DR Mods

[prsman88]

So I am getting some mods done to my peavey classic 30 @ a local shop.
I am replacing some of the capacitors and resistors.

I am replacing the bass, treble, and mid tone caps for better response
Also, reducing harshness by replacing 2 Od input caps
Finally, replacing a cap and 2 resistors in the tube board for a fuller, louder sound



My question is, does anyone have any mods that can be done to a DR Solo Head as far as replacing caps/resistors/etc. I am pretty satisfied with my sound with the use of my OD pedal, but realize there is always room for improvement. (Tighter response, more clarity, more usable gain, etc...) I don't have the money to pay for a Voodoo or FJA mod so I thought I would see if anyone had anything they've did/found and liked in theirs or know the tricks these companies use.

Thanks so much!
Nate

 

[jamme61]

I hear you and wish I could help more but, I too have tried to get mod info here before and it's a tough one. It seems there aren't many mesa people here, who get in to modding, there amps. The parts in the mesa are good but you could mess with some of the values I also screwed around with some different value bright caps on some off the pots ( I put in pull pots w/sw) and even changed the values of some of the pots. It's tough to work on the Mesas's, it's hard to get at a lot of the stuff. I think a lot of guys that buy mesa's, are into the stk amp and don't want to messss with them. These are the type of guys that love not haveing to bias there amps. I'm not trying diss these people, I just think it's there way of thinking, not wrong just different.

 

[prsman88]

Yea, I understand. I just know that the Dr is one of the most common amps Voodoo and FJA mod so I wasn't sure if anyone on this board knew waht they did in detail. I found the mod sheet for the classic 30 online, but had no luck with finding mods for a DR.

Thanks for the insight.

 

[jamme61]

Yea, I understand. I just know that the Dr is one of the most common amps Voodoo and FJA mod so I wasn't sure if anyone on this board knew waht they did in detail. I found the mod sheet for the classic 30 online, but had no luck with finding mods for a DR.

Thanks for the insight.

I hate to send my amp to Voodoo and spend a lot of money on a couple of resistors or caps. The problem is, if they have sent it to Voodo, they wouldn't know what was done to it anyway. Every other amp I have has a ton of mod stuff free on the internet, not Mesa, I don't get that? I'm no tech but with a little help it's amazing what you can get done yourself. This board is slow to respond so there may be some one out there that will post something. good luck

 

[Jak0lantern01]

Yeah, I thought about the Voodoo mod for my amp, but I just can't see spending that kind of money for a few caps and resistors, etc.

 

[prsman88]

THANK YOU!
MY POINT EXACTLY!!!!

the way i look at it is they have the recipe.
we have access to all the ingredients.
can't do much with our access if we don't know HOW to use them..
:?

300 + 150 shipping both ways for that... gah
they say it takes about 8hrs of labor tho
i wonder if its more than caps and resistors???

anyone out there know?

 

[jamme61]

THANK YOU!
MY POINT EXACTLY!!!!

the way i look at it is they have the recipe.
we have access to all the ingredients.
can't do much with our access if we don't know HOW to use them..
:?

300 + 150 shipping both ways for that... gah
they say it takes about 8hrs of labor tho
i wonder if its more than caps and resistors???

anyone out there know?

If they take out the board to do it right, it's a lot of time. But who knows what they do. Nothing against Vodoo, I just like to dial the amp in myself. I know you can get on the phone with voodo but, there's nothing like having the amp at your house and testing different mods and values to find out what works for you.

 

[prsman88]

Oh yea, I agree. I am just not trained in moding amps. I am thinking of trying different pre-amp tube combinations.

As I mentioned earlier I bought an old classic 30 combo with an upgraded speaker (Celestion 75) and I am getting a local tech to do like 8 cap/resistor replacements on it.

I am going to A/B it with the stock form to see how much of a difference it made to have a different speaker in it and those mods.

Thanks for the response!

P.S. I am sure the board of a Mesa is much more complicated too. More channels, more bells and whistles, lol. I'm afriad I'll mess it up!

 

[jamme61]

Oh yea, I agree. I am just not trained in moding amps. I am thinking of trying different pre-amp tube combinations.

As I mentioned earlier I bought an old classic 30 combo with an upgraded speaker (Celestion 75) and I am getting a local tech to do like 8 cap/resistor replacements on it.

I am going to A/B it with the stock form to see how much of a difference it made to have a different speaker in it and those mods.

Thanks for the response!

P.S. I am sure the board of a Mesa is much more complicated too. More channels, more bells and whistles, lol. I'm afriad I'll mess it up!

I'm no tech either and the mesa board scares the hell out of me. Good luck

 

[Jak0lantern01]

Pre-amp tubes are a good starting place, but their affect on the sound won't be that of a Voodoo mod. I found that popping a Doug's pre-amp combo in my single rec pretty much did the trick for the 'recto' sound, and what I mean by that is that after a Voodoo mod, it's really no longer a recto the way it was designed. Not that what Voodoo does is bad, I can only imagine that some great sounding amps come out of their shop. Some people just like to keep things as original as possible, kinda like a classic car. Personally, I do wish that my recto had a tighter response, and don't tell me they do tight. I've taken everyone's advice here, and i still can't get all the sag out of my recto. I'll probably be switching to a Stiletto soon, anyway. By the way, did you inquire with your local shop if they knew of any recto mods?

 

[Locky]

You can mess with the sloping resistor in the EQ circuit, this changes the scoop point of the mids. Also the parallel cap and resistor stage after V1 can be tweaked for spectrum. Meaning how much highs and lows are going to go through the rest of the amp.

 

[jamme61]

You can mess with the sloping resistor in the EQ circuit, this changes the scoop point of the mids. Also the parallel cap and resistor stage after V1 can be tweaked for spectrum. Meaning how much highs and lows are going to go through the rest of the amp.

+1 good advice IMHO