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FREE IS GOOD,OR IS IT?need advice with Crate Stealth GT50H

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  • #16
    Originally posted by soundguruman View Post
    Dave,
    Your picture is so much more attractive these days, and I can't figure out "why?"
    Actually, that isn't me in the picture, that's our lovely Amy MacDonald - if you haven't heard her, she deserves a listen.
    Got her on vinyl last week. Cool!.
    (I don't look less attractive - only different).
    Dave.

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    • #17
      soundguruman
      boat anchor?doorstop?how about a yard ornament?well it was free,and like the title says,free isnt always good.and yes i should have heeded your advice and not sunk any money into it,replacement caps,diodes and tubes,along with some cosmetic changes..the stealth didnt look too stealthy with a hot pink stripe..sanded,repainted and waterslide decals took care of that,simple black and white..replaced the wooden face with black diamondplate grounded to chassis,and replaced the red led's with blue,even made a matching 2 button footswitch...but thats all superficial,looks cool,but sounds terrible..the gain channel,no complaints,i knew it wasnt super high gain,but what it does have suits many styles and sounds pretty decent and gain2 accessedby the footswitch is identical to gain one,but one set lower than the other gives it possibilities..but the clean channel...well in a few words..it sucks.it is too bright and twangy,even with the bass dimed and highs on 1..tube swapping has no effect on it.so im just wondering now ,what i can do to eliminate all the high end..would replacing c37/c6 .022uf with say a .033 or even up to.1uf,to give it more bass?or would upping the value of c3 220pf on the treble be a better choice?any advice from anyone on how to tone this down would be appreciated,other than beating it with a hammer..thanks
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      • #18
        Originally posted by dNi3L View Post
        soundguruman
        boat anchor?doorstop?how about a yard ornament?well it was free,and like the title says,free isnt always good.and yes i should have heeded your advice and not sunk any money into it,replacement caps,diodes and tubes,along with some cosmetic changes..the stealth didnt look too stealthy with a hot pink stripe..sanded,repainted and waterslide decals took care of that,simple black and white..replaced the wooden face with black diamondplate grounded to chassis,and replaced the red led's with blue,even made a matching 2 button footswitch...but thats all superficial,looks cool,but sounds terrible..the gain channel,no complaints,i knew it wasnt super high gain,but what it does have suits many styles and sounds pretty decent and gain2 accessedby the footswitch is identical to gain one,but one set lower than the other gives it possibilities..but the clean channel...well in a few words..it sucks.it is too bright and twangy,even with the bass dimed and highs on 1..tube swapping has no effect on it.so im just wondering now ,what i can do to eliminate all the high end..would replacing c37/c6 .022uf with say a .033 or even up to.1uf,to give it more bass?or would upping the value of c3 220pf on the treble be a better choice?any advice from anyone on how to tone this down would be appreciated,other than beating it with a hammer..thanks
        [ATTACH=CONFIG]19597[/ATTACH]
        You are right,
        There was one guy who made his into a flower planter.
        And another guy used his for a bird house.
        So, I guess it does have more uses than I mentioned.
        (when administering hammer, always wear safety goggles)
        Last edited by soundguruman; 08-11-2012, 09:19 PM.

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        • #19
          lol..im beginning to see you do have a very good point..

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          • #20
            The clean channel is very basic, V1a. It is between OC1 and R13. Most anything you do outside those boundaries will also affect the OD channel.

            You could increase C6. My rule of thumb is to change a component value expecting it to sound different, go with at least a factor of two. SO not .033uf, but .047 or larger. Unless you only want subtle change. C74 over by the clean master, try lifting it from the circuit. ANy help? m Cathode cap C2, you might play with that. List if, increase it, decrease it, see what happens.

            And have you tried different speakers for the clean channel?

            You want to play with the tone stack? Go over to Duncan's Amp Pages and download the free tone stack calculator. It is a REALLY cool real time tone stack simulator. You can select various types of stack, move the controls and watch the freq response curve move. You can also change the component values, so if you wonder how a 100k slope resistor sounds compared to a 39k slope resistor, or a 470pf versus 220pf treble cap - or whatever - you can.
            Education is what you're left with after you have forgotten what you have learned.

