BrentSSL
Active member
/\/\ then why does it sound amazing lol
shredhead7
Active member
Wow necro bump...but
I had an XLA1000 (or which ever one didn't have the clean channel). When I first got it, I liked it. It was similar to the Pornographiti tone, but a little more fuzzy. As others have mentioned, insanely loud. I thought that the mid sweep switch was a gimmick, as it only sounded good in one position and the attenuation was also pretty worthless, as it just crushed the high end when used even in the slightest. It didn't take long for me to fatigue of the grind/fuzz that was inherent in the sound that couldn't be dialed out. I've heard that sound in many of his videos, so I assume it's one of the effects of one of his mods. Eventually, I started using the amp for slaving, I would run my ADA MP1 into the effects return and THAT tone killed for 80's tone. I have a feeling this is what Paul Gilbert was doing with his as well.
After some years of running it that way, I decided to try it again as a normal amp and it had this horrible squeal. I changed the tubes, no difference. I took it to a tech who told me the tranny was bad. He replaced that and said it was all set. I took it home, same problem. I took it back to him and he messed with it for a while but couldn't find the problem. Eventually, his bill surpassed the value of the amp, so I stripped the parts out of it and scrapped it.
I had an XLA1000 (or which ever one didn't have the clean channel). When I first got it, I liked it. It was similar to the Pornographiti tone, but a little more fuzzy. As others have mentioned, insanely loud. I thought that the mid sweep switch was a gimmick, as it only sounded good in one position and the attenuation was also pretty worthless, as it just crushed the high end when used even in the slightest. It didn't take long for me to fatigue of the grind/fuzz that was inherent in the sound that couldn't be dialed out. I've heard that sound in many of his videos, so I assume it's one of the effects of one of his mods. Eventually, I started using the amp for slaving, I would run my ADA MP1 into the effects return and THAT tone killed for 80's tone. I have a feeling this is what Paul Gilbert was doing with his as well.
After some years of running it that way, I decided to try it again as a normal amp and it had this horrible squeal. I changed the tubes, no difference. I took it to a tech who told me the tranny was bad. He replaced that and said it was all set. I took it home, same problem. I took it back to him and he messed with it for a while but couldn't find the problem. Eventually, his bill surpassed the value of the amp, so I stripped the parts out of it and scrapped it.
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Racerxrated
Well-known member
My drummer has an Ampeg VL 1002 head. Its such a buzzy mess at low volumes, unusable. The Crate Stealth is sooo much better than that amp IMO. Not a great amp but better than that Ampeg buzz box.
crankyrayhanky
Well-known member
I had a few VLs 10-15 years ago. Great amps; loved them with a clean OD in front. That mid freq selector is badass. I also had a Friedman modded VL that sounded awesome. I started to worry about the age of my older amps and ditched them to get newer models, but I wish I kept one of them around.
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metalstorm
New member
Seems like folks here know a bit about Lee Jacksons and high gain amps in general, so I'm wondering if anyone can help me diagnose a problem. I've got an LJ XLS1000 and I love it. Great amp. But it has an intermittent problem. I'll be playing in the gain channel, thrashing away and the gain just fades out. The gain channel indicator light fades out and the clean channel light comes one, it's as if the amp is back in clean channel. If I wait awhile the gain channel will return. It's intermittent, sometimes I can play for an hour and it won't happen, sometimes it happens 5 minutes after I start. Is this typical of a tube failing? I have a thermal camera and I took a picture of the preamp tubes and the 4th one in does seem to be running a little hotter (and the 2nd one in slightly cooler).
Related question: what makes/models of preamp tubes do you recommend in this head? I like late 80's metal tones up to current metal sounds.
Related question: what makes/models of preamp tubes do you recommend in this head? I like late 80's metal tones up to current metal sounds.
Attachments
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Racerxrated
Well-known member
Maybe unplug the foot switch? See if It still happens? Not sure but its a start.
SpiderWars
Well-known member
That sounds like a switching circuit problem and not a tube problem. As suggested above, unplugging footswitch is a good start.metalstorm":yl5wju1f said:
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DET1973
New member
Whatever happened to Lee?
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metalstorm
New member
Don't have a footswitch. Would like to get one, haven't seen a genuine LJ one for a while so wondering if anyone has a schematic so I could use a generic/different one and make sure it's wired correctly. The cables you see at the bottom of the picture are for the effects loop, but this problem has occurred for some time now, before I ever used the loop.
audiomichael
Member
I have the GP1000 and SP1000. Out of the box, the dirt sounds a lot like early Ratt records. Once you add external eq and processors, you can get some nice fatter tones. Zakk used the GP1000 on a lot of No Rest for the Wicked, and a combination of Marshall's and GP1000 on the live tour, but once No More Tears came, the GP1000 was out of his setup.
I did a vid on those Zakk tones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U44BJdHZktc
I did a profile pack that represents GP1000 tones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxVVh78chbM
I did a vid on those Zakk tones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U44BJdHZktc
I did a profile pack that represents GP1000 tones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxVVh78chbM
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MrSticky
New member
Had a 50 watt LJ head. Sounded great & performed without a hitch. On the other hand, had 2 VL-503 combos that I really dug but both needd expert work more than once. I ditched 'em. Love the amp but they were obscenely heavy and ugh...unreliable.