Help! New amp doesn't sound like old amp!!!

[Fervor Pickups]

Hi,

I have been playing Valvetrain amp for a year or so, but I decided to buy a Music Man amp after I played my friends. However, the tone in the Music Man
brings out the twang in my Tele but there is no bottom end. I can't seem to get it to sound like my Valvetrain. Now I don't expect it to be exactly the same tone but my guitar is not sounding like it did before. What would cause this and how can I correct it? I have used pedal and plugged straight into it but to no avail. What's the problem?

Thanks in advance,

Geoff

[Prattacaster]

Why would it sound close to the Valvetrain? Is it a "new" amp or new to you? I think some Music Man's are solid state preamp into a Tube power section, is that the case with yours? It could need new filter caps or might just be the speaker.

[teemuk]

They are two different amps. If all guitar amps sounded the same there wouldn't be so many of them in the first place.

[Fervor Pickups]

I should clarify that my main guitar is the guitar I played through the Music Man which I didn't. However, my backup guitar is my G&L tele and it sounds great through the Music Man. My issue is that my main guitar is the one I play out with and it's not giving me the tone I wanted. Oh well! I guess I need new pickups...

[SatelliteAmps]

Originally Posted by Fervor Pickups

I should clarify that my main guitar is the guitar I played through the Music Man which I didn't. However, my backup guitar is my G&L tele and it sounds great through the Music Man. My issue is that my main guitar is the one I play out with and it's not giving me the tone I wanted. Oh well! I guess I need new pickups...

Which you make, right?

I would think some of this would be something you would have already run into in your business.

The reason they sound different, is that the way the signal flows through each amp is different, and will react to signals differently, causing them to sound different.

[jlboxlc]

FWIW I have been tweaking the sound of a new amp build, using a guitar I had changed a number of things on(pickups, tone setup, switching). I made the changes to that guitar while playing it through an old Randall SS amp. I had over time done some things to give some brighter tone options. Now that I have it plugged into a different amp, it is like I can actually hear every little thing about the sounds of the guitar, so in addition to tweaking the amp's sound, I have revisited tweaking my guitar as well. Another thought,there was an interesting post somewhere here on TGP, about hearing recordings of yourself through different rigs and circumstances. The main point was that no matter what they plugged into, they always seemed to dial up the same tone, to the point that they could not distinguish much between the different rigs.

[Fervor Pickups]

Jlboxlo your last point is exactly what I am getting at. The tone on the Music Man is so different that it's hard to distinguish the tone I am used to. Yes, I make pickups, so I can wind another set but I wanted to avoid that because I want to go back and forth from the Music Man and the Valvetrain with my main ax. Adam from Satellite as well as everyone else has shed some light on my issue. I going to look into changing the caps and perhaps the speaker. Thanks to everyone... this is fun. Geoff

[john l]

wait...what?

Not sacastic in anyway but are you saying that you have to completely different amps that dont sound the same and your wondering why or that they used to sound close and now they dont?

[Fervor Pickups]

No John l! In my initial post I wrote "Now I don't expect it to be exactly the same tone." I bought it for the warm tone but it's not right. The Music Man is WAY different in tone/output. So I started this forum because there are so many smart TGP members who I knew and thought might have answer. As I suspected a few have responded with thoughts yet others questioning my post.

With that said, I contacted the Music Man Co. directly prior to this post and I found my answer. I am attaching for all to see and learn. I hope it helps. Lastly, thank youto all of you who responded. The Gear Page is a great resource and I enjoy it a lot!

Dear Geoff:

The Music Man amplifiers generally have a full bodied warm bottom
end... better than Fender amps in my opinion. However, since even the
newest Music Man amp is over 27 years old, it is possible that yours
need servicing.

To illustrate the potential problems:

I just fixed a Music Man 212HD-150 combo for a friend and he had
similar complaints... it sounded lifeless, no dynamics and no bottom
end. It just didn't seem to have the power it once did. He was
right! The amp hadn't been serviced (outside of an output tube swap)
since it was new in 1982!

I replaced the output tubes and all the electrolytic capacitors in the
amp, biased the tubes and it sounded much better but still not right.
I found it was only putting out 80 Wrms of power when it should have
been putting out 150 Wrms! I dug deeper and found a shorted Zener
diode that is used to provide a proper negative screen voltage (a bias
voltage). At a point on the schematic that should have had -22Vdc on
it it measured 0Vdc. Replaced the Zener diode and the amp instantly
put out 156 watts and sounded awesome & inspiring!

The tubes and caps fixed the majority of the audio quality problems
but it took that Zener diode replacement to restore the power output
and headroom.

I am not saying you need that diode but most amps that are over 20
years old that haven't had new tubes and a "cap job" in the last 10
years are operating at a sub-par level. Most people are not aware of
the degradation since the amp gracefully ages gradually over time and
the changes are not apparent until you compare the amp to another one
that is in much better shape.

--
Steve
www.musicmanamps.com


See ya, Geoff

[Prattacaster]

Like that guy said, if new filter caps and tubes dont do it, then check that zener. I'd start with just the caps.