gaining more control over a 5e3

[Gerard]

Hi I built a mission 5e3 kit about 2 years ago, all stock, and I love it. Such a great sound. My only "complaint" is the voulme pot is so sensitive to movement. It gets very loud very fast which makes it very hard to adjust in the middle of a gig.
Could I change the value of the volume pot so the amp does not ramp up in volume so fast? Any thoughts? I know bruce sells the tone/volume mod but I don't think that is what I want. I like the channel interaction and don't want to change the tone.

[tubeswell]

You could try hunting around for higher-taper vintage NOS audio pots. (Ones that keep the resistance higher for longer as the pot approaches maximum resistance.)

Or you could experiment with different tapering resistors (e.g. 1M) from the wiper to the ground of the existing 1M vol pots - altho' that will halve the overall pot resistance when the vol is dimed, and provide a cleaner sound for longer (but at the expense of gain) as a result of the increased level of attenuation.

[cminor9]

I say leave it alone. I have noticed the same thing on my 5E3. It bothered me at first. I thought there was something wrong, think I even posted here asking about it. After playing the thing for about a year and a half now, I don't even notice or care anymore.

With a 5E3, if you aren't using your guitar's volume knob and varying your attack then IMO you are missing out on the whole point of using a 5E3. It's an incredibly dynamic amp, so you have to be dynamic in your approach. If you take this approach, it's easy to see why you want to run the 5E3 a little louder than you want. You have extra volume on tap if you need it for a solo or something, but normally you just ease up and it's the right volume. It's amazing. It becomes like speaking once you get the hang of it; you just adjust without thinking.

I have played some *very* quiet jazz gigs with my 5e3's vol on about 4 or 5, and it's worked out just fine. Quiet, as in not wanting to disturb the conversations of people sitting 20 feet away quiet.

Also, to tubeswell's point, there was a discussion on here a while back about the differing taper of log pots, might be worth searching for to understand what tubeswell means. I doubt that production model 5E3 amps from the 50's had this problem, cause that would be some odd behaviour. So I tend to agree with TW and think that it's just the difference in pots then and now.

But I wouldn't sweat it too hard, you'll get used to it. Tracking down those pots might be difficult.

[pdf64]

Are you running a 12AY7 as the 1st tube (or a 12AX7)? A 12AX7 can have too much gain for a 5E3. Peter.

[TD_Madden]

Hi I built a mission 5e3 kit about 2 years ago, all stock, and I love it. Such a great sound. My only "complaint" is the voulme pot is so sensitive to movement. It gets very loud very fast which makes it very hard to adjust in the middle of a gig.
Could I change the value of the volume pot so the amp does not ramp up in volume so fast? Any thoughts? I know bruce sells the tone/volume mod but I don't think that is what I want. I like the channel interaction and don't want to change the tone.

Get the slowest taper pot you like, it won't help - because the voume pot is not a voltage divider like every other amp; it works by loading down the signal. Just experiment by using the interactivity between the channels.....and your guitar volume control, of course.

[danielarimcaulay]

I also have the same trouble with controlling volume at the lower levels.

Would adding another resistor in line with the "signal" line to act as a voltage divider so that the amp at full volume would only be at half volume? Maybe but the resistor on a switch so it was switchable?

Just an idea?

Maybe my problem is that I'm using 2x 12ax7's.

[Bruce / Mission Amps]

Hi I built a mission 5e3 kit about 2 years ago, all stock, and I love it. Such a great sound. My only "complaint" is the voulme pot is so sensitive to movement. It gets very loud very fast which makes it very hard to adjust in the middle of a gig.
Could I change the value of the volume pot so the amp does not ramp up in volume so fast? Any thoughts? I know bruce sells the tone/volume mod but I don't think that is what I want. I like the channel interaction and don't want to change the tone.

Do not use two 12AX7s no matter what anyone tells you.
Ron Veil uses a 12AY7 in #1 and a 12AT7 in the second 9 pin socket and likes it.
A while back, another customer of mine tried an "off the cuff", and untried experiment I suggested and replaced the 1m grid load resistor of the phase inverter triode, lug 7, with a 220k and said it seem to help... again, I have not tried that one myself even though I suggested it ha ha....
I think it was Steve A who tried some 470k or 1m resistors across the volume pots from the wipers to ground. It would be easy to solder a resistor from one or both of the .1uF coupling caps right to ground too.
Me... I just learned to live with it or mod the amp with the TV mod kit.

[Gerard]

I have the stock tube cofiguration, 12ay7 (first tube) and 12ax7. I will try subing other tubes for the 12ax7(second tube).

I use this amp in church with a sm57 in front of it and and would like to keep the gain at one level leaving the volume pot on the guitar alone. I don't need this amp at full or even half volume. It is a great sounding amp though, i just need a little more control over the volume, like some "other" amps

[Tele-Cat]

I say leave it alone. I have noticed the same thing on my 5E3. It bothered me at first. I thought there was something wrong, think I even posted here asking about it. After playing the thing for about a year and a half now, I don't even notice or care anymore.

With a 5E3, if you aren't using your guitar's volume knob and varying your attack then IMO you are missing out on the whole point of using a 5E3. It's an incredibly dynamic amp, so you have to be dynamic in your approach. If you take this approach, it's easy to see why you want to run the 5E3 a little louder than you want. You have extra volume on tap if you need it for a solo or something, but normally you just ease up and it's the right volume. It's amazing. It becomes like speaking once you get the hang of it; you just adjust without thinking.

I have played some *very* quiet jazz gigs with my 5e3's vol on about 4 or 5, and it's worked out just fine. Quiet, as in not wanting to disturb the conversations of people sitting 20 feet away quiet.

Also, to tubeswell's point, there was a discussion on here a while back about the differing taper of log pots, might be worth searching for to understand what tubeswell means. I doubt that production model 5E3 amps from the 50's had this problem, cause that would be some odd behaviour. So I tend to agree with TW and think that it's just the difference in pots then and now.

But I wouldn't sweat it too hard, you'll get used to it. Tracking down those pots might be difficult.

I'm glad I read this thread before posting to the OP because you have written *exactly* what I would have written.

I think with *every* amp, if you're not using your guitar's volume control, you're missing out. This is one of the the many delineations I draw between "guitar players" and "musicians."

Musicians know how to extract the most out of the tools available.