I’m with you \m/ love this little gem, and anyone playing with a drummer of any volume is going to want a head/cab configuration anyway imo.

lol, YES! Anymore I seem to live in Crunchville USA.

Like tone, the volume of a drummer is subjective. I’ve played with some drummers who are tasty as heck and light on the skins butI’ve also played with some bashers. This head through a 4x12 should satisfy… through a 1x12 maybe not. Big cab vs small cab makes more difference than wattage imo.

Lmao, are you really correcting my spelling!?!? Or the way I may have said it, cause the spelling is correct…? The cadet’s logic is sound…….

The V5? Isn’t that the Blackstar HT5 copy? The V-type is actually a pretty nice speaker, imo the differences become more apparent as the volume gets louder.

@@oldguyjammin9732 The V5 is similar to the blackstar, though has different tubes.

That’s a good call since that’s where many of their problems came from… darn suppliers. I had a 40 for a while ~ phenomenally fun. Beast \m/

Hey hey hey, “what’s up brother?”

Well Thanks, Hope I have the chance to check that out someday. I much prefer my Katana head over the combos for tonal reasons, but this is something I never thought of. My buddy did look into getting his ‘syms’ louder and we came across similar info regarding flat response speakers - cool \m/

Very nice man, lowering tube values has made almost all my amps sound better.

I think you could, but you’d still need to pull the tubes out, but they’re super easy to replace, just make sure the pins are lined up.

I totally hear you and agree that a truly nice vibrato can’t be done without pulling up a bit. The mechanics of the D-tuna just don’t allow it. Then again I don’t think Beck of Vai delve into much D-tuned stuff. If nothing else, t’s a good reason to have two guitars.

www.amazon.com/mxuteuk-Terminal-Position-Miniature-Dashboard/dp/B07QGDDTWJ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=XA58JX62LOZM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HeG2NtPj8D9i7Pe_-efDQytVQvuLEnZWbkEaKrOkhULuYS2kv2iQmEgw13xmdFdnjQ5I03MHi9eBaHwc334QhYUYV7LfNMhuTExivhy8fh-cLQ6XtRwrg3JRGR_V_pJMK12uJ2pi6S14HJd0YdxXwBMfm2sZwx4Wx0rrElrXppoy51RymuBHiLHDjA_K2Oh_mlGJNOkwWjMVrgvKwM2TKUYAtl9D0XexCAjNH407OF4.vUQ0Ejh-WJkZkIow0yiCQBo4OMJyjaVniJdo5YjjPvs&dib_tag=se&keywords=spst+mini+toggle+switch&qid=1721507173&sprefix=Spst+min%2Caps%2C224&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1 There you go! My actually toggle switch (the pole that sticks out) is actually longer than the stock ones on the amp :-( but of a bummer, just wish they matched. Maybe you can find a shorty. The wire is just any 18-22 gauge wire. Thrift Store!! Buy some a junk wall-wart or something, old speaker wire, anything will work.

@@oldguyjammin9732 thanks alot , good mod for that amp

@@PainterDans - if I were to do it again I’d 3 position switch and have a cap that’s half way between what’s there and completely off just cause it’s a pretty drastic change. But ya… good mod.

@oldguyjammin9732 thats not a bad idea, would a tone or volume knob work ?

@@PainterDans - no, it would need to be a 3 position rotary switch.

I’d agree with most of what you said, the 40 just wasn’t for me; didn’t need the dual masters, etc. The 20 was plenty and I found the sweet spot a little easier. You’re right about twice the watts NOT being twice as loud, that’s a commonly held false hood among the newbies, but then again not all 20 watt amps are created equal, some 20s are much louder than others, etc. I’ve always felt that amps on half power mode lose a little of the thump, take the Brent Hinds signature by Orange, between the full/half power and headroom/bedroom switches you have some VERY different tones. My favorite home amp to this day has to be the DSL5 - from quiet to loud it just sounds great! My only experience with attenuators is the passive ones and while I dig what they do, I still feel they suck just the slightest bit of tone out of the fun. I certainly can’t afford the $1k Fryette or something similar, nor do I really need one. Someone with an old non-master Marshall??? For sure \m/

I would say YES, but ENGL customer service is very fast if you wanted to confirm those voltages.

They’re both great but there is a ‘roundness’ and sag in the Friedman that is really well suited to Strats and Teles rather than guitars with humbuckers, where as the Soldano has a faster response and is more mid-forward in tone that seems to favor humbuckers. I’d say as the gain gets higher the Astro pulls ahead where as if the gain is lower the Friedman wins. Hope that helps.

You can’t switch the verb ON/OFF just the channel switching and FX loop. Kind of a bummer but…

@@oldguyjammin9732 how do you male reverb footswitchable? Install a button and rewire it?

@@Deathwing-kw5fs - you’d have to interrupt the circuit somewhere, probably easiest where the reverb control knob is soldered to the board, or between it and the first component it “sees”. And then, like you said, wire that to a normally closed 1/4 input jack and mount the jack to the chassi, then make a simple on/off footswitch. It be easier to buy an even ‘middle of the road’ reverb pedal on the cheap and put it on your board… run it through the effects loop. It’ll also be a much better delay than is in that DSL. Some used Hall of Fame, or Boss RV6 or something.

