After reading some of the absolutely glowing reviews that it received, I drank the cool-aid, caved into peer pressure, and slapped down the plastic.
I purchased a 15 Watt tube amp from Monoprice.
I purchased a 15 Watt tube amp from Monoprice.
......and...
well....... I don't feel "ripped off" in any way.. ...it was a little more than $220.00 delivered to my door ...so it's not like I have a serious investment into it.....(pretty sure I've had bar tabs that were half that....maybe more......) but it was kind of a let down.
This amp is REALLY different from what I'm used to....some mean crunch, a little on the thin side, but really lacking on a good crisp / clean sound. Seems VERY "boxy" to my ear. Turns out (AFTER I do some research) that it is a Laney clone. Not anywhere near what I'm used to. I've played through nothing but a Fender Twin for many years..... love me some good ol' tele twang....so a good crisp clean / Fenderish sound is pretty much a necessity. This amp....out of the box, doesn't really do that......or at least...doesn't do it very well.
I know.....my own fault....I should have read up a little more on it beforehand, and known exactly what I was getting.
The reason I purchased the Monoprice amp was to see if it could (in any possible way) replace my old 70's Fender Twin.
well....... I don't feel "ripped off" in any way.. ...it was a little more than $220.00 delivered to my door ...so it's not like I have a serious investment into it.....(pretty sure I've had bar tabs that were half that....maybe more......) but it was kind of a let down.
This amp is REALLY different from what I'm used to....some mean crunch, a little on the thin side, but really lacking on a good crisp / clean sound. Seems VERY "boxy" to my ear. Turns out (AFTER I do some research) that it is a Laney clone. Not anywhere near what I'm used to. I've played through nothing but a Fender Twin for many years..... love me some good ol' tele twang....so a good crisp clean / Fenderish sound is pretty much a necessity. This amp....out of the box, doesn't really do that......or at least...doesn't do it very well.
I know.....my own fault....I should have read up a little more on it beforehand, and known exactly what I was getting.
The reason I purchased the Monoprice amp was to see if it could (in any possible way) replace my old 70's Fender Twin.
I just don't need the Twin any more...I haven't played anywhere where need that kind of juice in a lot of years....and the poor amp never gets up past about 3-3.5 .....it's kind of like keeping a Harley in your basement, starting it once a week, letting it run for 10 minutes, and then turning it off. I feel kind of guilty that I have this awesome amp, and don't do crap with it. It also seems to weigh about a pound per watt....and it's getting heavier every year.... kind of ridiculous to have this amp for the volumes I play at. I love it, but, it may be time for it to find a new home.
But...... before I even think of getting rid of it....I want a usable replacement.
I decided to try the Monoprice because...well..... I'm cheap.....and I didn't want to drop a grand on a small Fender tube amp, which is what the "good ones" seem to go for.
I decided it was worth the risk of at least trying the Monoprice.
I kind of wanted to stick with a tube amp, it's what I'm used to. Plus....if I could get this amp cheap enough, and maybe sell my twin to offset the cost....I might have enough left over to get a Fender GT 40 or 100.... I don't know why...but I have a little jones for one of those. Everyone says the Katana is better....but I'm "one of those guys"...I'll probably find 3 "Fender Clean" preset settings....use those, and never mess with anything else....and I'm guessing Fender does "Fender Clean" better than the Katana.
But back to the Monoprice 15....
After I got the Monoprice amp unboxed and powered on, I ran it hard for a few hours, to get things burned in and loosened up. The sound seemed to settle in a little bit.. and some tweaking with the tone knobs gave me a semi-usable sound.
Straight out of the box, I was less than impressed. The sound was very tight and compressed.
What I *was* impressed with was the volume....this little thing has some punch. When you start cranking this thing up, it can be surprising .... like .......
" Oops! I hope the neighbors weren't sleeping, ....better roll that back a bit.... ".
I like the chicken head knobs....but the mirrored backplate is stupid AF...I can't see crap in it. Having the input jack on the right seems bass-ackwards. Input should be on the left, power lamp on the right, and the on / off switch moved to the back. Pretty much just flip the front plate around.....you know....make it like a Fender Twin..... :-)
But...... before I even think of getting rid of it....I want a usable replacement.
I decided to try the Monoprice because...well..... I'm cheap.....and I didn't want to drop a grand on a small Fender tube amp, which is what the "good ones" seem to go for.
I decided it was worth the risk of at least trying the Monoprice.
