New to the boards. A couple LSC questions!

[ASBerklee12]

Hey all, I'm new to the boards. I just bought a LSC from ebay, a blue 1x12 combo. I'm going to Berklee in the fall and needed a combo. My Carvin V3 with JJ 6L6s run through an Avatar 2x12 cab with Vintage 30s sounds great, but the Lonestar (I think) is a little closer to my tonal needs and is smaller (and more importantly, one piece. As small as my V3 stack is, stairs are my enemy).
Anyways, I got it for a great low price and couldn't pass up ($1,125 including shipping...I sniped at the last second) so here I am. The clean channel, of course, is amazing. But my two problems seem to be fairly common. First, one reason I bought the amp was because of the heavenly lead tones Andy Timmons is able to coax out of it. Well, it's apparently not that easy. I tried running the amp through my Vintage 30s, which gave the bass some character (it's a closed back cab and the speakers are nice and worn) and the mids some depth, and the high end isn't as fuzzy. But still, not quite my cup of tea. Hard to dial in! So...any suggestions? I'm thinking of turning it into a closed back amp...is that a good idea? Would heat be an issue? Any mods I should be aware of, or other tubes, or dial settings? Any direction on this would be great.
Second, I have a weird buzzing coming from the amp. As some of you have explained it, it's sort like you unplugged your guitar from the amp. Except, mine's a little different. It's present on both channels, but is very quiet on the clean...barely noticeable. On Channel 2, it's much worse, but is only noticeable when not playing. It sounds like the sound you guys describe...except if I also had a chorus pedal on with the rate knob turned all the way up. It's like an alien bug noise. Turning up my gain, drive, and send level knobs makes it louder and more intense. All the tubes are seated correctly, and there doesn't appear to be any damage that I can tell...So, I don't know. If this amp turns out to be too much trouble, I'll sell it and turn my V3 into a combo somehow.
Thanks in advance guys.
Alex

 

[fishyfishfish]

What I used to do is use a couple of good Distortion pedals on the clean channel, and only used channel two if I needed a "TS808" kind of sound, not super saturated and not clean. If I did a lead on channel 2 I used a BB Preamp for a gain boost, and was pretty close to Timmons tone.
It is a good amp, just spend some time with channel 2 with the gain about 1:00 on both Drive and Gain, and experiment with some dirt boxes.
As for the chorus sound, it sounds like the problem I had after I blew a tube (Burnt resistor) and was cheap and fast to have fixed.
Good luck.

 

[plan-x]

welcome to the board. I prefer JJ's over the mesa tubes. The stock speaker should be fine,(C-90) they are smoother than v-30's. Add the v-30's ext for gigs. Run the drive higher than the gain for best OD. Keep the gain below 1:00. I heard about this buzzy thing around here before and like Fishy says, it could be a resistor. You'll probably need a tech. Does it do this at different places? Could be bad house wiring, florescent lights etc.

Closed back? nah, that's what ext. cabs are for. I use a BBE stomp, that gives it some thump. As for the Andy Timmons tone....He ain't going straight in, that's for sure. He using 2 amps in stereo or something(LSC/Stiletto), along with stereo efx, delay, rvb, etc. Along with a BB preamp pedal drive-n the amps into tonal bliss. Depending on what guit/pups your using, having your drive at 3:00-4:00 and the gain at 12:00, most of us keep our bass well below 12:00, mids also( not Timmons) treble above 12:00, presence same, throw the thick switch, add some efx, stand back and enjoy. There are some mods to clean up the OD channel further, just check the posts in this(LSC) section.

 

[ASBerklee12]

