I did upgrade all the caps that came with the kit when I built it.According to this thread on AudioKarma there is not much tube rolling to be done.
Having gone through most of the mods (and "mods") on various forum and blog posts I found only two things that change the sound:
- replace the output transformers
- remove the tone control board if you have it
Better output transformers (Hammond 1645) give better - though not excellent - bass response. It's not even near as tight and fast as, e.g., a Gainclone though.
I bought the tone control board alongside the kit and with it attached it coloured the sound significantly - there was always a "hump" between ˜250 Hz and ˜4 kHz, no matter how the controls were set. The amp also sounded like a blanket was thrown over the speakers. Fiddling with the tone controls (= setting the high frequency pot to max) helped, but not much. Removing the board altogether improved the sound, imo.
edit: That AudioKarma post is probably yours?
Having gone through most of the mods (and "mods") on various forum and blog posts I found only two things that change the sound:
- replace the output transformers
- remove the tone control board if you have it
Better output transformers (Hammond 1645) give better - though not excellent - bass response. It's not even near as tight and fast as, e.g., a Gainclone though.
I bought the tone control board alongside the kit and with it attached it coloured the sound significantly - there was always a "hump" between ˜250 Hz and ˜4 kHz, no matter how the controls were set. The amp also sounded like a blanket was thrown over the speakers. Fiddling with the tone controls (= setting the high frequency pot to max) helped, but not much. Removing the board altogether improved the sound, imo.
edit: That AudioKarma post is probably yours?
According to this thread on AudioKarma there is not much tube rolling to be done.
Having gone through most of the mods (and "mods") on various forum and blog posts I found only two things that change the sound:
- replace the output transformers
- remove the tone control board if you have it
Better output transformers (Hammond 1645) give better - though not excellent - bass response. It's not even near as tight and fast as, e.g., a Gainclone though.
I bought the tone control board alongside the kit and with it attached it coloured the sound significantly - there was always a "hump" between ˜250 Hz and ˜4 kHz, no matter how the controls were set. The amp also sounded like a blanket was thrown over the speakers. Fiddling with the tone controls (= setting the high frequency pot to max) helped, but not much. Removing the board altogether improved the sound, imo.
edit: That AudioKarma post is probably yours?
Yes that was my post. I never installed the tone board and after your comment I'm glad I did not spend the money for one! Thanks for the reply.
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