I kind of wanted to stick with a tube amp, it's what I'm used to. Plus....if I could get this amp cheap enough, and maybe sell my twin to offset the cost....I might have enough left over to get a Fender GT 40 or 100.... I don't know why...but I have a little jones for one of those. Everyone says the Katana is better....but I'm "one of those guys"...I'll probably find 3 "Fender Clean" preset settings....use those, and never mess with anything else....and I'm guessing Fender does "Fender Clean" better than the Katana.
But back to the Monoprice 15....
After I got the Monoprice amp unboxed and powered on, I ran it hard for a few hours, to get things burned in and loosened up. The sound seemed to settle in a little bit.. and some tweaking with the tone knobs gave me a semi-usable sound.
Straight out of the box, I was less than impressed. The sound was very tight and compressed.
What I *was* impressed with was the volume....this little thing has some punch. When you start cranking this thing up, it can be surprising .... like .......
" Oops! I hope the neighbors weren't sleeping, ....better roll that back a bit.... ".
I like the chicken head knobs....but the mirrored backplate is stupid AF...I can't see crap in it. Having the input jack on the right seems bass-ackwards. Input should be on the left, power lamp on the right, and the on / off switch moved to the back. Pretty much just flip the front plate around.....you know....make it like a Fender Twin..... :-)
I started with all of the eq knobs at noon...gain and volume adjusted to taste....and the sound was "OK"...not great ...but "OK". Pretty obvious that it's a lot about the overdrive / gain on this little bad boy.
I maxed out the mid and treble, and turned the bass down to about 10:00-11:00 ..... a little better. A bit more of what I was aiming towards, but still a long way off. My tele was starting to sound like a tele, and a strat was sounding like a strat...so I was definitely making progress. Like any tube amp....after it's been on for a while, it starts to sound a little warmer and better....I'm diggin' that. But....I'm also getting some weird harmonic stuff...seems to be only on the G .... get some weird ringing with a few different guitars.
After some additional tweaking....I wound up with the bass up higher, the mid turned down a bit, and the treb turned up fairly high. This gave me a semi-sorta-fenderish- tone / feel. I set it next to my twin and tried to dial it in, switching back and forth between the amps. It's still a ways off, sounds a little boxy still, but it's getting there.
So after I played on it for a few days....it kind of grew on me...not as bad as I initially thought. But...... I started to do some research on replacing parts etc...to get a cleaner tone, and maybe get rid of some of the boxy feel.
Almost all the information I found was based on this thread...
I maxed out the mid and treble, and turned the bass down to about 10:00-11:00 ..... a little better. A bit more of what I was aiming towards, but still a long way off. My tele was starting to sound like a tele, and a strat was sounding like a strat...so I was definitely making progress. Like any tube amp....after it's been on for a while, it starts to sound a little warmer and better....I'm diggin' that. But....I'm also getting some weird harmonic stuff...seems to be only on the G .... get some weird ringing with a few different guitars.
After some additional tweaking....I wound up with the bass up higher, the mid turned down a bit, and the treb turned up fairly high. This gave me a semi-sorta-fenderish- tone / feel. I set it next to my twin and tried to dial it in, switching back and forth between the amps. It's still a ways off, sounds a little boxy still, but it's getting there.
So after I played on it for a few days....it kind of grew on me...not as bad as I initially thought. But...... I started to do some research on replacing parts etc...to get a cleaner tone, and maybe get rid of some of the boxy feel.
Almost all the information I found was based on this thread...
http://www.tdpri.com/threads/monoprice-15-watt-tube-amp.609524/
First thing I had to do was address the reverb.....it freekin' sucks.
Unusable.
If I can't fix that....everything else is a waste (I like my surf....and love my 'verb...).
Anyone who thinks the stock reverb tank is "OK" either:
A) Never uses any reverb.
B) Has a reverb pedal that they prefer to use.
C) Is deaf as a doorknob.
D) Has no idea what reverb is supposed to sound like.
Seriously...going from a "Twin" to this was ...well.....I guess, eye opening on how good real Fender reverb is, and how spoiled I am after using it ........the Monoprice one really stunk.
So that's going to be job # 1...fix the reverb.
Choices on the reverb basically seem to come down to :
1. Pedal
2. Replace the on-board tank
Based on a post from TimmyV ... "I just got a mod tank in the mail for another project. It’s an 8bb2c1b. Hooked that one up and I can surf with it"... the choice seems obvious.....who doesn't like to surf !?!?!?!?
less than $20.00 for the tank??...totally worth the risk.....good / high end reverb pedals are crazy expensive.... if I can get anywhere near where I want to be for $20.00....... it's a win.... even if I have to try a couple different reverb tanks...it's still a win.
