Oh No! Another quad owner

[MetalMatt]

Yup, today I picked Quad # 439.

First off I had NO info on this units prior owner, living/playing environment, ect. The quad is in decent condition, it's dirty, has a soldering gun wound, and some rack wear. I took the top off to see if everything looked "stock" sad to say it seems someone has been tinkering with this amp, might be for repairs, to mod, who knows. Mesa HQ is 20 mins up the road so I might drop by so they can give it a look. There are some unknown tubes, cheapies maybe? Some are blank, some say P.R.C.12ax7a, and one is labeled realistic long life. LOL

I hooked it up to my RKII power section, got a little play time, and I must say I am impressed. Man! that GEQ is crazy responsive. L1 and L2 are nice 'n' tight. Cleans and Reverb are really nice, WAIT! R1 sounds familiar, I can get a almost identical sound on the RKII. Overall the quad has a nice vocal quality to it. I'm using a old Marshall footswitch to switch channels. It's a pain and I feel like a old switch board operator, but at least I can play it.

Questions...
-Is Lead one supposed to have more gain than Lead two? I find myself turning the lead drive on L2 to 10 to keep up with L1 at 4!
-The bass, mid, treble, and push/pull knobs really don't change the sound much. The only time I notice a difference, is in R1. Is this due to the preamp tubes?

So I now have the best of both worlds, Recto and Mark... I'm totally excited, I can't wait to pick up a power amp for it. Im thinking a 20/20, or a 50/50 because of that low power mode.

MESA F0r3\/0rZ!

 

[yettoblaster]

Cool rigs they are.
I was just jawin' today with somebody here on The Boogie Board about my old Quad (and Studio Preamp too) rig a decade ago with the foot panel (and delicate nine-pin cable).
I used it with a Simul Stereo 295 (awesome) and later, a 50/50.

Excellent Blackface to MarkIV and beyond tones with mondo distortion available.

As I said earlier today, my ears still ring from that rig. :wink:

 

[Whoopysnorp]

Sounds like a cool rig man! I use a Studio Preamp myself, which I guess is basically half of a Quad. Actually, I use two: one belongs to me and I use it through a Simul 395 and a RoadReady 4x12 at our rehearsal space, and the other one belongs to my roommate and I use it through the effects return of a Kustom solid state 1x12 combo in our apartment. I've been doing some record testing on this 1/2" 8 track analog machine I just got by miking the combo at very low volumes and getting all of the tone from the preamp, and I've gotta say, I get an unbelievably good recorded tone with that setup. I would record guitar tracks for an album with that setup no problem.

 

[Octavarius]

No, Lead 1 isn't supposed to have that much more gain than Lead 2. I think it was that Lead 2 was supposed to have a tiny bit more gain than LD1.

I'd drive up to Mesa to give it a look over and perhaps do some maintenance.

 

[straitouttahell]

Yup, today I picked Quad # 439.
-Is Lead one supposed to have more gain than Lead two?

Not really, I feel they've got pretty much the same gain amount, maybe a little bit more on LD2, but just a bit. Before retubing the pre or asking what's wrong with it, I'd just check the settings. Tweaking the Quad is pretty tricky, gain is not only affected by gain knob. For example, did you notice that Treble affects gain? Or that Treble Shift also affects gain? What's the first volume knob set at?

-The bass, mid, treble, and push/pull knobs really don't change the sound much. The only time I notice a difference, is in R1. Is this due to the preamp tubes?

That's also partially true. My feeling is that Bass and Mid aren't as dramatic as on other amps, but other settings (like Treble) tend to increase this behaviour. You get the "worst" with GEQ on and V-Shaped: Bass and Mid become more like a shade in the overall tone rather than tone controls. It is all explained on the manual, anyway.

Hey, I hope my english is clear enough. I'm quite tired, and that's not my mother language after all

 

[Blueracer]

Questions...
-Is Lead one supposed to have more gain than Lead two? I find myself turning the lead drive on L2 to 10 to keep up with L1 at 4!

This question was addressed in a previous thread. The link to this thread is

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?p=125881&highlight=#125881

Towards the bottom look at the post by AdmiralB . There is a resistor that most likely should be 22K that is 220K. This is appears to be a design flaw and causes a significant difference in volume between L1 and L2 as well as R1 and R2. As I posted then this was a very good catch by AdmiralB. Hope this helps.

 

[MetalMatt]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I guess I should have updated my post. The gain difference was because of operator error, not the equipment. The Quad is so awesome. My next move is buying some good preamp tubes, these are too noisy, and go micro too easily. I have a feeling this will greatly improve the sound that I am already enjoying. I will do the whole drop by Mesa (ask them about the resistor), shop for a power amp, find or build a footswitch when time and money permits.

straitouttahell: Yes the quad is a tricky little beast. At first I didn't notice how the settings affected the gain and each other, I do now. I have been messing around with the quad often, and like the Road King before it, I am starting to understand how it reacts with itself. (BTW I had no problem reading you post, your English is great)

Blueracer: Thanks for the link. I'm not sure if that is the problem I was having. Although there is a volume difference between the channels (a slight one) but nothing that was described by FF5. Maybe the guy who had this before me got this problem fixed?


So these are the setting I have so far. Again using my RK as a power amp. I get a very aggressive tone when using raw mode vs clean mode, and all the tube options is too fun. :idea: Mesa needs to make a progressive linkage power amp with 6L6's, EL34 and EL84 :idea:
Bold = Pulled
Channel 1: Volume(7)Treble(6)Bass(3)Middle(7)Master(5)LeadDrive(6)LeadMaster(4)
R1=Nice sparkling clean with single coils or slight breakup with humbucker.
R2= Very smooth lead.
Channel 2: Volume(9)Treble(8)Bass(4)Middle(5)Master(5)LeadDrive(6)LeadMaster(4)
L1= LOL I'm not sure what it wants to be. R1 with breakup or a low gain R2
L2= Heavy Rhythm w/eq scooped.

Thanks again!

 

[Blueracer]

Blueracer: Thanks for the link. I'm not sure if that is the problem I was having. Although there is a volume difference between the channels (a slight one) but nothing that was described by FF5. Maybe the guy who had this before me got this problem fixed?

Thanks again!

Perhaps the previous owner had this fixed. From what I have read the volume discrepency between channels 1 and 2 is usually significant. It was described as one of those "just learn to live with it" sort of situations. This is not surprising if the resistor in question is the larger value. Regardless it sounds like your beast is working well for you. I am also looking to purchase one of these gems and will be able to also enjoy the tonal bliss that will accompany it. Hope the link was helpful if not to you then to someone else that happened to read this thread. Cheers.