Cool, thanks guys. I got a complete JJ 6L6 retube from Eurotubes for my V3...could I throw those tubes in the Lonestar without any fuss, and more importantly, put the Mesa tubes in the V3 if I like the JJ's more?
I'll have to get the amp checked out...grr. This buzz is annoying.
Also, as for the extension cabs, I'm a college student (at Berklee in Boston), hence the need for a single, one-piece amp like the LS. I would use an extension cab, but bringing it to gigs would be such a hassle. But that brings a good question to mind...
My Avatar cab is a 2x12, with Vintage 30s as I said, wired in stereo at 8 ohms. So, each jack (there are two--one for each speaker) is 8 ohms. If I run both to my V3 head, I set my head to 4 ohms, obviously (8+8=4 ohms). Besides the one 8 ohm jack for the Lonestar's speaker, there are two 4 ohm jacks. So, if I'm not wrong...in order to run the cab along with the LS's speaker, I would have to run both speakers from the cab into one LS jack? I suppose I could do this with a splitter type thing.
Also, when I asked if I could convert it to a closed-back, I meant if it would harm it at all, ie through heat after a long period of use, etc.
I experimented more with the settings today, going off of what the LS online owner's manual had to say, which was that the gain control higher than the drive makes for a smoother sound, which is what I want. So, my settings are as follows (in o'clocks):
Drive:12, Thicker, Gain:2 to 3, Treble:3, Mid:10:30 to 11, Bass:6:30, Presence:6:30 to 7, set on 100W (so, obviously using diodes), send level in the middle.
Not a bad tone. When I turn up the presence more, the highs get very sterile and cardboard-y and fuzzy...no good. But keeping it this low keeps the tone warm, but is still barely high enough to open up the sound. The presence knob on this amp behaves very differently than any others I've used.
So, I'm basically going for a warm, fairly high gain lead tone good for fusion. The thing that I'm missing that Timmon's tone has is this great clarity in the the different stages of the midrange...with me, I've got this high-mid honkiness that I just can't shake. It really muds up the tone a lot.
I forget if I mentioned this or not, but my guitar is a Schecter Custom Shop, mahogany body and neck, set neck, TOM, ebony fretboard, and thick maple top. I feel like I can really hear the ebony very well, which may explain some of the high end fuzziness. That's the one part about this guitar that I really really hate. Ebony is the worst fingerboard ever. So, I feel like if I use a guitar with a bit more life to it, with a maple bolt on neck, rosewood fretboard, tremolo, etc, it will really open up the sound more and possibly get rid of that upper midrange honkiness. I'll have to try my friend's EBMM JP at some point...I'll get back about those results.
Sorry about being so finicky and writing so much. This is a great board...you guys are very helpful.
Smitty

 

[plan-x]

There was a thread on Timmons settings if you do a search. What unusual thing I recall was his mid/& possibly bass were set fairly high like 2:00.
It has been discussed here before and I totally agree that if the gain is set above 12:00, the character of the tone begins to get mushy, and muddy. That's where mine is set, let the drive do the work. 50 watts is also popular around here on the 2nd ch. Thick keeps those upper mids in the mix. I find the thicker, just that. That might be your honk.
If indeed the avatar is wired to two 8ohm v-30's, individually per jack for a 2 amp, stereo cab, thus it is an 8ohm load out each jack, yes that would be a 4ohm load @ the amp. Thats as low as she goes(LSC) and you better disconnect the LSC's internal speaker. Ofcourse you got the V3 to take some of the load off and many combinations at hand. I don't recall anyone closing their back off around here but, all tube amps have vents. So most likely it would overheat without some vents.

 

[ASBerklee12]

Cool, thanks man, you're helping a lot. So, if I put on a back board with vents, or a partial backboard, would that achieve anything? I'm not quite sure. I'm really looking for the tighter bass response of a closed back amp.

 

[plan-x]

Sure, the more you close it the tighter it will get. I built a 30x30 cab that had a 7" removable panel in the back. When it was open, it lost alot of punch. It surprised me cuz it wasn't that big of a panel being 25% of the back. So, the punch comes most likely when the back is probably completely sealed. Go ahead and experiment. The fan will help also with minimal vents.

Another thought, I built a book shelf once around a combo amp. using say12-16" shelf boards from Home depot. 1 piece over the amp, and 2 pieces on either side of the amp. With a 2-3" space around the whole combo. Placed it up against a wall, slid the amp in there, with a couple inch or so off the back wall and presto! Closed back cab. More of a folded horn design. It works though. It captures all the sound going out the back, and u can put stuff like books on top. There is an actual professional build of a device that does this for combo amps. It escapes me what it's called.

Also, as I suggested before, the BBE stomp pedal. They can make any combo sound like you added a couple of extra speakers.

 

[ASBerklee12]

Alright, cool. I'll experiment with all that. Thanks!

 

[djw]

Re: Andy Timmons' tone, don't forget: like plan-x says, he isn't "going straight in," and maybe even most importantly: he has a compressor engaged at all times. Makes a huge difference. As do the big closed back cabs and stereo setup -- and don't forget his playing technique -- all of that.

I really find that my LSC has a particular sweet spot volume-wise. It sounds great at almost any level, but it really likes to be opened up a bit; it smooths out the rough edges and make everything blend together better.

 

[ASBerklee12]

Well, I have succeeded in finding a beautiful overdrive tone. Thick, syrupy, clear. It's got a little ways to go, but a lot of that has to do with the guitar I'm using (someone buy my Schecter USA Custom Shop! It's an amazing guitar...it's just the anti-me!)
Thanks everyone. The help has been very greatly appreciated.

 

[Musical123]

Hey ASBerklee12,

Care to share your settings?