Peavey Windsor VS JCM 800 ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN 20009

Changed R4 (1K) to a 10K.
This is the cathode resistor on the second gain stage (second half of the first 12ax7).

I think this made an "improvement" in the cleans so far, the preamp gain knob stays clean until about 12 o'clock now and the clean seems to be more natural without the 'grit' that was there previously.


click to enlarge


Damn, I really want to play this thing at normal levels. I'm going insane keeping the volume down.
 
Ok, I replaced R53, with a higher value 1M resistor.
It cleaned up the amp, but it wasn't very responsive, it just felt like i had the volume control way down, kinda lame.

Next, I returned it to the stock configuration to try different methods.

1. Bypassed the V2 votage divider completely and ran the two gain stages into each other with nothing between. Didn't seem to do too much.
2. Bypassed the entire second half of V2, the fourth and final gain stage.
3. Bypassed everything between V1a and V2b so it was only using two gain stages. This dropped the volume way to low for the entire amp, i had the master and pre-gain cranked and this shit was super low.


No results I've really liked yet. I'm trying to find a more dynamic sound, I think I might be taking the wrong approach, but I'm learning a lot!
 
I got an amazing clean tone today when I bypassed the voltage divider that followed the first gain stage. Only problem was that is was a little noisy and way low volume. Shit sounded sweet as hell though. I've been dicking with this thing for so long today, and that was the only real good discovery.
 
windsor_input_resistor.jpg



FUCK YEAH BROS!!!!

I just did almost exactly what I was looking for!!!
It's so fucking easy I can't believe it.

See that 1Meg resistor on the inputs?
Just take a 10k resistor and 470p capacitor, use them in parallel and put it in place of that 1meg resistor.

THIS SHIT IS AMAZING. It doesn't have all the over-the-top gain, but definitely in the AC/DC RIFFZONE, but it can be cleaned up with the guitar volume and when you crank the master on the amp, and turn the pre down, it's so fucking clean and sounds amazing. i can't believe it.
 
lolzgreg said:
CLIPS DAMNIT!

You shoulda recorded a clip at every phase!!!!!
Click to expand...

I know rite!
I have a few, but I can't ever be loud. Tonight was alright, I got to turn up a little bit. Unfortunately, I sent almost all my microphones, my laney, and other stuff back to TN so I wouldn't be able sell any of it off. I haven't really been able to record anything here in MD so it was just all sitting around. The only mics I have left are some MXL 603s and a D6, just because I forgot to put them in the box. :(

I might borrow a 57 or something...
 
Is Tennessee your home base then Sloan? I thought you had since abandoned those roots :lol: Glad everything worked out though dude, and of course, clips or GTFO!! :D
 
Yeah, I plan to move back SOMETIME, it's just i'm kinda stuck here. I had to stick around because that drummer asshole taking me to court claiming I stole stuff, and then my car blew up. I'm working with a friend selling hifi equipment on ebay and he lets me drive his van, so if i move back now, I won't have a car or any income. I figure I'll stick around through summer maybe, summers here are a little fun because there's all kinds of tourists and dock bars are fun places to gig/party. Winter fucking blows goats though. Also, the cost of living here is INSANE compared to my hometown. I'm paying almost $500 a month just for a room and I could rent a whole house or apartment for that much in TN.
 
Where at in TN? I live in Bristol (NASCAR BABY) And yeah, nice houses go for around 5-800$ a month around these parts :D


Post some clips of that beast combo rig you have goin' there
 
tobin1 said:
Where at in TN? I live in Bristol (NASCAR BABY) And yeah, nice houses go for around 5-800$ a month around these parts :D


Post some clips of that beast combo rig you have goin' there
Click to expand...

I'm from Cleveland - right next to Chattanooga.

I couldn't do anything with the "combo" yet, because of the speaker baffle thing blocking the 12ax7 slots!


