Steve-o
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2018
- Messages
- 16
Greetings to all! First timer here on the forum. Big fan of Paul's guitars and currently revolve 4 live, consisting of a Stripped '58, a 25th McCarty with narrow fields, a Studio and everyone' favorite when I play it live, Quatro.
So, I took the plunge on a 2 Channel "C" head after finding a minty clean used one at my local GC. After reading many positive reviews and hoping for a "squishy" and somewhat Santana-esque lead tone, I'm not feeling it.
The previous owner replaced each preamp tube including the loop, PI and reverb driver with all ax'7's - including Engl (look like JJ's) and Bugera (Chinese) re lables (he was probably looking for more gain too)..so I figured I'd start with the preamp. I replaced all the preamp tubes with new Gold Lions - Tried my vintage RCA's, but couldn't get them cooking where I wanted either. Put a JJ 12DW7 in the loop slot as per the design of the amp- Re-biased the original Winged C's up to about 39 after measuring 480 volts, yet I can't get that rich harmonic mid range edge of feedback bloom and squish (think Boogie lead tone) that I thought the lead channel would provide. I should add that at overbearing volumes, which are impractical for stage, things start to get there, but no bars in the area can tolerate the amp that loud. Lowering the output master and bringing up the lead gain volume past 2 o'clock just kinda sounds blah and fizzy, and its a fight to play. I don't see many reviews if the "C" here, or anywhere, and I am wondering if this may not be the amp for me.
Messing with the effects loop send and return volumes adds to my confusion. I was hoping to I just plug in and play.
I am currently gigging with an old Music Man HD 130 2x10 with vintage silver JBL's and some pedals including a compressor and various overdrives depending on the mood, and am breaking my back as the thing weighs a ton (but it puts out a ton of tone) I know the original 6ca7's are gonna croak one day, prefer not to spend big bucks for glass that can fail a day later, so I am trying to find my replacement in the "C" head. Can someone chime in on some tone tips?
I've tried various cabs that I own, so I'm not at the point where a speaker will make the difference, I would like the lead tone to be super saturated at sensible volume, full of gain and richness for legato style and hammer on's- fire for fun guitaristic pyrotechnics. I can use the clean channel with pedals and get there, but, what's missing from the lead channel..my expectation?
Thanks and appreciate the input.
So, I took the plunge on a 2 Channel "C" head after finding a minty clean used one at my local GC. After reading many positive reviews and hoping for a "squishy" and somewhat Santana-esque lead tone, I'm not feeling it.
The previous owner replaced each preamp tube including the loop, PI and reverb driver with all ax'7's - including Engl (look like JJ's) and Bugera (Chinese) re lables (he was probably looking for more gain too)..so I figured I'd start with the preamp. I replaced all the preamp tubes with new Gold Lions - Tried my vintage RCA's, but couldn't get them cooking where I wanted either. Put a JJ 12DW7 in the loop slot as per the design of the amp- Re-biased the original Winged C's up to about 39 after measuring 480 volts, yet I can't get that rich harmonic mid range edge of feedback bloom and squish (think Boogie lead tone) that I thought the lead channel would provide. I should add that at overbearing volumes, which are impractical for stage, things start to get there, but no bars in the area can tolerate the amp that loud. Lowering the output master and bringing up the lead gain volume past 2 o'clock just kinda sounds blah and fizzy, and its a fight to play. I don't see many reviews if the "C" here, or anywhere, and I am wondering if this may not be the amp for me.
Messing with the effects loop send and return volumes adds to my confusion. I was hoping to I just plug in and play.
I am currently gigging with an old Music Man HD 130 2x10 with vintage silver JBL's and some pedals including a compressor and various overdrives depending on the mood, and am breaking my back as the thing weighs a ton (but it puts out a ton of tone) I know the original 6ca7's are gonna croak one day, prefer not to spend big bucks for glass that can fail a day later, so I am trying to find my replacement in the "C" head. Can someone chime in on some tone tips?
I've tried various cabs that I own, so I'm not at the point where a speaker will make the difference, I would like the lead tone to be super saturated at sensible volume, full of gain and richness for legato style and hammer on's- fire for fun guitaristic pyrotechnics. I can use the clean channel with pedals and get there, but, what's missing from the lead channel..my expectation?
Thanks and appreciate the input.