Members marsluna Posted December 18, 2009 Members Share Posted December 18, 2009 I found sockets don't work well in amps. There's a ton of vibration going on and they tend to get shook loose. I just solder the chips directly to the board.But, if I was to do a socket, it would be one like this:http://www.effectsconnection.com/oscommerce/product_info.php?cPath=2&products_id=246Don't cheap on your socket - you'll regret it. Thanks Verne! I can't wait to get working on this over the holidays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edge11 Posted June 20, 2010 Members Share Posted June 20, 2010 seeking as how the mod is plate fed, how would adding a fet cathode follower affect the sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marsluna Posted July 6, 2010 Members Share Posted July 6, 2010 Yesterday I just finished swapping out parts to do the SLO mod to my V33, following Steve A's instructions posted on his blue guitar website. However, after first firing it up, I'm getting sound, but it's very low volume on both channels, and no overdrive on the overdrive channel (I can crank the gain all the way up, and the sound is still fairly low volume and does not break up at all). A couple things that I wonder if could be causing problems: 1. When I replaced C6 and C13 with 1uF caps, the ones I had bought were not polarized caps, but the originals were. Could this cause any issues? 2. When I replaced one of the op amps, I accidentally damaged one of the diodes (D9). I looked it up on the V33 schematic, found that it calls for a 1N4148 diode. Radio shack had packs of diodes that they labeled as "1N914/1N4148", which I used since that's all I could find without having to order online. From reading elsewhere, the 1N914 diode may have less of a max current rating than the 1N4148, but in most cases it sounds like these two models of diodes would be interchangeable. Other than the two things above, I'm going to go back and check all my solder joints again tonight or later this week. Is there any advice or suggestions anyone can give with regards to this issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted July 6, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 6, 2010 2. When I replaced one of the op amps, I accidentally damaged one of the diodes (D9). I looked it up on the V33 schematic, found that it calls for a 1N4148 diode. Radio shack had packs of diodes that they labeled as "1N914/1N4148", which I used since that's all I could find without having to order online. From reading elsewhere, the 1N914 diode may have less of a max current rating than the 1N4148, but in most cases it sounds like these two models of diodes would be interchangeable. I'm sure those diodes would be fine. Triple check the mods you did. Resolder everything you touched. I'm guessing it's a bad solder joint. Also, check the connections of the pots to the board - those look like they could get damaged easily while removing and replacing the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marsluna Posted July 6, 2010 Members Share Posted July 6, 2010 I would use electrolytics, but I doubt that's your problem.I'm sure those diodes would be fine.Triple check the mods you did.Resolder everything you touched. I'm guessing it's a bad solder joint.Also, check the connections of the pots to the board - those look like they could get damaged easily while removing and replacing the board. Thanks. I'll be sure to check the pots, as well as all my other solder joints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marsluna Posted July 6, 2010 Members Share Posted July 6, 2010 It works! Turns out it was an instrument cable going bad I was all worried that I'd have to take out those op amps again, or was going to spend days scouring over it trying to figure it out. So it seems that the diode I used and the caps didn't really matter.I didn't get a chance to really crank it yet, but man, it sounds sooo much better already, even at a very low volume. I still have the stock tubes in there too - I may change these out eventually.Next up will be making a footswitch for it. No way I'm paying $30 for a new one.Can't wait to get this thing into our band's practice space! Thanks for the help!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashasha Posted July 6, 2010 Members Share Posted July 6, 2010 Can't believe that I missed this thread the first time around. That clip sounded great wagdog. I'm not looking for an amp, but if I do go out there this may be one on the short list. I love doing mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marsluna Posted July 6, 2010 Members Share Posted July 6, 2010 After having done these mods, the op amps were the most PITA part of it. Here was my experience with it - maybe it will help others: There were four of them total. The first one, I tried using a desoldering iron right away via the back of the board, but I just couldn't get all the factory solder out. I ended up just cutting the whole op amp from the top using some side cutters. When it broke, pieces of it went flying, and it broke the diode (D9) next to it. I had to replace the diode as well as I had a hell of a time getting some of the legs of the op amp out completely. I ended up having to drill out (hand drill) about 4 of the holes. Very destructive and possibly harmful to the other components. For the other three, I ended up doing this, and it worked quite well: Before even trying to remove anything, reflow the existing solder joints and add a little bit of your own solder. Let it cool, and then attempt to de-solder. If all the solder didn't come out, re-flow and add solder again. By doing this two or even three times instead of just trying to yank out the op amp before getting enough of the old solder out was the crucial part. Otherwise you'll be struggling with removing broken off bits of the op amp legs from inside the holes. Once it looked like I had removed most/all the solder, I was able to remove the entire op amp from the top by gently rocking it back and forth using some