5153-50watt owners - volume discrepancy

[drew_drummer]

I thought I'd kick off this thread to discuss these amps and ask a few questions. These are without a doubt really GREAT amps. They sound fucking killer; really nice clean tones as well as crunch and lead sounds.

For other owners out there; How are you getting around the volume discrepancy between channel 1 and channel 2?

I'm trying to figure out a way to do this, but so far have not been too successful. I've got a Line 6 M13 and Digitech GSP1101. With both of them setup to switch via midi and to bring in a volume effect into the FX loop of the amp, I get a huge burst of sound about 60ms long. It seems that the FX units switch the amp before they switch their internal DSP, causing a sound spike.

So I don't really know where to go from here. My FX processor midi controlled 4 cable method fix is a bit of a fail.

The thing is, I want to use the FX loop for a noise-gate for channel 3 as well as use it to reduce the volume of channel 2, and I want to avoid having to tap dance.

So how else can this be resolved? Only solution I can really think of is to use a pedal for my mid-gain crunch tones. (Which I wanted to use Channel 2 for)

 

[MIAnn]

Green/Blue channel- 10k voltage divider to 42k. This raises the clean level and increase gain slightly.

 

[AntonioPetrole]

I know some guys are doing a mod where you just swap out one of the resistors. Some guys are also doing it by midi. I have the 100W so I have no idea, it's just what I have read though

 

[drew_drummer]

I'd seen that resistor mod, but I don't want to make the clean unusable by making it have too much gain. I've only found that one dudes Youtube clip of it, and he has the gain set too high for me to really tell whether it works or not.

 

[MIAnn]

How about leaving a clean boost pedal on in the loop?

 

[drew_drummer]

Aye thought about that too. But the FX loop doesn't remember its state per-channel, it's permanent. Which means having to change channel and turn on the FX loop, which is going to give me a huge boost or drop anytime I change the channels, depending on how I configure it.

 

[SwambA]

When I had mine I used a podhd500 to control the fx loop, channels and effects on the pod, there was no spike in volume. It was pretty seemless. I don't know how to do it on the Line 6 M13 or Digitech, but on the pod you could totally switch the fx loop on and off per patch. I put a CC toggle on fs4 on the pod to control the loop then saved the patch with it on or off. Works great!

 

[drew_drummer]

I had a HD500 last year sometime and with my Marshall it wasn't all that seamless, there was a brief gap of silence when switching channels. It did sound decent once I had it setup though. I wonder if I should just give it up looking for absolutely seamless switching, because it patently doesn't exist.

The best unit I've used for 4-cable method and midi switching was the Boss GT-100. But the effects weren't that inspiring, and the delays went all pitchy when tapping the tempo, which I find really annoying.

 

[SwambA]

Most likely had more to do with the Marshall than the Pod. There was no more delay than just using the amps foot switch.

 

[SwambA]

The guy talks a lot but you get the idea.

 

[drew_drummer]

Yeah even in that video I hear it dude; check 6:03, the tiny drop out. 6:42 as well, when he goes from ch3 to ch1. Then also 7:12 where he goes from clean to his crunch patch. Sure I may be being overly picky, but I hate those kind of tiny gaps in the signal.

Using regular pedals and the amp switch, I get none of that with my Marshall nor the EVH.