I have a FM-50 ME that is now up and running on the bench and I've put about 6 hours in it. What a change, or series of changes, those 6 hours makes. I'm using the C-lator as is common/recommended. Here's the progress so far:
Fire-up: After I got it going (thanks to Todd for the assist), I had two overdrive channels. Literally, both channels were overdrives. I started out without the Dumbleator in the loop, but even with it both channels were overdriven. I had the "Volume" on the clean channel at minimum and still getting the OD above about 5 on the guitar volume. The OD channel sounded best with the OD Trimmer on about 2:00.
Two-Three Hours: The loop has been added and I've got all the knobs in the 9-11 range. I can turn the "Out" to 5:00 for more volume, but no need (I'm married...
). Starting to see some harmonics coming out, and the clean channel is losing the "overdrive". The overdrive is becoming "grittier" and I'm backing down the OD Trimmer.
Five-Six Hours: I have a clean channel. I turn it up to max and I get cleans until the guitar volume knob is above 7, and above that it is all about pick attack. The break-up is minimal. The OD is gaining in harmonics and I now have the Trimmer at about 9:00...
I'm using Magnetic Component trannies and the PT has an extra 15V on the mains, but I don't know if this is normal or not. I don't know for sure that there is a real normal... Anyway, my plate voltage is 458V and 468V respectively. I haven't touched that yet as it isn't too far off optimal (1.5%). My bias is at 37.x and 38.x with my bias pot at minimum, but at fire-up it was more than double that. I don't know how to get it below that without modding the amp.
My test speaker is a 4 Ohm Crate speaker in a combo SS amp my wife bought for $20 at a yard sale. Obviously, this is not an optimum speaker for a D-style amp, but I'm just testing at low volumes right now and it is nothing more than a functional test speaker.
I'm using two Winged C 6L6GC's (matched), a JJ 12AX7 Long Plate Gold Pin in the PI, and two Sovtek 12AX7s in the V1 and V2. I couldn't go NOS right off the bat...
So, anything sound abnormal here? Is the Plate Voltage a big issue? I'd like to get the bias down to about 35mV, but I wouldn't think the extra 10% should be too bad.
I will say that this amp's clean channel is probably on par with my best Fender right now and still improving fast. The OD is the "sound" I go for with a Zen and a Fender, but I'm looking for more harmonics and bloom as it continues to evolve. I feel like the burn-in is still ongoing and significant changes as each hour progressed. I know that 25+/- hours has been stated here numerous times, so it may still be a while.
Does the description sound "typical" for these amps?
Thanks guys for all the info that helped make this a reality!!!