PROJECT UPDATE:
I worked all night to get my "mod" to be switchable in tandem with the BOOST function. I thought for sure the switch made the relay for the BOOST activate, but it turns out both the relays in this amp are designed to turn on when the amp is powered up and they don't switch anytime after that! I tested them both with a multimeter to make sure, and they don't do anything! Not sure exactly what the point is. I couldn't figure out a way to have the BOOST switch also be a voltage switch for the relay I hooked up for my "mod". Back to the drawing board y'all....

So right now, I just have a toggle switch hanging out the front of the amp so I can test it at high volume later today.
 
I finally got to try the Windsor out at 'normal' volumes with my 4x12 today. This amp sounds amazingly good for the price, i can't believe it. There's definitely more clean headroom at higher volumes, but a switchable clean "channel" would be awesome as hell for this amp.

I might run a 500k or 1meg pot where i modded that resistor etc.. it might act as a good pre gain control. damn this amp is killer.
 
HAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahaha, you blinged your amp with those horrid myspace .gif's :lol: Glad it's working out at practice levels dude, it seems like a really cool amp!
 
*** DISREGARD THE PREVIOUS MOD ***
It turned out to be not what I was looking for, it just lowers the gain a bit, but doesn't clean up like a real clean channel/mode.



MEGA PROGRESS:
Bypassed first gain stage with DPDT switch. Sounded good and clean but with a little of that gritty shit still there.
I cleaned it up a bit more by using the DPDT switch to switch the first gain stage (v1a) out and also change the Cathode Resistor on the second gain stage (v1b - which would be the first gain stage in clean mode), this really cleaned it up and got rid of that lingering distortion characteristic. It still breaks up a little with the clean volume up, but it's way better now.

Now I've got the problem of having to add a Master volume for the new clean channel so that the channels can be balanced out....

Once I get these things done, I don't think it would be *too much* of a hassle to have it footswitchable.
 
Fuck yeahs! No clue what's going on really, but if the end result it making it a footswitchable amp with clean and dirty channels, that's all that matters! Are you using the stock tubes, btw? Cuz newer (and better) ones might also clean things up, especially if you got some lower gain versions; check this out
 
Yeah, I'm using the stock tubes. They sound fine when clean, the preamp section of this thing is basically like a JCM800 with some changes - more voltage dividers, cathode resister bypass capacitors, different value components. I can't believe how awesome this amp sounds when it's actually at playing volume, it's got some grit to it, but overall a very smooth midrange tone that's very "singing" or something. Definitely a keeper.

Whenever I get done experimenting, I'll post a HOW-TO type of thing.

It's very exciting and rewarding being able to work on an amp rather than being afraid or worried about messing something up. The Windsor is a great amp for this because it's pretty simple.
 
LOWER GAIN TUBES:
I've tried lower gain tubes actually recently in my Ampeg VL-1002. I was using a 12au7, it did give some more clean headroom, but turns out, you also don't drive the power stage as much, and after just switching back to 12ax7's this past weekend, I'm not really wanting to use anything else.

I did put some 12au7's in the Windsor to see if I could weed out which gain stage was causing the un-removable grit in the signal, but it seemed they were interchangeable with neither tube causing it.
 
Sloan said:
LOWER GAIN TUBES:
I've tried lower gain tubes actually recently in my Ampeg VL-1002. I was using a 12au7, it did give some more clean headroom, but turns out, you also don't drive the power stage as much.
Click to expand...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe its the opposite. The less gain of the tube you use in the preamp, the harder the power stage must be driven to provide any sort of distortion. Hence a lower gain tube (12Au7 being the lowest, I believe almost 50% less gain than a 12Ax7), should give you a much nicer clean.
 
lolzgreg said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe its the opposite. The less gain of the tube you use in the preamp, the harder the power stage must be driven to provide any sort of distortion. Hence a lower gain tube (12Au7 being the lowest, I believe almost 50% less gain than a 12Ax7), should give you a much nicer clean.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking!
 
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