Mods on MKIIB for good distorion sound

[Dan Fretsnake]

Hi
I am a Brit and bought one of the first Boogies in the UK in 1980. It has earned it's keep and consistantly been a real workhorse!
...The thing is, I've never been that impressed with the overdrive in normal gigging situations.
I once went into a studio for a session and the engineer and producer had been working with Motorhead and Saxon (whatever happened to them?) -I was messing on trying to get a good lead sound with the lead channel and pull switches and they were looking miserably on. One of them suggested putting it through a 4x12 cab and turning it full up on the "clean" channel. Oh my goodness- now the thing came to life! It sounded incredible, the problem was I had to use the cans for ear defenders! They could hear it through the sound-proofing in the control room!
Now, the question- does simul-class do the same thing at a lower volume and if so, is it possible to mod my pre-simulclass amp?
Thanks for any comments!

 

[bartchamdoh]

Hi i to have a 2b sixty watt head(converted from an old combo) though generally i,m a mark 3 user. The 2b has an excellent warm and round clean channel but the lead channel for lack of a better word sounds flubby(to much bass which is muddy sounding).Also to get the best tones from your 2b will require totally different eq settings clean to dirty(the problem of the shared tone stack).As the mark 2 series progressed it was these problems(also noisy reverb,foot switching and fx loop probs)that were addressed to arrive at the 2c+.I use my 2b with my pedal board loaded up front and love the tone from this amp as it really responds well to my pedals (check my thread on my pedal usage)however if this is not for you there is an fx loop mod that can be done which as well as fixing the fx loop(it overloads with pedals in lead mode) is also meant to tighten up the lead channel and make it more usable......so maybe you can ask if any guys on this forum know somebody who knows how to do this .....good luck.

 

[stokes]

In order to get a good lead channel overdrive,you need to have the clean channel volume 1 turned up to at least 7 to give enough signal to the lead channel to work with.Dont know if this will help in your case,but thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[bartchamdoh]

I should have said that as well as using pedals or getting an fx loop mod done you could use a ts-9 tube screamer in front as a clean boost put the level right up and the gain right down and the tone control to your own taste( i put mine at 1 to 2 o,clock) this will tighten up and give some mid range punch to your 2b,s lead channel(the 2b used this way has an awesome dark and heavy lead tone) i set the amp up pretty much as the manual suggests p.s. getting your amp modded for simul class will not in my opinion help your lead channel probs since there are 2b,s with this option and they still don,t have a good reputation for there lead channels(having said that i havn,t heard one any feed back welcome)...hope that helps dude.

 

[BMcNibbnles]

In order to get a good lead channel overdrive,you need to have the clean channel volume 1 turned up to at least 7 to give enough signal to the lead channel to work with.Dont know if this will help in your case,but thought I'd throw it out there.

YES, this is true. The lead channel is barely a "lead" channel without cranking the clean volume, like stokes pointed out. If you don't crank the clean volume, the lead tone is very thin and weak. The first time I played my IIB, I was a little disappointed because I wasn't getting enough gain out of the lead channel, then I cranked the clean volume and WHOA, what a difference. The only problem with doing this is that it creates an enormous difference in volume between the lead and clean channels. So, if you're playing a solo or riffing on something and you go to the clean channel, you're suddenly 10,000 times louder, which sucks.

 

[stokes]

In order to get a good lead channel overdrive,you need to have the clean channel volume 1 turned up to at least 7 to give enough signal to the lead channel to work with.Dont know if this will help in your case,but thought I'd throw it out there.

YES, this is true. The lead channel is barely a "lead" channel without cranking the clean volume, like stokes pointed out. If you don't crank the clean volume, the lead tone is very thin and weak. The first time I played my IIB, I was a little disappointed because I wasn't getting enough gain out of the lead channel, then I cranked the clean volume and WHOA, what a difference. The only problem with doing this is that it creates an enormous difference in volume between the lead and clean channels. So, if you're playing a solo or riffing on something and you go to the clean channel, you're suddenly 10,000 times louder, which sucks.

Just balance things out with the master 1 and lead master controls.

 

[gonzo]

GROOVETUBES SUBSTITUBES

6L6 to EL84 adapters.

run the amp hard, in clean mode.

almost like the best of the early boogie drive, mixed with a hard driven AC30

brilliant

 

[gonzo]

2nd option, which i currently use..
drive the lead channel, set for light crunch and body, with a Barber Direct Drive SS pedal.

my favorite 'combo' head/pedal sound to date.
and i've tried a million combos....