Still.... not completely satisfied with my RK. HELP!!!!!!!

[RoadKinger483]

ok, so like I posted a while back I feel like I have found the perfect tube combonation for my amp. (2 E34LS's, 4 6L6S's, 1 12AX7C, 2 JJECC83's, and 2 12AX7M's All Groove Tubes) My distortion on the amp is AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT. However the clean channels are a different story. For channel 1 I have the toggle switch to clean and I'm running 4 6L6's with the diode setting. For some rason I REALLY DON"T THINK the amp is putting out a 100 watts. First off I remeber my dual rec head sound louder and cleaner than this amp. I'm using the exact same settings on the amp as I did on my dual rec and it doesn't sound anywhere near as good. Here are my settings...

Gain.... 12 o'clock
Treble.... 11-12 o'clock
Mid.... 7-8 o'clock
Bass.... 10-11 o'clock
Presence.... 3 o'clock
Master.... 3 o'clock or higher

I usually play either my PRS Custom 22 or Les Paul which both have vintage ouput pickups's i the bridge postions; (SH1-59 in the PRS and 57 Classic in the Les Paul) so I know I can't be pushing the preamp to hard with these pickups. The clean just sounds like it's dirty, not punchy, and lacking in power, voulume and headroom. Could it be something wrong with the amp itself? Like, the output transformer, or perhaps the tubes I have? I really need your guys help because right now I feel like I thrown $2,200 down the drain.

 

[Platypus]

I would say the JJ's are definitely NOT helping your clean tone out one bit...especially if they are 'high gain' rated.

For the best cleans, use the 6L6's with the tube rectifiers

 

[siggy14]

I have also found it i activate Loop 2 i get more volume, even if i am not using the loop. I have to experiment more with this however.

 

[mrd]

Try turning your gain down to 11 o clock, and use fat or tweed modes. I find the clean switch on RKs to be very bare and, well.. clean sounding. Fat and tweed modes add a bit of extra oomph that make the sound feel like its right in your face but it's still crystal clear.

 

[RoadKinger483]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I went to Guitar Center today and picked up a quad of 6L6 GE's with a 5 rating so I'm gonna try those out. The volume issue is what really bothers me though. My reissue Bassman and AC30 are way louder and are less wattage than 100. I just don't get it. Am I missing something???

 

[Russ]

Try turning your guitar volume down when playing clean along with preamp gain. Try swapping a 12ax7M into V1 also. The C and the JJ will not give you great cleans. The C tends to be gainy and grainy. The JJ is much the same but darker. The M should give you a much rounder tone and a better clean.

 

[mjstk1]

Check your loop activation switch. Toggle between loops and no loops and see if they are the same volume. If they are not, the loop send pot is not set high enough. I thought my RK sounded a little dull and my send pot was turned down a bit. I got loops and no loops the same volume and it sounded better.

 

[RoadKinger483]

Well.... I'm a 100% sure that it's not loop level related. I'm really getting curious about the transformers on the amp. Do any of you guys know how to test them with a multimeter to see if they're up to spec?

 

[RoadKinger483]

I tried the 6L6GE's in the amp and I'm really digging the tone now. I thought the JJ's were pretty good but after heaing these babie's there is no comparison. As for the 12AX7C, it sounds ok. Not, to gainy or grindy but, I do have a 12AX7M also and I'm going to swap out the C in V1 with the M to see what kind of results I get. The Volume thing is still getting to me. I have the master on CH.1 at 3 o'clock with the FX Loop engaged and I have the overall volume of the amp at 12 or 1. Do these seem like normal settings? I can't remebeer if I ran my DR this high but, I'm thinking I didn't; and I was way louder. Would the Black Shadows be making the difference? I use to run my DR with a Standard Mesa 4x12 with Vintage 30's. I know the V30's are supposed to project more and sound louder than a regular 70 watt speaker. I just don't know????? :?

 

[Platypus]

Those 6L6's rule.. I have a quad in my Mark IV and they're amazing... can you say HEADROOM?

 

[kingster911]

i am actually not satisfied with ch's 3 and 4. 3 i like a little more for leads but it's still extremely hard for me to get a liquid lead out of it. also, i do think the high gain ch's are lower volume or somethin cuz I haven't been able to be much heavier than my drummer while jamming. I have loop 2 active and the send up past 12 oclock, anyone know what's up?

 

[RoadKinger483]

I'm actually pretty happy with CH. 3 and 4. For channel 3 I use the 50 watt setting with E34L's in Vintage mode. I LOVE IT!!!! CH. 4 I use 2 E34L's and 2 6L6's and it's pure aggression in modern mode. Like I said when i started this thread I hate the clean I was getting. However now with the GE tubes it seems to be better. I won't really know for sure until my gig's this weekend. On that note, do any of you guys have any links that explain transformers and how to test them and what they do? I still think something is wrong with the volume issue.

 

[Russ]

i am actually not satisfied with ch's 3 and 4. 3 i like a little more for leads but it's still extremely hard for me to get a liquid lead out of it.

Sounds like you are looking for Mark series leads. Those can only be had in Mark series amps. Similarly, Rec bottom and looseness can't be had in a Mark.

 

[Boogiebabies]

Are your speaker assignments correct? If your speaker assignment is wrong it will half the volume or worse. Makes sure they are all assigned to the output taps as in the upper speaker outs to Speaker A. If they are set wrong, the only thing saving your OT is that grounding plug.

 

[RoadKinger483]

My speaker assingments are definitely hooked up right, and engaged right on every channel. Does it matter where the grounding plug is connected? A or B???

 

[RoadKinger483]

Could the volume issue I'm addressing here be due to the fact that I'm only running the RK through 2 12's and on my DR I was using 4 12's? I just reall can't help but feel that running 4 6L6's should be way louder.

 

[dogboy131]

Put it all stock. I went through all of the tubes under the sun. then I played a stock Boogie and I was pissed. Sounded better than mine. I reset mine back to all stock and it is much better.

 

[RoadKinger483]

After gigging for the past 2 nights I can conclude that I AM NOT A JJ 6L6 FAN. Like I posted earlier I bought some 6L6GE tubes and ****!!!! did they sound AWESOME!!!!! I still have to swap out the 12AX7C in V1 for the 12AX7M I have but, so far so good. With these tubes I didn't have to change my settings much on the amp except I found my self dialing in more mids slightly. However, it did cut through the mix pretty well.

 

[RoadKinger483]

Well..... I took some advice of a good friend of mine and bought a BBE Sonic Stomp pedal. I'm running into my FX Loop 1. WOW!!!!!! I didn't really think my tone had this blanket over it but after using this pedal I don't think I'll ever turn it off. (In fact I haven't!!!!!!!) The cleans just seem to leap out of the speakers efffortlessly and the drive sounds sound thighter and more focused. What's great about the pedals as well is that it is not like an EQ at all. Your not boosting or cutting frequencies your just enhancing what your amp is already doing. CHECK ONE OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!