tjamesmichael Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 I recently bought a used Valve Special because it was there. I have tried every setting, every pickup, everything. This cool looking little amp sounds like crap. I know alot of the guys on here such as Gil and others know their stuff. Can someone give me some suggestions on how to make this thing sound good. I'm not a tech so the simpler the better. Thanks for any and all suggestions. T
lostindesert Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 Take it to a qualified amp tech and let him check it out. Peter
Robo Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 I recently bought a used Valve Special because it was there. I have tried every setting' date=' every pickup, everything. This cool looking little amp sounds like crap. I know alot of the guys on here such as Gil and others know their stuff. Can someone give me some suggestions on how to make this thing sound good. I'm not a tech so the simpler the better. Thanks for any and all suggestions. T[/quote']Mine sounded real muffled when I first got it, but as the speaker broke in, it really opened up. Different tubes helped alot too. Try running it thru a different speaker to see if that makes a difference. Mine took about 100 hours to breakin, and it seemed liked the circuit burned in during that time too.
ladyscaglyc Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 At first glance that used Valve Standard was it. Beautiful, retro, tubes...I was in love. But, in all honesty, I just couldn't get into it. The great guys here have, and there is a ton of mod & tweak info that was posted for me while I considered what to do. there's even a step by step to bypass the DSP. (at the time I was looking for Fendery spring reverb) I was looking for more Fendery "sparkle" and there's a great discussion & advice as to how that can be done! Don't do as I did (which was nothing but a trade in) and give that great amp a chance. You will hear from the mod mentors soon I'm sure.
cGil Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 Well, you could always gut it and start over with some nice Sozo caps and such, but guess what! The new amp will still need 100 hours of burn in time to sound right. Same goes for the speaker, except that it absolutely MUST be played to get broken in. The amp can simply sit "on" for a week and doesn't have to be played. Give it time. Try some mods. Definitely get that thing a new 5k output transformer (yours is 7.5k of muddy crap). Then gut it! :D Seriously! The boards in those things are the worst kind of crapola. Very unstable. But very good for learning to mod amps. That thing'll have you in and out so often you'll become an expert at pulling the board and troubleshooting. And when you've worn it completely out, the chassis makes a nice platform for a point to point build with plenty of elbow room to do whatever you want. You'll find what few mods there are for it posted on SEwatt and even more on PPwatt since it shares a common heritage with the Valve Standard. Bypassing the DSP is accomplished the same on both the VStd and VSpcl, so folks looking for mods on the VSpcl's are commonly forwarded to the VStd threads. I have one of each, and the boards are very similar. But in the FAQ's on SEwatt you'll find everything you need to know about schematics, tubes, and tube amp circuits. Not to mention free access to the priceless troubleshooting tips from the peanut gallery. Vast treasures of knowledge, and the secrets of the ancients await! You've got the amp. Get a soldering iron and a decent Volt/Ohm-meter. And get busy! Gil...
tjamesmichael Posted February 4, 2009 Author Posted February 4, 2009 Thanks for the input guys. I'll start with the speakers then the tubes. And then I'll take Gils advice and get into the darn thing. Thanks again.
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