Got 1 on order...should be here in a few days....shipping was over half the cost of the part....over $10.00...so it came to almost $30.00.....but again.....even at double that price...it's a win if it works at all.....
First thing I had to do was address the reverb.....it freekin' sucks.
Unusable.
If I can't fix that....everything else is a waste (I like my surf....and love my 'verb...).
Anyone who thinks the stock reverb tank is "OK" either:
A) Never uses any reverb.
B) Has a reverb pedal that they prefer to use.
C) Is deaf as a doorknob.
D) Has no idea what reverb is supposed to sound like.
Seriously...going from a "Twin" to this was ...well.....I guess, eye opening on how good real Fender reverb is, and how spoiled I am after using it ........the Monoprice one really stunk.
So that's going to be job # 1...fix the reverb.
Choices on the reverb basically seem to come down to :
1. Pedal
2. Replace the on-board tank
Based on a post from TimmyV ... "I just got a mod tank in the mail for another project. It’s an 8bb2c1b. Hooked that one up and I can surf with it"... the choice seems obvious.....who doesn't like to surf !?!?!?!?
less than $20.00 for the tank??...totally worth the risk.....good / high end reverb pedals are crazy expensive.... if I can get anywhere near where I want to be for $20.00....... it's a win.... even if I have to try a couple different reverb tanks...it's still a win.
Got 1 on order...should be here in a few days....shipping was over half the cost of the part....over $10.00...so it came to almost $30.00.....but again.....even at double that price...it's a win if it works at all.....
Hopefully that takes care of the reverb.
(it was pointed out that the impedance may not match correctly with the reverb tank that shipped with the amp....and that this could lower/shorten the life of the amp....or components...bla bla bla.....the amp was $200.00...I don't expect it to last forever ....... Not even concerned about this..)
Next on the list is to try and make this little amp sound a little more "Fenderish". Clean it up a bit (ok...maybe clean it up a lot...), get some chimey stuff going on, without breaking the bank.
Seems like I'm going to be working up-hill here....I know how to make a clean amp sound dirty.....but making a dirty amp sound clean might be a whole different beast. Something I've never had to try before.
...and yes.....I know that there is no way that a little 15 watt amp is going to "sound like a twin" .... physics tells me that it's just not going to move enough air, and in this particular case.....size does matter.
So I decided the first thing to look at was something that I have read about , but never played with before .... the effects loop.
Turns out this little amp has an effects loop that runs between the pre-amp and power amp. According to people way more knowledgeable than me, this is a great spot to add different pedals and/or effects. Specifically, EQ's and time based effects are supposed to work great in the effects loop. So I started looking at cheap EQ's....slap one in the effects loop and I might be able to dial things in even more.
So....a few Google searches regarding effects loops, EQ's, and making an Amp sound "Fenderish"....lead me to the Joyo American Sound
(it was pointed out that the impedance may not match correctly with the reverb tank that shipped with the amp....and that this could lower/shorten the life of the amp....or components...bla bla bla.....the amp was $200.00...I don't expect it to last forever ....... Not even concerned about this..)
Next on the list is to try and make this little amp sound a little more "Fenderish". Clean it up a bit (ok...maybe clean it up a lot...), get some chimey stuff going on, without breaking the bank.
Seems like I'm going to be working up-hill here....I know how to make a clean amp sound dirty.....but making a dirty amp sound clean might be a whole different beast. Something I've never had to try before.
...and yes.....I know that there is no way that a little 15 watt amp is going to "sound like a twin" .... physics tells me that it's just not going to move enough air, and in this particular case.....size does matter.
So I decided the first thing to look at was something that I have read about , but never played with before .... the effects loop.
Turns out this little amp has an effects loop that runs between the pre-amp and power amp. According to people way more knowledgeable than me, this is a great spot to add different pedals and/or effects. Specifically, EQ's and time based effects are supposed to work great in the effects loop. So I started looking at cheap EQ's....slap one in the effects loop and I might be able to dial things in even more.
So....a few Google searches regarding effects loops, EQ's, and making an Amp sound "Fenderish"....lead me to the Joyo American Sound
What craziness is this ???? It looks like more of an Amp sim, and people seem to use it as a direct recording pedal, or directly into a mixer ?.... on the other hand , it kind of looks like the exact thing I'm looking for....a quick search and I find someone in the thread referenced above that has already tried it....no one came out and said "it made the Monoprice sound like a Twin, and here's how to do it.." ...but...that seems to be the general gist of the device....and there are other threads in other forums where people are pretty much saying that this device is magic.....so a quick Amazon search...and ..........they're only $35.00.
