Lack of Clarity

[Littlewyan]

Ah mine are Alnico 2 magnets, so it sort of evens out the power of the pickup in a way if you see what I mean. Although mine are advertised as a Super PAF so are still bit hotter than a normal PAF.

Tonight I replaced the shielded wire from the Volume Pot with a stranded cable and am now using a 1K Grid Stopper (found out I had 2.7K in there before). Played the amp and it now has a much more prominent mid range, nice aggressive mids cut through when playing the G Chord, sounds fantastic! I don't know if replacing that wire fixed this for sure but thats the only thing thats changed since I played the amp this morning. I think the shielded wire may have a higher capacitance than non shielded wire which would explain things. I guess by trying to increase the stability I forgot one of the key ingredients of these amps, instability!

Also I was playing the amp tonight with everything at noon except the volume which was at 8 with the bright switch on 500pf. Pretty chuffed that the amp sounds good with the tone controls at noon.

Can't wait to try the amp without the attenuator, it can only get better! Also I must say this amp seems to take my Wah Pedal better than any other amp I've played. Perhaps the lack of grid stoppers again?

[rooster]

Wow, always interested to hear how one of these amps can turn around with a single component! The 4" input wire? That's kinda crazy.

And in regards to the wah pedal, I would be curious to hear what others have to say about this? My Super Reverb, now there's an amp that likes a Wah pedal, but my Express not so much. It's the midrange and gain of one amp vs. the other I think. I mean I can do it but it's clearly not as dynamic as with a midrange scooped amp like the SR.

Anybody else want to report their take on the subject?

[Littlewyan]

I meant the wire going from the volume pot to the grid. But yer I was amazed myself.

The wah definitely sounds better with this amp than with the Marshall. Whenever I've used it with the Marshall it just seems to lack power, if that makes sense. I guess different wah pedals all react differently. Mines a Jim Dunlop Hendrix Wah.

[leadfootdriver]

Turn the bias down.

[Littlewyan]

I did experiment with that but didn't notice much difference. Left the bias at 60% Plate Dissipation, give it slightly longer life. Was tempted to buy a set of EL34-Ms like Glen has but I'm quite happy with my TAD EL34Bs.

Edit: I actually ended up raising my Bridge Pickup so its 2/16" from the strings (unfretted) as I found out it was very low compared to Gibson's Standard Spec which is 1/16" when the strings are held down at the 22nd Fret. Hard to describe how the sound has changed, definitely got more bite which is good, bit more clarity but bit more full sounding at the same time.

[RCGPNY1]

Funny thing about wah pedals. I have a Dunlop Hendrix wah...sounds ok...but I also have an original King-Vox wah which Hendrix used according to a Hendrix gear book . They really dont sound alike at all.
The King-Vox just, well, "wahs" more. It also doesnt have the kinda bloated low end the Dunlop has. I also have an original Vox. The King-vox
is by far the best of them all. By the way fwiw celestion G12T75's which crate used alot in their cabs are probably one of my least favorite celestions.

[Littlewyan]

I do agree that the Dunlop JH Wah is very......I guess full sounding. Prob works well with the Express due to the high mids and treble.

[Tillydog]

,,, I actually ended up raising my Bridge Pickup so its 2/16" from the strings (unfretted) as I found out it was very low compared to Gibson's Standard Spec which is 1/16" when the strings are held down at the 22nd Fret. Hard to describe how the sound has changed, definitely got more bite which is good, bit more clarity but bit more full sounding at the same time.

Apologies in advance for an insultingly basic suggestion, but have you tried new strings?

When I was trying to dial in my Express, I went in a huge circle trying to re-capture the clarity I had heard earlier, only to find it was the difference between new strings and a set that were a few weeks (4 maybe?) old.

YMMV.

[Littlewyan]

No its fine, mine aren't what you'd call dull sounding atm but i know that if I put new strings on i'd definitely notice. I tried my brother's telecaster through the amp and his strings are DEAD. I have never heard such a dull sounding tele, my Les Paul sounded brighter!!!!!!

Anyway I want to give my guitar a going over like clean the fretboard etc so I'll change the strings this week.