Amp mods

Amp mods

As a guitar player, one of my favorite things is guitar amplifiers. They take the weak electric signal from the guitar and transform it into magical sounds.

I recently started playing again after a five-year hiatus. One of the first things I noticed was that my taste had changed, and I started looking for sounds I liked. So I began experimenting with different amps and guitars to figure out what sounded best to me.

My most recent experiment, inspired by a conversation with Gemini AI, was to mod my existing Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp. My amp was made in Mexico in the 2000s. It sounds good, but I wanted to see whether it could sound better. Also, it is terribly loud, which makes it impossible to turn the dial above 1 in a home setting.

Changing the speaker

In recent generations of the Hot Rod Deluxe, the stock speaker was changed from an Eminence 1258 to a Celestion A-Type. There are YouTube videos comparing older and newer generations of this amp, and the new version sounded noticeably clearer and nicer to me. Keep in mind that I am mostly talking about clean tones here, which is my main interest.

I liked the sound of the Celestion A-Type, so I ordered one from Thomann and waited. The speaker arrived promptly. Replacing it was not too hard, but it did involve carefully removing the chassis. The change in sound is very noticeable. I am still getting used to it and my opinion has not fully solidified, but overall I like the change.

Changing the preamp tubes

Gemini told me something that surprised me. It claimed that replacing the 12AX7 preamp tube(s) with 12AY7 tubes would make the volume knob more usable at low levels, making it easier to play softly at home while still keeping the option to turn up when needed.

I was very curious, since playing tube amps at low volumes has always seemed like a big challenge to me. I found a pair of 12AY7 tubes on Amazon and quickly ordered them. They came in the mail today, and I was excited to try them. And indeed, the amp is tamed. I have done the impossible. What a simple trick.

That's all for today. Stay tuned \m/