Framus Cobra Modding...

[Anonymous]

you want more marshall kerrrang and opennes?

have him put a variable negative feedback resistor in it. i dont understand why amps dont come stock with them.....offers so much versatility tonally, especially at high volumes.

if i were to do one mod to ANY amp, i do this one to all of them.

 

[DC Vision Music]

Thanks Supah Stah! I mentioned it to my tech. He said he normally does something with nfb when he re-works an amp. He has some ideas about putting in a choke and and modding the eq circuit to give it more versatility too. We'll see....

 

[guitarman967]

Ill look it up. I have all that info kicking around somewhere.

 

[DC Vision Music]

Awesome! Thanks!

 

[the4thlast1]

Yooo whats cookin Joel ? Framus Cobra thread ! Like old times haha

From what I remember the clean channel is always on and mixed with the other channels almost like they run together in parallel.. Sorry I am no amp tech and I cant remember all the details. Its part of what makes the amp sound unique. Yeah they are made with cheap parts and some of them do have issues. A friend of mine had problems with his Cobra as well, kinda similar to whats going on here.

When you get a good one and figure out how to dial it in they can sound killer with the right guitar, tubes , speakers etc. The Framus amps can be picky but rewarding with the right setup.

 

[DC Vision Music]

Yeah, that's why I'm trying to upgrade it. My friend has a Cobra that we're going to a/b with tonight. He says his gain control works normally. I'm going to see for myself. If his works normally, then I presume it's closer to right than mine. And, that means the upgrades on mine are necessary. If it has the dual sound, which I think sounds like crap, then I'm not sure how we're going to fix mine.

 

[the4thlast1]

Some things to keep in mind... I personally think the Cobra's best channel is the Crunch Channel.. That channel boosted is one of the best high gain metal rhythm tones out there. This is once again a matter of if you have a guitar it likes and settings it likes haha ... The Cobra loves passive pickups that are low\medium\moderate high gain.... Super high gain\output pickups do not work as well, actives not so much either.

To yield the best tone you have to run the channel volume high... The sweet spot seems to be inbetween 1 and 3oclock dependiing on the output of the guitar\pickups. . Mids noon and above, moderate presence and treble. Another "trick: is having the loop Mix knob set at noon which also seems to open the amp up a bit. Crunch channel loves to be boosted with a maxon 808

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Supah Stah! I mentioned it to my tech. He said he normally does something with nfb when he re-works an amp. He has some ideas about putting in a choke and and modding the eq circuit to give it more versatility too. We'll see....

IMHO a fixed negative feedback resistor in the amps presence/resonance circuit isn't as versatile as having a pot there rated say from..... 1k-250k or even 100k. i hate fixed resistors where there could be knobs...which is just about everywhere in an amp LOL!

ask him to put a 250k pot, or even a 100k pot in the NFB resistor spot, with a 30k resistor on one side so it can't go any lower than 30k even when you have the dial maxed (or minimal, whichever way you'll call it)...sounds more complicated than it is. sounds better than you'd think having the option to tighten or loosen the NFB in the amp.

 

[RJF]

Some things to keep in mind... I personally think the Cobra's best channel is the Crunch Channel.. That channel boosted is one of the best high gain metal rhythm tones out there. This is once again a matter of if you have a guitar it likes and settings it likes haha ... The Cobra loves passive pickups that are low\medium\moderate high gain.... Super high gain\output pickups do not work as well, actives not so much either.

To yield the best tone you have to run the channel volume high... The sweet spot seems to be inbetween 1 and 3oclock dependiing on the output of the guitar\pickups. . Mids noon and above, moderate presence and treble. Another "trick: is having the loop Mix knob set at noon which also seems to open the amp up a bit. Crunch channel loves to be boosted with a maxon 808

Pretty much agree, the crunch channel with a boost is where it's at with this amp. I run my channel volume dimed, to me anything less and it's too fizzy.

I haven't found the same as far as pickups though, mine sounds great with hot pickups, EMG's included.

 

[DC Vision Music]

Wow! Thanks for the much needed input guys! I'll definitely mention the 250k pot and 30k resistor to my tech tonight. It seems that the 808 is a VERY popular choice for the Cobra. I don't have one yet, but I plan on getting one soon.

I'm really bummed about this "dual clean/dirty" sound that I was talking about. My tech found out it was the chip controlling it when he made a "jumper" to bypass it and it quit! Sounds to me like he just needs to make the bypass permanent!

 

[the4thlast1]

Some things to keep in mind... I personally think the Cobra's best channel is the Crunch Channel.. That channel boosted is one of the best high gain metal rhythm tones out there. This is once again a matter of if you have a guitar it likes and settings it likes haha ... The Cobra loves passive pickups that are low\medium\moderate high gain.... Super high gain\output pickups do not work as well, actives not so much either.

To yield the best tone you have to run the channel volume high... The sweet spot seems to be inbetween 1 and 3oclock dependiing on the output of the guitar\pickups. . Mids noon and above, moderate presence and treble. Another "trick: is having the loop Mix knob set at noon which also seems to open the amp up a bit. Crunch channel loves to be boosted with a maxon 808

Pretty much agree, the crunch channel with a boost is where it's at with this amp. I run my channel volume dimed, to me anything less and it's too fizzy.

