Need help with Honeytone distortion

[markbr]

Hey guys, im new here and also new to the world of guitar amp mods. I have a Danelectro Honeytone practice amp which runs off a 9v dc source. However, it distorts when the volume pot is turned somewhere half-way through, even though the tone and overdrive pots are at zero. I've traced the schematic and attached it. I've heard adding a -9V rail to give double the supply voltage to the pre-amp would give more headroom.

But i would like to know if there's anything else i could change to reduce this distortion?

Thanks a lot.

[J M Fahey]

Hi Markbr.
Congratulations, impressive tracing work.
Now on to your problem:
very short answer?: no solution; not an electronic one at least.
Slightly longer answer?: you do not have a problem of *preamp* clipping, but a low power amp (1W) and a *very* low efficiency 2" (or is it 3"?) speaker.
If you could somehow make a little hole in that case , wire an 1/8" mono jack there and connect an external 8", 10" or 12" speaker, you would be amazed.
Or you could build that preamp driving a TDA2002/2003/2006/2030/2040/2050, they are all basically the same but go from 6 to 30W, plus some guitar speaker, and blast your neighbours.
Congratulations again.

[markbr]

Thanks for the advice. I did try connecting a external speaker speaker and yes, it does sound great! The preamp (TL072) datasheet says it can handle 18V, so if i give it a higher voltage wouldn't it reduce clipping?

In some other posts in the "mods and tweaks" section, some people have changed the feedback resistors and capacitors? Do you think I can do the same here?

Also, where can I find good or higher efficiency and better sounding speakers? My Danelectro Honeytone uses a 2W 8ohm speaker so im not looking for anything fancy. Any ideas?

Cheers!

[J M Fahey]

I didn't think you'd dare, I was wrong.
I forgot to tell you that any external speaker jack you add *must* be insulated from ground, both pins (that includes the metallic mounting thread and nut) because your amp has balanced outputs, 2 "hot" ones, not hot and ground as usual.
Increasing preamp voltage won't help you because you have power amp distortion.
Internet is chock full of useless Mods, thank God you are in a no-nonsense, feet-firmly-on-the-ground forum.
Anyway you can always ask in any other Forum, where they'll promptly suggest you to rewire it with cloth covered wire, replace all capacitors with paper-in-oil ones, get the germanium version of TL072 and stuff like that.
Of course after all that effort, you will sound exactly like Hendrix at Isle of Wight and his 6 Plexis maxxed out.
A better speaker is the best Mod anywhere.
Check those excellent and cheap Jensen Mods (no pun intended), they're available from 5" to 12".
Get the best you can afford and it will be the base of your next 50W LM3886/TDA7254 project, a serious amp by any means.
You can even build a powered box and drive it from your Honeytone, results will be killer.
Good luck.