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Bob Clear's Electar 10 mods!!! and Electar 30 info.

5/31/2000 7:49 AM
Clark	Bob Clear's Electar 10 mods!!! and Electar 30 info. This thing pretty much sucked before doing Bob's suggested mods...now this little amp kicks major ass!!!Try it!!!Thanks to Bob and those who suggested the amp (RG?) and the mod site!!!! I can finally give the big amps a rest. P.S. Out of stock at musicyo.com (only place you can get electar...don't waste your time calling around) but they are "making more". Around $89.95+P.S.S. The electar 30 is pretty sweet right out of the box IMO...has extra 12ax7 and overdrive boost (triode or opamp boost...no schematic so I don't know) Pretty cool for $129.95 at musicyo.com

5/31/2000 7:49 AM

Clark

Bob Clear's Electar 10 mods!!! and Electar 30 info.

This thing pretty much sucked before doing Bob's suggested mods...now this little amp kicks major ass!!!Try it!!!Thanks to Bob and those who suggested the amp (RG?) and the mod site!!!! I can finally give the big amps a rest. P.S. Out of stock at musicyo.com (only place you can get electar...don't waste your time calling around) but they are "making more". Around $89.95+P.S.S. The electar 30 is pretty sweet right out of the box IMO...has extra 12ax7 and overdrive boost (triode or opamp boost...no schematic so I don't know) Pretty cool for $129.95 at musicyo.com

5/31/2000 1:16 PM
Doug	Funny that you mention Bob's mods... I have been twiddling with my Electar 10 for a couple weeks now and just this morning I tried Bob's tone stack mod. Yowwwwww!!! Dr. Jekyll became Mr. Hyde!! Tight lows and all that Marshally midrange! I push it a little with my Shaka or Sweet Thing and it just sings, it's really resonant. Touch a string and it sustains forever with octave feedback. Amazing the lows that little cabinet puts out. Here are my mods so far: Cathode resistors: 1.5K .47u inter-stage coupling cap: .022u 330K shunt: removed 120k grid resistor: 470K Removed feedback loop. 22u 2nd stage bypass cap: .47u .1u tone stack coupling cap: removed and jumpered Bob's tone stack mods: (.47u and 33K) In addition, I added a 300p LPF to the 2nd stage plate to smooth out harshness. I also added a .001u treble leak cap on the gain pot. Keeps it from rolling off the highs at lower gain levels. It almost has -too- much midrange for my tastes right now. I like to turn my guitar gain down to clean things up a bit and it's slightly too midd-y. Need to remove the LPF, since I probably don't need it with the tone stack modded. In addition I'm going to try a 47k in place of the 33k in the tone stack. Then I'm going to try reducing the 470k grid resistor for even more gain and saturation-if I can keep it from getting harsh. I will probably get the $20 Weber speaker for it too. Very, very nice! I'm finally getting there... Doug

5/31/2000 1:16 PM

Doug

Funny that you mention Bob's mods... I have been twiddling with my Electar 10 for a couple weeks now and just this morning I tried Bob's tone stack mod.
Yowwwwww!!! Dr. Jekyll became Mr. Hyde!! Tight lows and all that Marshally midrange! I push it a little with my Shaka or Sweet Thing and it just sings, it's really resonant. Touch a string and it sustains forever with octave feedback. Amazing the lows that little cabinet puts out.

Here are my mods so far:

Cathode resistors: 1.5K
.47u inter-stage coupling cap: .022u
330K shunt: removed
120k grid resistor: 470K
Removed feedback loop.
22u 2nd stage bypass cap: .47u
.1u tone stack coupling cap: removed and jumpered
Bob's tone stack mods: (.47u and 33K)

In addition, I added a 300p LPF to the 2nd stage plate to smooth out harshness. I also added a .001u treble leak cap on the gain pot. Keeps it from rolling off the highs at lower gain levels.

