Studio 22, a good baby MarkI clone?

[Driss]

Hi guys,

I am in a market for a small amp (no mor than 30W), that would sound similar to Mark I, which I own today. (I have a reissue)
My problem is that this suckr needs to be turned up over 3 to sound really good, other it is kind of thin and buzzy.
Any suuggestion to gte that fat glassy distortion , a la Santana, in the small package. Many people have suggested the Stusio 22.
Has anyone tried the studio 22 and Mark I reissue? what are your findings?
I have tried 2 attenuator, and I just don't like it.

Thanks
(i will not sell the Mark I btw, I will keep that for GIGS that require volume)

 

[boogee]

Hi there.

Use the search option and you shall find... Here are a few nice clips a fellow forum member (mrmot) made with his Studio 22:

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=8079&highlight=studio

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=8030&highlight=studio


I love the sound of the Studio 22... I purchased one a while ago and it gets more playtime than my other amps. In my opinion it has a fantastic sound even at low(er) levels. Get the one with the 5 band graph equalizer and almost any sound is possible. I can't compare it with the Mark I though, because I never played one.

Cheers,

Humphrey

 

[Driss]

Thanks Boogee. I am not sure if it is my ears, but seems that a MarkI needs to be dialed up to sound good.
I wonder if the other Mark family have the same issues when playing at low volume.
(Don't get me wrong, it is still a very good amp but too buzzy for my taste at low volume)

 

[RR]

For me, of the Mark Series, I find the Mark I, II my favorite because it does a mild breaks that I prefer. Like all tube amps, you have to higher the volume so you don't get all that fizzy preamp distortion blending them with power tube drive (what you are experiencing).

The Studio .22 preamp is a bit more sensitive compared to Mark I. It breaks up much quicker. That is great for heavier stuff and metal. One of the members here has clips of his Studio .22 and its more on the heavier side.

With a Studio .22, already at (preamp) volume "3" surpass the gain of a Mark I. So to lower the sensitively of the preamp gain you have to fiddle with the V1, and V2 preamp tubes. Switch these 12AX7 tubes to either 5751 and / or 12AY7 which a few members suggested.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=7512&start=0

So far I like the V1 with a 12AX7 and the V2 with a 12AY7. Now you turn the (preamp) volume to "6" and be in the Mark I territory.

Studio .22 still going to be a little different than a Mark I because the Mark I uses 6L6s, while the Studio .22 uses a pair El84s so there some upper harmonics compared to the full sounding of 6L6s but the trade-off, you'll save your hearing.

The stock Eminence (Black Shadow Vintage - not Celestion Vintage 30) is an o-kay speaker but I would prefer changing to another and so far for my taste a Tone Tubby Ceramic suits me fine.

 

[Driss]

Thank you RR for the tips about the preamp tubes.
One thing I did with the MarkI is to lower V1 and V2 volume to , let say 5, turn the master up, but I loose too much sustain that way unfortunately.
I like to set Volume 1 and volume 2 at 7, guitar knob at about 7.5 and play that way.

 

[Bob Anthony]

...You really can't go wrong with a .22, esp. with EQ--lots of tweakable tones, a better clean sound than some say, JJ tubes all the way through help the tone and really help the reverb. It can be a bit noisy, but a dynamite do-it-all amp that won't give you back trouble.