Ha ha, awesome! I can see you now, up front rockin’ with the boys \m/

I hear you but like you said, these are nice. The Freidman’s are nice like this too, a guy could actually have a chance at diagnosing a problem and working on it.

I can’t say for sure. I have the 50W Stealth and it has the external bias points AND an external adjustment. Seems like if the bias test points were on the outside, the adjustment would be too, know what I mean? Still easier to have the test points on the outside rather than poking probes around on the board. The adjustment is probably inside and very easy to see, probably even labeled. Go for it…

Thanks for getting back to me. The adjustment is definitely not on the outside as there are only the positive and negative test points on the back of them amp. I guess I will take the bottom off and look for the adjustment that you showed in your video.

@@toddknaster9731 - awesome, it should be easy to see.

Sorry to be a pain. Is your multi meter set to Milli amps?

@@toddknaster9731 - no worries, set it to milli volts if you’re using those bias test points.

I like it too, stays in tune as good as any other with a really nice neck. My neck Tone Zone has always been a bit too hot and nasally, even with it lowered below the ring… I’m off too check out the Heretic 90 - thanks \m/

That’s a good use of funds for sure, but I keep trading up rather than collecting. Fewer but better is my goal as I get older. I have a JVM in the garage but really only like the three flavors on channel 1… what if there is a legit 3 channel amp out there where ALL 3 channels sound great and inspire… seems rare imo.

Hmm… GC has literally sold (1) and Sweetwater (1) so they haven’t sold all that well. They are pricey but so are the soldanos, etc.

@@oldguyjammin9732 Perhaps being in a recession and that many like me only buy used and save at least 500.00. BTW as a fellow old guy who turned 60 this year, I think your an excellent player.

@@bcm1621 - well thanks man, we may not be able to rip like we once did but we sure enjoy ourselves, right? You’re right re today’s buying power, used prices have soared and disposable income has tanked. I myself rarely buy new anymore either. Rock on fellow “old guy” \m/

Well that’s for sure, but a legit 3 channel amp with a small footprint is always interesting. I’ve got a JVM in the garage and if the PT sounds as good, I’d certainly like it. Thorn’s an amazing player imo.

Agreed, it hasn’t been on my radar. I’ll have to look it up.

Well Right ON! How long have you had it? You gettin’ good? talent show next year?!!?

You nailed it - Marshall all the way, but there are a few different “Marshall tones” out there, so…? Know what I mean? Your other question is something I’ve been realizing for years, lol… all of this stuff pretty much does the same thing and yet different enough to inspire which is what we’re all after. What interests me about the PT is that it’s a legitimate 3 channel amp and made here in California. If it’s just “that much better than” something else I have, I’d happily sell two other guitars or amps that I don’t play as much to have it. Thanks for chiming in \m/

Thanks man, you sound like an amp builder :-) I’ve since added a V2 mod and a bass cut across the master volume which really changes the placement of the mids - a really nice option. That video will drop soon.

I’m looking forward to hearing about your mod! I like to tinker. I have a spare Jet City 20W head to try the Little Sister circuit on. Depending on how it goes I might buy the real thing. I’ve done some BE-based preamps and own a Runt 50, and have come to the conclusion that all that front end compression isn’t my thing. The Little Sister is likely a better fit. The JEL20 is also on my radar and might work the best because it’s a bit more aggressive and has the Small Box clean channel. If you’re able to share the value of C8 it would be much appreciated. I’m assuming it’s bypassing R16 because it’s the same size and shape as the C2 and C6 which are 680nF, otherwise I would expect it to bypass R14 as part of the bright function in which case I would expect it to be in the 470pF ballpark.

Right!?!?

How much do they differ by?

Blue is 2.3v and yellow is 2.1v🤔

@@lewistait692 - that’ll be fine. There’s always a little “push and pull” while you play and it’s common to have one side a little different. Internal differences in the power tubes can be enough to create a small difference. you’re Good \m/ rock out!

thanks Bob \m/

Sheesh dude, that’s an awesome Band Name… Swagger Souls \m/ or Sole Swagger or… you’re a genius ;-) I may steal it.

Oh man, that’s not good to hear. Hopefully it’s something easy… have you taken it apart and looked around? Sometimes it’s as simple as an internal fuse, or wire that’s come off. Sorry for your loss, but hey! Now you need a new amp!! \m/

Well all right, all right, all right \m/

Yes, still liking the guitar. It’s very stable, and stays in tune really, really well. Gorgeous neck and not too heavy.

Very cool! Good to know, imo turning humbuckers in to singles never works quite right… just get yourself a Strat or Tele if that’s what you’re after.

would that be a Harley Benton 40 with reverb? I would think so but you’ll probably need to have an LED indicator on the footswitch. To find out plug a stereo cable into the foot switch jack and the use a paper clip to connect the shaft to either ring and see if the channel changes or boost comes on (is it two function foot switch or just channel switching) If it’s only channel switching just use a regular instrument cable. If the paper clip doesn’t work use an LED across the shaft and tip, if the LED does not light up, reverse the leads and try again.

@@oldguyjammin9732 tanks