Jazz Mode Video Demo With Stratocaster and 102

[Chris Brown]

Chris, what pickups do you have in your strat?

The neck is from an Amalfitano 62 set and the middle is the neck pickup of an Amalfitano SP set. I like the hotter middle pickup set lower for the 2/4 settings.

The bridge is a DiMarzio DP188 Pro Track. To me, it's the best sc sized humbucker on the market. I would put it up against a full-sized paf copy any day.

[Chris Brown]

Chris, what pickups do you have in your strat?

The neck is from an Amalfitano 62 set and the middle is the neck pickup of an Amalfitano SP set. I like the hotter middle pickup set lower for the 2/4 settings.

The bridge is a DiMarzio DP188 Pro Track. To me, it's the best sc sized humbucker on the market. I would put it up against a full-sized paf copy any day.

I just realized the guitar in the video is my 84 vintage reissue and it has the original pickups... they are pretty low output, similar to what you would expect in any good 50s style strat pickups.

[JD0x0]

Chris
Thanks for the video. Tone is a little easier to discuss with videos and sound files that we can all reference. I've been working on dialing the strat OD tone on my amp. I've found some success in both Rock and Jazz mode but in both cases I've had roll off the volume on my guitar. As an experiement try turning your guitar volume down to say 5 or 6, turn up your amp master volume to compensate, and I think you see will that the overdriven treble is not as harsh. Then roll of more treble with the guitar treble controls if needed. In my case, it does help eliminate some of the harsh fizzyness that rides on top of the sound.

Keep in mind that I may be searching a different tone than what you are looking for. I'm looking for something closer to what Gil (ayan) demonstrates on his strat/102 OD in his sound clip on page 4 of this thread:
https://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... 9&start=45

PIckups are also very important. I have a strat and a tele both with noiseless pickups. I have no problem getting nice OD sounds with the tele but struggle with the strat. I think this is because standard tele pickups are higher output than strat pickups.

In the sound file that I just referenced, I believe Gil uses Fender 57/62 pickups in his strat. Based on a pickup comparison article by Fender, 57/62s are some of the highest single coil output pickups that Fender makes. Maybe that's a clue?
https://www.fender.com/articles/gear/a- ... er-pickups

Since pickups seem to be an important part of the SKyliner/NON HRM/OD sound it would helpful to know what pickups your strat has.

Thanks again for posting your video,
Don

Don
Funny you should mention Gil Ayan
Here is what he says about using Silver Mica caps in his ODS.

Those who have heard the words of Ken Fisher and David Funk are aware of the fact that these folks endorse the use of silver mica caps in Fenders and perhaps other amps as well. It has been my experience that in Fenders, the SM add a nice shimemr to the sound and for whatever reason, since they are more expensive perhaps, I stocked SMs over the years.



So, in my "D clone" I used silver micas without giving it a second thought. I will always struggle to get a better sound, as probably most of us will, because it is my genes... but, today I replaced the SMs with cheap 1K discs and the difference in sound was simply devastating... for the better. The harshness in the top end is greatly reduced (I would say "gone," but I know I will find something esle tomorrow), so much so that I don't really need to dial out treble after the OD to prevent my ears from hurting.



So, just this little experience of mine. If you are having trouble with a harsher top end than you'd like, get rid of those micas and perhaps you will find the results much more pleasant.

And From Scott Lerner.

A few observations....

You have a silver mica on the board in the tonestack. They don't sound as good as ceramic in the Dumble circuit.

Andy Fuchs

Silver Micas do have a unique sound of their own, (and some like the sound), but they are best used to stop oscillations and not to be listened through.

Brandon Montgomery (Bludotone)

I like the mallory 1KV disc caps .

I can list more
Tony

Y'all gotta get on the Polystyrene train. I'm loving them for Treble caps. Don't seem to be as hard or fatiguing in the high end as the SM, but smoother than the Ceramics. I wonder if anyone tries any other small value films instead of the more typical Ceramics or SM. Someone mentioned increased 2nd order harmonics with the X5F ceramics, but from all the scope traces I've seen, as audio coupler, those type of ceramics produced mainly odd order 3rd and 5th order harmonics, in small levels. Polystyrene, film, and mica in comparison seem to have relatively little THD, and I believe this is where some of the 'graininess' of those single layer ceramics can come from. I kind of like the cleaner response that Micas give, but the high end can be a bit fatiguing, which is why I've found the polystyrenes to be preferable, even though they weren't a choice Dumble made. I suspect that was more a matter of supply/availablility, rather than performance, since PS seem to have very good audio performance.

[talbany]

Since you quoted me I'll respond
I can agree with some of this however IMO it's a bit more complicated than THD or smoothness etc. in a Dumble style amp IMO.
Sure I have tried the polystyrenes and in some ways prefer them over the SM. If I had to compare them I would say that the Poly's are a smoother version of a mica in some ways. I've used them as bright caps in other amps with great success. You also have to remember that ceramics can sound drastically different manufacturer to mfgr.With voltage applied Circle D's sound different than the XF5 Spragues,sound different than the COG's Some gives you more hair around the note (odd order) and some are smoother and cleaner and warmer sounding.IMO Some worked out well in a clean amp and some in an amp with overdrive. Most of this is of course a matter of personal taste however,the main thing I like about the Spragues X5F's are they seem to work well through both clean and OD sides and are well balanced.( I couldn't bond with the OD side of the Styrenes?) This is what I was referring to about the issue Chris was having in his amp as I for the longest time had the same problem with Strats.
Understandably we are amp builders and amp tweakers here so we have the luxury of trying these different type parts and hear for ourselves which ones we prefer and there is no right or wrong. Give em a shot!

My main inspiration for building a Dumble clone was to try and replicate the sound of his amps and IMO the treble cap is a rather large part of the overall sound of a Dumble amplifier or any amplifier since we guitar players live and breathe in the treble clef frequency range (Sort of speak)
To bad they have those flimsy tiny leads on the styrenes? whats up with that

BTW. It was Randall Aiken that said the ceramics produced the odd order harmonics
Tony