Bluesloco
1 post
Nov 14, 2013
1:43 PM
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I have had the Special 6 combo now for roughly a month and love it stock the way it came. Although, I have read numerous posts about the various mods speaker/ 5751 jj6v6 tube swaps. So I ordered the Alnico mod kit it was delivered today... I have the JJ6v6 tube and waiting for the 5751. All i really want to know is can the average joe with decent soldering skills install this kit at home or should i just take it to somebody with more expertise??
On a scale of 1-10 how difficult?
Do I need to mod the circuitry before swapping the tubes? Will the system overheat or blowout with just the tubeswaps.
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Tuckster
1372 posts
Nov 14, 2013
1:54 PM
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No,those tube swaps won't do anything harmful. Just make sure to do it with the amp unplugged.
Looking at the site for the mod,it doesn't look too hard for someone who knows how to solder. Make sure not to touch anything you're not supposed to. To be extra safe,leave it unplugged for a week before you work on it.
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Bass410man
4 posts
Nov 14, 2013
3:37 PM
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Bluesloco
I modded my special 6 at home by myself, and I don't have much experience at any kind of this tech stuff, let alone good soldering skills. Mine turned out perfect, wasn't really that hard, just follow Nigel's instructions carefully step by step, double check every step is completed before you move to the next step and you will be fine. If I did it, anyone can do it, and Nigel is great to talk with if you do run into a snag just email him and he will work you through it. Have fun, I really enjoyed doing mine, and it sound great when it was done.
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Bluesloco
2 posts
Nov 14, 2013
4:22 PM
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Bassman410 thanks for the input
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Rick Davis
2685 posts
Nov 14, 2013
4:58 PM
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Bluesloco, are you planning to swap the speaker for an Eminence Lil Buddy? That makes the biggest improvement in the sound by far.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
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Bass410man
5 posts
Nov 14, 2013
8:44 PM
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Rick
I disagree I tried a Lil' Buddy in mine and did not care for it. So I tried a blue frame eminence and it stayed in there, sounded much better than the Lil' buddy in my opinion.
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Kingley
3274 posts
Nov 14, 2013
9:40 PM
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Bass410man - It would be interesting to hear a clip of the VHT with the eminence speaker in it. Also I'm pretty sure no one here has ever posted an example of what the amp sounds like with the Alnicomagnet mods done to it. You could help out a lot of people by posting an audio clip/video of how the amp sounds now.
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Bass410man
6 posts
Nov 14, 2013
9:55 PM
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Kingley- I wish I could, but I haven't played in months do to a sore throat, only to find out that I have a growth on that little thing that hangs down in there, when I went to see the specialist on Wednesday. They did a biopsy, and now I am doing well just to swallow. I got my fingers crossed that it isn't, well you know, and that I will be able to play again. If things work out for me down the road I will gladly post a audio clip, once I get back at it and if I still have the amp.
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Kingley
3275 posts
Nov 14, 2013
10:11 PM
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Bass410man - I hope everything works out ok for you.
I acquired a VHT a couple of weeks ago for a bargain price and have performed some mods on it given to me by Mark Burness (5F6H). Hopefully I'll get a chance to record a clip over the next few days and post it here.
Maybe someone else on the forum who has done the Alnicomagnet mods could post a clip of what the amp sounds like. I know there are a few people on here who have done these mods to the VHT.
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SuperBee
1528 posts
Nov 14, 2013
11:20 PM
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All the best bass410man!
Re the OP, Blues loco, I'd second the above comments regarding Nigel Briggs' mod kits.
I made his 'blues harp' mod to my valve jr, and apart from being very happy with the result (which I continue to appreciate) I found the instructions easy to follow, and Nigel very helpful and easy to communicate with.
If you can solder, you'll have no problem. If you haven't soldered before, just find a guide and do some practice. I built a couple of really cheap as boards for practice then jumped in to the amp. Stay safe though. Nigel's instructions will address the safety issues.
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Rarko
67 posts
Nov 14, 2013
11:58 PM
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Hey, guys... I am waiting for my 5751 tube (I already got EC 6v6), I and was thinking about some Jim Rossen modifications https://sites.google.com/site/jimdramps/home/vht
Is it difficult to do? I have a friend who is good with electronics, he said he will give it a try... But is there any chance that something will go wrong because this is too complicate?
Tuckster:"To be extra safe,leave it unplugged for a week before you work on it."
Why Tuckster? I planned to use that amp today in jam session, but planned also to modify my amp tomorrow (I have some competition i monday)....
