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UNLOCKING THE MYSTERY OF THE FRAMUS COBRA


guitarman967

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This amp takes time to understand thats the only reason I could see why someone who plays metal or heavy rock wouldnt like it. When I first played it I wasn't that impressed, I can't believe how close it is now to sounding exactly like what I have wanted to hear. I have a Vht cab on the way, playing through a Mesa traditional now.

The Cobra has sounded considerably different with change of pickups, eq settings, pick size, tubes, string guage. More so than any other amp I own or have owned. This amp can be brutaly heavy while remaining crystal clear and tight. I sold a Powerball to buy this and am pleased I did.

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Also forgot to say that in rsponse to someone asking about the maxon 808 with the Cobra. I have a ibanez ts9 as well as maxon 808. The maxon sounds better to me. It seems like it fits this amp if you are gonna boost it. It will color the sound a little, but it sounds good to me. You can get that Unearth, killswitch tone which I like. Makes the amp solid and even tighter.

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Question for ragnvald if he's still checking the thread..

is there a way to Mod the parallel loop to compensate for the Channel volumes being set higher?

It's a bit tough to get my Rack gear's input levels set where they don't clip and get the same tone w/out anything in the Loop. There's always a bit of a compromise.

Any info would be appreciated bro

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There's one problem that I've had with my Cobra for a long time now. There's immediate feedback on the lead channel and I can't figure out what's causing it.

 

I've swapped all my preamp tubes numerous times, I've tried different guitars, I'm using Evidence Audio cords, I've cleaned the knobs and tube bases with contact cleaner, nothing helps. Usind a ISP Decimator took away the feedback, but added a lot of noise.

 

I'm starting to run out of ideas, and the feedback basically renders the lead channel unusable. :mad:

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you know i have a ton of gear, lots of high quality amps, Ktre, Roadster, Engl SE, i have a Rocktron Prophesy, i have played a ton of high quality amps lately, and i have to say that the cobra gives me something that all the other amps dont. I cant put my finger on it, but the Crunch channel has such a unique voicing, so clear, so perfect. The sound is very 3D, so deep. It takes a LONG time to dial it in right. I almost gave up on it several times, i was so close to selling it but guitarman967's posts had me rethinking myself, i knew it had to be me that was doing something wrong. I stuck by it, and i am SO glad that i did. The Crunch channel is so inspiring to me when im writing my own compositions. If you're into aggressive/heavy music with detuned guitars, it is an awesome amp for sure to play.

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There's one problem that I've had with my Cobra for a long time now. There's immediate feedback on the lead channel and I can't figure out what's causing it.


I've swapped all my preamp tubes numerous times, I've tried different guitars, I'm using Evidence Audio cords, I've cleaned the knobs and tube bases with contact cleaner, nothing helps. Usind a ISP Decimator took away the feedback, but added a lot of noise.


I'm starting to run out of ideas, and the feedback basically renders the lead channel unusable.
:mad:

 

i'm with you man, i also still get loads of feedback on both channels (admittedly i like a lot of gain), and yes the decimator in front adds a lot of noise.

 

i didnt try new preamp tubes yet due to lack of money atm but i tried exchanging them in all possible ways and it didnt help much. ive just learned to cope with the noise from the decimator as it gets rid of the feedback pretty well.

 

if it would be possible to mod the fx loop to serial running the decimator in the loop might be a good approach to reduce feedback and noise.

i'd also like to know if the serial loop mod is possible...

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Mine had a lot of noise and I finally realized the input preamp tube was pooched...I run mine with an NS2 up front and its extremely quiet. It does seem to be pretty sensitive to power outlets though.

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Wow, I dime my gain on the crunch channel on a bone stock cobra....and barely get ANY feedback at all. This is at gigging volumes too. The Gain on my Lead channel is around 1:00 and it's quiet too...probably more quiet than the crunch for me. Although, I don't use the Lead channel much...only for low volume playing or leads.

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i'm with you man, i also still get loads of feedback on both channels (admittedly i like a lot of gain)

 

 

The crunch channel has no feedback problems on mine. I have the gain set to

1 o'clock on both channels, though.

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The crunch channel has no feedback problems on mine. I have the gain set to

1 o'clock on both channels, though.

 

 

with gain on 1 on the crunch i have no feedback either, but i prefer it between 3 and dimed and there it squeals without the decimator.

 

i wasnt too much into the lead channel (mostly rhythm player) but i really dig the tone on there when clean boosted with the bad monkey and the gain around noon, but with these settings even the decimator got problems with cutting out the feedback.

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ouch i cannot stand feedback :( For some reason my 5150 doesn't feedback even when the preamp is set at 5, post at 7/10, and boosted with a maxon od808, i'm gonna die if i sell this to buy a cobra and find out i have feedback problems.....

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ouch i cannot stand feedback
:(
For some reason my 5150 doesn't feedback even when the preamp is set at 5, post at 7/10, and boosted with a maxon od808, i'm gonna die if i sell this to buy a cobra and find out i have feedback problems.....

 

it seems nakedzen and i are some special cases. neither guitarman, cobrahead or dimebag seem to have feedback problems with the cobra.

 

for me it might just be a bad preamp tube as i didnt change them yet and also i noticed that with my guitar it seems to be a lot worse than with others.

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Im not sure about dialing out the fizzyness, I found the stock EH tubes imparted a fizzyness regardless of how I eq'd the amp, it took me changing the preamp tubes to fix that!! Also curious - do use lots of different settings when you play through the cobra? I find that once you have dialed in a sound you love you generally stick (more or less) to that. Also I dont think the Cobra has as much tone shaping capability as say a dual rec, I think the tone of the cobra is better, but the eq's allow marginal color alteration while maintaining essentially a consistent fundamental sound - albeit an awesome sound!!

 

 

I'm also having the same problem with the top end fizz/buzz no matter what settings I use. What preamp tubes did you change to? What are the best preamp tubes for the cobra?

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