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Jca50H / 100h/ 22h mod thread and owners club


Edge11

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Yea forgot to mention like ^^^^^this guy said, rebiasing even the stock power tubes made a huge difference:)

As far as mods, look at the first page of this thread. I would print the schematics for the 50 and the 22. If u look, you'll see that the layout between the 2 is basically the same. The component #s are different. Just figure it out. Or just read the last 10 of so pages of this thread lol.

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The tube layout on 22H should be:

 

V1: 1st gain stage c and o channel

V2: 2nd and 3rd gain stage o channel

V3: 2nd gain stage c and 4th gain stage o channel

V4: EQ and loop

V5: Phase inverter

 

So as you see, V2 is only for the overdrive channel.

An exchange of the power tubes to JJs makes a big difference, I highly recommend that. And bias it at 16 to 20mA (just do that by listening and take a control with the dmm).

The circuit of the 22H is a little bit different from the 50H/100H, especially the overdrive section.

 

If you like the sound overall, there is no need to do a lot of mods.

 

What I would do, to tame the flubbyness and this wooly sound a little bit:

- lower C2 to 4,7nF

- swap out R9

- swap out C10, if that's too fizzy, than try the stock 1nF in series with 220k up to 680k (lower R = less treble)

- change the slope resistor R 26 to 39k

And do the depth mod, if you need more bottom end.

 

What also could help to get a better sound is to change all the non-electronic capacitators. I recommend Sozo for all values between 1nf and 1uF, for the 1uF I like the SCR Solen Fast very much and for the lower values up to 1nF I recommend high voltage ceramic caps. Therefore you could also use Silver Micas, but I wouldn't do that because they sound very shrill and have a "ringing treble", also it's possible that you will get problems with dc leakage.

 

Hope that helps.

 

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R24 is the slope on the 22h.

Just get a simple single throw toggle and run a resistor of your choice parallel to the slope resistor. The values are up to you. If you run a 220k parallel to the stock 47k you will have 39k when you switch.

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Motocooney wrote:

 

R24 is the slope on the 22h.

 

Just get a simple single throw toggle and run a resistor of your choice parallel to the slope resistor. The values are up to you. If you run a 220k parallel to the stock 47k you will have 39k when you switch.

 

That's not right.

The slope resistor on the 22H is R26.

And I would use an on/on switch, a 33k on the on and a 47k on the other side. And just two wires to the lugs on the pcb. Very easy.

But why switchable slope? The difference is not that much - as I said, I would use a 39k. Just this. But it's a matter of personal taste.

If you want to make things switchable, try this with the nfb resistor. 8 or 10k more and you will get a much tighter sound.

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Wow! I have several pages of discussion to catch up on. How exciting! Here's what I've been up to....

 

Basic SLO mod - A video overview.

 

 

And here are some sound bytes....

Just some noodling to illustrate the amp sound...

 

3 rough covers to show the OD channel gain sounds at 2, 4, and 5.5

 

As you can tell, I'm as new to modding as I am playing guitar! Ha!  How about you experienced players? Let's hear what sounds you are getting out of the JCAs! I'm just using a camcorder and windows live movie maker (freeware). Give a shout out with your own videos!

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Hey guys, first post - happy to be here. I have been lurking since I bought my first JCA22H a few weeks ago. It showed up damaged and never even powered on properly so it went back. I ordered a new one which arrived today and all I can say is this thing is a small beast. Going to take a little getting used to - I came from an Ibanez Toneblaster 100H to this and it is my first ever tube amp. But, I agree with most of the guys here who say it can get a little fizzy and the lower end can get a little muddy - that is pretty spot on.

 

I am fairly confident in my soldering ability and in doing some of the mods mentioned here. I already grabbed the components to do the depth mod so that will be the first thing I do. My only question on that is this: I found a knob that is identical to the ones already on the amp except that it is roughly 1/2 the size. It would fit perfectly between the stand by switch and the presence knob. Is there a problem with making that wire longer so I can mount the pot in the front of the chassis? I don't get much, if any, static or buzz, or humming out of the amp now and I certainly don't want to create any. Just curious...

 

Now, to bias or not to bias. I have a decent meter and know how to use it, for the most part. Biasing the amp seems pretty straight forward, fairly easy and cheap! I am not in a band and I only play for my own amusement and enjoyment so making this amp sound better for as little investment as possible is my goal. It seems like people go both ways on the topic of biasing - I am still up in the air on that one myself since I have never done it and don't know if it will improve it for sure. I know a bunch of guys are swapping out tubes and that is something I don't want to get into - mainly because of the extra money involved. The depth mod is cheap - the components cost me 8$ while swapping tubes can run into the 100+$ range...Yea, no thanks, it just doesn't mean that much ot me...yet! If I can get a little more oomph out of this thing by biasing what I have I may give it a go. Thoughts?

