Amp suggestions for hard rock/metal in pubs

timmysoft · July 2015

chrishill901 said:

Interesting wild card, will check it out.

Don't like the tubemeister, have played through one, but certainly fits the bill on paper, good suggestion.

Evh 5150 is too heavy, otherwise I'd be all over it!

Hmm Jet city or Laney? Might be worth the 2 hour round trip to the nearest laney dealer first?

I didn't like the tubemeister until I tried the 30th anniversary edition, it's amazing how much difference the valves can make.

mudslide73 · July 2015

ICBM said:

Jet City JCA50H and Harley Benton Vintage 212. I doubt the 22 will be loud or chunky enough.

The Jet City fizz can be cured by clipping two caps. That's why they're so bright, not the power - I just did this to my friend's one and now he doesn't run it with the treble and presence at zero .

Apologies if yours was the perfect amp otherwise! The good news is they're not expensive even new...

@ICBM I've trawled through the Jet City threads but there's not a definitive component number for the bright caps... which ones do I snip? They seem to want to give all their mods a name rather than a description. A great amp but as you say - I need to have the treble and presence on zero.

ICBM · July 2015

mudslide73 said:

@ICBM I've trawled through the Jet City threads but there's not a definitive component number for the bright caps... which ones do I snip? They seem to want to give all their mods a name rather than a description. A great amp but as you say - I need to have the treble and presence on zero.

C21 (overdrive channel) and C28 (crunch channel) - not C27 unless you want the overdrive channel *really* dark. Be careful because C27 looks like it should be for the crunch channel.

Don't take them out entirely, just carefully cut one leg and pull the cap up enough to leave a gap, that way it will be easy to re-solder if you ever want to put it back.

That essentially gives it the same voicing as an SLO, although it still doesn't sound 'the same'.

mudslide73 · July 2015

^^ Thanks matey. I'll snip and report back!

Fez · July 2015

@ICBM are the caps identified by legends on the PCB?

I would defo like to do this with mine. @mudslide73 any chance you could post a couple of pics?

It's a great rig though and if you do need more gain pick up a second hand Bad Monkey.

ICBM · July 2015

Fez said:

@ICBM are the caps identified by legends on the PCB?

Yes.

They're all in the lower right corner of this pic -

http://www.captainbob.de/publicuse/jca50h_depthmod.jpg

ThePrettyDamned · July 2015

ICBM;693333" said:
[quote=mudslide73]
@ICBM I've trawled through the Jet City threads but there's not a definitive component number for the bright caps... which ones do I snip? They seem to want to give all their mods a name rather than a description. A great amp but as you say - I need to have the treble and presence on zero.

C21 (overdrive channel) and C28 (crunch channel) - not C27 unless you want the overdrive channel *really* dark. Be careful because C27 looks like it should be for the crunch channel.

Don't take them out entirely, just carefully cut one leg and pull the cap up enough to leave a gap, that way it will be easy to re-solder if you ever want to put it back.

That essentially gives it the same voicing as an SLO, although it still doesn't sound 'the same'.[/quote]

Can you mod a jca 50 to an slo circuit?

digitalscream · July 2015

@ICBM - are there any horrific, death-inducing lumps of electricity floating around down that end of the board when the thing's unplugged? If so, any idea how to mitigate that?

I'm planning on snipping those caps later today...

ICBM · July 2015

ThePrettyDamned said:
Can you mod a jca 50 to an slo circuit?

Just taking those caps out does make it very close. There are still a couple of small differences, including pot values - but which I suspect wouldn't really change it much, since these are compensated for by equally different resistor and cap values.

I think the main difference is the size and quality of the transformers, and possibly simply that the SLO is a 100-watter and the JCA50 is a 50 - I haven't heard the JCA100 so I don't know if it's closer.

Whatever it is, the SLO is still noticeably chunkier and grittier-sounding (in a good way). The JCA is thinner and slightly buzzier.

digitalscream said:

@ICBM - are there any horrific, death-inducing lumps of electricity floating around down that end of the board when the thing's unplugged? If so, any idea how to mitigate that?

I'm planning on snipping those caps later today…

No, just turn the amp off and wait two minutes. The first stage filter caps have divider resistors (the ones to the left of the two largest black caps in that pic) so the caps will all discharge through them. They're downstream of the standby switch so that makes no difference either.

digitalscream · July 2015

Excellent stuff. I just snipped 'em, and I'm still alive.