I haven't found the same as far as pickups though, mine sounds great with hot pickups, EMG's included.

The Cobra does not sound "bad" with emgs, I owned a couple guitars with emgs when I had a Cobra..What sounded worst to me with this amp was the Duncan Blackouts. I just personally like the Cobra best with passives, seems to breath more. I also noticed if I used pickups with very high output(higher than emgs) such as the blackouts or even very hot passives like Aldrich\Warpig type hot there would be issues with setting the channel volume high, the amp would start to get harsh.

Now when I used pickups like the BK Nailbomb\Holy Diver , Duncan JB\Custom , the amp would be at its best IMO , Emgs not being a bad choice just not what I liked most.

 

[DC Vision Music]

Wow, good info on the pickup choices. I've got a 7-string Ibanez Artist with Warpigs and I was about to put a pair in my ESP EC-1000, which currently has EMG's. Something for me to think about....

It's such a trial and error thing when it comes to finding the combination that works as far as pickup/pedal/amp/speakers go. I just did a speaker shootout with a Marshall JVM410H that I have on loan to me by the guy modding my Cobra. It's a really cool amp, especially the clean channel! He did something to the clean channel that kicks ass! I didn't realize HOW different and beefy it was until I had the chance this weekend to play a stock one through the same setup. With the 3 gain stages on each channel, it can go from a beautifully huge warm clean with plenty of chime to an Angus Young grit! Add in a Boss SD-1 and Voila! Instant chunkage! On the clean channel!

Anyway, I'm finding out what I really want in an amp, thanks to the shoutout and different tests I've done lately. What I will probably ask Lance to do on my amp, is to just upgrade the noisy resistors throughout first and foremost. Then, try to bypass that screwy "clean/dirty" dual sound that's going on with those chips. If those things are accomplished, I think the amp will be a lot different in a good way. Then over time, he and I can play around with the channels characteristics to dial in what I'm going to be looking for. It sounds like I'm building a new amp from the shell of a Framus Cobra. But, I think this amp has a lot more potential tone wise than it comes from the factory with. We'll see.......

Here's the video I just posted with the JVM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L61kU8-8 ... qDrTqW5q4Q

 

[guitarman967]

Some things to keep in mind... I personally think the Cobra's best channel is the Crunch Channel.. That channel boosted is one of the best high gain metal rhythm tones out there. This is once again a matter of if you have a guitar it likes and settings it likes haha ... The Cobra loves passive pickups that are low\medium\moderate high gain.... Super high gain\output pickups do not work as well, actives not so much either.

To yield the best tone you have to run the channel volume high... The sweet spot seems to be inbetween 1 and 3oclock dependiing on the output of the guitar\pickups. . Mids noon and above, moderate presence and treble. Another "trick: is having the loop Mix knob set at noon which also seems to open the amp up a bit. Crunch channel loves to be boosted with a maxon 808

Yeah man we're back! hahaha
Everything you said is great advise of course.
The main thing is definitley channel volume high and yes the the mix control at 12:00
sends a moderate boost to the poweramp and that really kicks it into high gear!
I agree though, for all out metal thrashing madness, there's no amp that's more aggressive and brutal than the Cobra.
Its has the tightest attack and tons of saturated gain without sacrificing clarity. More than anything else Ive played, period.
I wish I still had mine after seeing this thread. Just couldnt keep everything hahaha

 

[DC Vision Music]

Some things to keep in mind... I personally think the Cobra's best channel is the Crunch Channel.. That channel boosted is one of the best high gain metal rhythm tones out there. This is once again a matter of if you have a guitar it likes and settings it likes haha ... The Cobra loves passive pickups that are low\medium\moderate high gain.... Super high gain\output pickups do not work as well, actives not so much either.

To yield the best tone you have to run the channel volume high... The sweet spot seems to be inbetween 1 and 3oclock dependiing on the output of the guitar\pickups. . Mids noon and above, moderate presence and treble. Another "trick: is having the loop Mix knob set at noon which also seems to open the amp up a bit. Crunch channel loves to be boosted with a maxon 808

Yeah man we're back! hahaha
Everything you said is great advise of course.
The main thing is definitley channel volume high and yes the the mix control at 12:00
sends a moderate boost to the poweramp and that really kicks it into high gear!
I agree though, for all out metal thrashing madness, there's no amp that's more aggressive and brutal than the Cobra.
Its has the tightest attack and tons of saturated gain without sacrificing clarity. More than anything else Ive played, period.
I wish I still had mine after seeing this thread. Just couldnt keep everything hahaha

Well, it seems I'm STILL waiting for my Cobra........and, yes I agree that the Cobra has a metal character that really is unique. I've been discussing things back and forth with my tech. He's still trying to chase down the area responsible for the "clean/dirty-at the same time" problem. He's replaced all of the small resistors, re-capped it, put a choke in and is down to the last possible culprit.......the main chip/board combo in the front. He says that when he finishes putting these last IC's in, that is the ONLY thing left it could be. And that will be a Framus special order item only. Hopefully it won't cost much.

And, by the way, I did hear my friends Cobra. It DOESN"T have that problem and sounds AWESOME! So........I'm anxiously awaiting the return of the BEAST!