It almost has -too- much midrange for my tastes right now. I like to turn my guitar gain down to clean things up a bit and it's slightly too midd-y. Need to remove the LPF, since I probably don't need it with the tone stack modded. In addition I'm going to try a 47k in place of the 33k in the tone stack. Then I'm going to try reducing the 470k grid resistor for even more gain and saturation-if I can keep it from getting harsh. I will probably get the $20 Weber speaker for it too.

Very, very nice! I'm finally getting there...

Doug

5/31/2000 7:18 PM
Clark	I hope you did the el34 mod....most important IMO!I'll try your tone stack...I do want it to sing more..need to build a sweet thing.Expect to get my weber speaker today.Thanks for the reply!!

6/1/2000 12:11 AM
Doug	>I hope you did the el34 mod....most important Nope. Wasn't planning on messing with the tubes, just re-voicing it and eventually adding a new speaker. I may change out the 12ax7 with a direct replacement, but don't want to screw around with adding a new socket for the 6L6. Does the EL34 add more wattage? Did you use the Zener to drop the plate voltage? Can you do that with the 6L6? BTW: There's a good thread in the ampage amp forum about modding the Electar 30. The general consensus of everyone so far has been that stock, these amps basically stink. But with some simple and inexpensive mods it's amazing what a good tone you can get. I'm amazed that tone-wise, the difference between a crappy amp and a good one can be as simple as re-voicing the preamp. Doug

6/1/2000 12:11 AM

Doug

>I hope you did the el34 mod....most important

Nope. Wasn't planning on messing with the tubes, just re-voicing it and eventually adding a new speaker. I may change out the 12ax7 with a direct replacement, but don't want to screw around with adding a new socket for the 6L6. Does the EL34 add more wattage? Did you use the Zener to drop the plate voltage? Can you do that with the 6L6?

BTW: There's a good thread in the ampage amp forum about modding the Electar 30. The general consensus of everyone so far has been that stock, these amps basically stink. But with some simple and inexpensive mods it's amazing what a good tone you can get.

I'm amazed that tone-wise, the difference between a crappy amp and a good one *can* be as simple as re-voicing the preamp.

Doug

6/1/2000 1:39 AM
Clark	Have not done the zener...plan to. Bob says it will smooth out the sound...not sure of plate voltage either...did his mod, jumped the 1k/5w? to 4 and 6 pin...moved wire from 4 to 6 (email Bob..he is very cool and helpful) and wow...el 34 sweet tube heaven.Thanks for the tip on the electar 30...I will check it out...I was coparing it gain-wise stock to the 10...big difference...also...ALWAYs assume I am blasting the front with a high gain pedal!!!Both totally suck without help from a gainy pedal!Weber speaker helps a lot..controlled feedback improved greatly just with the speaker...a great deal..huge magnet...can't wait for it to break in...a great mod for ~$20 bucks!!

6/1/2000 1:39 AM

Clark

Have not done the zener...plan to. Bob says it will smooth out the sound...not sure of plate voltage either...did his mod, jumped the 1k/5w? to 4 and 6 pin...moved wire from 4 to 6 (email Bob..he is very cool and helpful) and wow...el 34 sweet tube heaven.Thanks for the tip on the electar 30...I will check it out...I was coparing it gain-wise stock to the 10...big difference...also...ALWAYs assume I am blasting the front with a high gain pedal!!!Both totally suck without help from a gainy pedal!Weber speaker helps a lot..controlled feedback improved greatly just with the speaker...a great deal..huge magnet...can't wait for it to break in...a great mod for ~$20 bucks!!

