Hi all, I've just bought a Session 400. It sounds loud and clear, but there's this fizzy distortion happening at the same time in the background.... any ideas as to what's going on? it sounds like you're running a clean amp, and a high gain amp (quietly) at the same time.....  :loco

I've got a Pro 185 (2x12 red knob SS), and I really like it. It is voiced a tad too trebly on the cleans for my liking, but if you keep the treble under about '4' on the knob, it sounds really nice. Great round jazz tone (think Johnny Smith). Above '4' on treble then it gets a little harsh. There is TONS of bass available too...... can really thump. These amps have what Fender call a 'tube emulating' power amp.... which basically means when you turn up the amp really loud it is not going to clip as harshly (i think it employs a limiter of some sort). Drive channel is a bit fizzy , but with enough tweaking, totally useable. Still 1000 x better than the distortion on my JC 120 I had before...

The red knob SS amps are really nice, especially now that they can be picked up for super cheap...!

Hi all.... I have a Fender Pro 185 amp, and it has two controls (presence and contour)  which only work on the O/D channel (how the amp was built)... I wish to modify it so that they work on the clean channel too... I know people have done things like this with tube amps , but is it possible on a SS amp ? I've been trying to hunt down a schematic for the amp... no such luck... I'll contact Fender and if they send me one I'll post it here.

Regards,
Aaron

I would go for the Peavey. I have a mid eighties Bandit 65 Solo Series that is one awesome amp. It's fairly light, it's compact, and it's loud. It gives my Roland JC-120 a run for its money in terms of sheer volume. In terms of tone- I like it more than the JC. This might I add is *without the transtube technology- so I'd expect the Peavey you're considering to be even better.

I'd keep an eye out for some of the SS Fender amps too. They can be had for cheap (mainly the Stage 185 model). I just bought a Pro 185 (2x12 version of the Stage) and it blows the JC120 away.

As others have mentioned- tube/ss has nothing to do with how amps take pedals.

Normally I have found that it's the speakers that determine this- for example my JC-120 does not take O/D pedals well because it has speakers with aluminium dustcaps. It makes most pedals sound fizzy. In saying that- I have found a o/d pedal to work with it (a boss od3).

I would suggest trying different pedals (and different amps) and see what works for you. Converting your Frontman to a tube amp is not worth the effort. You might as well build a little 5watt tube amp from a kit, and use the Frontman's box.

Thanks for the replies people ! I'm going to take it to the amp tech in my area and let him go over it.

I tried it with the reverb on zero, it sounded ok, but I could hear the amp distorting slightly for some reason (I wasn't playing loud). I turned off the reverb on the footswitch, and that sounded the same. I disconnected the reverb tank, and it sounds fine now. Was it the reverb tank causing the problems?

Hello all, my Peavey Bandit is making some strange noises. It makes a slight crackle noise (similar to when a pot is scratchy) when I attack notes harder, but it fades away as the notes decay. It only does this sometimes though. The other day I was playing through it, and then it just started squealing really loudly. What do you reckon might be causing the problems ?

Cheers, Aaron

I tracked down a schematic, it's from 1984, so it may not be exactly right, but it should give a general idea (I hope !) 


Cheers Aaron

Cheers guys for your replies ! It's the current JC-120, I bought it around a year ago. I've been running a graphic EQ, and just boosting that by 12db to achieve some moderate breakup, so I think it's the preamp that's doing the overdriving. I don't know a huge amount about modding amps, other than what I've learned just from tinkering around with bits and pieces, so I don't know how feasable this idea is; is there a way you can control the volume of the power amp, so basically you can turn up the preamp so some breakup occurs, while you are not deafening the entire southern hemisphere of the world ?

Cheers , Aaron

Hi people,

Call me crazy (I know that I am), but I am wanting to put a master volume control on the JC-120 as I actually like the sound of the preamp overdriving, as it sustains really well, and has this weird lo-fi Albert King like tone (especially with the chorus on), it's much nicer than the inbuilt distortion (which is pretty putrid). Firstly, is it possible at all? I understand that the fact the amp is stereo probably complicates matters, and also the fact that it's solid state probably also would too, and secondly, would it be an expensive job to do ?

Cheers, Aaron