Hello All,
Thanks to this board, I have a newly modded Heartbreaker from Andy's shop. I thought it was only fair to follow-up with my feelings about the new amp since what I read here prompted me to pull the trigger. I had been debating for a long time getting the amp modded to increase the gain while sweetening the cleans when I came across this thread. Generally, I wanted a high volume, really nice two-channel live amp that had more distortion in the Lust channel while the Love channel remained the same. I debated selling it and buying something else but wasn't satisfied for the amount of money it was going for presently and the mods you guys had been talking about seemed like a reasonable investment. After quite a bit of discussion (maybe about an hour straight and a few long e-mails - Andy was happy to talk shop and really open and accommodating when discussing what I wanted), the changes I asked Andy for were:
- Soldano Mod (which effectively removed the low gain/high gain functionality for both channels but added a gain stage to the lust channel - ask Andy for details)
- Better Reverb
- Bias pot Incl. Bias Pot & Biasing (installed near power tubes)
- Midrange Switch (5-way), foot switchable (drilled a new hole for footswitch and 5 way rotary in the back)
- Master Volume Defeat Switch on the Love channel (replaced the boost switch on this channel and essentailly, removed the master volume from this channel)
He was also able to:
- add a bright switch for both channels (which replaced the low/high gain switches on both channels)
- make the trim/fat work for the new modes all the time
While it was in New Mexico, he also did a general clean up/inspection of the circuit and retensioned the tube sockets while biasing it for 6v6s. He also threw in a 2-button footswitch to control the channel switching and new mid range boost. The LED for the mid-boost isn't functional when in tweed power mode (not enough voltage to power it) but works in full voltage mode when using 6L6s or EL34s. Something worth noting here - Andy had to make permanent mods to do a lot of this if it wasn't evident from the above. As far as I was concerned, the mods were worth more to me than any potential devaluation (which is merely second guessing, at best).
Well, how does it sound? The Love Channel sounds the same when the master defeat is off. When turned on, it really becomes a bit more sweet. You'd have to work to balance it out a bit with the Lust channels volume (which is now a bit changed since the new gain settings make it much more compressed), but the Master volume all the way to right makes this work out fine. The Love channel has much more gain... the most I could manage before was a Thin Lizzy kind of tone but now can actually do more metal type sounds -Judas Priest and early Van Halen kind of tones. It now is much more reactive, harmonically rich and less fizzy (in part because of the biasing, I would think). It just crunches; it's not going to do the Recto thing but it reminds me a lot of the gain I get from my Eganter Rebel (maybe slightly less). It doesn't clean up completely anymore, but you can get a nice bluesy mellow tone if you roll back the treble and volume while pumping the master on this channel. It's worth noting here that the treble control is dramatically changed after this. I tend to use it more in the half to all the way up which dumps extra gain into the channel in a usable way with the bright switch. Andy indicated that this is because the mid-boost switch is in that section. Speaking of, I find this to be a more usable option than a boost (but Andy can do that, too if you'd like). It adds a new palate of tones and is footswitchable if you want to go to soloing. It only works with the fat switch engaged and becomes more pronounced as the treble is increased so it takes experimenting to find the desired mid boost sound. It is also worth noting the presence was changed in responsiveness (but that's okay, because it was always harsh anyway IMO). Oh, and reverb is much wetter... perhaps even too wet at most settings but it's nice to have the option rather than before when even maxxed it wasn't quite enough to do surf (and now, it definitely can get there). Lastly, you now need to bias the amp when you switch tubes. Still, worthwhile considering that biasing it hotter made it sound much clearer and richer, IMO.
Andy was really awesome in his communications... constantly let me know where the amp was at proactively, if there were any hiccups (for example, I originally wanted one option that didn't work out) he called right away. He even sold me some 6v6s for the amp. An altogether awesome transaction and I'm quite proud of the new amp and its sounds. I highly recommend him if you're looking for a cost-effective and nice sounding way to fix up your Mesa Boogie Heartbreaker. Thanks to everyone here for hooking me up!
Hey thanks Dom! How did you like the pickup?
