JeffB Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I had some spare time to either finish cleaning the garage or hang some doors. I did this. At lower volumes you dont hear so much of a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TalismanRich Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I thought there was quite a bit of difference. The 6L6s seemed more open and punchy. EL84 seemed to be somewhat more compressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 I thought there was quite a bit of difference. The 6L6s seemed more open and punchy. EL84 seemed to be somewhat more compressed. Yes. At the volume I was at there is a difference. The el84s do break up. It was pretty loud. Not neighbour friendly volume. At quieter home volumes there isnt a real difference. Theoretically the concert is a 60w amp but I guess it would peak in the 80's. With the el84s it should be around 18w. Theres no real difference in volume but it does compress sooner and can get a crunch on. Which I failed to demonstrate. I couldve done this a couple of ways but only thought about different approaches after I did it. If the concert equipped with YJ's and el84's was compared to a DRRI at the same volume the DRRI would be sounding like ZZ Top (you know what I mean) and the concert would sound like it does in the vid. Think I might take another run at the vid. Theres better ways to do it. Also the reverb is different with YJ's than with 6L6s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulk1 Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 I thought the 6L6s were snappier on the picking part. Think Rich hit it with punchy. I looked at a Concert amp in my fav MnP once. Loved the tone. Couldn't do the volume. But a very good sounding amp, sounded better than I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted September 18, 2013 Author Share Posted September 18, 2013 Had a moment tonight. No one home, new riffage to practice, wanted to hear it loud. Turned amp up and dug in. Whaaaat!! wheres my clean solid thunk? where'd it go? Turn every dial on amp every direction. No thunk, no clean. Disconnect every box in the chain, straight to amp. No thunk. Change lead, no, change guitar, no, change speaker cab, no, spray all input and out put jacks, no thunk for you today. Dig around for preamp tubes. Disappear behind amp with preamp tube in hand. Hello!! Pair of 6L6s lying on floor behind amp. Goodby half hour of panic I will never get back. Just shows how long ago Ive turned this up and how little power amp tubes affect the tone of this amp at low volumes. I am 6L6 person I figured out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AP515 Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 I am 6L6 person I figured out. Me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 6L6 for me too! Question: Does your Concert have really strong midrange honk in both channels? From your video, it sounds great. Mine is mid heavy and I dial it out in channel 2. I'm considering having the tone stack modded to limit the mids. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 has anyone ever tried a fender like that with EL34's? is it even possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted September 19, 2013 Author Share Posted September 19, 2013 6L6 for me too! Question: Does your Concert have really strong midrange honk in both channels? From your video, it sounds great. Mine is mid heavy and I dial it out in channel 2. I'm considering having the tone stack modded to limit the mids. Thoughts? What speaker do you have in your Concert? Ive tried a few mods on this amp and have always returned it back to stock. The original speaker it came with was very strident in the mids. It never occured to me until someone pointed it out. I just thought it sounded good in a band mix. I tried a few speakers and seem to have stopped at a discontinued G12H-100. It seems to have given it a fuller bottom end, smoother highs and maybe as a result of those two factors the honk of the mids seem to be less pronounced or at least are more even. The G12H-100 is a bit darker than the original. I run the bass between 7-10 depending on volume, treble @4. Presence is a strong control on this amp and seems to affect the mids. I used to keep it @ 9 and now generally have it at 4. As you dial down the treble and bass the mids become more prominent. Just like any Fender amp I suppose. Another thing I have noticed is the 1st channel eq is affected by the 2nd channel eq. I always make sure the 2nd channels tone controls are set to zero. From memory the treble control of the 2nd channel affects the 1st channel but only when the 2nd channel volume, gain and master volume are not set to zero. I could be remembering that wrong but there is some correlation. I never use the 2nd channel. I used to run it with the fx loop circuit removed from the chain and that made some sort of change to the feel and sound. has anyone ever tried a fender like that with EL34's? is it even possible There is a couple of guys over at another forum who run(or did run) their Concert on EL34's. They have made the bias adjustable. I asked for clips and they supplied them. I couldnt really compare and form an opinion because they had done so many mods that I couldnt tell what I was hearing. Im not sure about the affect the EL34's had on the amp. I have tried my Mesa's on EL34s and thought they made them sound slightly thinner and a bit more raggedy. Ive since put a bias kit in the Lone Star it changed everything about how the power amp section interacted with the over all. The EL34s still have a ragged less polished sound and feel but its not quite as thin pre bias kit. I think its the way they affect the upper mid that sets them apart. I dont like them in the lone Star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 Wow! The second channel's EQ affects the first channel?! I never knew that. I've got some knob twisting to do tonight. I swapped out the original speaker and I think I dropped a new Jensen in there a couple years ago. It improved the overall sweetness of the amp, but the mids still are too much. I have a new Cannabis Rex that I've been considering for it. Thanks for the info!