Amp needs more "oomph"

len42

Hey dudes I have Ampeg gvt52 amp. It has a super clean sound. Great for jazz. But it lacks punch...it needs more oomph. I know it's not a fender hotrod deluxe, but how can I get it more punch...?

beardedmoose

I would say swop out your power tubes to something with a little less headroom 6L6's are known for having lots of headroom. maybe try EL34's? Just remember the rebiasing.. so approach a reputable amp tech. If your in cape town I can point you to a great one.

:goodtimes:

ezietsman

What do you mean by more "oomph" and "punch"? Do you mean more drive? Do you mean a more sudden attack? Do you mean more volume? What guitars are you using?

Changing the power tubes to EL34 will make little to no difference on a 50 watt amp, unless you're driving it hard, and I'm assuming you're not, because, pain. A lot of amps these days are designed to run the power section completely clean, because people like to plug floorpedals into them and they want 'headroom'.

GuitarDoge

I have the same amp. It has plenty of punch when loud(on the full 52 watt mode) On the dirty channel, the eq is very wide and sensitive. It can give a very good classic to hard rock crunch but you have to turn up the mid contro(to about 9)as this also boosts the signal due to the baxandall circuit.

For lead I use an overdrive pedal to boost it very very slightly.

The clean is full and great already(with volume and gain high).

JGP

That amp is fitted with a Celestion Seventy 80 speaker which is Celestion's generic "1 size fits all OEM speaker" It is known for good clean tone, is a bit bass light and is OK but not great overdriven. A change of speaker may just give you what you are looking for. The Vintage 30 would be a good place to start looking but there are plenty of other options.

len42

ez wrote: What do you mean by more "oomph" and "punch"? Do you mean more drive? Do you mean a more sudden attack? Do you mean more volume? What guitars are you using?

Changing the power tubes to EL34 will make little to no difference on a 50 watt amp, unless you're driving it hard, and I'm assuming you're not, because, pain. A lot of amps these days are designed to run the power section completely clean, because people like to plug floorpedals into them and they want 'headroom'.

I think Sudden attack sums it up nicely. Can I call it "fender hotrod" like.

JGP wrote: That amp is fitted with a Celestion Seventy 80 speaker which is Celestion's generic "1 size fits all OEM speaker" It is known for good clean tone, is a bit bass light and is OK but not great overdriven. A change of speaker may just give you what you are looking for. The Vintage 30 would be a good place to start looking but there are plenty of other options.

Thanx will definitely look into that

len42

I play with a standard fender tele.

GuitarDoge

Try this guy's settings:

=

DaFiz

Can one not simply change the bias settings on the valves to make it get fuzzier sooner ? :-\

If the bias is set at say 80 the valve will only start distorting later...
If the bias stting are re-set to say 60 the distortion will begin earlier.

*that said I'm no expert and don't actually know... just taking a ruff guess* 8)

ezietsman

DaFiz wrote: Can one not simply change the bias settings on the valves to make it get fuzzier sooner ? :-\

No, the way to get it to go fuzzier sooner is to buy a smaller amp ? I'm not sure that's what Len wants though. Teles can sound a bit un-"punchy" and thin, depending on the amp's settings and the technique they're played with. I have one and it took me a bit of getting used to.

DaFiz

ez wrote:
DaFiz wrote: Can one not simply change the bias settings on the valves to make it get fuzzier sooner ? :-\
No, the way to get it to go fuzzier sooner is to buy a smaller amp ? I'm not sure that's what Len wants though. Teles can sound a bit un-"punchy" and thin, depending on the amp's settings and the technique they're played with. I have one and it took me a bit of getting used to.

Indeed... Humbuckers will give way more whack than standard tele pups. ?

len42

I used a Cort loaded with Seymore before the tele. Even then it lacked the attack. If I use to much gain it compress the sound to much. I think the problem is I want my ampeg to sound like a hotrod deluxe. Cause I played my tele through a fender and it was heaven!

ezietsman

len42 wrote: I used a Cort loaded with Seymore before the tele. Even then it lacked the attack. If I use to much gain it compress the sound to much. I think the problem is I want my ampeg to sound like a hotrod deluxe. Cause I played my tele through a fender and it was heaven!

Sounds like you want a hotrod then ?

len42

ez wrote:
len42 wrote: I used a Cort loaded with Seymore before the tele. Even then it lacked the attack. If I use to much gain it compress the sound to much. I think the problem is I want my ampeg to sound like a hotrod deluxe. Cause I played my tele through a fender and it was heaven!
Sounds like you want a hotrod then ?

Yeah hehe

Gearhead

Sounds to me like you want a 2x12 with better speakers.