Ordered one.......
This may be the cheapest pedal I've ever purchased.
So...reverb tank and Joyo are on order ......
~~~~~~~~~~~~time passes~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reverb tank came yesterday.... took 5 min. to swap it out.... 4 screws 2 plugs. Screw holes lined up perfectly.
....and......
TimmyV is going on my Christmas Card list....
The 8bb2c1b is pretty damn good.
I'm reverbn'......Surf? ..... you bet .... hold my beer ... I got this....
Admitted... It's no Fender twin...but it's not bad at all. I can live with this.
That one upgrade alone, has removed any buyers regret that I had.
TimmyV......you da-man. Thank you Sir.
Ordered one.......
This may be the cheapest pedal I've ever purchased.
So...reverb tank and Joyo are on order ......
~~~~~~~~~~~~time passes~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reverb tank came yesterday.... took 5 min. to swap it out.... 4 screws 2 plugs. Screw holes lined up perfectly.
....and......
TimmyV is going on my Christmas Card list....
The 8bb2c1b is pretty damn good.
I'm reverbn'......Surf? ..... you bet .... hold my beer ... I got this....
Admitted... It's no Fender twin...but it's not bad at all. I can live with this.
That one upgrade alone, has removed any buyers regret that I had.
TimmyV......you da-man. Thank you Sir.
Joyo is supposed to be here today..... I should have some time over the weekend to play with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~more time passes~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.......and ...
Got the Joyo.....wow.........this thing is cool. After some farting around with it.... I decided I'd give the "basic clean" settings a shot....
I set the Joyo up kind of as per the "Tech 21 Blonde" documentation...which the Joyo is pretty much a copy of...
Joyo is supposed to be here today..... I should have some time over the weekend to play with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~more time passes~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.......and ...
Got the Joyo.....wow.........this thing is cool. After some farting around with it.... I decided I'd give the "basic clean" settings a shot....
I set the Joyo up kind of as per the "Tech 21 Blonde" documentation...which the Joyo is pretty much a copy of...
After some side by side comparisons.....this is close to my final settings on the Joyo......(voice = character). Close but needs a lot more bass....needs more low end to give it some fenderish tone / lows.
Here are the amp settings.....
Running the Joyo with the "level" cranked in the effects loop, you have to be pretty careful with the gain on the amp!!!
A very small increase in the gain can make a BIG difference !!!!
I thought it was loud before ..... now it's LOUD ! (and loud is good)
Very close to a twin sound...(by my ear anyway...) but still lacking the bottom end.... mids and highs are surprisingly close.....my tele's are sounding pretty good....but it definitely is missing lows.....even with the tone dialed down and the bass dialed up, it's still missing the low end.
On the other hand....I tend to run my twin on all "5's"....a lot of other players tend to roll the bass back down to half of that (the more "6's" settings...) , so my low end / bass issue may be one of my own making.
Hummmmmm.......
Where to go next......
Try an EQ in the effects loop ?? (after the Joyo ??)
Bite the bullet and start thinking about a speaker replacement?? Everything I have read says the the
Jensen C12R 25W 12" Speaker (8 Ohm) is maybe what I'm looking for (?)
Tubes ??
https://www.thetubestore.com/shop-by-amp/guitar-amp-tube-packages/monoprice-guitar-amps/monoprice-15w-112-guitar-combo
Of course...the issue with EQ is ...it only modifies what's there...it doesn't "add" anything it only clips / removes....so if there isn't enough low end...an EQ isn't go to make more.....adding an EQ probably isn't going to make it rumble and shake my lower GI tract when I dig into the low end.
Plus..... I already have a 3 band EQ on the AMP.....and a 3 band EQ on the Joyo pedal. You'd think I should be able to dial in pretty tight with the combination.
Oh yea....plus I still get the annoying ringing on the G string sometimes.
From what I have picked up in the forum, this is possibly one of the power tubes? I may try giving Monoprice a call and see if they will ship me out one....
~~~~~~~~~~~~even more time passes~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally had some free time over this last weekend to mess with the amp a little. First thing I did was simply remove / reseat all the tubes. One of the power tubes was in at a pretty wack angle....everything else *seemed* to be seated pretty well. Still getting some weird resonante ringing on the "G" string (specifically). Seems to be not nearly as bad as it was...but it's still there..... so it *seems* that reseating the tubes made a difference...but didn't clear it up all the way. This kind of reinforced the thought that the ringing is a tube issue. Next step I guess is to swap the power tubes.... see if simply changing the socket changes anything....(with any luck...my ringing will move to a different tone / string / location..if it does...then I definitely know it's a power tube issue and can deal with it from there.)
