Just for the hell of it, while waiting for some Eminence speakers to try, I put a Weber Ceramic Blue Dog I had sitting around in the 112 combo cabinet I'm using with the OTS. To my surprise, it sounded great in there. Can get very nice Knoplfer-esque sounds in the clean channel, and you can nail the classic British OD tone (think the opening chords of "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks). I'm not what I'd call a rocker, more into blues and jazz blues, so I might not keep that speaker in there permanently, but I thought that I'd report my findings to add to the general knowledge pool.

What is the difference in sound when you increase the values of the caps on V2 from 330pF to 470pF? I have heard that it makes the harshness in the OD go away, but do you lose a lot of high end and clarity? Does it give the OD channel a lot more midrange (not what I'm looking for)?

What I was hoping it would do would be to make the Overdrive channel smoother and less "grainy" for want of a better word, but retain the high end and not boost the mids any. Is that the effect of this mod?

I have just done this mod, using the FET input jack as a mounting location for the switch and the HRM layout, and I can only hear a very slight difference. Is it a really subtle difference in sound when the deep switch is engaged or should I be going back inside the amp to check connections?

I was reading about them on a tube dealers website and they have said that

 "There are some important things to know about the reissue Tungsol 5881 tube before you decide to use it. The Tungsol 5881 is a 23 watt tube and is rated for a maximum plate voltage of 400Vdc. The many amplifiers that have higher plate voltage but use a tube rectifier can use the Tungsol 5881 tubes without issue. A prime example is the ’59 Bassman LTD. However it is also critical to rebias the amp heeding the 5881’s 23W rating. This will provide a vintage tone and less clean headroom. Leaving the bias set to a 6L6GC setting and/or using the Tungsol 5881 in a high voltage amp with a solid-state rectifier, will likely cause problems and are not covered by warranty."

I'm not adverse to pushing the limits a little bit, I just wanted to check and see if anyone HAS had a problem from the high plate voltage/solid state rectifier issue.

Everything I read about 5881s states a maximum plate voltage of 400V or less, well below that which is found in the OTS, yet several people are using this tube, it seems. Do I need to mod the amp to use these tubes?

I just put in a Mullard CV4024 (12AT7) in the PI socket, driving 5881s and it sounds way smoother, I like it a lot, as it seems to tame the midrange and take a little harshness out of the OD channel.

Thanks JohnE;
I'm seriously considering an Eminence Wizard, by the way. I emailed Nik and he suggested changing the cap on the mid-boost (aka "deep" on the stock OTS) from 330 pF to 270 pF to make it a little less predominant in the mid range, to boost it, but not as much so to speak. I will definitely check the Matt Schofield settings as well. Thank you for your help.

Pine

If I use a pedal like the TC Nova Reverb in the loop and calibrate the input level on the pedal so that the line level signal is not too much for it, will every pedal that follows the Reverb also be buffered? Will this then serve at least the primary function of the Klienulator?

I have just gotten my OTS, (regular version, Gabkits combo cabinet, playing a Strat) and have tried :

A Celestion C90 - sounded too middy with my Lone Star but surprisingly was not bad in the OTS,

A Weber Ceramic California - handled everthing but was a little sterile sounding

A Jensen C12K - I had high hopes for this but it ended up being too hot in the midrange

A JBL D120F - so far the best sounding speaker in that cab, but the highs are a bit piercing and the midrange is still not quite tamed

In general, I'm looking for a speaker that is scooped enough in the midrange to overcome the midrange spike I'm either getting from the cab or the amp. I would like to be able to use the "deep" (mid-boost) switch because some of the body I get from using it sounds really good, but so far it's been unuseable with the Strat, a little too woofy.

I have looked at several response curves and noticed that the Jensen P12N has a pronounced notch in the midrange of its response curve. Before I drop $200 on yet another speaker, has anyone tried one of these out with their OTS?

http://akavalve.blogspot.com/2008/12/champion-600-output-transformer.html

I'm not sure if I'm reading this right, but it seems as if the article is saying you can get more out of an OT by running the 8 ohm speaker out of the 4 ohm OT tap. Because I'm fairly new to electronics I wanted to ask you guys before trying this on my OTS; I do know that I can run my Mesa Lonestar that way,  and it is mentioned in the manual that it is considered a safe mismatch.

What would the balancing process be if I wanted to do this electronically? Say I got a new PI to replace the OEM one, and wanted to adjust the trimpot to set it up correctly. Where would I take readings from with a DMM? From plates to ground, i.e, pins 1 and 6 to ground?

Thanks for setting me straight, I'm learning a lot from this forum.

This is probably due to me not understanding the architecture of the effects loop, but I assume you can't just put the buffer pedal in the loop and get a buffered send out of the loop?

How long did it take you to get your cab, if you don't mind my asking? I've had one on order for almost a month now.

Will a buffer pedal take the place of a Kleinulator?