Just a little update,

The amp certainly sounds much better after some tweaks but admittedly I haven't had as much time to play it as much as I'd like as of late. Having a newborn and work has been taking up most of my time.

Gregg- like you, I've engaged the bright switch on the Clator which is closer to the drive knob which improve and brightens things up, but I'm finding that i need to wind the treble almost to 10 to get it sounding nice and crisp. The bright pull switch on the volume doesn't appear to do too much to help, and when engaging the secondary bright switch on the Clator next to the out knob, it causes a nasty hissing. The secondary switch does help brighten it up, but the hissing annoys me too much to use it. If I remember correctly, engaging all the switch switches didn't work well with the OD channel.

In terms of the OD, although it isnt quite where i want it to be, I think I'll eventually be able to tune this to my liking, but the next steps will be to change the speaker to a EVM to naturally brighten her up without having to set the treble at max to get those crisp cleans, and possibly replacing the tubes as suggested above to enhance the tones.

Tube and Speaker change are your best bets, I think.  Seriously, check out Mike at kcanostubes.com.  Great guy and you can get what you need. 

A used EVM-12L shouldn't cost more than $120.  Keep checking local craigslists. 

I haven't bothered with the internal HRM trimmers yet. Got too much knobs as it is ( no jokes please! Haha).

Hmm, one of the reasons why I went with a Clator was that I could drive the preamp for the OD but still be able to play at low volumes. Was I wrong in this assumption?

I haven't yet been able to play the amp at volume yet, but now I'm keen to. To be honest, I spend most of my time playing at low volumes, which makes me wonder if I made the wrong choice. YouTube clips are deceiving in the sense that you really can't get a feel for how loud the amps are being run at :/

Yes, I have to take exception to not getting good tones at bedroom levels. Of course the louder the better. But that is really all dependent on room size. Becuase "too loud" is possible too......Well, at age 47, it is.

This is at very, very quiet "bedroom" levels. The amp had about 25 hrs. of playing time on it. If you listen close at the end you can hear me switching the footswitches to show how quiet it was.  http://home.comcast.net/~soundperf/myfilelocker/Music/HRM50_Jam_CAN.mp3

I know having just a 1x12 setup is desirable, but maybe the reason why I never had any issues with speakers and getting a balanced sound was going with a 2x12 with two different speakers from the start.

I also disagree that the internal trimmers aren't important. I barely have the bass trim on, but I spent a good bit of time finding that "barely on" sweet spot. Also the treble is very sensitive on mine. Too much on that trim and it was crappy O/D. And while, I'm tempted to say not mess with the internals until the amp is broken in, that's not completely necesarry. It just may be necesarry to go back later on and re-tweak them. While, I have my amp pretty much "set & forget" now, I don't assume that I'll never have to go back and mess with things. Especially if I go with a completely different set of tube, etc.

Any updates, Stratultra? Getting any closer to the sound you are looking for?

Gregg

Hey Chris, thats some very tasteful playing there! Just got around to listening it now. In saying that, I'm not able to get anything close to the OD tones you're getting. Out of curiosity, didnthe characteristics of the OD on the amp change much after 25 hours of playtime? Sounds like it was played with some humbuckers.... Which makes me think, I've been playing the BM with my strat mostly because the 59ri needs a good setup and is with my luthier at the moment. Perhaps the BM is better suited with humbuckers?

Thanks Gregg, it gives me some solace to know that over time it'll sound better. Oddly enough, all of my axes are low wound. The strat has some lace sensors in them at the moment, but I've managed to source some lollar blondes which I'll get then in next week. Probably won't help my cause with the lollars, but the 59ri and gretch have standard pickups in them which are low wound too.

Are you able to get Chris's tone as he's sound clip out of your BM? It's actually the tone that I'm after!

It might be a little impatient on my behalf, but I am trying to get my hands into a EVM. Might take me a while to get one used, but it just might give me the time got the wgs to break in till I make that decision. I think the tube replacement is in order rather sooner than later though, or I'll just wait till I get the EVM and order them at the same time.

Shame that the time isn't quite there now, has I have a few mates keen on checking the amp out! Hehe

Hey Strat,

So a couple of things:
1. I can get the sound that Chris is getting on his recordings pretty easy.  Using just a LP and the BM with the Clator controlling global.  Note, though, that it sounds like he's running a delay, so that will add to the dimensionality.  
2. Change the tubes sooner rather than later.  I'd definitely recommend an ANOS RCA in V1 for the clean side.  Makes a world of difference.  In V2 (gain channel), I've tried TAD 7025's, the JJ's, a JAN Phillips 5571, and the RI Tung-Sols.  Of all those, I like the Tung-Sol's best BUT you should only buy from a seller that tests the tubes well.  Unfortunately, the TSs are notorious for failing, but I got mine from a reputable dealer, and haven't had an issue.  Again, you could also go NOS or ANOS GE or Sylvanias in the V2.  I also have a Sovtek 12ax7-LPS in the phase inverter, and that sounds great.  Power tubes are TAD 6L6GC.  I may not change the power tubes, though, until you decide to take the amp in for a tuneup or to have someone get into the internal trims as you will need a rebias.  If you can do this yourself, good on ya.  I certainly cannot, hehe.
3. For me, making my strat sound good with the BM means I have to turn up the Input knob.  Right now, I plug into LO with the LP and HI for the Strat, unless I really want to push the preamps in clean mode.  Another option that many use is to get a good clean boost pedal (more money, I know).  The Keeley Katana and the Xotic EP-1 are known for sounding great.  I have been demoing the latter and it does live up to they hype.  Or you could get a Zendrive to use for clean and solo boosting.
4. Gregg is fully correct when he says this amp makes you learn to vary your pick attack.  So much control over the sensitivity is daunting at first, but with some practice, you can learn to tame her down some, but still get growl when you want.  In fact, for most of what I'm playing (save some alt-rock stuff), I've left the plectrum and gone back to finger picking.  
5. Just as a comparison, I'm running my OD trim at 8 or 9 o'clock, and with the above tube/speaker choices, have usable OD throughout the enter drive knob sweep, which with the PAB engaged easily gets into heavy distortion.  
6. This is just a heads up but a guy near me is selling 2x EV 12Ls for US$80/each.  Shipping would be about $60 via USPS.  I will be in the area by this guy sometime next week can could check them out, so I wanted to give you the heads up.  Here's the link:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/msg/2955324899.html