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Author Topic: HRM Bluesmaster setup advice  (Read 129036 times)
StratUltra
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« Reply #120 on: July 14, 2012, 06:56:54 AM »
Congrats on the purchase Mike and welcome to the forum!

Do tell us more about the mods!

You'll love the amp!
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Tone Control
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« Reply #121 on: July 19, 2012, 08:23:49 PM »
I thought John Mayer didn't use the OD channel on his Dumbley amps at all, and used a Klon for OD. Isn't the 2-rocks single channel?
http://www.two-rock.com/products/limited-edition-a-discontinued/john-mayer-signature.html

For my BM50, preamp vol at 2.5-3, master vol at 6-8 does it for JM cleans - low bass and high treble and presence
input a Honeybee or Klon klone for the OD, although you can get nice JM-style OD from the BM, drive=2, level=5
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Dr Tone Control, Strats mostly, prefer saturated clean tones, a little OD sometimes
BM50, JTM45, 36w EF86, DZ30, Expression, + non-Ceriatones (Matchless, Victoria, Wienbrock)
Just started with pedals a little after a 10 year purist spell, but usually just delay
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« Reply #122 on: August 17, 2012, 08:48:17 PM »
Just received the HRM BM 100 watt. Ceriatone built.

Mods: Treble bleed, 3-way mid-boost, 1/2 power switch, tomestack bypass.

Speaker cabs: assortment of 2x12, 1x15, 4x10 - all Weber speakers (alnicos and ceramics)

Axes: Strat (linday fralin pups) and Les Paul (seymour duncan pups)

Note: Only 8 hours of break in so far, I'm sure things will change.

Clean channel: It did not take long to dial in a great sound for the strat and LP. Amazing - the clarity and string separation, never played through anything like this. This is what I bought this amp for. I assume it will just get better after break-in. Seems to want to be bassy, but with the right settings it is controllable. Also found that it sounds best with the 2x12 - 4x10 configuration. The 1x15 cab may be too deep for this amp.

Pedals (Thru Clean channel): I use Fulltone boost pedals (FD-II, OCD and Plimsoul). The OCD (18v) sounds fantastic through it with the strat. The Plimsoul works better with the LP. With my other tube amps, I always left the FD-II engaged with no gain, just as a nice boost to add some sparkle that this pedal is great for. This is not needed with the BM amp, in fact it seemed to get in the way of the great sound. The PAB switch is a nice boost for solos on the clean channel. The Fulltone mini-deja vibe sounds great through this amp.This amp takes pedals very well on the clean channel.

OD channel: If I had any hair on my head, they would be gone by now. This is going to take some time, but I am patient. Sounds fizzy and it appears to need to be extremely loud before the you hit the sweet spot.Hoping that the break in will help this and lots of setting experiments. I'm not keen on popping it open to mess with the interal trimmers, but I will if I have to.
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StratUltra
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« Reply #123 on: August 19, 2012, 06:09:29 AM »
Hey Mike,

Funny that, I think I may have finally sorted my OD channel and the advice has always been on the board but finally managed to get around to it today.

The trick is to change the V1 to a RCA short grey plate. Simple as that...

I order a pair and tried running them both into V1 and V2, but prefer the tung sol RI in V2. The RCA in V1 made a heck of a difference on the OD channel for me, and the cleans seemed a little more 3D if that makes sense. Also, I noticed that the OD now doesn't need to be high volume to hit that sweet spot now.

Hope that helps and all I can say is this amp is a keeper for sure. It's been hard work through trial and error but it's certainly been worth it.
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plasticvonaband
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« Reply #124 on: August 19, 2012, 10:09:36 AM »
Funny how different people have different approaches tube wise to get the results they want. For me, It's a Telefunken Ribbed Plate in V1 and a JAN GE 5751 in V2. A close 2nd is GE Long Gray Plates from the late 50's/early 60's. Glad you got the sound you were after!

Gregg
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Overdrive is like peanut butter. Some like it crunchy, some like it creamy.
Bluesmaster 50 2x12 combo and some guitars.
StratUltra
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« Reply #125 on: August 19, 2012, 11:23:11 AM »
I was after a dumble type OD which the RCAs did deliver. It's amazing how much these amps change with different tubes rolls
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plasticvonaband
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« Reply #126 on: August 20, 2012, 05:56:41 AM »
Indeed it is. I was going for the more raw, heavy, thick Fender/Early Marshall sound, and the Telefunken/JAN GE 5751 combo along with the Tung Sol 6L6GC-STR nails it, especially with the Weber Alnico 1265/Weber Neo 12 speaker combo. The GE Long Plate tubes and the TAD 6L6WGC-STR bring out the more Dumbly sound especially when i run the two Weber Alnico 1265's. Incredible how versatile the Bluesmaster is.
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Overdrive is like peanut butter. Some like it crunchy, some like it creamy.
Bluesmaster 50 2x12 combo and some guitars.
StratUltra
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« Reply #127 on: August 20, 2012, 12:49:27 PM »
I'm actually so pleased with the results that I've ordered another pair of RCAs lol
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« Reply #128 on: August 20, 2012, 02:57:48 PM »
Guys, thanks for the great advice. The amp is burning in superbly. The OD is very very nice now that I've played thru it long enough to hear the dramatic improvement.

