It's a aggressive S-O-B in Phil X mode that benefits from a reduction in gain that comes from changing the V1 12AX7 tube for a 12AU7. I have also placed a modded BOSS GE-7 in the C-30's loop to allow me to tweak the EQ....the C-30 has a very focused tone that sounds great with a drummer....but on its own can be a little too much....the GE-7 lets you take the edge off....and that the Vibrato only works with a 12AU7 tube....oh and that the footswitch is rather piss poor....
The C-30's cab is very tightly packed on the inside....changing the speaker for something else is going to be a challenge....I found that the magnet on a Vintage 30 too big to fit in-front of the transforms....To make the fan work better it needs something to channel the air flow upwards....
....and that White Knobs look way more cooler than the standard black one's....in the dark....black on black is really hard to see....
....not that my C-30 needs to stand out more....
My C-30 is mainly for home use and is the best small amp I've ever owned....I have played better amps....but they have all cost 5 times as much so should be better....for the money the C-30 is an outstanding little amp....
Over the weekend I started to hear a harshness in the C-30's tone....the tell tail signs that the power tubes were on their way out....I have been giving the 6L6's in the amp a real pounding and decided to try out EL34's but then found a set of 5881's I have had for years and had never used. 5881 tubes are lower powered 6L6's....6L6's give out a maximum of 30watts....24watts for the 5881....more importantly 5881's will break up earlier than 6L6's. I found that with the 5881 tubes....the C-30 became very clean....too clean with a 12AU7 in the V1 position....
With my C-30 now back in Phil X mode with a 12AX7 in V1 and with the 5881's I found I could drop the gain in the Pre Amp Channels and crank up the Master Volumes giving as near as perfect home low volume tones....the 6L6's staying clean with louder Master Volume levels you have turn up the gain in the Channels thus making standard Evil Robot tones too much for my talents....but with the 5881 power tubes I seem to have found a balance that I can work with....the C-30 still gets loud when you need loud....and now runs a lot cooler than with the 6L6's....which is cool also....k.j.
V1 - 12AX7 - ECC83 - Pre Amp
V2 - 12AX7 - ECC83 - Pre Amp
V3 - 12AU7 - ECC82 - Vibrato
V4 - 12AT7 - ECC81 - Loop
V5 - 12AX7 - ECC83 - Phase Inverter
2x - 5881 - Power Amp Tubes
All tubes are JJ's
I found a 4 ohm tap on the output transformer so I replaced the 8/16 switch with a 4/8/16
ReplyDeleterotary switch. I also made a fan scoop but made mine out of tin. I ended up moving the output transformer to allow the use of a Weber Vintage speaker with a bigger magnet that is more efficient than the stock speaker. I also put a speaker on/off switch for using an external cab only. I'm running the 12au7/6L6 combo also, it's a great amp!
I would love to hear more about what you've done....I didn't think of trying to move the transformer when I realised it was slap bang in the way of the speaker magnet when I wanted to swop mine....will have to look into moving my tranie....Awesome mate....k.j.
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