pliers. I used this de-soldering tool from radio shack:http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062731 Besides the op amps, the only other slightly tricky part for me were two resistors that had pads under some of the tube sockets, so I couldn't access the pads from the back of the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted July 7, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 Can't wait to get this thing into our band's practice space! Thanks for the help!!!!! Didn't see if you had the v33h or the combo (I've owned both), I will give you one warning if you have the head: heat - it produces LOTS and LOTS of it. I think the problem is the way the tubes are situated. The combo has the tubes on the sides, so the heat goes up and out, but on the v33h the heat goes right up into the chasis and it will possibly overheat. I'm still planning on adding a fan to mine but haven't gotten to it yet. The other warning is the power supply in this thing absolutely, no questions asked needs a ground connection. The combo I owned had a flaky ground wire, and it fried the power supply. I was able to resurrect by replacing the diode and resistors that blew out, but it was close to being a lost cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted July 7, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 Can't believe that I missed this thread the first time around. That clip sounded great wagdog. I'm not looking for an amp, but if I do go out there this may be one on the short list. I love doing mods. They were blowing out the v18's 1x12 and 2x12 for $150 a year or two ago. The v33 combos were more, and they had the head (v33h) for like $170 or something. I got the v33h for $137 during a sale. Ridiculously cheap for a tube amp, and fun to mod. They are loud, and not like the fender up to 3 loud, these things start out loud, and get WAY louder up to 10. Tons of clean headroom too.There are some design issues w/these amps that have appeared though. The power supply is not very robust (see the post above). It's a switching power supply (like you might find in a computer). The reverb is horrible (but fixable), and the stock speakers (if you get a combo) are covered in a dope over the entire speaker and sound like a pillow.All of those things can be fixed, and these do turn into pretty decent amps. They are simple enough and fun to work on though. I've seen them on craigslist once in a while, but haven't seen them from online retailers in quite sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marsluna Posted July 7, 2010 Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 Yeah! Congrats! It's always something simple 'eh. One thing this has is plenty of LOUD. Even clean, it cranks. Didn't see if you had the v33h or the combo (I've owned both), I will give you one warning if you have the head: heat - it produces LOTS and LOTS of it. I think the problem is the way the tubes are situated. The combo has the tubes on the sides, so the heat goes up and out, but on the v33h the heat goes right up into the chasis and it will possibly overheat. I'm still planning on adding a fan to mine but haven't gotten to it yet. The other warning is the power supply in this thing absolutely, no questions asked needs a ground connection. The combo I owned had a flaky ground wire, and it fried the power supply. I was able to resurrect by replacing the diode and resistors that blew out, but it was close to being a lost cause. Mine is a V33h. I can see what you mean about the heat - even from playing only about 10 minutes at low volumes, I felt quite a bit of heat from inside the amp after I was done.Have you had any adverse effects from all the heat? (any failed components or tubes?)As far as the power supply ground goes - I haven't even looked at that section of my amp since I don't understand much of the circuitry. I basically did this mod knowing only how to solder and how to avoid electrocuting myself For everything else I just followed the excellent diagram posted by Steve Ahola without really knowing how each component affects the overall circuit.Is there any specific wire that I should double check in the power supply? I imagine that if the power supply goes bad on these, it would be pretty tough to replace it since it's not a standard guitar amp power supply. I would hate for that to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted July 7, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 7, 2010 Is there any specific wire that I should double check in the power supply? I imagine that if the power supply goes bad on these, it would be pretty tough to replace it since it's not a standard guitar amp power supply. I would hate for that to happen. The wire that went bad was the ground wire in the power cord. There was no indication that the wire had been stepped on or kinked - I think it was bad from the factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marsluna Posted July 16, 2010 Members Share Posted July 16, 2010 Has anyone who did Steve Ahola's SLO mod to a V33 have any issues with popping during switching channels? I even replaced both relays on mine, but it still pops every time I switch channels, using the footswitch or the button by the pots. I tried switching back and forth for several minutes continuously to see if it would go away, but it still does it every time. Actually it's a pop when going from clean to OD, and more of a loud thump going from OD back to clean. However, this loud thump only happens if I switch from OD to clean while playing something. If the guitar is quiet when I switch, there is no thump. I'm still pretty much a beginner at understanding amp schematics, so I would really appreciate any suggestions at all about this. Are there any components that look like a likely culprit (I dunno, maybe some cap that is in the switching circuit?). By the way, it did this popping thing even before the mods, so it's unlikely that it was because of any of the changes made when I did the SLO mod. If anyone else has seen this on a V33 or has any advice at all, it would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members iff Posted July 18, 2010 Members Share Posted July 18, 2010 How modern-sounding does the SLO mod make the V18/V33? What about boosted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IamBurnout Posted July 18, 2010 Members Share Posted July 18, 2010 The SLO was designed in the heyday of hair metal, so what do you consider modern? