I’ve been away, advise requested, rehearsal report added.

[talbany]

Thanks Bob

A couple of things?
Noise Test?
1...Is the amp noisy? at all with the amp open on the bench, running in Overdrive guitar volume (off) and you set input volume noon and both OD drive and OD levels at 3 o:clock (cranked) and Mstr @ noon How bad is the the hiss/noise? compared to the clean channel?
You can also check sensitive parts of the board if you again with the amp cranked run your hand down across the top of the board (careful not to touch it) are there any sensitive parts of the board that's picking up outside interference?
Let me know what you find?
2.Type of noise?
Does the sound your hearing sound like a kind of intermodulation distortion (Riding on or under the note) or is it blocking distortion or could it be simply too much bass in the preamp somewhere sawtooth-ing your low end at certain frequency's?.. Any one of these could be what you describe? I cannot tell by the recording.
Your clean channel sounds OK to me!


Still looking at your pictures

Tony

[bepone]

ok, when i did that it prolonged sustain on clean for me..

some pot max wires running inshielded on the right side i dont know for what those pots are, try to shield them and run against the chassis..
presence pot wires must be twisted (2 wires returning to the board from presence)
try also with the grid wires like mentioned..

NFB wire try to reroute far from the g1 grid wires..

after each strep and check if there is some difference

[erwin_ve]

Hi Bob, good to see you back! You made me do my Peavey VT conversion to HRM 12/13 yrs ago!

Anyway looking at your pics:
1. The ceramic cap to tonestack; Is this a X5F type? X5F remains smooth even when using drive, a lot of other types have a nasty overtones that pop out during overdrive.

2. On the OD section v2b you have a brown Xicon or CDE cap? Xicon is usually a polypropylene cap and can be harsh on the overtones.

3.Bias; youre sure your not underbiased? It could cause what Im hearing in the soundsample.


Erwin

[Bob-I]

Hi Bob, good to see you back! You made me do my Peavey VT conversion to HRM 12/13 yrs ago!

Anyway looking at your pics:
1. The ceramic cap to tonestack; Is this a X5F type? X5F remains smooth even when using drive, a lot of other types have a nasty overtones that pop out during overdrive.

2. On the OD section v2b you have a brown Xicon or CDE cap? Xicon is usually a polypropylene cap and can be harsh on the overtones.

3.Bias; youre sure your not underbiased? It could cause what Im hearing in the soundsample.


Erwin

My VT conversion turned out really great, I still have it and it sounds glorious, but it’s too big and heavy.

1) I don’t remember what cap is there. I usually use X5F types but it’s been awhile.
2) yes, xicon MPP cap. I wouldn’t call it harsh, a big bolder and nastier, but in a good way.
3) you might be onto something here. I’ll check it later.

[Bob-I]

3.Bias; youre sure your not underbiased? It could cause what Im hearing in the soundsample.


Erwin

Ding ding ding ... we have a winner.

My mistake was thinking the clean sounded good so it couldn't be in the power section. My notes from when I built this amp said "plate=383v, bias=48ma". When I checked today, the bias was at 30ma. Calculating that using 30 watts for the 6L6s, that's under 30%. I adjusted to 48ma which should be 65% and it just came alive.

I'm going to continue to apply some of the changes suggested by @bepone and @Erwin_ve and others, but I'm confident the original problem is solved.

Love this forum, your folks are the best. Not a single condescending word, nothing but helpful suggestions, and many folks spent considerable time helping me out!!

[drew]

Bob, when you get it where you want it, a “before and after” sound sample would be interesting, if you have the time.

[Bob-I]

Bob, when you get it where you want it, a “before and after” sound sample would be interesting, if you have the time.

Here’s the after…

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LqAEmk ... p=drivesdk

[erwin_ve]

Hi Bob,
Good to hear it is solved! Your amp sounds great lots of punch, clear low end, nice!

Erwin

[stelligan]

Here’s the after…

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LqAEmk ... p=drivesdk

I vote for the after
Makes me want to check the bias on my amps. Nice to see you back.

[Bob-I]

Don’t forget, I made a bunch of lead dress changes too. Every change made small improvements. Of course the biggie was the bias being way off.

Note to self, start with the basics.

[Bob-I]

I finally had the chance to use this amp in a band setting. My Allman Brother tribute band had a rehearsal in a nice venue with a good sound system. The chassis was installed into a Princeton reverb cab with a 12” WGS ET-65. Yes, a 12 will fit in a Princeton offset away from the trannys.

I setup my small pedal board, just a boost, ocd and a tuner. I started everything on 5, except the master and ratio. I used a hollowbody guitar with GFS PAF style pickups, always sounds great. At first I found it a bit dull, so I brought the treble up to 3:00, still a bit dull so I dimed the presence. I seldom use the presence on any of my amps, but on this one it did the trick. The amp came alive and both clean and OD sounded great.

I used the clean channel much more than I expected. Songs like Blue Sky and Rambling Man worked great, and I used the boost for just a little grit on solos and dual guitar parts. The OD was perfect on its own for the really screaming Duane or Warren tones. Whipping post, Hot Lanta, Liz Reed solos were on the money with the OD and nothing else.

Thx everyone, this will be my go to amp for awhile.

FYI, here’s the promo video for the band, I used a modified Marshall DSL40C for this session. I’m freakishly the tall guy.

https://youtu.be/6-eEKrSuf0c

[xtian]

Bob! Nice!!! Great singer, too. Play that demo for me blind, I might not notice it’s a tribute band!

[M Fowler]

Nice sounding video Bob, great to hear you!

Mark

[Bob-I]

Bob! Nice!!! Great singer, too. Play that demo for me blind, I might not notice it’s a tribute band!

Well…the singer is gone. Great voice and stage presence but he couldn’t remember the songs.

Glad you enjoyed it, we work hard.

[xtian]

we work hard.

No doubt. I've just joined a Van Halen tribute as lead guitar. Talk about work. First gig is mid-April, so you know what I'll be doing until then. Send prayers.