New to Quad

[Pgambon]

I just bought a Quad. I spent an afternoon cleaning it up and it looks pretty darn good. Cleaning the pots made a big difference! I stared by setting the controls the way I would set a Fender and adjust the second channel for gain. Mistake! I downloaded the manual and used a basic setting. What a difference. Much better clean CH1. The EQ as a boost is a huge plus. Any recommendation or guidance?

 

[tommyhawk13]

Congrats!
What are you using for a power amp, and cabinet?

 

[Pgambon]

I'm using a home brew Bassman with KT66 output tubes into a 1-12 w/ EV12L . Presently, I'm going direct into the amp, but this weekend I will wire in a send/return loop so I can just use the power amp. This will most likely be good enough for me. Stereo would be fun but probably excessive!
I have two initial observations: the pull switches are sometimes subtle but really effective, and it's a challenge to get four tones in sync. For example, I'm using the #1 preset in the manual. It gives four really good tones. If I start tweeting the lead patches I find they start sounding very similar. So, I'm open to suggestions. Thanks

 

[crane]

If you have volume balance problems within the 2 channels, check that :
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7431
Should not be a problem you to modify it ;-)

 

[Pgambon]

Wow, that's weird and a little shocking. I will have to play with it some more to see if it's a issue on my Quad. Did this get fixed in later versions? Also, are cap jobs considered standard maintenance. Mine isn't real noisy.

 

[crane]

No, changing caps is no maintenance, change them only if necessary. I did change them in my Quad only because the board was removed from the chassis, as I was changing all the LDR.

 

[Pgambon]

Man this is one versatile piece of gear! Something I can now appreciate: you have to operate this amp. It's not super intuitive. I guess that's why they made the Mark V :wink: I've been experimenting with the presets from the manual. I've found some others that I need to try. I wish there were more settings posted, but I guess i can use Mark II and III setting on the perspective preamps.
I don't seem to have the volume issue between preamps, so no need to mod!
Also, anyone know where I can get one of the small reverb knobs? Thanks

 

[crane]

For the knob you can call Mesa or check on tubeampdoctor.
About the settings, for saturated sounds don't try to get something huge with the standard EQ. Turn up treble and middle, turn down bass around "2" and then shape the result with the GEQ.

 

[Pgambon]

Crane: thanks for the advice on the channel volume difference. It wasn't apparent when I was going into the front end of a Bassman. Now I'm bypassing the preamp and only using the power amp. Major volume difference.
I also notice a few of the pull pots don't work well. So I've got some work to do!

 

[crane]

It seems that some push-pull pots works only on ouput A or B (but can't remember which...)

 

[Pgambon]

Okie dokie. So I swapped out the 220k blocking resistor on channel 2 for a 27k. Whoa, now channel 2 is subjectively louder than Ch 1. We're talking night and day here. Very happy. I took some pictures and will try to post them for others.

 

[sotosprince]

Congrats on the new Quad! It sure is one of the best preamps u can get for the money! I use it with a 2:90 and the sounds I can get are freaking unbelievable! Some tips though....
1) Try using a parametric eq. You ll be pleasantly surprised! Especially if u r into metal sounds.

2) Should u feel u need more gain, try turning the tremble up first before turning up the lead drive. Also, make sure your bass is about 2-3.

3) Last but not least, try experimenting with some NOS if that's possible.

 

[little-b]

My quad is a very early one( one of the first 100). Some of its push/pulls defeat each other on various channels.Talked to Mike B. about it.Said its perfectly normal.He even did a servicing on mine.I can get a really really close mkIIC+ tone on ch1 lead with a strategy 500 for poweramp..Love it!