Complete Tube Noob

[Meltdown82]

Hi Guys

Just received my Ht-20 studio head today after waiting 5 months for it.

Ive been watching all the youtube vids and really looking forward to playing with the tones this baby can produce,
so imagine my surprise when i found after hooking up that i cant get anywhere near the gain/tones i was led to believe i could achieve!!
im running into a closed backed marshall 1960a 4x12.

Ill openly admit that i am a complete beginner when it comes to tube amps and have pretty much been running through solid state amps
my entire guitar playing life.

my guitars are an epiphone les paul prophecy ex with emg 81/85s and an ibanez rg with a duncan full shred in the bridge.

ive heard about boosting with a bad monkey pedal but i really cant see the point as my tone isnt worth boosting!!

any ideas what i might be doing wrong? could it be the nature of the cab and would i be better off with a blackstar 1x12?
dont ask me questions about the tubes cos i wont be able to answer lol

thanks in advance

[kaipartai]

Not to worry, it has taken me,(and I'm quite an expeirenced guitar player and have always played tube amps!), a long time to find my sound with my HT60! My first advice would be to turn up the volume! Put everything on twelve o'clock except channel volume and master, put these somewhere between half and full,(the more, the better!), and you you'll find good tone!

[Bigsmudger]

Welcome on board
My thoughts are to 1st check the valves have not worked loose in transit. It can happen.
2nd - it could be cab related. The 1960a, if it's stock and my memory is right, used to have 4 x 75w speakers wired for 300w handling (?).
That could be too much for the 20w head to drive properly, although if anyone knows differently please feel free to correct that.

My 20 combo red channel is set with ISF fully anticlockwise, channel vol at 10 o clock, gain between 12-1 o clock, Bass 11 o clock, mid straight up and treble on 2 o clock. Barks it's head off!! All the gain I need and plenty left over.

You do have to put time in on these to get the best out of them. Take your time to play with all the controls.
It will be worth it - the 20s are superb amps.

[majikmojo]

imho...all the venues are control sensitive
its a learning experience on these to master the eq controls - they are interactive
be patient - the sound will come

[Hedgehog]

Tone is personal, but I find it hard to believe anybody could want MORE GAIN than the HT20 has
I don't play metal, but I'd say the available gain on the drive channel is pretty huge (in fact, I'm going to swap the preamp tube for a lower gain one).

Regarding cabs, when I was looking for a new amp I played the HT20 through a few in the shop. It sounded superb through an old battered unknown (probably Marshall) 4x12 but I didn't want the size or weight. Sounded really woolly and muffled IMO through an '80s Marshall 2x12. I prefered the sound through an Orange 2x12 with V30s. I'm currently playing mine through a Marshall 1x12 frankensteined from my old combo until I decide what cab I want - but it sounds pretty good to me even through that (it's a convertible back, I prefer it closed for most stuff). It's a Marshall-specced Celestion 100W speaker in my cab, marked G12 AVT100 (I suspect it's very similar to a G12T or G12K).

Rob

[Meltdown82]

Thanks for all the ideas and info guys.

when i say about more gain i mean i want it to sound for the want of a better word more wet sounding.
Im finding the gain at the moment very dry and boomy and palm muting isnt really producing the chug im looking.

Bigsmudger youre right about the cab its 4x75 watt speakers wired to produce 300w, its all very boxy sounding and i wondered if
this was due to the closed back nature of the cab.

Does anyone play through blackstars own cabs?? would i be worth trading in my marshall and going for an orange cab? or one of these?

Its all very new at the moment lol.

id also say that when i turn the gain knob up and down it doesnt change the sound of the gain just the volume goes up or down

trust me when i say i feel stupid asking these questions but hey they have to be asked lol

[Hedgehog]

id also say that when i turn the gain knob up and down it doesnt change the sound of the gain just the volume goes up or down

I'd agree with that past a point - For me, the useful range on the drive channel of my HT20 is up to around 12 o'clock with my guitars (humbuckers, but passive and not particularly high-output ones). Hence my desire to swap for a lower-gain preamp tube to spread then useful range out a bit. But, as I said, I don't play metal

Rob

[Meltdown82]

see i dont know about any of this pre amp and power amp stuff, i think im just going to have to take it back to the shop i bought it
and see what they have to say, if theres anyway anyone can get a sound clip of their ht-20 set to a high gain setting on here for me to compare to that would be a start.

At least i could copy settings and be able to hear what it should sound like.

all very annoying

[vbshredder]

when i say about more gain i mean i want it to sound for the want of a better word more wet sounding.
Im finding the gain at the moment very dry and boomy and palm muting isnt really producing the chug im looking.

I know exactly what you mean about the Chug. Its just not there - you can get close by turning the ISF toward the american side. Its not a matter of the amount of gain, rather the tightness of the low end. I added a tube screamer and now im in heaven. I can run the amp gain around noon, still have clear defined distortion, and the TS with gain at 0 - The TS adds the CHUG to the palmmute. *Most* tube amps need this boost to get really metal sounding palm mutes.

Get a tube screamer and run it in front of the amp - you'll get what you are looking for.

[kaipartai]

Or an eq-pedal in the loop!