trinityamps.com

First,
thanks to everyone for their advice on taming the Lightnings treble! I ended up adding a push-pull volume pot to be able to bypass the treble cap. I also put two .022 Sozo caps in the tone section.

So far, I think the Sozos are pretty awesome. They seem to smooth some of the treble out, but there's still plenty there. I found a new spot that I really like. I run the volume and master at 9 o'clock and the bass and treble at 12:00 (normal tone circuit). Through the high gain input I get a really sweet jangly tone that sounds great for chording, think Birds or Beatles. If I step on my fulldrive it goes over the top into singing overdrive.

There is one problem though. There is a crackling noise which occurs when I hit certain notes. It occurs mainly when I play a G note. I can get it to crackle on some other notes, but it is the worst when hitting a G. Higher notes don't do it at all. It also happens regardless of volume. Do you think this is related to the Sozos, or just a coincidence? I thought it might be a tube rattling, but I'm not sure whic,h one it would be.

I don't know if this is related or not, but my 120v indicator light flickers on and off for no apparant reason and the connections look good. The light came from Mouser.

Anybody got any ideas? Thanks

Moid

give the sozos some time to break in and it'll sound even better!

check the solder connections on your 110v mains for that crackle, especially if it's messing with the pilot light.

Thanks Scott,
The joints looked okay, but I'll reflow them to make sure.

Moid

If it still does it after that, time to pull out hte chopstick and start tapping on solder joints. Your description fits perfectly what happened to me one time when I replaced a 2 prong power cord with a 3 prong in an old Fender.

That fixed it. I think I had a cold solder joint on the mains. Thanks

Any really noticing any difference between the SoZo's and Mallory 150's?

I've tried them in several JTM45 clones I build and I'm not noticing huge diferences. Is the SoZo thing a "flavor of the month thing" or do you just need dog ears to hear it?

Sozos are not a flavor of the month thing. I find with the Sozos vs 150s is that the Sozos are smoother and get even more so over time. But they are both similar in overall sound. I always keep a small stock of sozos around because I like them so much.

_________________
Richard Johnson
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Playing an insturment doesn't make you a musician, listening does

I wonder how long it takes to break them in? I usually burn my amps in 72 hours before shipping them out.

Is there any new, production cap that equals the Sozos? For instance, higher voltage, larger physical size etc. I could not find who makes them for Sozo, but you would think their production runs would be close enough and worth a try.

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

The sozo site says 100 hours to break in their caps!? That makes it hard to do a direct objective comparison. I've been using the Mallory 150's. Is the tone of these subject to change over time in the same way?

Jeff

Jeff,

The Mallory 150s don't seem to break in over time like the Sozos. They sound good, too, but the Sozos are just nice and smooth.

_________________
Richard Johnson
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Playing an insturment doesn't make you a musician, listening does