Recording with a Blue Angel????

[Monsta-Tone]

I am in the process of buying mdortona's Blue Angel 2x10 combo.
I replaced the original Eminence speakers with Weber Signature 10 alnico speakers.
I also popped the plastic cap out of the chassis on the back where the Ground Switch was on the earlier models and installed a switch to turn the fan on and off. This really makes the amp a lot quieter.

The serial # is 14XX.
I've been reading about the earlier ones (my previous one was 0029) having lots of noise and hum issues.
This one is nowhere near as noisy as my last one, but it still has an annoying hiss that goes away when I pull V2.
It isn't very noticable when I'm playing at low volumes, but it is there between notes.

How can I record using this amp? I am thinking that the noise will bleed through or show up when I pause or between notes.


I'm wondering about bypassing the Mojo Module or something. From what I've read, this defeats the Loop, which I am inclined to believe after looking at the drawings, since the module is the send preamp for the Loop. I'm guessing it's extremely similar to the pictures on the Subway Blues thread.


What do you BA owners do about recording? Am I worried about nothing?

 

[MikeK]

I notice a reduction in the volume of the class A hiss when I use a 12AX7 with balanced triodes in the #2 position. I also like a ballanced 5751 in #1. I haven't recorded with this amp yet, so that might not be of much help to you. My amp left the factory in 2001, that makes it one of the newer ones. It has always been quiet in my opinion, and I never thought it had the noise level that I've read others talked about, even with stock tubes. I thought of trying a 12AT7 in #2 but haven't been motivated to switch from the setup I'm currently using.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I'll try that. I think I have a ballanced 12AX7 floating around somewhere.
It goes away when I pull V1 too though, so I'm not sure if that will help.
I might try a 12AY7 in V1 too.

 

[MikeK]

I'm interested in what you find out if you bypass the mojo module and the loop. I never use the loop except for some occasional experimentation.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I'm hoping to do it this afternoon while the baby is asleep. I'm on Mr. Mom duty this weekend.

Seems like a loop in this type of amp is almost not needed. Although, I did soup mine up a bit!

 

[tiktok]

I've got a 1x12 Blue Angel, and any amp noise is always obscured by the rest of the band or tape hiss, so I never worried about it.

Blue Angels came with fans?

 

[94Tremoverb]

A 12AY7 in V2 is what this amp needs - it totally removes the nasty hiss and the slightly excessive midrange character. V2 is the most important tube in the amp, not V1. I also put 12AT7s in V3 and V5, reverb drive and phase inverter, which improved the reverb tone and the overall clarity of the amp.

A balanced tube will do absolutely nothing in V1 by the way - the second half of the tube isn't used for anything! It's a cathode follower that goes nowhere. In the Maverick this configuration is used to drive the clean channel tone stack in Fat mode, but in the Blue Angel Randall Smith must have originally intended to do the same thing, then decided not to use it for that after all (the Fat mode works differently), but never took it out of the circuit.

Actually balanced tubes are never worth the money since there is almost no configuration in any guitar amp where the two halves of the tube are used symetrically (including phase inverters), or even for the same function, hence having them balanced is irrelevant. Apologies if this isn't what you want to hear after spending money on a balanced tube... you may have got a slightly nicer sounding tube, but not because it's balanced.