Suggestions regarding OD channel

[kennslp]

I took my DC-3 over to Davidson electronics recently, as the amp had been having some issues. Scratchy pots, volume fading in and out, inconsistent tone... I bought the amp new in 95-96, and she'd never been serviced. I am sure I could have thrown some new tubes and solved many issues, but I decided to have it looked at by professionals. Anyway, got the amp back and....whoa... The clean channel has NEVER sounded so good! Clear and crisp w/ tons of headroom. Spanky cleans and nice overdrive when you up the gain. My issue: Channel 2 is sounding a bit grainy. I've been tweaking the amp to try and dial that out, but so far no luck. They replaced the original mesa tubes w/ Electro Harmonix EL84's & 12ax7's. I am hesitant to change the tubes as I don't want to change the character of the clean channel AT ALL.

So what do you think? Any suggestions to dial-out the grainy tone? Should I try different tubes? Let me know your thoughts. Thanks folks!

-K

 

[MJ Slaughter]

I'm really not qualified to answer because I've never played a DC-3, mine is a DC-10, but I was under the impression that the DC-3 with EL84s would not be as smooth as a DC with 6L6s which I personally don't think is a bad thing. Just different. What all did they do to your amp? From the tube Tube Task Chart it looks like you can play around with V2 & V3 without affecting your clean channel. Might also ask your tech what he did that altered the tone. If he replaced the big blue caps then I could see how over time very gradually your tone could change without much notice but re-capping it would bring it back to life and sound different.

Currently I'm considering buying a DC-3 but have been concerned that the clean channel may not stay spanky clean at loud levels. Do you find that you can play loud without any breakup easily keeping up with a hard hitting drummer? I want a small amp to use in a modern country band and some songs need absolute clean and punchy tones. I tried to buy a Fender Deluxe Reverb but just can't bring my self to doing that. Mesa has never let me down where Fender, I hear, can be not as reliable.

 

[kennslp]

My experiences would agree with what you say about the DC-3 vs. the DC-10; The DC-10's that I have played seemed to have a "creamier" overdrive than the el-84 equipped DC-3. Th DC-3 seems to be edgier; punchier, if that makes sense.

The tech didn't do too much. Just a thorough cleaning and tube replacement. I'll have to try a couple of different preamp tubes to see if I can get rid as theof the graininess I mentioned. Suggestions as to which ones to try?

As far the amp staying clean at loud levels, well it does reasonably well here. It does not have as much headroom as my bigger amp (Stage I Stiletto), but I had no problems playing clean w/ a drummer at practice recently. I don't know if it would be loud enough for a gig though; Probably depend on the size of the venue. From readinf the forum I note many folks using these amps live, so it may just work for you...

-K

 

[billboogie]

Every amp (4 differant types) I have put EH tubes in become grainier in overdrive. I found then fine for cleans (top end chime) but not so much for dirtier tones. My .02

 

[MJ Slaughter]

I couldn't resist it any longer and had to know so I bought a DC-3 combo recently to use in a modern country/rock band. For me the amp works well for that music and classic rock as well. Certainly doesn't have the head room or girthy sound of my DC-10 but I didn't think it would. Both channels are distinctively different from each amp and I really enjoy the lead channel as well. Not well suited for all kinds of music but I don't know what amp is.

To the OP, I don't know what you could do to the change the lead channel but I like it the way it is. All I did was up new JJ el84's in, check the preamp tubes, pots, jacks, caps all appear good. Now I almost forgot that the amp didn't not come with a Vintage 30 but a Celestion V12-60 which sounds surprisingly good and smoother to me than a V30. You could experiment with speakers but thats going to affect the clean channel too of course. Not sure yet if I will use this amp with my rock bands but it is sure a great grab-n-go amp for rehearsals and small gigs.