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Need Help: Gibson GA-5T Skylark Crestline: low volume, modulated distortion & more

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  • #16
    Originally posted by Leo_Gnardo View Post
    A competitor, couple towns away, makes this kind of mistake all the time. Often he's put 4K7 screen grid resistors where there should be 470R. Does he work in the dark or color blind, can't tell red from brown. You would think he could hear the amp sounds naff, heck he plays guitar in a professional band.

    Good on ya for finding & fixing your error. Screen grid voltages look fine, they're typically just a couple volts off the plate. And you don't have to change that trio of caps in the vibrato circuit, what a relief.
    Well, to be fair, G1 found it. Now that he did, everything works beautifully, except the volume. I've read that this amp is known to be somewhat quieter than others. So far, I've built a 5e3 tweed deluxe and a 5f1 champ, modded a few here, fixed a few there, so my experience is limited. In those, however, amplification started at 1 on the dial andkicked in at 3, getting louder all the way up. This amp barely amps at 3, doesn't kick in until between 5 & 6 and doesn't seem to amplify in as steep a curve from 6-10 as the other amps I've heard. Thoughts?
    Gina Veesaert

    "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~Thomas Edison

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    • #17
      Originally posted by AmpGal View Post
      This amp barely amps at 3, doesn't kick in until between 5 & 6 and doesn't seem to amplify in as steep a curve from 6-10 as the other amps I've heard. Thoughts?
      Weird pot taper possibly very old & worn, try a replacement. How does it sound at 10? It's all downhill from there looking at it from the other direction, the volume control as attenuator. If it sounds OK at 10 and does what you expect as you move your guitar's volume control then swap out the amp's volume control for sure.
      This isn't the future I signed up for.

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      • #18
        Personally, as long as it "gets there" at "10", I'd prefer it to say the newer Fenders (Blues Deluxe and the like) that are already loud as hell at "2" or "3" and then don't do much after that. It makes it easier to control the volume. Without actually hearing the amp, it's hard to tell if it indeed has an issue or just works that way. This amp isn't going to be "ear melting" loud and IMO, most of the little Gibbys I've played sound best dimed or close to it.
        "I took a photo of my ohm meter... It didn't help." Enzo 8/20/22

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        • #19
          I think it sounds great at 10; it's clean with very little breakup. I do have 500k audio pots from RS Guitarworks that I use in guitars. It's only three solder points, so I may just swap one in and see if it works differently than the original. We can always sell it as a bedroom amp. Haha

          I think I'm going to start taking short before and after audio recordings if I can bug my husband to play for me. I never learned, but it's on my bucket list.
          Gina Veesaert

          "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~Thomas Edison

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          • #20
            I think it's very cool that you do this. I don't personally know any women that would handle a soldering iron much less try something like this. Kudos!
            --Jim


            He's like a new set of strings... he just needs to be stretched a bit.

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            • #21
              Is your axe fitted with single coils or humbuckers? That will make a difference, also, as humbuckers are generally quite a bit hotter. By my recollection, the last time I played through one of these, I could get a good amount of breakup at "10". It wasn't like a "metal" distortion, but more like a blues type breakup with hard picking. I think I was using Seymour Duncan Hot Rails at the time, which are pretty hot pickups.
              "I took a photo of my ohm meter... It didn't help." Enzo 8/20/22

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              • #22
                Originally posted by gui_tarzan View Post
                I think it's very cool that you do this. I don't personally know any women that would handle a soldering iron much less try something like this. Kudos!
                Well, thank you! I've always loved science and technology. A few years ago, my husband and I started a guitar refinishing business and I was taking out and replacing the electronics. It was only a matter of time until pedals and then amps. I still feel I'm not really "doing it" because I may be able to solder and put parts together from a wiring diagram and whatever I've built will work, I don't actually understand the engineering behind them. I'm just starting to be able to look at a schematic and find the correlating pieces in the amp. I really, really want to learn what's behind my work. If I can do that, maybe I could be an actual amp tech and have a job I love instead of one that just pays some of the bills.
                Gina Veesaert

                "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~Thomas Edison

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                • #23
                  Originally posted by The Dude View Post
                  Is your axe fitted with single coils or humbuckers? That will make a difference, also, as humbuckers are generally quite a bit hotter. By my recollection, the last time I played through one of these, I could get a good amount of breakup at "10". It wasn't like a "metal" distortion, but more like a blues type breakup with hard picking. I think I was using Seymour Duncan Hot Rails at the time, which are pretty hot pickups.

                  Hubby says he was playing tele single coils. He's going to grab one with humbuckers in it and said thanks for the thought! It does have the same bluesy distortion you're talking about. Starts upwards of 8-9. Now it never gets to that nastiness we were hearing before, though.
                  Gina Veesaert

                  "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~Thomas Edison

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Originally posted by AmpGal View Post
                    Hubby says he was playing tele single coils. He's going to grab one with humbuckers in it and said thanks for the thought! It does have the same bluesy distortion you're talking about. Starts upwards of 8-9. Now it never gets to that nastiness we were hearing before, though.

                    Oh, wow, man! Humbuckers make this sound like a whole different amp! It sounds amazing!! See, this is why I need to learn this stuff. I am so excited right now! Thank you guys so much!!

                    It came in before 3 and kicked in before 5, too. Interesting how it changed all that just because of the input signal.
                    Gina Veesaert

                    "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~Thomas Edison

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Originally posted by AmpGal View Post
                      Hubby says he was playing tele single coils. He's going to grab one with humbuckers in it and said thanks for the thought! It does have the same bluesy distortion you're talking about. Starts upwards of 8-9. Now it never gets to that nastiness we were hearing before, though.
                      What you describe sounds like a normally working GA5 to me.

                      Edit: Oh,.....you responded while I was typing. Good deal on the humbucker thing. Glad you are happy with the amp!
                      "I took a photo of my ohm meter... It didn't help." Enzo 8/20/22

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                      • #26
                        Sounds like it's working good now, congrats!
                        Did the power tube cathodes come up to vicinity of 16V ?
                        Originally posted by Enzo
                        I have a sign in my shop that says, "Never think up reasons not to check something."


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                        • #27
                          Originally posted by g1 View Post
                          Sounds like it's working good now, congrats!
                          Did the power tube cathodes come up to vicinity of 16V ?
                          They did. 16.91 and 16.93, to be exact. Yay!
                          Gina Veesaert

                          "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~Thomas Edison

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                          • #28
                            Just my $.02,

                            What makes those little Gibson amps special is their input sensitivity. Great little blues amp. To clean them up, just turn the guitar volume down a bit or pick softer. For a nice bluesy type distortion, just crank up the guitar volume and/or pick a little harder. It's real easy to get different sounds with only slight changes in picking technique.
                            "I took a photo of my ohm meter... It didn't help." Enzo 8/20/22

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