Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

[Silence Kid]

Is there any likely cause in a solid state amp, of tone controls barely affecting the sound? The mid is the worst culprit.

Would a re-cap help this?

(I'll give the name of the amp after general opinions are given; it's not quite an embarrassing amp, but people will... Think certain things if I mention what it is before anything else.)

 

[Mincer]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

I don't know...it might just have to do with the design of the amp. The treble & bass on my Tech 21 has a crazy wide range, but there are some amps I've tried that do what you are describing.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

You can try looking at the value of the tone pots, in most amp tone controls, the value of the pot affects the amount/volume of frequencies removed, but not the frequency. Changing to a higher value pot could give you more range.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

It has more to do with the specific amp than whether or noy it's solid state.

And the fact that you're potentially embarassed by the opinions of dudes on guitar forums means we already can't have any lower opinion of you. Name the amp so we can solve your problem, buddy.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

Was it always like this?

 

[saladin]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

If it's a Peavey, keep in mind that Hartley voiced the eq differently than most other amp companies.

 

[dave74]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

Peavey solids have a fairly potent EQ in my somewhat limited experience,,,,,,,,I'm guessing it's a Crate, Kustom, or Behringer maybe.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

It has more to do with the specific amp than whether or noy it's solid state.

And the fact that you're potentially embarassed by the opinions of dudes on guitar forums means we already can't have any lower opinion of you. Name the amp so we can solve your problem, buddy.

Not embarrassed at people's opinion of me. Actually worried people would just tell me to trash the amp rather than give actual advice; it's a 100 watt Fender Libra. I only recently put speakers in it so don't know if it was always like this.

I admit to knowing little enough about amp design that I wanted to know whether there's a common cause for this issue before I say "oh, it was probably like that from new and is a sucky amp." I did have one tech basically refuse to look at it.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

Yeah - just how they built it. Some amps you touch the knob and a tone is out of control. Others, they have pretty much decided for you how you can sound.


HAs nothing to do with SS/Tube. Of course...there are EQ pedals...

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

Oh cool the libra is kinda rare and I wonder how you like it besides the weak EQ knobs?

 

[dave74]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

Same thing is often said of the all-tube 6505 series,,,,,,,,,,,though I wouldn't go so far as to say the EQs do nothing, just much less than on something like a Rectifier.

 

[saladin]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

Libra...not Fender's shining moment. You'll need one of these to make that work...

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

Thanks all for the input; "not a shining moment" is a common comment on this amp. The flip-side is very few people have first-hand experience. Everyone agrees these sucked but no one can tell me why or if imperceptible EQ controls were ever in that reputation.

The tech I brought the amp to put a sine wave into it and showed me on a graph that the EQ *was* affecting the sound (but to a not perceptible degree,) and didn't want to plunge into the "problem" further. He stated that the amp did not need a re-cap so that wasn't done. I was sort of pissed, most of all at the lack of reassurance that the amp is operating to factory specs.

Oh cool the libra is kinda rare and I wonder how you like it besides the weak EQ knobs?

Well I haven't ever turned it up beyond three, and I've only played it through cheap speakers (the 4x12 JBLs are long gone) : a 2x12 cabinet with Celestion Rocket 50s or a 1x12 WGS G12Q (both wired 4 ohm which is the spec of the amp.) It sounds really bouncy and sort of spongy clean; not a bad surf sound at all with a quite solid thumpy bass. The "bright" switch does work, and the reverb tank sounds amazing. The tremolo effect is... Minimal, I suspect it's a fogged optical unit (that the tech also refused to look at.)

It does NOT shine with overdrive or distortion; most pedals sound terrible, just a wall of fuzz (my Fulldrive 2 Mosfet only makes it loud and clean is the funny thing.) I cannot as mentioned turn it up, but I did a test; I plugged my '78 Silverface Champ into the same speaker cabinet (they both are 4 ohm amps,) cranked the volume and found the lowest perceptible volume knob position on my guitar that the amp would still make any sound with. Then I repeated the experiment with the Libra; the 5 watt Champ is louder overall.

I own it as a historical curiosity (and for appearance, in my practice room it's on top of my other 4x12 like a mock "full stack.") I really do want it to work properly though whatever that gets me, but my expectations are low.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Solid State Amp - Imperceptible EQ Knobs

lol i know about those rocket 50s, they are not helping!