Just bought a DC5

[Monsta-Tone]

Mine has LED's on the front of the amp to tell me which channel is turned on. It is a Version 'A.'
It also only had a 1 button footswitch that plugged into the front of the amp, but I fixed that. :lol:
There are a couple of other differences as well, but I can't think of them off hand, it's pre-coffee in the morning here.


PM me with an email address and what version you have, or a picture of the front & back.
I'll send you a list of nice mods. There are some that I only do in my shop, but lots of others that I'll share.


The 'Output Volume' mod simply consists of removing a 220k ohm resistor that is in parralel with the Output Volume pot.
Earlier versions were soldered directly to the pot.
Later versions were placed on the circuit board, directly behind the pot.
Use an ohmmeter to make absolutely sure that you are clipping the right resistor.
Also, make absolutely sure that you discharge the caps before reaching in there. I got careless once and it really hurt for a few days!


I've not heard of changing the pot for the Reverb, but I'll look into it.
I did change my Reverb circuit to that of the 'B' version and I like it a lot more, although it is still somewhat lacking when played next to my Twin Reverb ( I guess everything is though ).



I did the Merc Magnetics trannies and it made a world of difference on the clean channel, but still not enough for me.
It still sounded very sterile, so I completely re-worked it. It's not spanky clean like the Twin, but it is definitely warmer and cleaner now! Sorry though, that's one of the mods that doesn't leave the shop!

 

[Monsta-Tone]

:lol: I just looked at a bunch of drawings and here is what I saw concerning the Reverb:

I always wondered why my DC-10 had so much better Reverb than my DC-5 does.
I even went so far as to change the circuit in the 5 to that of the 10!
Still no love, but much better than it was.


I just realized that I missed perhaps the most important thing:
The 10 has a 100k audio pot for the clean channel!
The 5 has a 100k linear pot.
How could I have been so stupid as to miss this?


FWIW: The Lonestars have a 250k linear pot


I'm going to try swapping the pot this weekend if I have a 100k audio, otherwise, I'll use a 250.
Might really be something to that.

 

[boogietone]

Thanks everyone. Looks like the big brown truck is on time for a Monday delivery.
Of course I have to work all day Monday and won't see it till Tuesday. :?
I'm thinking of trying that reverb pot mod on my VHT. The reverb on that amp
is pretty bad. Seems like most of the 50/ST's have good reverb but not mine.
I've always been under the impression that DC's had good reverb? Or is it just
better than the MKIV's? I definitely like that each channel on the DC has a seperate
reverb control.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

'Good Reverb,' is right up there with 'Good Tone!'
It's completely subjective.

I think the DC's Reverb is fine, but I do have a Twin Reverb and nothing compares. The Lonestars come close, but still not like a Twin.


:lol: With me it's just a case of 'Soup-it-up-itis!' I have the theory that if something is good, I can make it better.
Sometimes I'm tragically wrong though, and the circuit gets put back to stock. :lol:

 

[madryan]

'Good Reverb,' is right up there with 'Good Tone!'
It's completely subjective.

I think the DC's Reverb is fine, but I do have a Twin Reverb and nothing compares. The Lonestars come close, but still not like a Twin.


:lol: With me it's just a case of 'Soup-it-up-itis!' I have the theory that if something is good, I can make it better.
Sometimes I'm tragically wrong though, and the circuit gets put back to stock. :lol:

If you get a chance could you fire me off an email telling me how much it'd be to do the bias mod on my DC-5?

Thanks Mang!
Ryan

 

[Monsta-Tone]

PM has been sent, thanks Ryan.