Otherwise...the amp seems to be breaking in nicely....having the Joyo in the effects loop is a blast..... messing with the voice and drive settings can take you in a lot of different directions. Haven't had a chance yet...but I want to get the Amp and Joyo setup in a basic "clean" setup, and then try running a Tube Screamer directly into the amp (not the the effects loop) .... and see if I can get it dialed in.
Still pondering the speaker / tube replacement(s)......
I finally got around to call Monoprice, and they said I have 2 choices with the amp ringing...
1) Try replacing tubes.
2) RMA for a new amp.
Currently the amp in not in stock.....so the RMA could be a while.......I opted to get the replacement tubes....we'll see what happens...
I got the following from their email support....(I tried both email and phone at the same time....)
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tech <[email protected]>to me
Thank you for contacting Monoprice! In regards to your inquiry have you tried messing with the intonation and warped neck on the guitar(s) since it is only happening on specific tones? If not, try leveling the intonations on the guitars as each guitar will output different distorted sounds.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Wow.....really..... "intonation and warped necks"......yea??? All of them ??......I think I'll skip the email support from now on.
Running the Joyo with the "level" cranked in the effects loop, you have to be pretty careful with the gain on the amp!!!
A very small increase in the gain can make a BIG difference !!!!
I thought it was loud before ..... now it's LOUD ! (and loud is good)
Very close to a twin sound...(by my ear anyway...) but still lacking the bottom end.... mids and highs are surprisingly close.....my tele's are sounding pretty good....but it definitely is missing lows.....even with the tone dialed down and the bass dialed up, it's still missing the low end.
On the other hand....I tend to run my twin on all "5's"....a lot of other players tend to roll the bass back down to half of that (the more "6's" settings...) , so my low end / bass issue may be one of my own making.
Hummmmmm.......
Where to go next......
Try an EQ in the effects loop ?? (after the Joyo ??)
Bite the bullet and start thinking about a speaker replacement?? Everything I have read says the the
Jensen C12R 25W 12" Speaker (8 Ohm) is maybe what I'm looking for (?)
Tubes ??
https://www.thetubestore.com/shop-by-amp/guitar-amp-tube-packages/monoprice-guitar-amps/monoprice-15w-112-guitar-combo
Of course...the issue with EQ is ...it only modifies what's there...it doesn't "add" anything it only clips / removes....so if there isn't enough low end...an EQ isn't go to make more.....adding an EQ probably isn't going to make it rumble and shake my lower GI tract when I dig into the low end.
Plus..... I already have a 3 band EQ on the AMP.....and a 3 band EQ on the Joyo pedal. You'd think I should be able to dial in pretty tight with the combination.
Oh yea....plus I still get the annoying ringing on the G string sometimes.
From what I have picked up in the forum, this is possibly one of the power tubes? I may try giving Monoprice a call and see if they will ship me out one....
~~~~~~~~~~~~even more time passes~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally had some free time over this last weekend to mess with the amp a little. First thing I did was simply remove / reseat all the tubes. One of the power tubes was in at a pretty wack angle....everything else *seemed* to be seated pretty well. Still getting some weird resonante ringing on the "G" string (specifically). Seems to be not nearly as bad as it was...but it's still there..... so it *seems* that reseating the tubes made a difference...but didn't clear it up all the way. This kind of reinforced the thought that the ringing is a tube issue. Next step I guess is to swap the power tubes.... see if simply changing the socket changes anything....(with any luck...my ringing will move to a different tone / string / location..if it does...then I definitely know it's a power tube issue and can deal with it from there.)
Otherwise...the amp seems to be breaking in nicely....having the Joyo in the effects loop is a blast..... messing with the voice and drive settings can take you in a lot of different directions. Haven't had a chance yet...but I want to get the Amp and Joyo setup in a basic "clean" setup, and then try running a Tube Screamer directly into the amp (not the the effects loop) .... and see if I can get it dialed in.
Still pondering the speaker / tube replacement(s)......
I finally got around to call Monoprice, and they said I have 2 choices with the amp ringing...
1) Try replacing tubes.
2) RMA for a new amp.
Currently the amp in not in stock.....so the RMA could be a while.......I opted to get the replacement tubes....we'll see what happens...
I got the following from their email support....(I tried both email and phone at the same time....)
