I really haven't been in the market for much of anything lately, but when this popped up on the local CL for only $200 I couldn't say no.
I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it yet; it looks damn cool but I'm not 100% sold on how it sounds. Condition-wise it's really clean except for a small tolex tear on the bottom cab, and seems to be in working order for the most part.
Now for the questions...
1. The master volume and midrange knobs are REALLY difficult to turn even after cleaning the pots. Are there any other things I can try besides just replacing them?
2. The taper on the gain knob seems a bit strange. I haven't tried hot pickups yet, but using my 335 with '59s plugged into the high input the amp stays almost clean until 6 or more on the gain and doesn't really start to cook until 8 or higher. Then between 8 and 10 it goes from dirty to REALLY DIRTY. I haven't played a lot of these, but I don't seem to recall any of the others acting like that. I also hear intermittent scratchiness or crackling while playing. Maybe I need to clean the input jacks as well?
3. Tone-wise it's pretty gritty and a bit harsh in the high end. Does this indicate anything besides the stock speakers not being the best? I'm going to try my ported 1x12 with the Eminence Private Jack tonight or tomorrow and I'll probably end up selling this if the tone doesn't improve. If it does, are there any good 10" speakers I should look into? I'm leaning toward Eminence Ramrods, but I'd love to have more options to consider.
I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it yet; it looks damn cool but I'm not 100% sold on how it sounds. Condition-wise it's really clean except for a small tolex tear on the bottom cab, and seems to be in working order for the most part.
Now for the questions...
1. The master volume and midrange knobs are REALLY difficult to turn even after cleaning the pots. Are there any other things I can try besides just replacing them?
2. The taper on the gain knob seems a bit strange. I haven't tried hot pickups yet, but using my 335 with '59s plugged into the high input the amp stays almost clean until 6 or more on the gain and doesn't really start to cook until 8 or higher. Then between 8 and 10 it goes from dirty to REALLY DIRTY. I haven't played a lot of these, but I don't seem to recall any of the others acting like that. I also hear intermittent scratchiness or crackling while playing. Maybe I need to clean the input jacks as well?
3. Tone-wise it's pretty gritty and a bit harsh in the high end. Does this indicate anything besides the stock speakers not being the best? I'm going to try my ported 1x12 with the Eminence Private Jack tonight or tomorrow and I'll probably end up selling this if the tone doesn't improve. If it does, are there any good 10" speakers I should look into? I'm leaning toward Eminence Ramrods, but I'd love to have more options to consider.
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