John95683
31 posts
May 15, 2012
5:45 PM
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What are the mods necessary to get the "Chicago" tone from this amp, and who does them?
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MrVerylongusername
2373 posts
May 15, 2012
5:54 PM
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No mods are necessary but there are some that will make it more harp friendly. I'm sure our resident gear heads will advise.
A Hi-z mic, tightly cupped should be all you need to get some grit.
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toddlgreene
3664 posts
May 16, 2012
5:33 AM
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The Landry mods are HIGHLY recommended. He did mine, and I've gigged that little amp plenty. If you click my profile, there are a few vids(one trading licks with good friend Harvey Berman and another doing Chain of Fools, and another with Patrick Williams, Sleep with One Eye Open)thru that amp with a EV631B and a touch of LW Delay. It is not mic'd up in any of the clips-just playing thru the Epi 12" cab.
RL's mods add a 'tone' knob among other things, which is essentially a treble cut. Mic choice, personal tone and cupping technique can get it much 'darker' and dirtier as well.
Also, if you have the amp and it's running stock power and preamp tubes, change them to better-quality tubes. Do a search on the lower left, you'll find PLENTY threads on the subject. Before the VHT came along, this was THE cheapest and potentially sweet-sounding 5-watt amp to get.
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Todd L. Greene
Last Edited by on May 16, 2012 5:43 AM
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John95683
32 posts
May 16, 2012
8:59 AM
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Thanks for your response, Todd. Means a lot coming from a player of your ability.
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toddlgreene
3667 posts
May 16, 2012
10:44 AM
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Thank you for the kind words!
Also, changing the 8" speaker out to a Weber Sig with the dust cap will darken it up a bit. I never did it on mine, but played one at Randy's shop, and there is a discernable difference(a good one, but mine isn't godawful as is, so I never messed with it). For the record, it sounds better thru anything other than an 8-if you have a head or use the combo to drive a cab, try a 10 or a 12(as I used)-you'll get more volume and balls from it.
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Todd L. Greene
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isaacullah
1955 posts
May 16, 2012
1:25 PM
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One other mod that I've found well worth it is to add a "master volume" control between the preamp and the power amp. It lets you have more control over feedback and also gives you the ability to crank the preamp for more crunch without raising the volume at the output. Another mod I did was to increase the value of some of the drain capacitors on the power tube for more bottom end. Finally, putting in some higher quality tubes makes a HUGE difference to the tone.
FYI, my fully modded VJ head is for sale for $150.
~Isaac
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== I S A A C ==
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Visit my reverb nation page!
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rainman
10 posts
May 16, 2012
2:08 PM
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I bought a Jr combo off Ebay and the amp had the Mercury Magnetic Modification done prior to me buying it. This upgrades a lot of the components as well as adds an additional 6V6 that can be used in tandem or by itself as I use it.
The amp was extremly bright and not harp friendly so I sent it to Randy at Lone Wolf to apply his mods and make sure everything was working right. I could not be happier with the work Randy did to my amp. I have since bought the separate head and cabinet mounted the mod'ed amp into the head, upgraded the 12 inch to a Weber Vintage series and now it's in a completely different animal. So to make a long story short; It's a great little amp that has endless possibilities.
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