FullMetal*Panic!

I got a Bugera 6262-212 amp this past Christmas, and I was impressed. But being a typical guitarist with a bug in his head to find the perfect sound, I have settled on this set up (keep in mind that the bugera is Chinese speakers and Chinese tubes, which arn't bad as the amp does sound good, but I want my sound ):

Clean/Crunch channel
originally: 2 x 12ax7a
replaced with:
2 x Ruby (essentially re-branded JJ) ECC83

Lead channel
originally: 4 x 12ax7d
replaced with:
4 x Electro Harmonix 12ax7eh

Power tubes:
Originally: 4 x 6L6
replaced with:
4 x Groove Tube Gold 6L6-GE rated "6" (middle of the road)

Speakers:
Originally: 2 x 12" Chinese specials
replaced with:
1 x Eminence Patriot Red, White and Blue
1 x Eminence Wizard

yes, I like mismatched speakers. the Wizard is very mid rangy (Marshall like), the Patriot R,W & B are round bass and bright highs (Fender like). http://www.eminence.com/soundclips.asp

Put them together and you have a nice range of sound to work an EQ with.

Of course, I didn't buy them from overpriced Musicians Friends, but a local shop for much less.

Oh and yes, I play the Guitar. Been playing for 23 years now. LOL

Not sure what it all means ... but I'm strangely attracted to the tubes.
Someday I'm gonna build my own amp.

Thats a tough job.

Not that its hard, since the circuits are simple. But rather because it is difficult to find good clean massive power transformers that are required to produce the 500+ volts to drive the tubes, and the appropriate filter capacitors. Most of the readily availible stuff is pure crap. You basically end up looking for a dead amp to salvage. However, the #1 problem with dead amps is that the power transformers have rusted or burned, which is probably what killed it in the first place.For example: burning out a speaker in an all tube ampcauses the 500 volts to arc across the tube terminals and short out the transformer. at 500 volts this will vaporize the copper windings in the transformer.

If it's not going to work out .. ill settle for the AT-AT Boombox.

http://www.zen77990.zen.co.uk/atat/

LMAO classic

That is prefect to take to you're old stomping grounds. XD

mmmmmm nothing can replace the sound of a fully cranked all tube trace elliot v8

Irrelevent to me, as the Trace Elliot V8 is a bass guitar amp .

The "Wizard" Red Coat speaker came, and installed it with one of the stock speakers. All I can say is WOW. Very sensitive! Every nuance of my pick dynamics comes across beautifully! Of course the only prob with the Wizard is that it sacrifices some bass for mids and highs (hence the sensitivity to pick attack). The "Red White and Blues" speaker from the Patriot line (which should come tuesday) has more bass and lower mids than highs. So it should blend nicely. I can't wait.

Oh yeah, and the "Wizard" speaker's magnet is 4x heavier than the stock (58 ozs vs. 14ozs) so my amp just got a bit heavier! LOL Gonna have to install casters.

Pictures please.

You sound happy boys and their toys huh....

I'll take some when I install the other speaker, since The amp has a metal grate backing that gets in the way of pictures. Its easier to see the difference between the Wizard and stock speakers mounted side by side in the amp. The size diff is impressive.

All done!!!

http://www.omnilinkavstudios.com/bugera/index.html

Now the amp sounds awesomely awesome! No more ice pick in you ears sound!

But there is one problem. The amp was already loud, now its 2-3 times louder. (:-O)

Oh well... Who needs ears? LOL

I'm gonna have to look into an attenuator. Probably go with a THD Hot Plate to take off some of the edge.

With the new tubes and re-biasing, the clean channel is Fender-clean on any volume below about 4. Above 4 it starts to break up nicely. Just like its suppose to.

The Electro Harmonix in the lead channel puts me into land of metal. Especially with the 31 band eq, I can get ANY metal sound.

So, I finally got around to doing some recording to demo the sounds I can get out of my rig. Unfortunately, my mic pre can supply enough power for 2 condenser mics (which I prefer) so I was stuck using a pair of so-so dynamic mics which I normally use for acoustic work. It makes th amp sound a bit brighter, which I tweeked out as best as I could with an eq, and its prone to clipping which there was nothing I can do about. But you get the idea.

I was just messing around so don't take my playing too seriously. It was more for a sound check and demo.

The guitars I used (in order of appearance):

1) Ibanez S470 - stock infinity pickups
2) Schecter C1 - Semour Duncan JB and 59 pickups
3) Ibanex Artcore semi hollow Es335 look-alike with PAF type pickups
4) Steinberger GM7R - EMG pickups 85/sa/81

http://www.omnilinkavstudios.com/bugera/music.htm

Edit: I split up the sound file into 4 parts, should be easier.