Blue Angel variations

[Mincer]

I love my 1x12 Blue Angel from 94...blue leather and black grillcloth. However, for bigger shows if I turn it up past 4 (which is really loud), I get this midrange honk I can't dial out. I am not looking for louder- just clearer, I guess. I love the tone of the BA at lower volumes- and I love that reverb...I have never tried a Boogie with reverb that nice.
Sometimes for smaller places I will use a TS7 Tubescreamer for some overdrive, but any louder, it adds to the honkiness of the BA.
Again, I want to keep the overall tone of the BA + TS combo that I get at lower volumes. So, do I need another amp for bigger shows? Or do I need a different distortion pedal that doesn't have as many mids?

BTW, I use all 6 power tubes for the bigger shows, and just the 6v6s for the smaller ones.

 

[musicbox]

I wish I could tell you otherwise, but the only solution is A) slave your amp with a poweramp, or B) get a bigger amp! The honk can SORT of be dialed out with an eq, which is deffinilty a solution, but alot of midrange is just the character of the amp. Another possible solution is to run 6L6's in place of the 6v6. This way, you're gaining some headroom for live playing when you run progressive linkage, and it sort of flattens out the eq, adding some bass and treble to the midrange. I think if you can afford it, you should avoid selling it just for more headroom. I did so, and I regret it every day. There are alot of things the blue angel can't do, but its the few it does, that make it so brilliant.


edit..you could also add more speakers! once you get into the gain, 10's seem too honkey, but a 4x12 really lets the poweramp breath and you can get alot more volume from those few precious watts.

don't give up on her yet!!!! this is far and away one of the coolest amps boogies ever made. your ears will get spoiled by its tone after awhile, so its good to have someone else play it once in awhile. hear it with a different set of ears.

 

[Mincer]

thanks for replying...i certainly have no intention of selling- it is much too cool of a sound (kinda an anti-Boogie, really) to give up on. I thought about adding speakers- but I know from owning a half stack before how much thump the 4x12s give out; I am worried it might be too bassy. And, it is hard to find an open back cab these days which might cancel out some of the thump.
I really don't mind the normal midrange on the amp- it is one of the things that sold me. It is that just past 4 on the volume it is almost difficult to tell if i am using the brige or neck pickup because the mids obliterate the highs and lows.

 

[ned]

Find someone with a 3/4 back Boogie 1x12 or a Boogie 4x10 would sound incredible and give her a test with those. Also as musicbox mentioned 6V6's have more midrange than other tubes - at least the JJ do.

 

[waxnsteel]

Mic it!

 

[Mincer]

it is always miked at shows- I don't like a loud stage volume. The honkiness starts showing itself at about 3 on the volume, and gets unbearable past 4.
Thing is, the 6v6s sound so good up till then.

 

[musicbox]

are you talking 3-4 in oclock, or 0-10? my old angel didnt get into overdrive with the 6v6 until around noon on the dial, and heavy saturation set in around 2:00. you might consider a retube, and i highly highly suggest you try 6l6. they sound just as sweet as the 6v6, but offer more headroom/bass/treble/smoother overdrive.

 

[Mincer]

i am talking 3-4 as in if there were numbers on the dial- i think anything past 5 (straight in the middle) would sound awful for this amp, as it has a sweet spot between 3 or 4.
I may try a retube first, to see if it helps. Are 6l6s a direct replacement? What do you recommend?

 

[musicbox]

yes they are direct replacement. they just need to be graded to work within the range of the amp. make sure you buy them from someone like dougstubes.com, or eurotubes.com, so that they can select tubes that will work in that spot. i used JJ el84 and 6l6 in my old angel and it was brilliant, although good NOS tubes would really shine!

heres some words about a bit of an adjustment that can be made to the preamp for more headroom.

http://psg.com/~dlamkins/Articles/blue-angel-headroom.php?cat=musings