5e3 humbucker mod

[ben85]

hi!i have a weber 5e3 and when i plug in a guitar with hambuckers, the bass strings sound cranked-distorted, even at very low volume.it happens only with humbuckers and the lower pitch the more distorded sound. should i do any mod to fix this?any ideas?thank you

[cbass]

Have you tried plugging in to the lo input?

[ben85]

yeay, i've tried at both inputs, both channels.i've played with the same guitars in another 5e3, too, which also have the same "problem"

[M Fowler]

Sounds like a cold solder joint to me, check out questionable solder joints.

[cbass]

SO you are saying it sounds good with single coils.but farts out with buckers?

[ben85]

yeah,that's exaclty what i want to say cbass

[cbass]

If you are sure the amp is working right and not a cold joint like mark suggested.You can do mods to reduce bass.Smaller coupling caps ,smaller cathde bypass caps

[ben85]

thank you cbass!

[M Fowler]

Lower gain tube in V1.

[cbass]

Lower gain tube in V1.

Yes of course. Simplest things first.You have 12ay7 in v1 right?

[Colossal]

Try a large value resistor at the input (grid) of the cathodyne phase inverter, something on the order of 220k to 1M. You can also increase the plate load resistors on the cathodyne to squeeze a bit more headroom out. The "Paul C" mod (I think) converts the cathodyne to fixed bias. Strangled, gassy bass is a known "quality" of the 5E3. Mod that cathodyne.

[vibratoking]

You can do a lot of 5E3 mods. There are many and they are well known. IMO, they all screw the amp up to some degree. Also IMO, you must have a 12AY7 in there. After that, the circuit is perfection for what it does. It ain't a clean machine and it ain't metal, but it's the best blues rock amp ever designed. Plug straight in, tweak the amp's volume knobs, and ride the guitar's knobs all the way to heaven. I agree that there is probably a cold solder joint. SCs and HBs are equally good with that amp. If you aren't loving it for what it is, then it must be broken.

[ben85]

thanks for the replies.yes,i have an 12ay7 at v1, and 5y3gt at v5 and not weber's wy3gt.where is more possible to have a cold joint?maybe at the tube's grounding?

[vibratoking]

where is more possible to have a cold joint?maybe at the tube's grounding?

Could be anywhere IMO. If you can't see anything obvious then I would resolder every joint in the amp rather than hunt and search for the bad one. Touching up the joints goes pretty fast.