Making my '65 DRRI sound even lovelier?

BintyTwanger77

This amp is so good. Since I've had it, I've been playing far more without pedals as well. The reverb & vibrato on it, playing my Tele straight in on the bridge pickup...pure retro twangy aceness.

Sometimes when it's cranked to about 5, I've found some of the clarity is lost and the bass end is a little bit flubby, and I could do with just a little bit more clean headroom, though not a huge amount. It I wanted acres of clean headroom, I would've bought a Twin.

I have a Cannabis Rex speaker lying around from when it was in my old HRDIII. Would putting this speaker and some 6L6 tubes into the '65 DRRI smooth out the bass end a bit and help with a bit more clean headroom before break-up?

Jimbro66

I assume you've already tried plugging into the second, less sensitive, input of the vibrato channel? That normally gives a little more clean headroom with a Tele and less flub.

BintyTwanger77

A little bit, yes. My dirt pedals seem to sound better in the normal channel, though. I've been advised that replacing the rectifier with a solid state one will help.

ICBM

BintyTwanger77 said:

I have a Cannabis Rex speaker lying around from when it was in my old HRDIII. Would putting this speaker and some 6L6 tubes into the '65 DRRI smooth out the bass end a bit and help with a bit more clean headroom before break-up?

Yes.

Bear in mind you will need to re-bias for 6L6s. There should be *just* enough range on the trimmer, although you may need it up full. Even if the current ends up a little high it should be OK since the DR has fairly low voltages for 6L6s.

A plug-in solid-state rectifier in place of the valve will help too, although that will also increase the voltage slightly.

Of the three I would do the speaker first if it's a thicker, smoother tone that's the main priority, and the valves (6L6s first) if clarity and headroom is... if that makes sense!

earwighoney

Maybe drink a few beers?  

Or play through a really crappy old Park transistor practise amp for a few hours? 

That should make your Fender sound nicer. 

BintyTwanger77

@ICBM Would just replacing the rectifier be a simple case of swapping it out, I wouldn't need to do anything else?

ICBM

You still need to check the bias - it's more critical with 6V6s because they will be running right at the top of their voltage range.

I probably wouldn't do it unless you're also fitting 6L6s since by itself it's the least effective of the three.

Gassage

@bintytwanger77

Two suggestions:

1) The Weber alnico- utterly lovely in this and makes a quantum improvement
2) If you can find a vintage JBL D120F then you'll be in tonal nirvana.

Lebarque

@bintytwanger77
Before you do all that, do you really need the extra volume? A Deluxe on 4 is pretty loud and not much different than 5, just cleaner. This volume is perfect for band rehearsals and small gigs IMO. Make sure you point the amp towards your ears rather than ankles when playing? (Ear plugs advised!) Roll back your guitar volume a little bit? A 6v6 Deluxe just on the edge of breaking up is one of the best tones out there - just right.

menamestom

I would just change th speaker since you have it lying around. Possibly all you need. I like the Cannabix Rex, it's a nice speaker.

ChrisCox1994

I never found my DRri too quiet, the break up never gets nasty till later on with the stock jensen I had, but then again i wanted earlier breakup so the greenback does the job for that... 

Kebabkid

Jesse Hoffs of Lazy J does a few nice mods. He works a couple of days a week out of Chandler Guitars, Kew so phone them if interested

ICBM

Lebarque said:

@bintytwanger77
Before you do all that, do you really need the extra volume? A Deluxe on 4 is pretty loud and not much different than 5, just cleaner. This volume is perfect for band rehearsals and small gigs IMO. Make sure you point the amp towards your ears rather than ankles when playing? (Ear plugs advised!) Roll back your guitar volume a little bit? A 6v6 Deluxe just on the edge of breaking up is one of the best tones out there - just right.

For me it's not about the volume - they're loud enough and do sound great for that natural break-up they have… *if* that's how you use them. (Or with a mild overdrive pedal.)

It's the tightness and clarity that's more of an issue - if you use heavier distortion and need the amp to not mush out on big chords, they are not only not that loud, they have too much sag and flub and sound mushy. I've never found a stock one quite enough - although it is very close - so I understand where BintyTwanger is coming from.

If anything some of that excessive flub is because stock OT ratio is wrong for 6V6s with an 8-ohm speaker too, not just the power - changing to 6L6s corrects that and inherently tightens up the low-end as well as giving slightly more power. Some people prefer to use a 16-ohm speaker with the 6V6s.