modifications?

[Anonymous]

hi, I have a one of those 100 watt sunn model t reissue amps made by fender.  are there any mods to get better sound that I can do?  thanks.

[Anonymous]

I've been reading about disconnecting the master volume wire on this site.  what's that all about?  how do i do it?  which wire? probably gonna void the warranty right?

[tjm]

ok.....if nobody knows of any mods, what tube combinations is everyone using and what kind of sounds are you getting? include some info on the rest of your rig for reference.

I have been using a FMIC model T head into a 4x12 slant cab with 70 watt "tweaked" eminence speakers. the speakers were custom made to be a bit smoother in the midrange than cel. vintage 30's. i didn't order the speakers, i just stumbled upon them. I use a 69 SG with duncan 59's. We play punk/rock stuff. I never use the low power setting and i use both channels.

I have been messing with different tubes because the stock tubes made the amp very noisy and it had way too much gain for my taste (i hated this amp when i first got it) it almost sounded like all settings were just muddy and the clean channel wasn't clean at all, not even close. i run the amp just below 1/2 volume (gain and master) on the dirt channel and at about 1/3 volume on the clean channel.

right now i'm using what i had lying around:
 Svetlana 6L6 power tubes (biased at 62)
 GE 12AT7 tube in the first slot (V1)
 GE 5751 tube in the second slot (V2)
 EH 12ax7's in the next two slots (v3 and v4)
 JJ ECC83's in the next two (v5 and v6)

this amp seems very versatile now that i know it responds to various tube types....if you put lower gain tubes in the first two slots (try different combinations) the amp changes character dramatically, it gets a lot quieter in both channels and still has a lot of gain and the tone range is different..... so i would assume that even trying different 12ax7 brands in the first four slots would make a noticeable difference.

[Ryan_77uk]

Thats pretty interesting stuff Tjm. I own a vintage Model T, I have 4 12AT7's in the pre-amp section and 4 6550's in the power section. I've only had the chance to play them amp at optimum volume a few times but I love the tone I get. Really clear with a lot of bite thanks to my modified SD-1.

I've considered getting a Fender Model T just for the hell of it, might still do that.

[tjm]

Thats pretty interesting stuff Tjm. I own a vintage Model T, I have 4 12AT7's in the pre-amp section and 4 6550's in the power section. I've only had the chance to play them amp at optimum volume a few times but I love the tone I get. Really clear with a lot of bite thanks to my modified SD-1.

I've considered getting a Fender Model T just for the hell of it, might still do that.

ryan, you ever try KT88's in your model T?

yeah, give the FMIC model T a go, I'm finding it to be pretty verstile. i've used 12AT7's before, but just read up on a tube that bob from www.eurotubes.com likes....here's what he says about it:

If your trying to cut the gain in your amps drive channel you might be interested in a hybrid tube I'm using in my Prosonic and 5150 to cut the gain, it's called the JJ ECC832 which is a 12DW7. This tube is half of an ECC83S ( 12AX7 ) and half of an ECC82 ( 12AU7 ). I use two of them in my Prosonic, one in V2 and one in V3. This actually sounds VERY nice in amps that cascade the gain through several preamp tubes. It cuts down the gain by about 40% but retains a nice crisp attack and warm tone where just dropping down to a 12AT7 seems to dull the tone a bit. The JJ ECC832 tubes are 9.00 each. I've got lots of players using the ECC832 in one or two of the gain stages in everything from the Mesa Triaxis to Peavey Triple X amps with great results.  

anyone try these in a FMIC model T?

also, if you check out the eurotubes site, bob collects sunn stuff!

[Ryan_77uk]

I took a look at the site. I'm really interested in trying some of those JJ KT88s in my Model T. From the descriptions it could be just what I need. I mailed the dude about some stuff so who knows I might be retubing my baby!  

[tjm]

yeah, we're going to try some of those kt88's in a 2000s that we're fixing up for our bass player.

i think you'll find bob at eurotubes to be very helpful and informative.

happy new year!

[bentbolt]

I have JJ KT88's in my 200s and couldn't be more pleased (unless I found another 200s for $90- ha ha ha)

[Ryan_77uk]

I think I'm going to keep the 6550s in there for a while, I've started to play with the master volume on 10 and use the bright volume to set the volume, the sound is so much better than before, it cuts through so well.

Does anyone use a power attenuator with their vintage Model T, is so which one?