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tech <[email protected]>to me
Thank you for contacting Monoprice! In regards to your inquiry have you tried messing with the intonation and warped neck on the guitar(s) since it is only happening on specific tones? If not, try leveling the intonations on the guitars as each guitar will output different distorted sounds.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Wow.....really..... "intonation and warped necks"......yea??? All of them ??......I think I'll skip the email support from now on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~more time passes (again)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(no tube(s) from Monoprice yet...6 days...but...with full disclosure....there was a long holiday weekend in there...so I'm not going to talk trash quite yet....)
Over the long weekend, I managed to get the power tubes swapped (ie: just switched them), and while I was in there...I rotated all the preamp tubes 1 socket...( 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and 3 to 1). I also noticed that the black wire going to the speaker was on very loosely...it took almost no effort to pull the slide off the speakers connector. I gave it a squeeze with a small pair of needle nose pliers, and it fits on to the speaker connector MUCH more snugly now.
Unfortunately.....never got a chance to plug everything in and test it....(family kept me pretty busy this weekend...). With any luck I'll get an hour or so tonight to test it out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~the next day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Woohoo !!! Tube swap seemed to have done the trick with the "Ringing" G ... got a chance to plug in and turn up last night...just guitar straight into the amp, no pedals etc.... and it seems to have vanished. Played for an hour / hour-and-a-half and never noticed any ringing. This make me happy.....
This is great but.....it raises the question.......I "fixed" one problem by just moving a tube....obviously that tube is not 100%, and I'm wondering if I have introduced some other issue(s) that are not readily apparent..... glad I have a tube coming from Monoprice.
So....progress so far.
Reverb --- check -- new tank does just fine.
Ringing --- check -- tube issue, and a replacement is on the way.
More Fenderish --- almost -- Joyo is pretty awesome...gets the mids / highs very close, but still missing some low end.
After some mulling around for a couple days and trying to research on my own.....I decided to just ask in the forum thread (referenced above) to see if there was any sage advice, or if someone had already tried (and succeeded) in getting a more "fenderish" tone...
here is the exchange:
*********************************START***************************************************
Hi all,
I'm trying to get this amp (the Monoprice 15 Watt) to sound a bit more "Fenderish".
My quest is documented here... https://geekorama.weebly.com/monoprice-15-watt-amp.html
(It's a little long for a forum post...)
So ...I think I may be at the stage where I'm looking at a speaker and/or tube replacement.
Anyone already gone down this path and have a recommendation??
Like I said on the "quest" page...I'm almost there.....just needing more bottom end..
*****************************************
I believe I've read that the circuit is based closely to a Marshall 2204. The gain structure, preamp tube biasing, placement and design of the tone stack and other factors are very different than a Fender. Can you make a jcm800 Marshall sound like a fender with a tube or speaker swap? No, not really. Maybe a Jbl d120 would help.
*****************************************
Thanks Mr. Wolf.
yea...my Twin has the Orange frame JBL's....not sure if they are "d"'s ... or "f"'s....(or even if they are 8 Ohm)....I'm assuming that they are 120's...(it's the 100Watt version of the twin.).
I was thinking about disconnecting one and rigging up a jumper from the Monoprice to the speaker in the twin (a few alligator clips, a few feet of wire, and 5 min. worth of soldering...) just to give it a listen.
Like I said.. the Joyo pedal does a pretty fine job of getting a "twin-ish" sound...just trying to get a little more body and fullness....
Any experience with the Jensen C12R ??
****************************************
Mine sounds quite a bit like the Blues junior i've been using with the midrange DOWN and the bass and treble turned up. There's no way you will get as much bass as a twin from 1-12 in a a small open back cabinet.
***************************************
Isn't the 5w version a Champ scheme?
There's your Fender.. ;)
***************************************
I think the orange ones were D's. 60 watt speaker, probably 8 ohms. I have not tried Jensen in a Marshall or similar amps. I think an old Jensen might be interesting. The newer ones lean towards a more nasal tone. The monoprice seems to have a lot of midrange which is why I like the scooped 70/80 in it. But I like the marshall/celestion thing. I'd try the d120 if I were you.
***************************************
Holy bat guano !! .... those JBL's are a bit on the pricey side !
Any more "reasonably priced" speaker that might get me into that area ??
https://www.guitarplayer.com/miscellaneous/fifteen-12-speakers
Maybe the Tubby Nashville or the Jet Falcon C12 / 50 ??
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Consider the emi GB128.
