New DC3 Owner Question

[davec69]

I just picked up a Boogie DC3 from my local consignment shop. I love this little amp, but I already have some questions, and I thought that this would be the place to get answers.

Has anyone swapped over to JJ tubes. Did you have good results? I had Mesa tubes, but I just received a set of JJs. I got the set with the ECC803s in V1, and my first impression is that they sound less compressed at low volumes than the original tubes. I kinda liked the compressed sound when the volume is low. Is this the 803 in V1 possibly?

Next, I noticed that reverb on ch2 seems lower than the reverb on ch1. Maybe it's me, but I have to crank the reverb on ch2 to hear it. Also, the reverb on both channels seem to be.... (this is hard to explain)...seperate, not integrated, uh..distant, not part of the original signal. It's like when you have a mix control on an effect pedal, and you set it at 20% instead of 100% wet. I can hear the reverb, but it's distant.

And finally, the effects loop has the same issue. It seems as if any effects that I run through the loop are being mixed at 20-30% instead of 100%wet. I have truned the knob on the back, all the way up.

Now, I must admit, these the above are really just my nitpicks. The amp sounds excellent. But I'm asking just in case there's some knid of well known fix that everybody but me knows about.

Thanks for taking the time to read my rmablings.

 

[davec69]

Well, after the first practice with the new amp, I've resolved most of my issues.

I exchanged 803 tube in V1 with the original Mesa tube, and I prefer the results.

I removed everything from the fx loop and put it in front, and it sounds much better.

The reverb is still weak, but I may just buy a good reverb pedal to stick up front to help with that.

Just a note, It's amazing how loud 30W can be.

 

[plumptone]

Fellow DC-3 devotee here. I did the JJ full retube (standard; not the high gain), and liked the results. I ended up actually ditching the balanced driver and used a standard EH 12ax7 in that slot. I also swapped out the V1 for an EH. Overall, I really like the way they sound - seemed to open up the amp a little harmonically.

The issue with the reverb not being as pronounced in channel 2 is normal.

Regarding the effects loop - I use mine all the time to run delay, chorus and reverb. I set it at 100%, and dial in my effects the way I usually would as if they were up front, and it sounds great. Just remember that the individual channel masters dictate how much signal is passed in to the effects loop. So if you run the clean channel at 5 and the drive channel at 3, there will be more being sent into the loop from the clean channel.

These are fantastic little amps. If you haven't tried it yet - run it trough a 2x12 or a quad box, and you'll be floored.