boost. Which is what I prefer because of the ST's tremendous dynamic responsiveness. I also tend to like to kick in other pedals before the titan, so using it this way allows more tonal options in my set-up as well. I have found that the key to doing this best is in the setting of the tone (bias) knob accurately. Without doing so, tones can become a tad shrill with unnecessary noise, or too muddy while being on the verge of unwanted feedback. Don't get me wrong, I grew up on feedback, but the ST has a tendency to want to sing more than other dist. boxes.... especially with hollow-body guitars. So it's a fine line to walk here. Therefore, to set the tone (bias) knob correctly, what works for me is this: First, get you best clean tone dialed into your amp. Then turn on your ST with the gain 3/4's to all the way down. Play you hardest picking attack across your strings switching between your clean and ST driven signals. Set the output level of the titan so that it matches roughly the loudess playing of your clean tone. Then dial in the tone knob so that it best matches the tone of your guitar when you're dynamicly playing. (In my set-up it usually is somewhere just past noon.) Then slowly bring up the gain to taste. The gain will definitely add chubbiness, but you'll find that when you did in to your strings, there will still be string clarity. Typically, I slowly raise the gain up until I hear the mids in the gain match the mids in my guitar tone... (800 to 1k) Looking forward to hearing more tips!