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Well, I finally got my BBQ MASS attenuator so I could go nuts without going deaf, and I can finally say I have enough experience to appreciate this amp.

Using my Jet with Duncan Blackbacks and Strat Deluxe with SCNs I am astounded with the classic rock tones. You do have to spend some serious time tweaking to get the zone however in the MV channel. There is SO much gain there I am running the Jet with the Master at about 11pm and the pre at about 9pm. Actually I'd like a bit more headroom on the clean side and probably less gain, so I'm looking to do a tube substitution.

Of course the normal channel is just plug and go, but the nice gooey stuff is hidden in that MV channel. I need to take notes - I found some stuff in there and couldn't quite find my way back to it. Of course there are so many variables between guitars, settings the MASS settings, etc..

I have also found setting the MASS at 8ohms and the 18 at 4 has given me some really interesting tone variations as well (maybe a bit brighter if that makes sense). I suppose there are some other permutations to try as well, with the attenuator in play and a pretty good dummy load going I don't think there's much of risk of damaging things (at least from what I understand) - please correct me if I'm wrong.

I am using the 212 cab from my Matchless Chieftain. I thought I would sell the Matchless, but honestly it does the clean thing so well in contrast to the 18 I am going to have to keep them both. The speaker cab works extremely well - I am very happy with the result (its got two of the original celestions - they are slightly different types).

Man I am finding the Hall of Fame of classic rock Tone in this amp.
What a blast. Soon I will learn enough on the playground and get back to laying some tracks - which I will be happy to post.

I posted a thing on harmony central as well.

What a relief from the wannabe tone of that Pod XT!

Thanks again Stephen for a nice build.

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Too many guitars, too little time.

Glad you liked the build. Looking forward to your clips. Couldn't see the Harmony Central review yet, but I'm looking forward to reading it. There are already 2 there.

If you want to drop the gain, and get more clean tones, I think lbet put a 12AT7 in the Phase Inverter (V2 on your amp - second slot) and reported that he liked it.

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Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps

A 5751 also works well for dropping the gain some, and NOS ones can still be found at a decent price. It's a drop in replacement for a 12AX7, but has a gain factor of 70 as opposed to the 100 of a 12AX7.

Eddie

Since the gain is cascaded in these amps, I'm going to recommend subbing V1, which will affect the whole chain. I'm a big proponent of tube swapping and love tones you can get with 12AY7s and 12AU7s as well as the 5751 and 12AT7.

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--s2
www.s2amps.com
www.category5amps.com

Should you turn off the power when swapping tubes?



Seriously - I am looking forward to fooling around with tube replacements a bit one of these days.

I have found some really interesting tones when bridging the channels. Although some people have said this amp works better with humbuckers I am hearing some great stuff with my Strat Deluxe with the SCN single coils. Getting that vintage Strat (Hendrix/Clapton) sound very nicely. Love the bass response on this thing - it works great with the strat.

Honestly for the time being I am more involved with making music with it than tweaking so it might be a while before I even bother. Interesting comment coming from me who never could seem to find that 'lost vintage tone' until now.

Also noting that this amp does some very, very different things with respect to the impedence of the input device. When I split the guitar output to amp and to my board (to record a dry track simultaneously) the gain drops way off. Not surprising - there's still plenty left under the knobs - suddenly that excess gain doesn't seem quite so useless!

This amp does change dramatically depending on what's plugged in front of it - actually delightful when compared with the digital pretender boxes. I am beginning to understand the circuit design more..

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Too many guitars, too little time.

Hey Guitarzan, I would recommend turning off the amp while swapping tubes. It is better to keep voltage spikes and stuff to a min. where ever possible.

As for the amp itself, you're right, each guitar does shine through in it's own sonic way with this amp. Speakers too. That is one of the things I really like. One of my fave combinations is P-90's (the amp) and a greenback. Old school heaven.

You might try a buffer (or a boss pedal between your guitar and the splitter for the impedance issue you mentioned.

Guitarzan, thanks for the review on Harmony Central. Let us know how you are making out with your tube swapping!

Others can read Guitarzan's review (& some others) at:

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/D ... ad-01.html

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Stephen
Web: www.trinityamps.com. Facebook: facebook.com/trinityamps. Twitter: @trinityamps