 

Anywho, I'd like to thank you guys for the work all of you have done in this thread. It makes modding for guys like me a lot easier and I appreciate it. I only hope that I can learn a thing or two and then have something of my own to add to this thread - this place is a wealth of knowledge and I am glad to be a part of it. Peace.

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After utilizing the depth mod in standard form, I found that I have more bass than is needed now. I used a 1 meg as suggested, but it's been said a 250K will really make the MOJO happen quicker. But I stress that I have more than I need even with the standard circuit. I'm looking to find a way to get less highs, not more lows. The high end sizzle is what bothers me. I think I will be adding some small PF rated caps to the plate resistors? The current sizzle cap ( C12 ) is notr doing the job. 

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To increase some low end, you could bump the coupling caps for the power tubes up to 47n like on the SLO. Also, try increasing R5 from 10k to 15k or 22k. You should get a bump in the low end.

 

To get rid of the fizzies, some small pF caps on the anodes of the PI will work. Even increasing the screen resistors on the power tubes from 470r to 1k will help with some fizz.

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No, you put it over the top of the plate resistor. It is parallel to the resistor. It is weird how it works, but signal flows from the cathode to the anode. The anode is the plate. The high voltage is supplied to the plate, but the current from the cathode is what drives the signal out the plate. This is why plate driven stages are usually high impedance and cathode driven stages are low impedance. The classic cathode follower, or cathode followed tone stacks are what is popular for many amps. The cathode has a large current flow and can push through a tone stack with little loss, where as a plate driven tone stack has a significant insertion loss. The use of inter stage attenuation allows for a lot of tweaking before a tone stack and then of souse the tone stack can do it's job at the end. Conversely a plate driven stack is done early in the signal to reduce insertion loss and shape the sound early, but still allow for tone shaping in the other stages. 

 

The insertion loss is what defines how well a tone stack will effect the tone. The plate driven TS ( tone stack ) will have more effect over the frequencies it can control, but it will have lower level over all. The cathode driven tone stake has less effect over the control frequencies, but will push through harder ( more volume ) to the next stage.This is why you find most cathode driven tone stacks towards the end of the drive stages. It shapes the sound towards the end of the flow and allows enough push to drive the PI ( phase inverter ) and ouput tubes into distortion as well. You will almost always find a make up stage after a plate driven tone stack to make up for the lost level. 

Back on point, the cap that goes over the plate resistor actually shunts high frequencies out of the signal path. It basically treats the positive voltage supply as a ground. It seems opposite, but makes sense once you see how the amp really works. This link: http://www.ampbooks.com/home/amplifier-calculators/plate-bypass-capacitor/      actually explains it better and uses an SLO as an example. 

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I need some help I have the Jca100h. I bought it used played it with no issues for about a month. Tonight at rehersal I fired everything up asusual and after playing for a minute I lost all sound. I came back only to cut out again and then a few more time until it quit completly. If i turn the volume up I have noise coming through the speakers but nothing from my guitar...There is no burnt electronic smell at all....Any ideas what this could be?

 

Thanks

Steve

 

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@ bfguitarist1: It's not possible to say exactly what's the matter. Could be the tubes. If you have a chance to replace them, check this out.

 

If it's only one bad preamp tube, so you could try playing in crunch mode and changing positions. If the sound comes alive - the bad tube would be in V2 (because V2 is only for overdrive).

You could also change the positions of the Power Tubes. Just try it with the two inner tubes - if they work, you will have half power (this should work on the 100H as I think).

 

If you have mismatched the impedances of the amp and the cab, maybe you damaged the output transformer.

 

I don't know. Check the tubes - and if there's nothing wrong, you have to bring the amp to an amp tech.

 

 

 

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could be a bad tube, or perhaps a bad socket connection at the tube. swap out the preamp tubes with a known good one. And while your in there look at the tube sockets for a burnt look. They could be arcing. If that isn't it, you should be able to see if a resistor has been burned?

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are there any 7-string players ?

just wanted to know how your JetCity sounds with a 7th.

I own a JCA100 and I find that the beast has too much "ompf" and low end in the OD channel (clean channel is just perfect). No matter which tube you put in, (even tried a 12ay7 in V1: gorgeous cleans and sweet crunchs), but when the OD is engaged, power chords and palm mutes just don't sound OK... the distortion is brutal but It lacks presence and tightness.

Looking for an easy mod to cure the muddy beast.

Thanks,

 

 

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