87(ish) Ampeg Vt-60 needs some new(bigger) balls

[kjbakke2]

hello all
So ill just cut to the chase
i have an Ampeg Vt-60 (the little brother of the Vt-120)
in the stack version
im trying to get more of a Marshall jcm 800 tone out of it
in otherwords i want more gain with less mud

i know im faced with a few options (such as adding a gain stage)

i just want some other opinions on how you guys would go about it

(the schematic is identical to that of the 120 just without two of the power tubes)

also trying to get a gauge for how difficult it would be to add a master volume to this lil guy

thanks everyone
Kjell

[tubenoise]

master volume

adding a master volume after the mix tube will allow the preamp stage to crunch up more before output volume takes affect. changing plate resistors on preamp tubes to 220k adds gain but could get sloppy if you go too far. adding larger mf caps to cathode resistors of preamps lets more full frequency through. can get mushy if you do too many. unplug amp and discharge caps before you go screwing around in there. cardiac arrest sucks.

[kjbakke2]

hey man
thanks a ton
i know about discharging the caps
i agree cardiac arrest does suck....wouldn't know personally but you know how that goes....dont need the experience haha
i was probably going to have the shop do most of it anyways because im taking it in to have some joints inspected and have it biased (i dont have the bias gauge)

take care man