MT-15 Question

[SilverSurf9]

Hi Everyone!

From everything I read and heard, the MT-15 seems like it may be the amp for me but I have a question for all MT-15 owners: Do any of you ever feel like this amp has too much gain that is hard to control or dial out? I've read that some owners are switching out some of the pre-amp tubes like the phase inverter to a 12AU7 to tame it down.

I definitely love to play metal lots but I like those medium gain sounds just as much...Like distortion but with an open bell like jangle too. What I prefer to do is find a high gain amp and turn the gain down as much as possible just before it starts to loose its bass and "life" .. and from there Ill boost it, if it needs.

The last amp I tried out was an EVH 5150 iii 50 watt EL34....The 3rd channel was unusable mush.. 2nd channel was usable but was still a little hard to control to make it breath. I worry about this over-gained issue with newer amps.

Any advice?

 

[alantig]

Short answer - no. Make no mistake - there is a metric ton of gain to be had on this amp. That said, the gain channel can be dialed way back - not quite clean, but close to it. I could easily see using it for a classic rock crunch tone. I did not play with the clean channel today, so I don't remember how much breakup it gets at the high end of the preamp sweep.

My biggest issue w/the MT-15 - and it's a fairly common gripe - is the sweep of the master volume. There is a big volume jump fairly early in the sweep, in the 7 o'clock-8 o'clock range. For me, that's the only unmanageable thing on the amp. I like to have a smoother transition there. Not that it's relevant, but my SiriusXM boom box has the same issue - there's one spot on the volume control where it jumps from like 4 to 7 instead of 4 to 5. But I've learned to deal with it on both of these.

PM me if you want to do a video thing - I can reconnect my looper and let a riff play and adjust things and you can get a feel for how it works.

 

[Warmart]

Very nice of you @alantig, never stops amazing me how cool PRS forum peeps are!

 

[bodia]

Short answer - no. Make no mistake - there is a metric ton of gain to be had on this amp. That said, the gain channel can be dialed way back - not quite clean, but close to it. I could easily see using it for a classic rock crunch tone. I did not play with the clean channel today, so I don't remember how much breakup it gets at the high end of the preamp sweep.

My biggest issue w/the MT-15 - and it's a fairly common gripe - is the sweep of the master volume. There is a big volume jump fairly early in the sweep, in the 7 o'clock-8 o'clock range. For me, that's the only unmanageable thing on the amp. I like to have a smoother transition there. Not that it's relevant, but my SiriusXM boom box has the same issue - there's one spot on the volume control where it jumps from like 4 to 7 instead of 4 to 5. But I've learned to deal with it on both of these.

PM me if you want to do a video thing - I can reconnect my looper and let a riff play and adjust things and you can get a feel for how it works.

Exactly this!

 

[GrumpyOldDba]

To your original question no both the clean channel and the gain channel are easy to keep as controlled as you want.

A lot of times the clean stays clean I use at times an Ibanez TS9 on it ... the gain channel I rarely use the screamer with.

 

[SilverSurf9]

To your original question no both the clean channel and the gain channel are easy to keep as controlled as you want.

A lot of times the clean stays clean I use at times an Ibanez TS9 on it ... the gain channel I rarely use the screamer with.

The power section is what interests me the most for a 15watt amp that I need for my apartment. I'm sure I'll switch out one or two preamp tubes for more headroom on the red channel tho. This amp will be mine!!!!! Muhahaha

Check it out @ 8:07 on this clip. That's the sound I'm looking for although I would back the gain down even more:

 

[GrumpyOldDba]

The power section is what interests me the most for a 15watt amp that I need for my apartment. I'm sure I'll switch out one or two preamp tubes for more headroom on the red channel tho. This amp will be mine!!!!! Muhahaha

Bwa ha ha the tubes will glow red RRREEDDDDD!

Seriously it is so loud i run mine into a Bugera PS1 attenuator to keep basement noise level comfy take a look at that!

 

[SilverSurf9]

Bwa ha ha the tubes will glow red RRREEDDDDD!

Seriously it is so loud i run mine into a Bugera PS1 attenuator to keep basement noise level comfy take a look at that!

Rock on man... Rock Reedddddd

Bwa ha ha the tubes will glow red RRREEDDDDD!

Seriously it is so loud i run mine into a Bugera PS1 attenuator to keep basement noise level comfy take a look at that!

Are you running it thru a 1x12? I was thinking about running it thru a 1×10 celestion but I dont know if I'd loose any tone...

 

[GrumpyOldDba]

Mostly its on a Mesa 1x12 Celestion Lead 90 but it doesnt much matter a 10 up to a 4x12 will be fine.

 

[SilverSurf9]

Yeah I been thinking about a 10 inch greenback or creamback... probably creamback... Everything stock sounds great but I think it could sound even better..

 

[GrumpyOldDba]

This is my current most used practice setup. ( The 2 matching JBL party boxes are also very nice ha ha ).

But this has my Mesa cab the PRS MT15 and the attenuator. Ummm the mega link is just to a jpg pic.

https://mega.nz/file/azBzxSCD#WeenAUPNIX2K5oB9nRubmps3kqhprPzZ8sm9WdnqtFc

 

[SilverSurf9]

This is my current most used practice setup. ( The 2 matching JBL party boxes are also very nice ha ha ).

But this has my Mesa cab the PRS MT15 and the attenuator. Ummm the mega link is just to a jpg pic.

https://mega.nz/file/azBzxSCD#WeenAUPNIX2K5oB9nRubmps3kqhprPzZ8sm9WdnqtFc

That is a nice looking mesa cab there. I bet it sounds good with a tube screamer in front.