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Post by Danny on Jan 9, 2012 17:45:29 GMT -7
My Rx Junior 2-cab mini-stack has been my go-to war horse gigging amp for quite a while now. But occasionally I need it to have more muscle and clean volume, but 18 watts sometimes isn't quite enough. I used to own and play an Rx ES but sold it. Now I'm wondering about the post-PI MV mod that Dr Z offers for the Rx ES. Does it work as well as it does on the Junior? Will I get essentially the same quality of sound from the ES as I do from the Junior, but with more power?
Everyone who has had this mod done, please weigh in with your detailed impressions.
Thanks!
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Post by DSauls89 on Jan 9, 2012 18:03:55 GMT -7
yeah, cause I've been wondering the same thing.
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Post by JASON (aka jgleaton) on Jan 10, 2012 0:09:22 GMT -7
Does it work as well?
Yes.
It's as close to identical as I can tell... pretty dang close those two...
Doc was gracious enough to do it to my RX ES (after I got my RX Jr and was blown away and thought HEY that'd be a GREAT feature on the RX ES) and started immediately begging him to do it to my ES...
When I got it back from him I remember calling him raving about the ES and a telling him basically that the master on the RX Jr is a great feature and works really good...
and makes it VERSATILE... at 15 watts.
But I told him the Master on the RX ES not only works great and more versatile...
it truly makes it USABLE... at 45 watts.
Where it makes the ES extremely usable and much more versatile for me is where lower volumes out of it are needed... but, where more clean headroom may be required than the RX JR can provide...
extremely under rated amp... ask Adam (Shaver) about how he liked it...
I REALLY like the overdose used (and this is really the only time I use it, and when I do I leave it on) in combination with the master at the "lowest volumes"... NOT to add drive because it doesn't add drive at the lower master volumes... but to fatten up the sound a bit (clean with hair) when the master is down around nine or ten o'clock...
Then,
when you open the amp up over half way on the master, the OD THEN seems to start to add a bit more drive, (I turn the OD off) and then Clean seems to start to fatten up some without the OD on... But then it's getting loud... and good... and loud.
This amp loves the Z best and/ or Golds.
Just my .02
Jason
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Post by Danny on Jan 10, 2012 9:33:01 GMT -7
Thanks Jason, that helps a lot. I hope others will chime in as well.
Wouldn't it be nice if there were an Rx that came in at around 30 watts with the MV and boost? Hmm...
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Post by JASON (aka jgleaton) on Jan 10, 2012 16:14:41 GMT -7
your Welcome... and actually, with the Master mod done...
even at 45 watts you don't need a 30 watt amp cause with the Master around 1/2 way up, the amp gets to breathing real good, but because it's NOT wide open and I'd think your pushing into the 25 - 30 - 35 watts range...
and it's starting to get loud around half way up but very manageable and VERY usable IMHO.
... with a single 12 instead of a Z best, and the right speaker (Weber Silvers sound great AND knock the volume down some from that of a GOLD which is noticeably louder than the webers) you can get to the good even quicker and at a lower volume...
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Post by DSauls89 on Jan 10, 2012 20:09:56 GMT -7
one more question... does the RXES MV get as quiet as the Jr's? I mean can it get to bedroom levels? If so.... then it's the perfect amp. what are the true differences besides the obvious wattage and extra tubes?
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Post by JASON (aka jgleaton) on Jan 19, 2012 16:15:41 GMT -7
Honestly no, it doesn't quite get as quiet as the Jr...
those 4 powers tubes and the 5AR4 rectifier in the ES (over the 5Y3 rectifier which works perfectly for the Jr) do make a difference in the lower volume settings.
But for bedroom levels on either amp I'd still use an airbreak or a pedal, unless you just want pretty cleans...
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Post by Adam(shaver) on Jan 25, 2012 17:40:31 GMT -7
Jason is right. That amp needs more recognition than it gets. Gigged it through a 1x12 (blue) not very practicle but all I had at hand. Still it was great sounding. Got it home and ran it through a zbest and 1x12 (g12h30). . So big and full sounding! Tons of bottom and chimey mids. Just a great amp. Its not just a tele amp either. It actually favors a strat and I'm more of tele player! I wouldn't say its as quiet as a junior though. Its actually not. I guess you could get it down that low, but why would you choke down 45 watts? That's almost just wasting the tube life. GREAT amp though. Jason right and gave all the info you could use to descibe it.
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Post by drstantz on Jan 16, 2013 13:35:01 GMT -7
Hey I know this an old thread, But I added a PPI MV to my RX ES myself the other day, fantastic mod to the amp and really if you have the know how to tweak stuff a very cheap mod for incredible results!
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