Possible 5150 mods..... list some

[tweed]

I am still thinking about modding my 5150. So far I can only think of doing the bias mod and adding a choke. I did clip the treble cap on the lead channel on my old 5150's, but I tried bypassing it on my current one and I didnt care for it.

I am looking to basically make the amps gain 100% useable instead of needing to use a pedal. Post up what mods you may have done and how they turned out.

Is that possible with a 5150 Dave? Dammit, now you got me thinking about getting one of these and hacking it up.

 

[stratotone]

I find that with a good, fresh set of rubber 'feet' on the underside, it works great to keep my car from rolling down the driveway during an oil change.










I keed, I keed. If you aren't diming the gain, consider a 12au7 or 12dw7 in V1. Would tame the gain and fatten it up. Even cooler, get a nice NOS 12au7, as they are a ton cheaper than a 12ax7 would be.

Pete

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

I find that with a good, fresh set of rubber 'feet' on the underside, it works great to keep my car from rolling down the driveway during an oil change.










I keed, I keed. If you aren't diming the gain, consider a 12au7 or 12dw7 in V1. Would tame the gain and fatten it up. Even cooler, get a nice NOS 12au7, as they are a ton cheaper than a 12ax7 would be.

Pete

I side with Pete here and gets me my info from James Brown the designer. Less gain, which by standards is still a shit ton, makes her really open up and fun to play.

 

[Tawlks]

I am still thinking about modding my 5150. So far I can only think of doing the bias mod and adding a choke. I did clip the treble cap on the lead channel on my old 5150's, but I tried bypassing it on my current one and I didnt care for it.

I am looking to basically make the amps gain 100% useable instead of needing to use a pedal. Post up what mods you may have done and how they turned out.

60 watt modd, basicly pulling two valves for half wattage, better tones at low volume.

Clean/Crunch volume mod. There's two sorts, firstly one that cuts/boosts one of the volume levels so there isn't a big jump in volume between the clean and crunch, and the second involves adding a volume pot for the crunch so you can adjust them independantly.

boost mod, pretty straightforward.

There's a couple of FJA mods aswell. I'm thinking of Bias modding mine.

 

[mrp5150]

I've owned 9 or 10 different 5150's, some modded, some stock, and I think they actually sound best stock or maybe with just a bias mod.

 

[Sixtonoize]

60 watt modd, basicly pulling two valves for half wattage, better tones at low volume.

Or, for those who have tried it, worse tone at any volume.

 

[Tawlks]

60 watt modd, basicly pulling two valves for half wattage, better tones at low volume.

Or, for those who have tried it, worse tone at any volume.

AH... Really? Not according to FJA but I'll take your word for it. I haven't tried it.

 

[droptrd]

Ive been thing of adding a choke, upgraging the OT doing the bias mod. Maybe a component upgrade for clarity too?

 

[Tawlks]

Thanks for the tube ideas. I have a bunch of nos 12au7, 12at7, 5751's. I guess I just need to tinker. I have heard that a very simple mod is adding a choke. Either 8 or 10 henry and that should tighten up the bottom and and still retain the 5150 tone character.

There was a discussion here about 5751s saying they're better in V1 than 12au7s, again I may be mistaken, someone quallify this please.

 

[Tawlks]

Ive been thing of adding a choke, upgraging the OT doing the bias mod. Maybe a component upgrade for clarity too?

I'm thinking about a bias and a choke mod for my II, I may start a thread about 5150 mods, what do you reckon?

 

[Sixtonoize]

60 watt modd, basicly pulling two valves for half wattage, better tones at low volume.

Or, for those who have tried it, worse tone at any volume.

AH... Really? Not according to FJA but I'll take your word for it. I haven't tried it.

The FJA mod is substantially more than just pulling 2 tubes.
The most obvious part is where the OT is replaced with an OT designed for 2 tubes putting out 60 watts, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were even more to it than that. Jerry is the only one who knows for sure, and you can bet your ass that he won't tell.

As someone who's owned a 5150 and tried pulling a pair of tubes, my experiences indicate 2 things:

1) It's not any quieter. Okay, maybe slightly quieter, but not nearly enough to make a difference in the grand scheme of things. A 60 watt 5150 is still fucking loud. The difference between 60 watts and 120 watts is roughly equivalent to .1 on the Post gain.

and:

2) It doesn't sound better at any volume. The biggest difference is that you lose authority in the low end. I'd imagine it's like if you magically turned all of your 12" speakers into 11" speakers. There's just less there.

 

[Tawlks]

60 watt modd, basicly pulling two valves for half wattage, better tones at low volume.

Or, for those who have tried it, worse tone at any volume.

AH... Really? Not according to FJA but I'll take your word for it. I haven't tried it.

The FJA mod is substantially more than just pulling 2 tubes.
The most obvious part is where the OT is replaced with an OT designed for 2 tubes putting out 60 watts, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were even more to it than that.

As someone who's owned a 5150 and tried pulling a pair of tubes, my experiences indicate 2 things:

1) It's not any quieter. Okay, maybe slightly quieter, but not nearly enough to make a difference in the grand scheme of things. A 60 watt 5150 is still fucking loud. The difference between 60 watts and 120 watts is roughly equivalent to .1 on the Post gain.

and:

2) It doesn't sound better at any volume. The biggest difference is that you lose authority in the low end. I'd imagine it's like if you magically turned all of your 12" speakers into 11" speakers. There's just less there.

AH, I phrased that wrong, I meant the FJA or FJA style "60 watt Metalhead" mod Sorry.

 

[Mailman1971]

Okay, I tried tbe following:

5751: Sounds really good. My favorite out out all the tubes I tested. The bottom end still held together, but only after having to turn up the presence and turning down the bass.

12AT7: a little too loose in the bottom end and the tone was slightly smeared. Not bad with a pedal.

6072 (12AY7 very low gain, bottom end was really smeared and bass was a bit too flubby. Didn't sound terrible with a pedal though.

12AU7: I didn't even bother after hearing the 6072.

Like I posted above, the 5751 really shines, but the bottom end is still a bit mushy and needs a pedal to get the tone I prefer. I think I will leave it in for a few days though.

Your ears are just spoiled by the CCV!
Like Comparing a Camaro to a Corvette.....

 

[Death by Uberschall]

http://torresengineering.stores.yahoo.net/dualrecpeav5.html

Torres Dual Recto and bias mod.

DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT!!

 

[FIREBALL]

this got me thinking

 

[Greazygeo]

Normal gain input, sylvania 6l6's and amp on ten....it's all you need.