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Hi,

I’m going to record some songs in a couple of month’s time, just singing and a guitar. I’ve got a got a nice bassy sounding Gretsch guitar which I play through a pedal-overdriven silverface Fender Twin when I play with a group. I’m happy with it. On my own though, I’m not sure it’s going to work. What I need is that breaks-up-when-you-twat-it sound and I've got a feeling the pedal is going to boost the sound too soon. I’ve got one of those 5 watt champion 600 practise amps, and I get a good sound out of that, but obviously it hasn’t got the grain of the twin, but getting the twin to break-up without a pedal wasn’t possible before what with its huge headroom. Maybe if I don’t mind going deaf for my art? I’m getting a new rehearsal room for August so will be able to try things at volume then. Would removing any of the twin’s tubes help any? I’ve seen some mod demos of the champ that sounded great, if a little thin … passing that though a bigger speaker? Through the twin?? I’ve never modded an amp, so any advice needs to be idiot proof. But your two pence worth would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks TM

You should be able to take the 2 outer power tubes out and drop the power down so it breaks up quicker. Search t'interweb and there'll be a demo somewhere...

I've personally had very little luck with pulling the 2 outer tubes in my twin. It gives it an odd sickly sound. But it's free and worth a try though.

Have you ever considered a tube preamp like a garnet herzog? A good friend of mine makes these things called Square Fours which I swear by as well:
http://electrodrone.com/amps.shtml

when they say remoning the outer tubes, do they refer at the ones that are more apart?
like this?
{} <- tube

this one-> {} {} {} {} <- and this one

is this right?

you are correct sir.

And you could also remove the two ones in the middle if you prefer.

and you need to do some extra adjustments or it just work this way?

i was told by tube amp builder-type that pulling those tubes shouldn't cause any problems or require any additional tweaking. i ran my twin like this for a couple months with no adverse events. (but again, i wasn't happy with the sound).

Is that the the way a basic half power switch works? just shuts down 2 tubes?

You can also try the Ice Cube mod, which uses the reverb circuit driver as an overdrive. A crude version of it is to just jump the reverb send and return jacks with an RCA cable, and then you can use the reverb knob to adjust the gain of the overdrive and switch it in with the reverb footswitch.

steve wrote:You can also try the Ice Cube mod, which uses the reverb circuit driver as an overdrive. A crude version of it is to just jump the reverb send and return jacks with an RCA cable, and then you can use the reverb knob to adjust the gain of the overdrive and switch it in with the reverb footswitch.

Are you taking the piss or serious. That sounds like nonsense or total genius.
I have owned the same 70's Quad Reverb for 15 years and never heard of either of these "mods"

Are we sure shit ain't gonna get smokey if I do this tonight?

P.S. "Ice Cube" Mod?