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Post by awesome on Dec 15, 2007 23:12:28 GMT -7
hey guys, i have a prototype version of a RX ES and i need some help.
i love it but i usually like to crank an amp to get some tube breakup in my clean sound. the only problem is that with this amp the distortion sounds...hashy? fizzy? not really sure how to describe it, but it is unpleasant. beautiful clean sound though.
keep in mind that the volume at around 3 or 4 is loud enough to gig but does not have much, if any, tube breakup. and the cab has celestion G12M greenbacks in it.
i have played a newer RX ES, but i didn't crank it very far so i don't know exactly what it would have sounded like. but overall they sounded similar running clean, some differences though. my amp may have more in common with the old RX.
is this a tube, speaker, or prototype design problem?
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Post by telejas on Dec 16, 2007 13:34:28 GMT -7
What speakers are you using, how old are the tubes and what kind of guitar/pickups are you using? I've got some cranked clips of my RxES at www.guitartest.moonfruit.com if you want to do an audio comparison? I also think Bentop has a few as well.
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Post by awesome on Dec 16, 2007 14:29:22 GMT -7
great clips! your amp sounds much better. i think i can better describe what i'm hearing. the distortion sounds like i'm playing thru a cranked transistor radio. the analogy just came to me.
the cab has Celestion G12M greenbacks (i believe the original speakers it came with). the tubes are not all original and i'm not sure how old the replacements are.
the only real history i know about it is that the guitar tech at Rock Block in nashville (who also works at the gibson custom shop) owned it before me. my version still has the bright switch, but it is only a 2 way switch. and it is a ES
i have several guitars with pickups ranging from EMG humbuckers, seymour duncan SSL-1 single coils, and various cheap humbuckers. other than tonal differences between them, the distortion i'm hearing is about the same. it really doesn't have that cranked AC30 sound at all.
could speaker breakup be my problem? and would knowing the tubes types that are in it help?
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Post by telejas on Dec 16, 2007 15:53:41 GMT -7
I'm not a fan of Green backs, but I played an AC30 with green backs a few weeks ago that didn't sound too bad.... I'm leaning more towards power tubes? If they get too *used* they'll sound thin and lifeless. If you have any spare el84's, it'd be worth a try to swap out them out (or borrow some from a buddy) before buying a new set.
If you had a different amp or cab, I'd try that but I still think it's the tubes....... but it's always hard to diagnose problems with tube amps. Could be tubes (power or preamp) or speaker.
My sound man never liked me to run my bass past 3:00 because he said it was too "boomy" out front.... so you definitly have something going on, and like I mentioned above I bet it's the tubes (but I've been known to be wrong).
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Dec 16, 2007 20:14:00 GMT -7
Try a fresh set of tubes and bias them up correctly. That can make a huge difference.
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Post by awesome on Dec 17, 2007 2:11:47 GMT -7
thanks guys.
would the "thinness" of the tubes not show up in the lower volume clean sound? the amp has a nice bass down there.
but i'll try out the suggestions.
i still love my RX despite its problem.
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Post by cementman on Jan 10, 2008 11:32:59 GMT -7
i had been round and round about selling my #2 (I am told) RX (no es) made in 96, with wood front. it is so big and loud. so i finally set it up with the bright switch off and the expand off and plugged into the low channel, dimed the bass treb and mids, put the volume on about 9 oclock and went into first a keeley 2 knob compressor, then a boss tuner, then a boss ns2 noise reduction pedal, then a fulltone ocd and then finally a boss dm delay, made in japan, and i just cant sell it. i found the sweet spot for about any tone. it took me a while. and really, i can take all the pedals out and just go into it straight and it is pleasing.
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Post by awesome on Jan 14, 2008 14:42:33 GMT -7
hey guys, i fixed the problem.
i had the tubes tested, and the phase inverter tube was giving erratic readings. replaced it with a JJ EC83S, now its fine.
its extremely loud now, and the tube breakup is fine now.
i think i'm going to put in a NOS 5V4 rectifier to bring the headroom down some.
and maybe some gold pin JJ ECC83S's.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Jan 14, 2008 15:32:43 GMT -7
That's great news. 99% of all problems with tube amps are the tubes or the way they are set up.
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Jan 15, 2008 9:10:52 GMT -7
That's great news. 99% of all problems with tube amps are the tubes or the way they are set up. Truer words have never been spoken. And 99% of the remaining 1% of issues are usually some sort of speaker problem/mismatch to the amp you're using. Phil
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