Bright Victoria 5E7

[jbever]

I just picked up a Victoria 5E7. Going to be a great amp. My only dislike at this point is that in order to get the overdrive happening you of course need to turn up the treble. This makes the amp very bright.

I don't know overdrive in these amps on the treble is a result of freq or signal? Is there anything that I can do to tame the treble down? It's got the stock Jensen Alnico's in it and I've tried various tubes in V1. I changed the PI tube and that helped a very small amount.

I wouldn't mind being able to get the overdrive sooner in relation to volume?

Thoughts or ideas?
Thanks
Jerry

[Jammin'John]

I have 2 Vic's. A Double Deluxe and a Low Power Twin.
They both came with Jensen RI's which I didn't like.
They will warm up some once you get a lot of hours on 'em.
I have Webers in mine.
My friend has your amp.
On the bottom he put a ceramic Silver Bell and an alnico Silver Bell and on the top a ceramic Blue Dog.
It screams.
For a very nice american sound people seem to love the 10F125 in there.
http://taweber.powweb.com/weber/10f125.htm
But the way you're talking I think you would love the 10F150.
http://taweber.powweb.com/weber/10f150.htm
Don't forget that it's fun to mix 'em up.
How about one of each of these :
http://taweber.powweb.com/weber/10f150.htm
http://taweber.powweb.com/weber/silver10f.htm
http://taweber.powweb.com/weber/silver10a.htm
Or a very nice british mix would be :
http://taweber.powweb.com/weber/blue10f.htm
http://taweber.powweb.com/weber/silver10f.htm
On the bottom with a : http://taweber.powweb.com/weber/silver10a.htm
On top,
You would have Bright, chimey, later/smooth breakup, aggressive, articulate
AND
Warm, aggressive, later/smooth breakup on the bottom,
AND
Warm, smooth, great compressed overdrive tone with smooth distortion edges. Later/smooth breakup, compressed at high volume.
On the top.
All the great tones in one cab.

JJ

[ricach]

I just turn down the treble on my guitar. Works like a charm :D

[jbever]

Thanks much for the advice. I think the speaker swap will be the key. I put in an emi ragin cajun and a copperhead last night and that helped some. Always been a fan of weber, I have a 12" alnico in my 5E3, perfect! As soon as I recover from the cost of the amp, I'll probably just order the webers.

I've also found that it's ok to turn the tone knob on my guitar!!!

Thanks again

[ricach]

I didn't say that to be a smartass either - it was from experience. As I was showing off a modded Kalamazoo to my guitarplayer friend, I was giving him a dissertation on how I was going to mod it some more to tone down the brightness while on full crunch. He rudely interrupted me and suggested "why don't you just turn it down on the guitar?" :rolleyes:

Worked perfectly. I think that's a common problem with tech-minded people.

[Jammin'John]

Yea,I constantly twist the volume & tone knobs on my guitar to change timbre & presence.
That's one reason why I play a tele.
You have to have a great starting point though and if your amp is too bright or too dark to begin with then it's time to mess with speakers.
It's also fun comming up with the right combination of speakers.

JJ

[ricach]

It's also fun comming up with the right combination of speakers.
Yeah, and expensive. But I am a huge fan of using a 12" with a 10". For the life of me I can't figure out why that isn't more normal. What better way to accentuate the highs and lows?

I'd want my amps to be able to go to the extremes - too bright and too dark - because as the rooms change, I might very well need one extreme or another.

[Jammin'John]

Yea,some old Gibson amps did a 10 and a 12.
It's a great combo.
In my 2 speaker amps I use 2 different speakers.
It works great.

JJ

[jbever]

Ricach, not taken as a slam at all. I actually agree. I came from the school of turn all your guitar controls on 10 and away you go. Since I got a good guitar and got into tweeds and reduced my pedal count on the floor. I've actually discovered the "tone" and "volume" knob! The differences in dynamics, tone and feel with the right guitar and a good amp is like a whole new discovery! Shouldn't be, but it is for me.

I've also recently found that a great deal of an amp's "tone" is in the cab and speaker. I have a great 5E3 tweed that I built and it sounds very different depending on what cab and speaker config I'm plugging into. With a decent set of tubes, I find that the cab and speaker affect tone more than anything. Just my opinion though. My general philosophy is, "It's all about your personal taste and achieving a balance for tone between, circuit design, cab and speaker.

The joy is in the search!

[Jammin'John]

They are the purest tone machines !
I love 'em.

JJ

[ricach]

"It's all about your personal taste"

Amen to that. It cracks me up to read people on other forums slam different amps, speakers, or guitars. Just because it doesn't meet their expectations and personal taste, doesn't mean it's not perfect for the next guy.

One day I'll get bitten by the speaker bug, and I hope my pocketbook is deep. Until then I'll just look for the inexpensive tweaks. :)

[mad dog]

J:

I play a Clark Tyger, very similar to your new Vicky. The guy I got it from -- the original owner -- had it built with the RI Jensen alnicos. A year or so later he tired of the bright "raspy" tone (his words) and swapped in a trio of Weber 10A125 30 watters. That certainly did the trick. These are warm, punchy and loud speakers. More headroom than I had expected. Tremendous clarity. I do the tone knob on my guitars lots, except for the strat. that one I never touch. Maybe in part because of that, the strat is the one guitar that can sound kind of thin through the Tyger.

The solution for me is generally to use one or two subtle clean boosts. (Not just with the Tyger ... I do it with most amps). I'm also running JAN Philips 6L6WGB tubes, which seem to put the overdrive right where it's best, match up just right with those speakers. The other variable that can make a big difference in this amp is preamp tubes, V1 especially. The Tyger has a 12ay7 in V1 now. I'll be trying a 5751 soon. Just curious how that medium gain boost would affect the amp. Guessing it'll gain a bit of volume, lose a bit of headroom, get fatter. Cool amps, these bandmaster types.