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Ahhhhh...now that's more in my price range....and with Christmas coming up soon, a speaker (or two) might make a good present for my wife to buy....she always complains that she never knows what to get me. Thanks again ! :)
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So......did I really wait for Christmas ????
Hell no....
GB 128 Speaker is on the way..... if the GB 128 doesn't do the deed, I'll probably lean towards the Jet Falcon C12 / 50...the phrase " if you’re a single-coil player looking to fatten up your tone." seems to be kind of what I'm looking for.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~waiting on speaker~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other news ... I busted out an old Guitar ( that I don't seem to play much anymore.....) and holy cow....what a nice sound through this amp !! The Guitar is a '60 (something) Guild Starfire III (Emerald Green)
.....nowhere as clean as the collector photo here....mine has a few more miles on it....broken headstock...(repaired) ...and is past due for a refret. Definitely a "player".....not a "collector"
The Dynasonic's break up nicely with this amp. Set fairly clean , with just a little gain....middle switch position, then strum away....and it sounds very nice....flip to just the bridge pickup, dig in, and it jumps right out at 'cha....good stuff.
Keep it in the bridge position, and turn up the gain on the amp a little more, and you start getting into some raunchy, early George Thorogood sound.... sweet stuff !!
Some amps and guitars were just made for each other. These two sound great together.
Keep it in the bridge position, and turn up the gain on the amp a little more, and you start getting into some raunchy, early George Thorogood sound.... sweet stuff !!
Some amps and guitars were just made for each other. These two sound great together.
Finally...the GB 128 was delivered....I wound up letting it sit for a couple of days to get warmed up / acclimated to it's new home. It was pretty cold the day it was delivered...and I don't know how long it sat on the porch.... so I figured better safe than sorry.
Then, real life sometimes get it the way of the things we really want to do...so I wound up having to let it sit for a few more days before I got the time to swap it in and replace the Celestion.
The actual swap was pretty straight forward, and uneventful.
Took off the Monoprice back grill/plate.
Removed the tubes.
Took out the Celestion.
Put in the GB 128.
Put tubes back in.
Put cover / grill back on.
Screws for mounting the GB 128 were in the correct location...but it took just a *little* push to get everything on...no biggie.
15 - 20 min. job... would have been faster but my nut drivers are not deep enough to allow the screws for the speaker to go up much into the nut driver well....so I wound up having to use a small adjustable wrench on quite a bit of them....slooooow.
So far I've only had a chance to play the GB for maybe an hour.....at fairly low volumes...need to get a lot more time on it, and get it broken in.
So far it sounds good....I ran a (90's something) strat straight in to the amp last night and the amp sounded pretty good.. you could definitely hear more of the "stratiness" than with the Celestion (or at least by my ear I could).
The GB also seems to have a greater freq. response... or at least seems to carry some notes/tones/freqs for a lot longer than the Celestion. I noticed that if I hit a chord and let it ring, even after the chord is *pretty much* gone...you can still pick up a little decay / growl from the amp.....even with the gain turned way down.....I kind of like it, makes the amp sound like it's got an attitude... :-) .
Haven't had the chance to put the Joyo in the loop with the new speaker yet. Maybe sometime this week.
Then, real life sometimes get it the way of the things we really want to do...so I wound up having to let it sit for a few more days before I got the time to swap it in and replace the Celestion.
The actual swap was pretty straight forward, and uneventful.
Took off the Monoprice back grill/plate.
Removed the tubes.
Took out the Celestion.
Put in the GB 128.
Put tubes back in.
Put cover / grill back on.
Screws for mounting the GB 128 were in the correct location...but it took just a *little* push to get everything on...no biggie.
15 - 20 min. job... would have been faster but my nut drivers are not deep enough to allow the screws for the speaker to go up much into the nut driver well....so I wound up having to use a small adjustable wrench on quite a bit of them....slooooow.
So far I've only had a chance to play the GB for maybe an hour.....at fairly low volumes...need to get a lot more time on it, and get it broken in.
So far it sounds good....I ran a (90's something) strat straight in to the amp last night and the amp sounded pretty good.. you could definitely hear more of the "stratiness" than with the Celestion (or at least by my ear I could).
The GB also seems to have a greater freq. response... or at least seems to carry some notes/tones/freqs for a lot longer than the Celestion. I noticed that if I hit a chord and let it ring, even after the chord is *pretty much* gone...you can still pick up a little decay / growl from the amp.....even with the gain turned way down.....I kind of like it, makes the amp sound like it's got an attitude... :-) .