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koula901 Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 Amps - a whole new territory for me. Lots to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted September 19, 2013 Author Share Posted September 19, 2013 Wow! The second channel's EQ affects the first channel?! I never knew that. I've got some knob twisting to do tonight. I swapped out the original speaker and I think I dropped a new Jensen in there a couple years ago. It improved the overall sweetness of the amp, but the mids still are too much. I have a new Cannabis Rex that I've been considering for it. Thanks for the info!! Im sitting with the amp now and checking out if I recalled correctly. and I did. The sound of the 1st channel is affected by the 2nd channel. The 1st channel sounds darker with the controls set like this: (Broken Volume knob set to 0) The 1st channel sounds more peaky and brighter if you set the 2nd channel like this. (Broken Volume knob is set to 10) If you set the controls of the 2nd channel more modestly there is less noticeable change. When you dial up all controls on the 2nd channel somewhat there is an underlying distortion that creeps in at a certain point. Its barely noticable but its enough to make you check your leads and tubes to see whats going on. I also noticed plugging in the footswitch affects the tone of the 1st channel but I cant remember if it was for the better or the worse. It may act by completely bypassing the two channels interaction with each other. I could be wrong though. It was an experiment at 3:00am in a past life. Its all so vague now. Either that or my amps been broken ever since I bought it and the second channel shouldnt affect the 1st at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 Amazing. I keep my foot pedal plugged in and the channel switching knob pulled out. Now I'll have to see what the interaction is between the two channels is with or without the foot switch engaged. What in the world was Paul Rivera thinking when he was at Fender? I know he was aiming his technology squarely at Mesa, but this is some weird stuff with both channels interacting like this. Here's an old news article review discussing the Concert II's unique features: http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps/twoseriesfenders/twin2.jpg Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted September 19, 2013 Author Share Posted September 19, 2013 You know, its not startling differences, but there is a change in the way the amp behaves. Like I said the Celestion speaker I have in there now thickens it up and darkens it. Its smoother and fuller but still has the percussive "thunk" I like about bigger fender amps. I think it had a JBL speaker in it originally. Some people like them. I dont think it worked for this amp, at least not for me as time went on and I started knowing what I wanted to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted December 3, 2013 Author Share Posted December 3, 2013 Did a follow up vid. I plugged straight into the return of the effects loop to bypass the other 6 preamp tubes and tone stack. I could use the the amp like that if I had to I guess. I have run modeling preamps with this amp bypassing the preamp. The presence control is attached to the power amp on the Concert II and is actually quite a useful eq control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Nice, Jeff! Here's another thread discussing the mighty Concert II. I had no idea how many players love this amp. A few writers recommend jumpering the send/receive jacks in the rear to enhance the overdrive. I've never tried that, but it sounds like a cool experiment. http://theonesthatgotaway.blogspot.com/2008/09/1983-fender-concert-amplifier.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffB Posted December 4, 2013 Author Share Posted December 4, 2013 Nice, Jeff! Here's another thread discussing the mighty Concert II. I had no idea how many players love this amp. A few writers recommend jumpering the send/receive jacks in the rear to enhance the overdrive. I've never tried that, but it sounds like a cool experiment. http://theonesthatgotaway.blogspot.com/2008/09/1983-fender-concert-amplifier.html I have to be honest, I sometimes get sick and tired of hearing the sound of it. After 27 years of hearing it pretty much every day with a few short breaks in between I dont think it excites me as much as it used to as a sit in front of and play amp. Pretty good value for the money though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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