Studio 22+ info and recomendations

[Monsta-Tone]

I got my 22+ in today and have been running it through it's paces all afternoon.

I really like the clean channel, but the Lead channel leaves something to be desired. It seems like no matter what I do, it is exactly the same tone (yeah, I know it shares the parametric EQ) as the rythm channel, only a bit more gritty.

I've tried different preamp tubes and using the graphic EQ on the Lead channel only.

When I turn the Treble up like the manual says, it just sounds junky and thin. Even with the Presence turned all the way down.




On the other hand, the clean channel sounds incredible with my McCarty. I tried my Bluesbreaker II through this channel and it sounded great. I was almost sold until I remembered that I had a Carl Martin Hot Drive-n-Boost II sitting around doing nothing.

The Hot Drive-n-Boost really opened the amp up and made it sing.

I just might never plug the channel switching pedal in again. It sounded so much better with the Carl Martin into the clean channel than I could get the Lead channel to sound.


Anybody out there able to get great Cleans and Overdrives out of the amp without changing knobs between switching channels?

Also, I replaced V1 with a JJ (and an Electro Harmonix), and V2 with a JJ. The V2 JJ seemed to really open the amp up as well, but the EH in V1 seemed to make it more harsh. The JJ in V1 sounded great, but not much crunch.


I also replaced the Phase Inverter with a JJ. The Power Tubes are plenty hot enough and do not rattle or fart out, so I left them for now.

 

[RR]

Did you try 5751 V1 socket and a 12YA on the V2 sockets?

The lead channel's gain is quite high with both 12AX7s. Great for metal, but not for moderate gain style.

Also try a different speaker. The Eminence Black Shadow is an o-kay aquate speaker but others could change a little.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I don't have too much distortion, I have none.

I couldn't get a good metal tone out of this thing to save my life. I'm not really planning on trying, mind you, but I would like some more crunch.



I'm using a McCarty with stock pickups and it makes my Heartbreaker sing.

The McCarty also sounds incredible on the 22+ Clean channel, but absolutely terrible on the Lead channel.



FWIW: The power tubes failed this morning, so replacing them may have some affect on the lead channel, but I don't think it will be much.

 

[RR]

I don't have too much distortion, I have none.

I couldn't get a good metal tone out of this thing to save my life. I'm not really planning on trying, mind you, but I would like some more crunch.

:?: :?: :?:
Gosh, I thought you were trying to clean up the distortion because for me (my Studio .22+) anything above "5" on the lead was over saturated distortion. It doesn't get anymore distorted between 5-7. And too me, for my application I wanted the "3" setting to be somewhere like "7". But it distorted too quickly. That's why I suggested lower gain tubes.

By the way, my suggestion above the trade-off you will lose some of the saturation drive.

But I have no clue what's wrong with your Studio .22 because another member puts some pretty mean metal clips recorded from his Studio .22.
:?

 

[Mrmot]

Hey, have you solved something with your Studio.22? That's really strange cause mine has more than enough gain for metal. You know that both "volume" (rhythm channel gain) and "lead master" (lead channel gain) affect the amount of gain on the lead channel? When I play with my band I put the volume on around 2-3 and lead master on about 5, sometimes even less and it chugs like crazy, pinch-harmonics without a problem.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I haven't.

I called Mesa last week, but the guy who services these amps was on vacation.



I'm really swamped with work this week and can't get to it next week.

There is definitely something wrong with it, but the components are on the bottom of the board, so I can't troubleshoot it without a board layout.




I had the Volume on 10, Lead Master Volume on 10, Master on 3 and I couldn't even get Santana out of it. It sounds pretty thin too on the Lead channel. I don't know if it's a switching problem where not all the signal is going through the LDR's, or if it is a problem with the Lead Master pot, or Lead circuit (which is injected in front of the Rythm channel).



I'll get it figured out though for sure.

Thanks for the info guys, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[LHanson]

Fix it yet?

I've been off the board for a month or so...


I agree with the other guys that chimed in- anything over 3 on the volume with the lead pulled should be distorted.

I had a thought: The switching from rythym to lead is done with optical switches, for no noise when switching. I think there are 5 or so of these switches. Maybe one went bad?

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I had a thought: The switching from rythym to lead is done with optical switches, for no noise when switching. I think there are 5 or so of these switches. Maybe one went bad?

This is pretty much the conclusion that I came to as well. I went through several things with George Mueller from Mesa, but at the time, my test gear consisted of just a meter and a guitar.

I replaced the entire footswitch power supply, but not the LDR's. I plan on doing this sometime this week.

I put a meter across the resistor side of LDR 1 and it shows about 1.8k ohms of resistance. I'm pretty sure that this is the culprit, but will replace 1,2 & 4 just for good measure. 1 is the signal into V1, 2 is the signal out, and 4 is the Master Volume pot for the Lead channel.

The Lead Master Volume has no effect on the Volume until it is down to 1. From 1 to 10 is exactly the same volume.



We just remodelled our Lighting Store so that we could open a Music Store in the same building, so things are a bit crazy for the next few weeks. I have a month of paper work to catch up on as well.


I will definitely post my findings.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

It was LDR's 1 & 2.

I was pretty sure that they weren't letting enough signal through, but what a pain to get to them.

I had to partially remove the board and then replace them on the top of the board for future reference.

The diode in the LDR power supply had failed and was letting AC through. I'm pretty sure that this took them out.




Here's the kicker though: The resistance on the switching mechanisms are exactly the same as that of the old ones.

When the switch is open, it is somewhere around 5 Mega ohms.

When they are closed, LDR 1 has 1.5k ohms, and LDR 2 has about 895 ohms. This is almost exactly the readings that the old ones had.



I also did a filter cap replacement since the amp was open. Now it screams.


Thanks for all of the help and encouragement guys. I was almost ready to think that this amp had no balls.

 

[RR]

That's good to hear!

Yeah, I figure it was a pain in the neck when the whole PC board is upside down once you open the chassis, well mine is.

Just curious, in your opinion, how difficult would it be to install a rectifier switch from diode to tube rectifier? I know a hole would have to be drilled for the rectifier tube (5YA? 5U4?).

But then again, some say you could simulate "tube" sag with diode wired with a resistor.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

http://www.webervst.com/ccap.html


These are the easiest way to go. They make these in a separate housing so that they can be mounted inside the Amp's chassis.

They also make some that mount to a tube socket, but drilling a hole in your chassis might de-value the amp.


Aside from the tube socket for a real tube rectifier, you would also need a 5 vac transformer for the filament voltage for a rectifier tube.




I've used Copper Caps in several amps with really good results.