Question:
Ok my church bought this amp practicley new from this kid for 125$.Well he modded it and i dont know what he did to it when he modded it and theres a volume and a master whats the diffrence.Theres no effects loop and the tubes are 2 6L6 power tube and 3 12AX7 preamp tubes.Well im the only one that uses this amp so its at my house and im going to start using it soon and i would really like to be able to know how to work it proparly.Im not stupid i just dont know this amp,most tube amps i can figure out but i really cant figure this one out.Oh heres pics.
Answer:
What can you not figure out, just why there's a volume and a master? That's normal for that amp. Looks to me like he only added that switch next to the input jack. That could be a standby switch (turn the amp on and plug in a guitar...if switching it to one side "mutes" it and the other makes sound then it's just a standby switch) or it could be a boost switch for low output guitars or something. If it gets louder when you switch it one way that's what it is. My suspicion is that it's a standby switch since that amp doesn't have one already. That's a pretty standard mod people do to tube amps without one so you can leave it on so the tubes stay hot without passing signal through the amp. Think of your volume and master knobs more like pre and post controls on any other tube amp. The more you turn up the volume knob, the more drive/distortion you'll get. Use the master knob to control overall volume once you get the drive set where you like it. The higher you turn up the volume knob, the less play you'll have in the master knob before it gets really loud. This is a single channel amp, so you can only get one sound out of it without actually going back to the amp and tweaking settings, so if you need clean for verses and distortion for a chorus then you'll have to use a pedal to get distortion or seperate amps for clean and distorted tones.
Answer:
That's a sweet little amp, dude. I want one.


Answer:
Brent, you missed the added knob by the "on/off" switch...which is probably a standby mod. I'm guessing that the one by the input is a gain mod allowing for an OD channel.
+1 on your analysis of the volume/master volume situation.
Answer:
Ok I'll sit down l8er today and flip some switches and figure out what they do.Oh that switch by the input doesnt do anything ive flipped it beforer and it just makes the speaker pop really quick and theres no apparent change.
Answer:
But have you played it right after you flipped it? There might be some slightly noticeable change. My guess after seeing the other switch by the on/off now would be one setting for normal pickups and one for extra hot pickups. You could always ask the guy who did it, too, right?
Yeah, the switch by the on/off switch... I noticed it, but it looked too "natural" at the time to be a mod since it was labeled nicely and all...but then I didn't pay attention to the fact that it covers part of the logo.
Answer:
Nah I've never gotten to speak to the kid that owened it but ive played it flipped and never really noticed anything but give me like 10 min and ill go check it really quick brb.
Answer:
Nah no diffrence it doesnt do squat.The extra stiwch by the on is a standby switch if i have it off and turn the power on it just turns the tubes on,witch is nice i didnt know that one.But i have no clue what this other switch does.
Answer:
Yeah, a standby switch basically leaves the tubes warmed up and ready for when you're ready to start playing. Otherwise you'll turn your amp on and have to wait that customary 10 or 15 seconds or more for the tubes to warm up and produce sound.
Answer:
Another versatility option for one channel amps is to use your guitar's volume. Go ahead and put the amp at the desired drive and EQ, and when you're ready to do some clean rhythm turn down your guitar's volume until your tone cleans up. Switch to your neck pickup and you'll likely have a nice, softly-overdriven/clean tone to play worship with or something... .