Re: Better note definition out of dsl40c?
For me what workerd was:
bias the power tubes to 32 ma, I think the factory sets it a bit higher than this,
new/better/different speakers, I liked the Eminence Legend v12, the tight bass helped keep things clear,
lower the pickups a little,
and really letting the power tubes and the presence knob do the work. This is not always doable. I thought the amp sounded good on 4.5 or 5 on the master, and sounded really good up to 7 or 8 after that it falls apart. The El34s crunch a lot when pushed like that, especially with the presence up, and you can back off the gain even more, and lower the bass a lot.
My low volume settings with the dsl50 were treble and presence almost off, bass wound up. at high volumes it was more like treble and presence on 7, bass nearly off. And the high volume sound was clearer cuz it was brighter but somehow smoother because the way the power tubes, cab, and sheer volume help smooth it out. At low volumes theres just too much preamp gain, by the time you get sustain you get fizz or mush.
But I couldn't do that all the time without the neighbors hating me so now I have a 22W amp, and pedals.
also I like old stock preamp tubes, I feel like new production tubes have a more focused midrange that can get muddy. Old stock tubes have usually given me a little more clarity and a little less of a nasal tone when I replace things like JJs or Sovtek 12ax7s