Help with Studio Pre problem - too much gain, possible mod?

[Wolfster]

Hi guys,

A while ago I got a Studio preamp. I looked at some good settings online, but found my studio didn't sound like the clips posted. My tone seemed to have too much saturation and gain compared to them, and not enough dynamics when turning down the volume knob. Also my clean tone doesn't ever seem to clean up completely, due to what seems like some kind of boost to the volume knob controls.

If people could help me out with this I would very much appreciate it, as I have already taken it to someone and spent money, only for him to say it was fine, but Im sure it's not. I have a quad and it sounds completely different to channel 1.

I can record a vid and post up videos if people ask, but does anyone have any suggestions?

cheers,

Nik

 

[EtherealWidow]

12AT7 in V1?

 

[Wolfster]

Thanks for replying. The 12AT7 is in the socket that is above the the four sockets that are in line, so Im assuming thats the reverb socket and therefore fine, but thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Wolfster]

I've finally recorded a video comparing someone's settings and recording with my own Studio pre.

watch the comparison video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr9BLj3R9ck

My studio is the second recording.

It didnt come out that great, but let me know if you can hear a difference of how much gain. I am using exactly the same settings as the comparison video, and similar guitars and pickups.

Can anyone think what the cause would be for this?

 

[elvis]

Ethereal was actually suggesting that you change V1 to a 12AT7. That would reduce the front-end gain a little since the AT7 has less gain than an AX7.

I suspect that you have an issue with your LDRs. They are going bad on everyone's SPs right now. The dirty clean channel is a symptom of that.

You should also be aware that the gain is very tube-dependent. Your tubes could easily have twice the gain of the examples you are hearing online. The online example may also be using tubes with more high-end response (as Chinese tubes are famous for). So the knobs may be in the same position, but you don't have the same settings in a practical sense.

On the lead channel, the SP adds both halves of V3 to the gain path. That is a LOT of gain. Replacing V3 with a very crisp, clear low-gain tube could be helpful.

If you use dark-sounding tubes like JJ, you will get a very over-compressed sounding tone. You need high frequencies to get the clarity and bite.