LSC Channel 1 not pushing enough volume.

[Talus]

So it's possible this is purely my imagination, but my LSCs channel 1 just doesn't seem to be pushing that much volume anymore.

At gigs I run with the FX loop off the gain and volume at about 1:00. At this point I'm comfortable in the mix... provided I'm thrashing the guitar, which means I'm also losing the pristine clean sound that I want. Raising the volume gives me dirt, raising mids gives volume, but dirt as well, lowering the gain requires that I either boost the mids or the volume, which you guessed it gives more dirt.

Even if I go for a dirty tone it's just not that loud... I can set both volumes to 2:00 and play at home without bothering the neighbours too much. Compared this to my ED which if I set the volume to 9 and the gain to noon will push twice the volume while staying perfectly clean and is definitely loud enough to bother most people living on the same block.

Other than that the amp is fine. Nothing weird or wonky, the tone is still great and channel 2 just screams. Any ideas what could be causing something like this to happen?

 

[djw]

I can set both volumes to 2:00 and play at home without bothering the neighbours too much.

This is with the loop disengaged? Wow. That seems insane to me, something is either up with the amp or your neighbors' hearing. The way I read your description of how you use your LSC makes me think you play very loud indeed.

I guess I might try swapping preamp tubes with a known-good and and healthy 12ax7, to see if one stage or the other is at fault; although I don't know off the top of my head why that wouldn't affect both channels, but it's possible.

Also, are both channels using the same wattage and rectifier settings?

 

[tle4]

I would suspect V1 preamp tube first but try V1 and V2 with a known good tube . Did you try bypassing the FX loop also?

 

[Talus]

I would suspect V1 preamp tube first but try V1 and V2 with a known good tube . Did you try bypassing the FX loop also?

FX loop was bypassed. Is V1 or V2 solely dedicated to channel 1?

 

[plan-x]

You need a manual to see what V1 & V2 actually do. Download yours here. http://www.mesaboogie.com/manuals/user_manuals.htm#gpm1_2

 

[tle4]

I would suspect V1 preamp tube first but try V1 and V2 with a known good tube . Did you try bypassing the FX loop also?

FX loop was bypassed. Is V1 or V2 solely dedicated to channel 1?

Well going by the manual.... It says part of v1 is channel 2 gain and the other part is the frist gain stage. V2 is gain stage 2 and 3 Maybe half of the tube is good and the other half is going bad. Someone else asked if you where using the same power and rectifier settings on both channels. That could be the problem too. If the clean channel is in 100 watt mode and drive channel is in 50 watt mode, it could be a bad power tube since 100watt mode uses all 4 power tubes and 50 or even 10 watt mode only uses 2 power tubes. If you have the clean channel on 50 watt mode with rectifier tracking and channel 2 100watt mode with diodes then I would suspect the rectifier tube

 

[Talus]

I would suspect V1 preamp tube first but try V1 and V2 with a known good tube . Did you try bypassing the FX loop also?

FX loop was bypassed. Is V1 or V2 solely dedicated to channel 1?

Well going by the manual.... It says part of v1 is channel 2 gain and the other part is the frist gain stage. V2 is gain stage 2 and 3 Maybe half of the tube is good and the other half is going bad. Someone else asked if you where using the same power and rectifier settings on both channels. That could be the problem too. If the clean channel is in 100 watt mode and drive channel is in 50 watt mode, it could be a bad power tube since 100watt mode uses all 4 power tubes and 50 or even 10 watt mode only uses 2 power tubes. If you have the clean channel on 50 watt mode with rectifier tracking and channel 2 100watt mode with diodes then I would suspect the rectifier tube

Both channels are set to 100 watts, which I'm assuming means they're both running on the silicone diode.

The powertubes have recently been replaced due to other issues, however the lack of volume on the clean channel was present before I changed the power tubes.

So best bet is just to start swapping preamp tubes until something changes?

 

[tle4]

yeah..... I would suspect a preamp tube going. Swap one preamp tube at a time and see if it changes. If it dont, put the old tube back in and then swap the next one. I would try V1 first