Oh, and yes...the amp sounds much better, especially at low volumes. Result, and thanks @ICBM

gubble · July 2015

I now really want to try this on my amp - but am a little scared.

Anyone in the new forest / bournemouth area fancy giving it a go in exchange for some cash / beer / a boat ride ?

paul_backskin · July 2015

awesome @ICBM. Sounds like just what I need to do to mine. I've also picked up a JCA22H for at home/smaller gigs, which I've not had the chance to use yet... Are those caps on that too and easy enough to snip do you know?

I find a lot of the jet city mod threads confusing. Stuff in principle sounds simple, but I until I see some idiot proof pictures and guide I'm dubious of doing stuff myself. I want to do the depth mod too.

ICBM · July 2015

In the JCA22H it looks like it's just C6 - equivalent to C21 in the 50 - there is no bright cap on the normal channel. But the schematic I have is not official so it's possible there is one - although there is no gap in the number sequence and the others are all accounted for.

It would appear to be in the logical place right behind the overdrive channel gain control - and there also doesn't appear to be one on the normal channel (as with the 50, C5 - equivalent to C27 - is for the overdrive channel).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/fastredponycar/Guitar/Jet City JCA22H/untitled-2181.jpg

As before, only cut one side of the cap and lift the leg enough to leave a gap (a tiny gap is fine, as long as the metal isn't touching), so you can re-solder it if you decide you don't like it.

digitalscream · July 2015

@ICBM - that does tally with my experience of the JCA22H, because it had a much less toppy rhythm channel. I thought that might've been a consequence of the extra gain available (gain results in more low-end on all Jet City amps, for some reason), but clearly there's an actual reason for it.

ICBM · July 2015

digitalscream said:

@ICBM - that does tally with my experience of the JCA22H, because it had a much less toppy rhythm channel. I thought that might've been a consequence of the extra gain available (gain results in more low-end on all Jet City amps, for some reason), but clearly there's an actual reason for it.

There really doesn't seem to be any logic to it at all, does there!

digitalscream · July 2015

gubble said:

I now really want to try this on my amp - but am a little scared.
Anyone in the new forest / bournemouth area fancy giving it a go in exchange for some cash / beer / a boat ride ?

It's not that scary, honestly - just take the chassis out, get a pair of tin snips, cut one leg of each cap and bend it up a bit. Put it all back together, and job done.

digitalscream · July 2015

ICBM said:
There really doesn't seem to be any logic to it at all, does there!

Not with the 22H, but with the 50H/100H...I can imagine Big Mike putting the bright caps in there specifically to differentiate them from the Hot Rod. Let's face it...if a £250 amp could sound fairly convincingly like a Hot Rod, that would be quite embarrassing.

Beexter · July 2015

What about an Orange? Maybe a Dark Terror or Jim Root Terror? Or even a Dual Dark if you need more "oomph"?

As an aside, I did a gig the other week where the other guitarist was playing an original Jubilee combo - it sounded fookin' awesome! Not that that helps. Just needed saying.

Fez · July 2015

Thanks @ICBM weekend project sorted out. Awesome service as usual.

chrishill901 · July 2015

Beexter said:

What about an Orange? Maybe a Dark Terror or Jim Root Terror? Or even a Dual Dark if you need more "oomph"?
As an aside, I did a gig the other week where the other guitarist was playing an original Jubilee combo - it sounded fookin' awesome! Not that that helps. Just needed saying.

I really don't like the tone of Orange amps; I've tried loads and can't get away with them. That and they are like, you know, bright orange too.

It still looks like either the JCA22H or the Laney IRT30. I would love a Rectoverb 25 - thats really more the tone im after, but the budget wont stretch.

My reservation for the JCA22H is that it is pretty 80s sounding; Im more after that low end dark thump rather than the brighter 80s sizzle. I know there is a depth mod for the JCA though, but i'm not sure how confident I'd be doing it. Snipping a cap or 2 yes, any more, definitely not!

My only reservation for the Laney is the reliability as mentioned. Tone wise I think it sounds great, i dont think it's a massive step away from a 6505 in terms of character, from what I have heard. I could purchase an optional 5 year warranty for £27 though...

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Amp suggestions for hard rock/metal in pubs

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