With the BM.. PAB on 100% of the time, on both channels sounds the best to me.

I like the Bassman comparison. Very much Fender Brownface territory.

HRK

Even with the changes I made to mine it doesn't have the sag of like a Fender amp. It's seems the only way I can totally get past it is to run an od pedal with a decent amount of gain on the clean channel. I just think the amp doesn't compress well at lower volumes, when you turn it up it's fine which is most important. I'm done comparing this amp to others, it's so unique you can't. I'm setteled in with mine and I like it. Don't judge this amp at bedroom/home levels. It's a loud 50 watts but you have to find the venue to crank it up or it falls short. But using a speaker/speakers you can push a little does help it.

HRK

I too was experiencing some stiffness and traced it right back to the speaker, a EVM12L. I tried a few other speakers in there since with much better results, a Kendrick Brownframe and a Jensen C12K. I settled on the Kendrick but at $180 shipped it's pricey. And good luck finding a used one. The Jensen C12K's pop up used on ebay for much less, but even new they are almost half the Kendrick. Both speakers were more earthy, less sterile and less stiff than the EV. IMO, whatever speaker you choose - I would keep it between 65-100 watts max, that is unless you're gonna be playing with the volume on 7+ for long periods of time. Fwiw, the Jensen gave the best blackface cleans.

I couldn't get comfortable with the bright engaged 100% of the time. Sounded good clean but when I introduced any type of gain it suffered. At a gig I can't be bothered. I have to focus on my playing.

Anyways, I tried the JAN 5751 in V2, didn't like it. Just keeping the one in the V1 spot. I'm very happy with the set-up now using mainly the clean channel since installing that Kendrick speaker. It gave the amp the mojo it was somewhat lacking. It's like the amp was designed with it, can't say enough good things. I worked a little with the od channel too but so less fleibility there. I dialed in a killer raunchy Blues tone (hence why the call it the Bluesmaster! ) but then you're kinda pigeon holed with a single sound using the guitar's volume knob for solos. Nothing wrong with that too, depends what your needs are I guess. If I was doing straight Blues/Rock Blues I would be all over that sound. Anyways, I can honestly say today is the first day I started to really like this amp.

HRK

Also, I found a little sweet spot on the clean channel and it's a great starting point so you are not chasing your tail. Run your T,M,B all at 12 o'clock and crank your Presence all the way up. Dial in the first volume depending on how loud your gonna be playing. Usually between 2 1/2 to 4 you can avoid the flubby bass syndrome. This in theory adds your low end, tweak it to your likings. Then just use the master for your overall volume. But, as you turn up the master - this and volume 1 begin a balancing act. I also notice best not to engage the deep switch as you will be getting natural bass from pushing the amp a bit. The mid boost is personal preference. I like it engaged with external overdrives off and on with no od. All of this in the Rock mode of course. Fwiw, this set-up worked with all the speakers swaps I did. I know for some guys on here this is amp 101 but this for the guys like me I mentioned in my last post. Good luck and happy tone hunting.

HRK

Another update: I've been focusing on the clean channel so I did a few speaker swaps. I noticed a lot of stiffness in the amp and narrowed it down to the EVM. While it's nice and heavy duty for the od channel, it does not lend it self to nice cleans where compression helps things out. I also noticed I had to pull the bright all the time to get anything half decent. On some positions it was too bright and started to drive me nuts, bright in, bright out, etc.. I had to fix this..

First in was a broken-in Weber 12f150 (50 watts) This speaker gave some very nice Blackface tones all over the place. Much better than the EVM and the dreaded stiffness was all gone. But, I still had to pull the bright knob to get the "spank." The od channel was ok, not as good as with the EVM, but not bad. I was half way there with this speaker.

Next went in a brand new Kendrick Brownframe, Their version of a higher wattage V30. Wow! Wow!! & Wow!!! No need to pull the bright anymore. With my Strat and a TS808 on or off it was Billy Gibbons city (think Jesus just left Chicago) So much character, perfect compression. Awesome Texas Blues tone. Better than two Victoria tweeds I have owned in the past! People pay big dollars for this type of tone. With some slapback it was dripping tonal goodness and the speaker is not even broken in yet! I'm still tweaking, took a break to write this. I'm gonna put another JAN 5751 in V2 to try and get a little more headroom in the od channel. Already have a 5751 in V1. If I can't - this is way good enough.

Why am I writting this? Because I believe not everybody who buys this amp wants to play Jazz Fusion all day. I think some people like me buy this amp and are dissapointed because it could be so off the mark compared to the more popular designs. I personally, like most here have never played a real Dumble. The tone in my head is more Fender, mostly tweeds. Maybe I made a mistake buying this amp in the first place, but now I'm starting to think not.