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            • #21
              thank you for the suggestions Enzo,ill take it apart and try each one,maybe even socket those componants to swap different values..and yes ive tried different speakers,like i said,the gain sounds good to my ears,but nothing i do seems to tame that brightness and twang in the clean channel..sounds good picking individual notes,melody lines,but strumming chords is god awful sounding..i realize crate isnt the greatest amp in the land,but it was free and its my first amp project,something good to learn on anyway...thanks again

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              • #22
                You learned a lot and got some confidence for very little money. I would put a peddle eq in the effects loop and us an OD pedal and a Rat into the clean channel. It will probably be usable. Did you sort out the reverb? Trust your own ears and don't listen to cork sniffing fools opinions. Tone is in the hands my friend. Personally I love resurrecting things like this.

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                • #23
                  enzo..i thank you again for your suggestions..but i found the amp sounds beautiful when one of the screws holding the chassis in the head,isnt grounding out on the middle lug of the treble pot..when i replaced the pots with solder lugs,i spun them around facing the opposite direction they were originally in,and the mounting screw was just long enough to touch..seemed to bypass the bass and mids for some reason...sounds wonderful outside of the head,i guess ill spin that pot back around...could kick myself for not being more aware,but im learning,and i thank you all for your time..

                  olddawg..
                  thank you for your reply..yes i have learned a bit here and there,step up from wah mods and fuzzboxes,it grows more and more addicting and no,im not letting anything negative people say,influence me to the point of giving up,but people do have a right to thier opinions and beliefs,sometimes disagreeable,but i respect what people think and say even if its not what i wish to hear...and no on the reverb,i still need to find me a tank,im an avid used gear shopper at guitar center,may find one there pretty cheap...but over all it does have a nice sound to it..i have processors and such,but ive slowly been veering away from the digital effects,they have no real warmth or character..but however the eq idea is good,i have a yamaha natural sound eq that may work,give it a try...thank you all for your advice

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                  • #24
                    Well, I am glad you sorted it, but still, DO go over to duncanamps and check out the tone stack calculator, it is really cool, and free.
                    Education is what you're left with after you have forgotten what you have learned.

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                    • #25
                      thank you enzo,yes i have,makes me think of making a few changes...besides the voicing on the tone stacks im not caring much for the gain section..i made the footswitch in order to access gain2,but 1 and 2 are identical,and the only way to notice any difference would be to turn one or the other down,but even then it just sounds like an identical gain turned down..so if possible id like to give gain 2 a completely different voice...so i got to looking at the scem,thinking maybe i could swap diodes or add a different array of them to that gain section,but it turns out they arent independent and run of the same circuit..Click image for larger version

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ID:	825763..from looking at it anything i do as far as diode deviation,will also affect the sound of the initial gain..correct me if im wrong,still learning,but it looks as if the only componants that i could change without hurting gain1 would be c15 1uf np,r28 10k and q5 j176?Click image for larger version

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ID:	825764..just curiousity..would changing the cap or the fet change the way gain2 behaves without meddling up gain1? and while i was venturing into this territory i noticed something ive never seen before are transistors q15/16,being used as diodes here?Click image for larger version

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ID:	825765ive built dist/fuzzes but have never seen transistors used as diodes in an ic gain circuit..like i said,just curiousity and trying to understand and learn and again i thank you for your insight

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                      • #26
                        Q15/16 are being used as "amplified diodes" for clipping.

                        The JFETs Q4 and Q5 are a switching circuit that select one or the other gain pot as the input to the clipping stage. Since they are being used as switches, they don't colour the tone so there is no point in changing them.

                        C14, C15, R28 and R29 are the only components not shared between the two "gain" voices. Right now they are identical, so as you discovered, Gain 1 and Gain 2 sound the same. As a very simple mod maybe you can try changing C14 for a much smaller value (10nF? 1nF?) to make your Gain 2 channel bright and piercing. Or add a "bright cap" to one of the gain pots.

                        Beyond that, the stage is very similar to the clipping amp in the Tube Screamer, so you might like to look at some Tube Screamer mods for inspiration.
                        Last edited by Steve Conner; 08-16-2012, 09:44 AM.
                        "Enzo, I see that you replied parasitic oscillations. Is that a hypothesis? Or is that your amazing metal band I should check out?"

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