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members iff Posted July 18, 2010 Members Share Posted July 18, 2010 The SLO was designed in the heyday of hair metal, so what do you consider modern? I would be overjoyed if it sounded just like an SLO, just from what I've read and heard from clips, it seems the modded Crates are much better suited for light OD rather than typical SLO metal...especially what you can do with one boosted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IamBurnout Posted July 18, 2010 Members Share Posted July 18, 2010 I've always viewed the SLO sound as a boosted 800 with scooped mids. Kind of doubt that the crate can nail the gain, but an SD-1 would probably make the difference, or at least close enough for hand grenades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edge11 Posted July 18, 2010 Members Share Posted July 18, 2010 I've always viewed the SLO sound as a boosted 800 with scooped mids.Kind of doubt that the crate can nail the gain, but an SD-1 would probably make the difference, or at least close enough for hand grenades. The crate nails the gain, if anything I think it has more gain, because of the way the tone stack is fed in the circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted July 18, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 18, 2010 My SLO modded v18 has TONS of gain, to the point that I rarely approach using all of it, ever. TONS of gain. It also has a plenty of clean headroom if I keep the gain control down to 2 or 3 and crank the level up. Does it sound or act like a Soldano SLO? Honestly, I have no idea as I've never used one. It does sound good though, really good. FWIW, I had to tone down the gain in the v33 as it was just overkill and too fizzy - max gain and it would just go into self-oscillating feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members iff Posted July 19, 2010 Members Share Posted July 19, 2010 Can it do anything like these clips? http://www.netmusicians.org/files/50-Soldano%20TLM%20103.mp3 http://www.netmusicians.org/files/9-PK5.mp3 http://www.netmusicians.org/files/54-testtt.mp3 http://www.netmusicians.org/files/88-SLOTEST2.mp3 http://www.netmusicians.org/files/46-Soldano%20High%20Gain.mp3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted July 20, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 20, 2010 Can it do anything like these clips?http://www.netmusicians.org/files/50-Soldano%20TLM%20103.mp3http://www.netmusicians.org/files/9-PK5.mp3http://www.netmusicians.org/files/54-testtt.mp3http://www.netmusicians.org/files/88-SLOTEST2.mp3http://www.netmusicians.org/files/46-Soldano%20High%20Gain.mp3 Eh, sort of, not really? I just broke out my les paul for the first time in a long time and did a clip of my v18. Please keep in mind that I'm a blues/rock/jazz/funk sort of player, so high gain brutz tones and heavy brutalz playing is not my thing... I guess I'm saying I'm not really qualified to do this stuff. http://www.wagner-usa.net/tunez/wag_crate_v18_tehbrutz_mixdown01.mp3 Gain is about 7 at the start, goes up to 10. It was really loud. Recorded w/a zoom h2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members iff Posted July 21, 2010 Members Share Posted July 21, 2010 Eh, sort of, not really? I just broke out my les paul for the first time in a long time and did a clip of my v18. Please keep in mind that I'm a blues/rock/jazz/funk sort of player, so high gain brutz tones and heavy brutalz playing is not my thing... I guess I'm saying I'm not really qualified to do this stuff. http://www.wagner-usa.net/tunez/wag_crate_v18_tehbrutz_mixdown01.mp3Gain is about 7 at the start, goes up to 10. It was really loud. Recorded w/a zoom h2. Sounds pretty solid; definitely more than enough gain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted July 21, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 21, 2010 Sounds pretty solid; definitely more than enough gain. Yeah man, tons of gain, way more then I'll ever, ever need.The amp really sounds nice cleaned up. I've been using it in stereo w/my HRDx and tonelab - sounds great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marsluna Posted July 21, 2010 Members Share Posted July 21, 2010 Yeah man, tons of gain, way more then I'll ever, ever need.The amp really sounds nice cleaned up. I've been using it in stereo w/my HRDx and tonelab - sounds great. That sound clip sounded pretty close to what mine sounds like too. Lots of gain - nice sound. I apologize if you've already stated this, but are you still using 12ax7 tubes in all three preamp positions? Also, what speaker(s) are you using? I have both a V18 and and V33 that I've done the SLO mod to. I first got the V18 when they were selling them new for $150. I liked it so much after the mod that I found a V33 on ebay (for the dual channels and more clean headroom during jams). On my V18 I have a Warehouse Green Beret, which sounds excellent. For the V33, I have a 2x12 cab with an Eminence Swamp Thang and an Eminence Man O War. I'm thinking about trying some different ones in the 2x12. Maybe some Warehouse Veteran 30s. Anybody else - what speaker do you like with the SLO modded V33 (or V18)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted July 21, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 21, 2010 Anybody else - what speaker do you like with the SLO modded V33 (or V18)? The jensens are ok - a bit thin, but ok. If I had some spare dough, I would definitely try some different speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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