Bottom line: this amp can be anything from Jazz to Classic Rock and everything in between. It's a beautiful platform to create different tones. Most classic and boutique amps are judged on their cleans. You can always add od from outside sources. But the holy grail cleans are inherent of the design. This amp has some magic going on in that regard.

HRK

Not to mention running my delay on the clean channel bypasses the need to the use the effects loop and also negates the issue of overloading the signal. Simplicity is priceless

HRK

This could possibly change after my first gig, but I'm thinking not, only a few more tweaks here and there. Got it up pretty loud at home already and heard what you guys are talking about with the effects loop at higher volumes. I'm bringing it to rehearsal Wed night but we only play at just above talking levels so no revelations will be made there. I fell asleep thinking about this last night, man we're a weird bunch, huh? Woke up this morning and ordered an American Overdrive pedal from Metal Pedals, a low-mid, very natural sounding midrangey pedal that I think is going to compliment this amp very well. Forgot to mention I threw a JAN 5751 in V1 and it lowered the gain and made the clean channel more acceptable to the pedals.

HRK

Update: Ok, so I stepped away from the OD channel on my BM for a while. I mean, I have it set up, but the clean channel on this amp is way to good to ignore. I ran some OD pedals through it and was able to get the perfect balance and tone I was after. Now you have to remember before I bought the BM I was all set to buy a Brownface Fender or a boutique tweed so I would of not had a OD channel to begin with anyways. As far as I'm concerned I saved money as the clean channel on the BM is almost, same or better than the Fenders I have played through. The pedal I settled on is a Tejas from PedalworX that I had for a few years. It's basically a 1:1 TS808 with the option of a bit more gain and sparkle. I'm also running a bit of delay for a slapback effect. With my Strat through the clean channel with the pedal on/off and my wha pedal - I can cover everything from Blues, POP, Top 40 and Classic Rock. I like this amp alot more this way. Now, I can get the OD channel hotter than the pedal, but not better. I have the OD channel set up for a few of the heavier songs we play where I need more sound to fill. Also with the bright pulled and the 1st volume down to, say 2 1/2 - 3 the clean channel on this amp is very tweed Bassman like. It loves pedal.

Yes gigs it seems to be eq stock for single coils or low output pu's, jmo. Gonna replace the JB in my Charvel with a 59. Might be the ticket.

Just got done playing it again. Humor me and try these off the wall settings on the od channel:
pull Bright
first vol on 6
Deep - up position
Mid Boost - up position
Jazz setting on
Treble, Mid, Bass all on 10,
Gain 10
Level for overall volume
Presence off
od trim set to 9 o'clock or to taste.
Sounded like a hot rodded Fender but way more touch sensitive.
Also took some of the darkness away.
Gave a nice balance between Hum and singles pu's.
Plus I love an amp I can peg all the tone controls on!

HRK

I tried the neck humbucker in my Charvel and agree it was way too bassy. But then again, I never use that position (neck hum) with the band. I use single coils for all my neck position stuff. But thanks for that advice anyways.

Starting to think I'm splitting hairs. Maybe I need to stop second guessing/comparing this amp and get along. Next gig (oct 13th) will tell a lot. Playing this amp at home is like buying a Corvette and never going faster than 55 mph. Of course unless you have the space and very tolerant family/neighbors. LOUD!

HRK

Thanks sduck, Would say there was some improvement? And how much % wise if you could? I too am crrently running the Bass on the front around 2 1/2 so by trimming it down inside what can I expect?

I don't think there is necessarily too much Bass now.. The thing is sometimes I hit the low E a little hard and hear some nasties like a weird overtone, no pun intended.    Thanks.

HRK

Ok, thanks gigs.

I played the amp a lot today and it really does sound good. My wife even commented which is unusual. It's a little flubby in the bass but no worse than some vintage Fenders. My buddy has an old Bassman 4x10 and it too flubs on the low-end. It's considered the Holy Grail!

Pumping out Stones tunes in open G, I like the vintage tones I'm getting. I might hold off for a while with tweaking inside. It's like I wanna make changes just because the amp is somewhat different. It's growing on me though.

I would like to know if anybody was able to get the low-end flub out with the trim pot tweaks? Thanks,

HRK

My HRM 50 BM loves the Ibanez EM5 Echo Machine. Total Jimmy Page, Keef slapback!

Also, when I pull the chassis, looking top front to back, where should these trim pots be/look like? Which is what.. T,M,B? Does it only affect the od? Thanks, HRK.