The RCA tubes... 12ax7 grey short plate... is the 12ax7a effectively the same? Seems to be more of those available.

thanks,
Mike
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« Reply #129 on: August 20, 2012, 07:00:20 PM »
Latest test results (and I am having a blast doing this, this amp is fantastic):

V1 and V2: TD 12AX7 that Nik supplied. Since I haven't ordered any tubes yet, I thought I would poach my small inventory and see what happens.

- Found a Mullard 12AT7 laying around from an old Earth B2000 I still use, tube must be ~30 yrs old cuz I bought the amp in '79 and I knew the original owner who said he never changed the tubes. Put it in V1. The OD was smoother than the TD but the dynamics were lost so back into the B2000 you go.

- Tried a JJ 12AX7A pulled from another amp. Put it in V1. OD was harsh and brash. No thanks.

- Found a Sovtek 5751. Tried it in V1. The OD was much nicer than the TD. Smoother and produced nice OD at lower volume. However, I did not like what it did to the clean channel. Not as dynamic as the TD. So.... I put the TD back into V1 and put the 5751 into V2. Winner. The 5751 in V2 is a much better OD, very very nice to my ears and doesnt need to be as loud.

So... now I'm thinking I want a better quality 5751 (US Jan Phillips?) for V2 and will also get a better quality 12AX7 (RCA gray? or Telefunken?) for V1.

Please allow me to gush over this amp. I never do this, but I feel compelled and obligated to. This amp is FANTASTIC. Been playign a long time and never owned anything close to this great. And I'm having a blast trying all the different configurations. This is a very dynamic and sensitive beast. Also so very responsive to playing (pick attack) and guitar volume/tone control. Amazing. Took it to practice last Saturday... they couldn't believe how great it sounded. Really is an amazing amplifier and I barely know it yet.
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« Reply #130 on: August 21, 2012, 04:07:36 AM »
Ok... pulled a couple old Mullard 12AX7s from the Earth B2000 Super Bass. Couldn't help myself.

V1 - Mullard 12AX7
V2 - Sovtek 5751
V3 - Mullard 12AX7

This is nice. I will quit obsessing now and let this thing keep breaking in and just enjoy playing thru it for a while.
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StratUltra
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« Reply #131 on: August 21, 2012, 04:16:58 AM »
Glad it's working out for you! Much quicker than it did for me. Yeah, the OD does get much better once broken in some
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StratUltra
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« Reply #132 on: August 28, 2012, 10:59:33 AM »
Further update on this journey of mine with the BM,

So I've changed the V1 to a RCA grey plate, and have now change the V2 to a Jan Philips 5751, leaving the sovtek 12ax7lps in V3. Stock JJ in place of the 6L6s.

This has done it, perfect cleans with smooth smooth Dumble type OD. Couldn't be more happier! Amazing how responsive this amp is to tube rolls. It's completely changed the character of the OD, while I can still get those prestine cleans. A very very happy BM here! This amp is everything I wanted it to be! I think all my tweaking is done for a while and I think I'll just sit back and play instead of tweaking the amp.

For a while, I was so displeased with the OD that I bought a zendrive 2 to get those dumble tone, but I don't see a need for it anymore as the amp does it so much better and is more dynamic. It will probably come off my board now and be up for sale. Best thing is that the OD doesn't need to be turned up very high to hit the sweet spot anymore
« Last Edit: August 28, 2012, 11:14:22 AM by StratUltra » Logged
plasticvonaband
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« Reply #133 on: August 30, 2012, 12:45:05 PM »
It's amazing how we all have our unique approaches to get our sounds out of this amp, and even more amazing that we are all able to coax such different sounds from it. It really shows how versatile the BM really is, in my opinion.
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Overdrive is like peanut butter. Some like it crunchy, some like it creamy.
Bluesmaster 50 2x12 combo and some guitars.
Pickmaster
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« Reply #134 on: August 30, 2012, 05:11:40 PM »
Gentleman, it’s great to see that you are all enjoy tweaking and experimenting with your amps. I’m sure it is great fun, but on the end of the day we all need great amps to make music which is most important.
Any chance to hear your sound clips, your playing? Especially before and after tweaking.
Perfectionism is great but some times tweaking becomes an addiction and playing, practicing suffers badly.
 Wink Wink
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Founder and technical director of the Custom Cabinet Company – CCC
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