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SuperBee
1529 posts
Nov 15, 2013
12:17 AM
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hi Rarko. you dont need to leave it sit for a week. you just need to ensure the capacitors are not still holding a charge. over time they will usually do this by themselves...but not necessarily. i think its better to follow a process than wait and hope..
you can easily look up how to do this. just search on words like "drain filter caps valve amp".
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Kingley
3276 posts
Nov 15, 2013
6:06 AM
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Rarko - The Jim Rossen mods are great and very easy to do. I did them on the first VHT I had. For my taste the mods given to me by Mark Burness (5F6H) are great and just as easy to do as the ones on Jim's site.
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Rick Davis
2686 posts
Nov 15, 2013
6:20 AM
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Bass410man, speaker tone is subjective. I tried a blue frame Eminince alnico speaker from my Bassman in the VHT Special 6 and it sounded very good with its vintage compression. But I ended up preferring the Lil Buddy speaker for its volume, punch, and warmer tone.
This is Nic Clark (when he was 15 years old) playing my VHT Special 6 amp: JJ Tesla 6V6S, NOS JAN Philips 5751, Eminence Lil Buddy speaker, and tone stack mods by Bruce Collins that are very similar to the alnicomagnet and Jim Rosen mods.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
Last Edited by Rick Davis on Nov 15, 2013 6:27 AM
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Kingley
3278 posts
Nov 15, 2013
9:11 AM
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Nic makes that amp sound great. I don't know what the stock speaker in the VHT is, but it sounds pretty good to my ear.
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Barley Nectar
182 posts
Nov 15, 2013
9:28 AM
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Bass410Man. Good luck with the illness.
There are VJ harp mods designed by Randy Landry, posted on the Lone Wolf Blues site. I used his VJ preamp in my Honker build. 17W SFSI EL84 power amp. May be the best sounding amp I have.
I'm starting think that Little Rick and I have simular taste in tone...BN
Last Edited by Barley Nectar on Nov 15, 2013 10:44 PM
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Bluesloco
3 posts
Nov 15, 2013
10:15 AM
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Rick, Bassman, Super Bee,
Thanx for the input, I grew up soldering romote control car electronics and other BS, I want to do the install the mod with out electricuting myself to death, lol has anyone tried the weber signature series speaker...
I know that after I yurn the amp off if I flip from standby to high power back to standy by, back to high, to standby, you can hear the power drain out... is that all I need to do to drain the capacitors? Also how long did the mod install take estimated? multi day event 1hr, 2hr?
Rick the VHT Nic is playing sounds great, what kind of harp/mic..
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Kingley
3279 posts
Nov 15, 2013
10:27 AM
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Bluesloco - When working on my VHT I disconnected all the power and then put the standby switch on the high power setting and just left it there. I then got a small electricians insulated screwdriver and touched it to each capacitor. I also made sure to not use two hands inside the chassis. When two hands were required I used one hand and an insulated tool to do the job. That seemed to work ok for me as I'm still here to tell the tale. The mods that Mark gave me involved removing and/or replacing about nine items in total. I then added a line out which involved a couple of resistors and some wire. The whole thing took about an hour or so to do. I think the Alnicomagnet mods are a little more involved so I'd probably allow yourself at least three hours or so to do the job.
Last Edited by Kingley on Nov 15, 2013 10:28 AM
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Rick Davis
2687 posts
Nov 15, 2013
11:54 AM
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Bluesloco, Nic us using a Front & Center wood bullet mic.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
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arnenym
231 posts
Nov 15, 2013
12:44 PM
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Hmm. Rick.
In This thread you said that VHT was original.
Now you say it have the tone stack modded.
What's true?
Last Edited by arnenym on Nov 15, 2013 12:47 PM
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Bass410man
7 posts
Nov 15, 2013
4:16 PM
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Rick
You are absolutely right, the sound of any speaker is subjective to different ears. I should have not said that that I disagreed with you , but rather that I tried both and the stock speaker, and preferred the blue frame to my ears. I just found the Lil' Buddy a little to mushy sounding, and I personally found the amp loud with all the speakers so loudness was not a concern, just the tone.
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Rick Davis
2688 posts
Nov 15, 2013
4:55 PM
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arnenym, not sure what you mean. The amp was not "original" from the first week I bought it. I wrote about the mods extensively on my blog. Not much of a secret. You are welcome to go back and read all about it. It was a project that evolved over many months.
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-Little Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
The Mile High Blues Society
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