Haven't had the chance to put the Joyo in the loop with the new speaker yet. Maybe sometime this week.
Another e-mail from Monoprice ---
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Hello xxxxxx and good morning!
I received a notice back from the warehouse that the tubes are currently out of stock separately and I was informed to offer to replace the unit. If you would like to proceed just let me know. The only stipulation is the unit I also show to be out of stock until the 18th of this month, So the process we can have started on that day to make sure it’s not a long lead time to replace.
xxxxxxxxx | Technical Support Associate
Main: 877.271.2592
Email: [email protected]
1 Pointe Drive, Suite 400, Brea, CA 92821
www.monoprice.com
*********************************************************************
....everything is working, and I'm still breaking in the new Speaker... (plus I still have the twin for gigs/jams etc...) ..so no real hurry, I told them I'd wait for the tubes.
....a day or two later.....
No news....still trying to get some hours on the GB 128...only able to get an hour or so a night at fairly low volumes....need some time to crank it.
....a week or two later.....
No news....still trying to get some hours on the GB 128...only able to get an hour or so a night at fairly low volumes....need some time to crank it.
Holidays, Wife, Family, kids.....all of these things keep getting in my way and taking up my time.....
********************************************************************
Hello xxxxxx and good morning!
I received a notice back from the warehouse that the tubes are currently out of stock separately and I was informed to offer to replace the unit. If you would like to proceed just let me know. The only stipulation is the unit I also show to be out of stock until the 18th of this month, So the process we can have started on that day to make sure it’s not a long lead time to replace.
xxxxxxxxx | Technical Support Associate
Main: 877.271.2592
Email: [email protected]
1 Pointe Drive, Suite 400, Brea, CA 92821
www.monoprice.com
*********************************************************************
....everything is working, and I'm still breaking in the new Speaker... (plus I still have the twin for gigs/jams etc...) ..so no real hurry, I told them I'd wait for the tubes.
....a day or two later.....
No news....still trying to get some hours on the GB 128...only able to get an hour or so a night at fairly low volumes....need some time to crank it.
....a week or two later.....
No news....still trying to get some hours on the GB 128...only able to get an hour or so a night at fairly low volumes....need some time to crank it.
Holidays, Wife, Family, kids.....all of these things keep getting in my way and taking up my time.....
Stock photo....again...mine has a few more miles on it....and my selector switch only has 2 positions that work...but it's OK...I can get all the sounds / tones by just turning down the pickup I don't want.
Still having some fun with this amp....pulling out some old gear that I haven't messed with in quite a while, just to see how it sounds.
I was pretty surprised with how good my Daddy-O Dano sounded. I really didn't think that the lipstick pickups would sound very good in this amp (to my ears they really don't sound to good in my twin...which may be one of the reasons I rarely play this). With the reverb tank cranked, all EQ's at 9 and the "Tone" on the amp almost maxed out, and just a little "Drive" action....I actually got some semi - passable surf noise out of it .... pretty fun!!
I was pretty surprised with how good my Daddy-O Dano sounded. I really didn't think that the lipstick pickups would sound very good in this amp (to my ears they really don't sound to good in my twin...which may be one of the reasons I rarely play this). With the reverb tank cranked, all EQ's at 9 and the "Tone" on the amp almost maxed out, and just a little "Drive" action....I actually got some semi - passable surf noise out of it .... pretty fun!!
End of the Story.....
So it's been 4 months now......I received 2 preamp tubes from Monoprice....no power amp tubes....
But it's all good.....
I found my happy place.....
I tried a couple different things (including a Fender Champion 40 ), until I stumbled across a setup that just kind of stopped me in my tracks.... as soon as I herd it.... I was done.
It involves a little Fender 20 watt SS amp, jacked into the MP15 (via FX loop). The two amps combined sound sweet. The two speakers (a 10" in the Fender and a 12" in the MP15) move some air.....plenty loud.
As soon as I get some photos of the mini-tower-of-power, I'll dedicate a new page to it....
So it's been 4 months now......I received 2 preamp tubes from Monoprice....no power amp tubes....
But it's all good.....
I found my happy place.....
I tried a couple different things (including a Fender Champion 40 ), until I stumbled across a setup that just kind of stopped me in my tracks.... as soon as I herd it.... I was done.
It involves a little Fender 20 watt SS amp, jacked into the MP15 (via FX loop). The two amps combined sound sweet. The two speakers (a 10" in the Fender and a 12" in the MP15) move some air.....plenty loud.
As soon as I get some photos of the mini-tower-of-power, I'll dedicate a new page to it....