6/1/2000 12:21 PM
Doug	>did his mod, jumped the 1k/5w? to 4 and 6 pin...moved wire from 4 to 6 (email Bob..he is very cool and helpful) and wow...el 34 sweet tube heaven. Did you have to change the tube socket or does the EL34 plug in to the existing one? (I guess I should check the tube pinouts myself...) >also...ALWAYs assume I am blasting the front with a high gain pedal!!!Both totally suck without help from a gainy pedal! Good, then we're on the same page. I discovered the same thing, and wanted to make sure there wasn't something basically wrong with mine. The tone is basically non-existent without using a pedal to drive it. Also, if I drive it too hard with the pedal, it gets real brittle. A smidgeon of boost mixed with a little distortion from the pedal seems to work wonders. >Weber speaker helps a lot..controlled feedback improved greatly just with the speaker...a great deal..huge magnet...can't wait for it to break in...a great mod for ~$20 bucks!! Great! You got the $20 speaker, that's the route I was gonna go. I'm glad it was worth it, I will definitely do that as well. Have you tried subbing a different preamp tube? I was thinking of trying that. I didn't mod the tone stack yet (It's set up like Bob's), but I removed my LPF and that helped with the highs. Also reconnected the feedback loop, just to hear the difference-very subtle smoothing and sucks gain-I will remove it again. What I want to do with the tone stack is get better control of the mids-would be nice to be able to scoop it some more, right now with the mid on 0 it's still too middy. The bass is great though! Shakes the walls! Doug

6/1/2000 12:21 PM

Doug

>did his mod, jumped the 1k/5w? to 4 and 6 pin...moved wire from 4 to 6 (email Bob..he is very cool and helpful) and wow...el 34 sweet tube heaven.

Did you have to change the tube socket or does the EL34 plug in to the existing one? (I guess I should check the tube pinouts myself...)

>also...ALWAYs assume I am blasting the front with a high gain pedal!!!Both totally suck without help from a gainy pedal!

Good, then we're on the same page. I discovered the same thing, and wanted to make sure there wasn't something basically wrong with mine. The tone is basically non-existent without using a pedal to drive it. Also, if I drive it too hard with the pedal, it gets real brittle. A smidgeon of boost mixed with a little distortion from the pedal seems to work wonders.

>Weber speaker helps a lot..controlled feedback improved greatly just with the speaker...a great deal..huge magnet...can't wait for it to break in...a great mod for ~$20 bucks!!

Great! You got the $20 speaker, that's the route I was gonna go. I'm glad it was worth it, I will definitely do that as well.

Have you tried subbing a different preamp tube? I was thinking of trying that.

I didn't mod the tone stack yet (It's set up like Bob's), but I removed my LPF and that helped with the highs. Also reconnected the feedback loop, just to hear the difference-very subtle smoothing and sucks gain-I will remove it again. What I want to do with the tone stack is get better control of the mids-would be nice to be able to scoop it some more, right now with the mid on 0 it's still too middy. The bass is great though! Shakes the walls!

Doug

6/1/2000 10:43 PM
Clark	Yeah, the el 34 fits right in the socket...I couldn't believe it either...I did not want to solder to a new socket.I have tried the 12ax7wb which is a really hot an bright tube..adds like 7% more gain...partsexpress.com has them and others. This is the only one I have tried yet...kind've overkill...simply makes it so you use less pedal gain...a nice change though. The JAN 12ax7 that it comes with is a really clean good tube...helps to "round-out" the sound IMO.The speaker just rocks...no "speaker fart" at all...even with the bass at 10!Could you explain how your interstage coupling cap mods changed the tone? I am pretty shady at that kindv'e thing...which caps are you refering to?...1st and 2nd interstage....what does this do?Thanks a lot!!!!

6/1/2000 10:43 PM

Clark

Yeah, the el 34 fits right in the socket...I couldn't believe it either...I did not want to solder to a new socket.I have tried the 12ax7wb which is a really hot an bright tube..adds like 7% more gain...partsexpress.com has them and others. This is the only one I have tried yet...kind've overkill...simply makes it so you use less pedal gain...a nice change though. The JAN 12ax7 that it comes with is a really clean good tube...helps to "round-out" the sound IMO.The speaker just rocks...no "speaker fart" at all...even with the bass at 10!Could you explain how your interstage coupling cap mods changed the tone? I am pretty shady at that kindv'e thing...which caps are you refering to?...1st and 2nd interstage....what does this do?Thanks a lot!!!!

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