plan-x said:
Any mod thats free, I'm down for. Thanks again Charles! One of these days I'll get to that tube dance. When I win the lottery. :shock: As I recall, you have EV speaker(s) also? Thats another major investment I'll be dreaming of. While the money was flowing I was able to procure an extra set of JJ's and some weber speakers along with a V-30 and mojo V-30 knock off and some ext cabs. So I got some stuff to play with. Maybe I could afford to go for a pair of 6v6's. Oh, I forgot to ask you, do you(Charles) use diodes or tube rectifer? Tweed or full, toggle? I also built a 2x12 diagonal convertible cab that sounds fantastic, a poormans 4x12. Ok, enough of this hijacking. Get out there boys and do some soldering, cause you're gonna like this one. It's free and worthy. Just like the Reeder mod. We need another name also, say.......Reeder mid pot mod?
plan-x:
I use both the tube and solid-state rectifiers...it really depends on the tone I'm looking for at any particular time.
As to speakers:
#1. For the sake of mobility and the slight weight reduction; I moved my LSC Combo chassis into a LSS Combo cabinet. I'm currently using a Mesa C-90 Black Shadow in it...although I'm not 'completely' happy with it in the LSS cabinet. It seems a tad harsh to me...compared to how it sounds in the LSC cabinet. I have been tempted to go the EV-12L route with this combo...but it would cancel out all the weight reduction I gained with the switch. Still looking for something lighter.
#2. I have a LSC I x 12 extension cabinet that I put an EV-12L Series II 8-ohm speaker in. I am V-E-R-Y pleased with the sound. The weight of the cabinet is NOT EXCESSIVE with the EV 12L. I use it with my LSC Head.
#3. I have a LSC 1 X 12 Combo cabinet which I converted to use as an extension cabinet. I have a Mesa C-90 Black Shadow in it. I use it with the LSC Head...and I like the sound of this larger LSC cabinet. Currently, I leave this cabinet at one of the places I play regularly.
#4. I have a LSC 2 X12 Combo cabinet that I converted to an extension cabinet. It has 1 Mesa C-90 Black Shadow (16-ohm) and 1 Eminence 'Wizard' (16-ohm). I use this cabinet with my LSC Head as well. It sounds V-E-R-Y nice. Different sound than any of the others...more top-end shimmer.
It really sounds as if you are pretty well covered on speaker cabinets yourself...and I wouldn't really think you'd need a 4 X12 with what you have.
The 6V6s and the 6V6/YJ-EL84 tube combinations that I frequently use...allow me to get a really good 'cranked' tone at volumes that are practical where I play. To get a similar tone from 6L6s (even at the 50 watt setting) would just be way too loud. I have read some comments which say that using 6v6s and/or YJs with EL84s will not lower the volume that much. I disagree. My experience with them (the way I set them up) allows me to get a fully-saturated-tube-cranked-tone at noticeably lower volume than with 6L6s. I've done the volume comparisons at the places I play during setup. EVERYONE could hear the volume difference.
On pre-amp tubes. I just recently started using the 5751. They are NOT TOO expensive. If you have a few 12AT7s lying around you can put 1 in V2. It will give you an approximation of what the 5751 will do to the gain...but the 5751 is WAY more musical in that socket...so get one if you find the 12AT7 acceptable. Try the other 12AT7 in V5 (phase inverter)...it cleans up some of the 'background-muck'.
I went for AGES before I found a NOS tube that I liked in V1...I think what you put there is very much a matter of taste. Prior to finding that I like NOS RCAs in V1...I used Chinese Shuguang Hi-gain tubes as they are rather neutral sounding. The RCAs aren't (neutral sounding) but I really like the sound they have.
Because of my mods, speaker changes and tube-swaps; some people might get the impression that I didn't really like the Lonestar (as is)...well nothing could be farther from the truth. Stock...it came closer to the 'ideal' sound that I was hearing in my head than any other amp ever had. Closest yes...but not all the way there. So; I started wondering what I could do to get it the rest of the way there!
The 'mods' and suggestions that I have posted are the result of that quest.
I'm very glad that this 'mod' has worked out for you.
Enjoy! Charles
What I really like about this mod, is that when the EQ knobs are turned all the way down, there is no volume. This makes for accurate EQ dialing, regardless of flab or mud. I could see how this will help in reducing the flab and mud. Its as if I changed my EQ section from a parallel loop to a serial loop. The way it was before there was always a basic dry sound, which seemed to add to the problem. Now like a serial loop sound is introduced only through the EQ knobs like volume knobs. Very cool! More control, less subharmonic garble. If I had money to burn I could follow through with all the other mods Charles has suggested over the last few months and have an uber Lonestar.
