My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

[Duke of Metal]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

Sounds cool, i gotta hear a clip of you one of these days.

No Problem. I'll hopfully get around to making clips somtime soon.

I'll keep you updated.


Duke

 

[lastwinj]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

I know that when i tap one of its (ENGL) power tubes it makes an echo and someone said this means its microphonic and has gone bad. .

most power tubes are microphonic to some degree or another. why they dont work well as preamp tubes.

good luck.

germ

 

[msplines]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

When you do change the tubes, take it one at a time in the preamp section (not the big power amp tubes, change them as a set, but last) and let the amp warm up before moving on to the next change so you can hear the effect of each change. If you don't do this, you may miss out on the right combination. Don't be afraid of moving the tubes around into different slots, you can get some magic results like that, but write down what you do and what you get!

 

[mrid]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

The tubes aren't the problem, it's the amp. The .50 cal just doesn't have as much gain as a recto.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Mesa_Boogie/_50_Caliber-01.html

 

[Falstaff]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

The tubes aren't the problem, it's the amp. The .50 cal just doesn't have as much gain as a recto.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Mesa_Boogie/_50_Caliber-01.html

He's right, if you are thinking that a Boogie sounds like a Recto. When I think Boogie I think Carlos Santana and the first Izzy Stradlin album. The .50 probably won't do the Recto stuff, but it should do the 70's Boogie thing.

That amp has some mileage, so taking it in for routine service might be a good idea. The sound of the dirty channel might be the result of some part that needs to be replaced.

Good luck!

 

[Young Angus]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

Im definitely not after any sort of boogie recto sound, but the distortion should at least sound good i think, not totally crap and useless :grumble:

 

[Young Angus]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

This is a review of the actual amp ive got:

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/Data/Mesa_Boogie/_50_Caliber_Plus_112_Combo-01.html

 

[chcjunior]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

FWIW I've gotten several batches of tubes from Bob at Eurotubes and have to say I'm extremely satisfied with the JJ's.

 

[Robert S.]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

YA, Mesa amps always sound the most "Mesa" using Mesa tubes. I'm too cheap and lazy to try anything else in my Mesa rig and it always sounds like it's supposed to after new Mesa tubes. You can use other makers tubes as long as they are properly rated for Mesa bias specs, but you run the risk of changing the tone of the amp. Changing the tone may be better or worse depending on your ears, but if you do use other tubes you can't gaurantee you'll get the tone that they planned on from the factory.

Mesa and most other amp makers number the preamp tubes starting at the closest tube to the input jack. Your #1 preamp tube will be closest to the input jack and they will numbur up from there.

I would highly suggest getting new Mesa tubes for that amp and see how it sounds before you try and make a decision on which other tubes might sound "better". You need a reference point tonally.

 

[mrid]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

FWIW I've gotten several batches of tubes from Bob at Eurotubes and have to say I'm extremely satisfied with the JJ's.

JJ's sound GREAT in boogies.

 

[Robert S.]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

Mrid I'm sure they do, but this is the thing. Do they sound exactly like Mesa tubes because it seems to me that YA is wondering why his Mesa doesn't sound like the new Mesa at the store. While Mesa amp models do sound different from each other, there is a characteristic "something" that I hear on all Mesa amps. It may be the tubes, it may not but if the JJ tubes sound the same as Mesas, there may not be a point in getting them and if they sound great but different, the amp still sounds different than it did coming from Mesa.

It's all in what YA thinks is important. Different and better are subjective, factory tone is at least somewhat a constant.

 

[mrid]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

Mrid I'm sure they do, but this is the thing. Do they sound exactly like Mesa tubes because it seems to me that YA is wondering why his Mesa doesn't sound like the new Mesa at the store. While Mesa amp models do sound different from each other, there is a characteristic "something" that I hear on all Mesa amps. It may be the tubes, it may not but if the JJ tubes sound the same as Mesas, there may not be a point in getting them and if they sound great but different, the amp still sounds different than it did coming from Mesa.

It's all in what YA thinks is important. Different and better are subjective, factory tone is at least somewhat a constant.

When I put JJ's in my Mark IV, I sensed an overall improvement. Like you say, this is a very subjective thing...this...tone. :laugh2: I just know that when I slapped JJ's in that thing...MAN,O,MAN! The bottom end was more pronounced and tighter and there was an overall sense of clarity about the amp.

If YA wants better distortion, though, the Chinese stuff Boogie relables are probably best.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: My cleans are great but gain sucks...what does this suggest?

Hmm yeah...these amps are not just doing out of the box drive, I had a studio preamp once..it took some time to get something out of it.
The three volumes needs to work together, but it will end up with a compromise of each sound, so either you play it clean or with drive....well I did.
Here is an online manual for your amp.
http://www.mesaboogie.com/manuals/50 Caliber Plus.pdf