Jagermike, I know you said woolier to mean more low end maybe, but I wonder if the change to V30 or Greenbacks is mostly a change of an enhanced (boosted) midrange. My duncan 59b seems to have a harsh upper midrange boost, that reduces the fizz slightly. I thought the T-75s and their copies were supposed to be slightly boosted bass, mid cut, and slightly tapered treble vs Greenbacks (which have a mid/upper peak).
My theory is that you guys are boosting the midrange/bass with the pedal (a tone suck that sucks out the bad tone, like a leech :D), and cutting the volume pot out of the curcuit to get rid of the high end fizz, as I will explain :) The stock MA does sound better with ear plugs / muffs - similar muffling effect ;)
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Okay...long post ahead...But I thought my experiments could help others too
Anyway, I got a new amp, and after letting the MA50H (2009 model) sit mostly for a month, I'm pondering a way to fix the fizz on my MA. And also a way to even out the tonal differences between the boosted / non-boosted OD.
Right now I've got a JJ tube in V2 (the tube that sits sunken in, in the middle) and the other preamp tubes stock (chinese). In this configuration, the boosted channel has less fizz problem (relatively), but the OD channel is dark/ muddy and sort of weak, distorts unevenly, hard to describe (doesn't sound very good on low-mid gain settings). When I swap back in the Chinese tube into V2, the OD channel sounds better, brighter, like a Marshall should on low gain settings, only fizzier, and but I lose the solid metal sound I was sort of getting out of the boosted channel. The boosted channel just becomes harsh and fizzy with the stock tubes - almost unusable. (I bought it b/c I thought it had thelow gain ac/dc / Led Zep crunch. But I may have another amp that does that, or at least the Brown Sound, much better)
Today, I tried using a eq with all the sliders set to -15db varying amp volumes, and it didnt help much at all, mostly because I couldn't get enough attenuation with a flat EQ and not sure whats happening with everything at -15. But then I tried my digitech multi fx, used only as a volume control in the loop, and
it went from fizzy to ballsy at bedroom level volume, really any volume I set it to in the 10 mins or so I had to test it. Was mostly testing it at 10 on the channel volume with various eq settings. Couldn't really get a bad sound out of it no matter what I did with the eq / master knobs (recorded A vs Bs too, not haven't listened to the quality of the recording yet).
Some of you have said you like the volume knob set to noon on the amp (didnt have a chance to try it). For me, 9 or 10 on channel volume + fx vol cut sounded night and day better than 1-3 volume + no attenuation in the loop.
Is this because of the bright cap?
(A web site)....The "bright cap"....acts as a high-pass filter to add a brightness to the signal. A high-pass filter allows higher frequencies to pass while attenuating frequencies below a cutoff frequency, thereby emphasizing the higher frequencies. The higher the value of the capacitor, the higher the cutoff frequency and the "brighter" the signal will be. ... As the volume is turned up the bright cap has less of an effect, and when it is all the way up it is shorted and has no effect at all.
I used to think Marshalls sounded better at higher volumes because they were just louder / crunching. But maybe a lot of it is just the bright cap or volume pot getting out of the way, so to speak. Sort of wonder if anyone has removed or modded the bright cap on an MA (if it has one).
I'd say using the digitech as a volume pedal fixed the issue by 75%. There's still a little fizz. Maybe I'll put the stock tube back in it tomorrow and see if it's bearable now, and if the channels mesh up better now.
Basically I'm aiming for a Jimmy Page tone (Marshall or Live tone) /Iron Maiden on the OD channel, and Metallica (pre-black album) / old metal on the boost. I know these sounds are possible from this amp - the trouble is getting them easily available with a switch without having to play with eq knobs (maybe just adjusting gain, or just a switch. Mids arent an issue as much as high end/low end texture) and without having to have the SPLs too loud.
Any opinions or advice? Kind of hoping I can improve the tone of it and get useful sounds out of both the OD and OD-Boost, for under $50. Maybe 2 JJ tubes? or something different in both V1 and V2 (I am assuming V3 makes next to no difference in the OD. characteristics). Or maybe an OD pedal (which is the best value? Sd-1, Bad Monkey, etc. Wouldn't mind if it was also capable of sending a clean channel into bluesy OD or just going from crunch to metal).
Speaker changes are out of my budget right now / too risky.
Going to try putting the JJ in V1 and a Chinese in V2 and see how that works tomorrow.