so, i have had my bluesmaster for a little over a month now and have about 40 hours on it, and yes i agree it is kind of a dark amp and a little raw and harsh compared to a standard OTS, at least on the OD side. This isn't a flaw, it's is just the way the amp is designed to sound. I think some of it, in my case is caused by my current tube compliment and speaker cab, so i am not passing judgement until my combo cab gets here and i get some better tubes. I am definitely going to do some tube swapping, swap out the 47k slope resistor and bass pot, add pickmaster's treble bleed mod on both the OD and clean channel, get a c-lator and gsharp for fun  ,  but i was wondering if any of my fellow bluesmaster owners have considered one of these:

http://www.analogman.com/beano.htm

from Mike's description:
"This is the Analog Man Beano Boost, a simple looking yet effective pedal.

This pedal is based on the 1960s British Dallas Rangemaster, which was needed at the time to give a treble boost to the dark British amps. This allowed them to get a sound more in tune with the time, as guitars were starting to become a loud, bold, lead instrument. This pedal is a type of BOOSTER, not really a distortion pedal nor a clean boost- it does modify your sound quite a bit. It excites certain frequencies and pushes your amp to allow it to create rich tube distortion. The pedal colors your tone, with a crunchy overdrive, boosting certain frequencies, and warming the tone with NOS germanium transistors. It does not have a lot of compression and sustain like most OD pedals, but a more raw, open sound.

This pedal has three tone settings from the tone switch- Center is a treble boost, the same as the original Dallas Rangemaster. UP is a fuller-frequency mid range boost (MID setting). Down is a LOW range, also quite a full frequency sound. Optionally we can install a push/pull switch (built into the volume knob) for 2 tone selections (treble and mids) but this option is not as good so we rarely build them.

The Beano Boost is spectacular into an amp that is already cranked up pretty well. It will also work well into a clean amp, but you probably need to turn the volume on the pedal up, to make the tone thicker by hitting the amp harder and making it work more.

At 9:00 the Beano Boost is unity gain and may not sound very special into a clean amp. At 12:00 it starts to boost the volume and get thicker. At 3:00 it should be waking your tubes up like a passing jet plane".

i'm thinking of using it's frequency boosting ability more than its "volume boosting" ability, to kind of brighten the ol bluesmaster up. what do y'all think?

anyone else notice it has an EVM-12 in it? Very nice

Good point, erwin. i have a feeling it may get a little harsh if i go to high on the value.

thanks guys!
@sduck, just noticed that i had the wrong resistance on there, just typed 68 into mouser, and, well you see the results.

I also noticed that the HRM non BM, MKII and the OTS series amps all have 150k slope resistors... hmm i see another possible 3 position toggle with the three values for versatility... what do ya'll think??

ok, so i have been learning alot about tube amps in the past few years, and i am pretty confident that i at least know enough to do a lil modding. i just want to make sure that i am looking at the correct resistor to swap out. is the resistor i have the arrow pointing to the correct one? Also, woukd this be the proper one to replace it? http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/IRC/RC55LF-D-7K68-B-B/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMv9ULLAfKm5f5gs0ndWVy2j

Sounds like a good idea, erwin. I have that on the PAB now to have the Mega PAB, so it should work the same for the tonestack, i guess

mcinku: ya tis the bluesmaster

@Pickmaster: ref the idea of adding a couple of caps on the master vol via a toggle switch to change the top end, i am interested in doing this on my HRM BM. Of course, my amp technically has two master volumes instead of a blend like the standard OTS, so what i want to know is if i should or if i can put a toggle on both master volumes and if it would make much difference on the OD channel?

I have been studying the layout for a while and i *think* i know which wire to put a mini toggle on to bypass the internal tonestack, but i'm not sure. Can anyone advise? 

@ToneControl:

To answer your question, the Mega PAB is very useful. It really gives some good dirt, without having to dial the OD Trim way up, which gives you the option of nice DStyle singing OD or something with more dirt if desired, without having to stop and turn the trim up. It is also very touch/volume sensitive which is very nice and unexpected as well. On the HRM it does show the Bassiness of the amp a lil more, as the tone controls are bypassed, but this could be tweaked via the internal pots

I know a few people had asked questions reference customs and tariffs in the US on Ceriatone Amps. I just got my Customs bill from UPS today, and it was $26 total. Alot less than i thought it would be

very, very true. Anything will be an improvement over my current setup. i think my old Eminence speakers have seen better days. i've had em in the same cab for 20 years and they haven't always been in the best storage conditions over the years. They just sound flat.

+1 on that

I can only speak for my HRM Bluesmaster, but adjusting the OD trim takes my OD channel from mild to wild fuzzy fizzy craziness and everything in between. also don't forget the clean channel volume affects the OD channel and PAB can affect it as well

So i've pretty much decided to obtain a 2x12 combo for my HRM Bluesmaster. Looking over all the suggestions i have  narrowed my speaker selections down to
EVM-12L
Celestion G12-65
Weber 1265 Alnico
Weber Blue Dog Alnico 75
Weber Silver Dog Alnico 75

My first thought was 2x EVM-12, but several people have stated that they lack "warmth", also they are known for their extreme low end response, and so far the Bluesmaster is living up to it's reputation of being bassy, so that concerns me as well.

My second thought was putting a Blue Dog and a Silver Dog in to achieve as weber says "Great low end from the Silver Bell, while retaining clarity and definition from the Blue Dog." Again, the concern with the Silver Dog is the low end response.

I also thought about the G12-65's, Blue Dog, or 1265 paired with the EVM-12, but i'm thinking the EV would over power the others and would sound unbalanced to a degree

So i am down to the G12-65's vs the 1265's from weber. I am leaning more towards the Weber, due to the fact I can get the "Pre-Rola" treatment which will yield a more vintage vibe.

So my question is this. Which speaker combination would you guys choose for the Bluesmaster? All opinions welcomed and encouraged

have you burned it in for about 20 hours yet? It made a huge difference on my HRM Bluesmaster variant.

i'm gonna take ya'lls advice  it sounds pretty aggressive running hot, a lil to aggressive. i turned em down to 40ma per tube, the lowest it would adjust down too. sounds a lil more tame now, in a good way