HT 1 help

[Lonniep]

I recieved a Ht 1 combo from Ams the other day. I need to send it back due to some QC issues. Imput jack has a short in it and the gain pot is bad. Sometimes the gain will get stuck when it's turned up and I have to turn the knob back and forth several times to get it to go down.
The other problem I'm having is the sound of this amp. The overdrive channel sounds like a bees nest and is way too dark and compressed. Turning the Isf to British on either channel just turns to mud. American side is too scooped to get a good crunch sound that sounds good to me. This amp sounds nothing like the videos I have watched on YouTube. The amp is too dark and sounds like it has a blanket over it. I need more mids. I don't have a cabinet to plug it into to see if it's the speaker or not.
Will changing any of the tubes open this amp up ? If not, I'll just exchange it for a different amp instead of another HT-1

[thephantum]

Since the gain knob is obviously f'ed up, my guess is that it's impacting the overall sound of the amp. Send it back and get a new one.

It should sound decent out of the box, but both a tube and speaker swap will really let it shine. The tubes it comes with are decent, but there are much better options out there: TungSol's, Mullards, etc. The Blackbird speaker it has is also decent, but has a weird raspy sound in the upper mids when driven hard.

Personally, I would get an HT-5...two channels with a tone control on the clean channel and full EQ (treb, mid, bass) on the OD channel. It also has an effects loop and an MP3 in. Plus it has a 12" speaker (as opposed to the 8" in the HT-1)...which opens up your options with replacements.

The downside is the powertube. The HT-5 uses a 12BH7 which limits your choices in new production tubes: TAD's or Electro-Harmonix's (there's more options if you decide to go NOS). The HT-1 uses a 12AU7 and there are lots of choices in new production tubes.

[Lonniep]

Yeah I was kinda wondering if it was affecting the sound. Maybe I'll get them to send me another one to try before I give up on it. I'm on a tight budget right now so the ht 5 is a little out of my price range right now.

[Classicplayer]

What Phantom wrote is good advice for you. Send it back for a replacement. I have one that was a restock from MF and I been playing it for over 2 1/2 years. The stock speaker is OK, but can get raspy on the gain channel when pushed. The stock tubes are OK, but I have Tung-Sols and they do sound better. I now have a Celestion Eight Fiften speaker and it sounds better to me than the stock speaker. The trick with these amps is not to have the gain too high and to learn to use the volume, gain, and ISF together to find you own sound. Each one of those controls reacts with the other two significantly, despite what some believe. You just have to spend time with it and let the stock speaker break in before making any changes. You might just like to keep it completely stock. Get a replacement and send your's back.

Classicplayer

[Lonniep]

Well the gain knob is now stuck in one position and won't go down. I'm sending it back to AMS tomorrow and they're going to send me a new one.
Classic Player, do the tung-sols brighten the amp any? I might as well order a celestian eight 15 since they're only 30 bucks. Does this speaker have more mids and highs than the factory blackbird?

[Classicplayer]

Yes. Tung-Sols do brighten the amp, but there are some on this forum who think they provide a bit too much gain on the amp'a gain channel. That's why I wrote about not setting the gain control too high when using that channel. Do a search on tubes for the HT1 on these forums for opinions on optional tubes.

The Celestion Eight Fifteen produces more mids than the stock speaker. It also is smoother in the high frequencies which aspect I appreciate. The stock speaker seems to have more bass, but there is quite enough with the Celestion. Do a search on Celestion Eight Fifteen and you will find an excellent post on it plus tube choices on these forums too. There are few options when it comes to 8" speaker alternatives. I think Weber has one that would also improve the sound of this amp.

This amp,is plenty loud for my practice room and the HT5 as good as it might be, would be a bit much.

Classicplayer

[Lonniep]

Thanks a lot Classicplayer. Sounds like I'll be happy with this amp with the celestion and a tube change.

[Classicplayer]

When your budget allows, you can go another direction in time, but there are some good tones in the HT1R combo or head. The head is popular with those who like to use different speaker cabs and configurations. The combo version IMO has a "Bassman" vibe going on in the clean channel. The gain side to me seems more in the "Mesa" style of tone rather than Marshall tone. If you dial your guitar's pickups to the amp (which I did) there are some attractive and useable tones in both of the amp's channels. Mine will be three years old in a few months and other than a scratchy volume control, which my tech replaced, I still remain happy with the sounds coming from it. I've noticed that I spend more time actually playing my guitar than time spent twiddling amp knobs. I blame that on a good sounding amp. Good luck with yours.

Classicplayer

[ATS]

I put 1950's Raytheon black plate 12AX7 and 12AU7 tubes in mine and have it hooked to a oversize open back 1 x 12 cab with a Celestion V30. I'm really digging the tones i can squeeze out of this HT1.

[Lonniep]

Well I've got a celestian eight 15 speaker and a pair of tung sol tubes. Amp should be here Tuesday. When my budget allows, I'll probably get a jet city 1 x 12 cab with a v30 in it.