V1 is closest to the input jack on virtually all amps. my advice would be to remove the amp chassis from the headshell and then remove the front panel using the 4 or 5 screws holding it in. Then use some heavy duty velcro from home depot or lowes and attach strips of that around the lip of the headshell and back of the front panel (use a staple gun for extra hold) and let the velcro hold the front panel on. This way you have quick access to the preamp tubes. works great for me.
@JBL8863 no the camera angle is making it look that way. it never goes past half way. for this vid, I left it between 3 and 4. one thing zach mentioned was that this amp needed a different value pot for the presence knob which would make it better but didn't have any at the time of modding mine.
@clayton5150 I would say if the 6L6's in it now are fairly new/fresh, hold off. the KT66's for this amp mainly are used to make it a bit cleaner and less compressed. The 5150 isn't compressed enough in the low end to NEED different tubes to alter that.
Fantastic video Drew. I know your already thinking about what mods can be done to the new 22H that you have. LOL I bet if you put your amp heads on one of those Auralex platforms it would improve the tone a tad bit. I used to use those Brass Pryamids on my old home theatre processor and it did air out the High end tones. Don't laugh but I also put my 75LB Power Amp on 4 tennis balls and it sounded like it improved the sound also. Anyway, this amp really rocks now.
@JimmyPage968 thanks. for more gain from the JCA20, you either have to have it modified (like the friedman mods) or put an overdrive pedal in front of the amp.
Cheers man, just been messing with different pre-amp tubes to try and tame the brightness of this. Sounds awesome but I've literally got the treble and bass knobs on '1' Currently got a JJ in there. Any power tubes you could recommend to replace the stock chinese ones?
I'm sorry for another question. Was the choke original ? Being Belgian I could never be his customer but modding that amp by myself would be fine just understanding the direction to follow.
yeah the 100H and 50H come with a choke but the 20H and 22H don't. Mojo sells a choke though that the 20/22h can use though. My 22H is modded with that and a switch on the back to go from the original cap to the choke. Only really makes a difference when the amp is running balls out.
I've got the JCA50c12 and was wondering which tube is v1? I can only reach 3 of the tubes inside the chassis. the ones in front of the 6l6's and there're two hiding behind the transformer. Cheers.
very comparable to the 6L6's if you get the JJ's versions of the 66's. I've been using the slim base (pancake base I think it's also called) Sovtek 5881's and they sound really good also.
Noob Question! I have the jca100h and it say speakers should be 16ohm or 2X8ohm. If i have only one 8ohm cab is that enough or do i need to plug in 2 8ohm cabs???
@@FastRedPonyCar Thanks, I have a pair of KT66s and thought I'd just experiment then maybe get a quad. I can test it out by putting in half mode, and see if there is any power when the outer two power tubes are removed. I like what they did for a different combo I have, really added more thunk and clunk.
it's not hard if you know the voltage it should be reading and the pins on the socket you draw measurement from (I'm not sure what either of those are right now)
Does Titan do any other Soldano inspired mods? Like to other amps? I want the "Hot-Mod" done to my Peavey Classic 30, not the compactron triple-triode one, but the one the adds an additional 12AX7 up front with a little bit of high-pass filtering off the first stage of the added tube. Basically a clean/bright boost added right in to the amp, but with 2 more 12AX7 triodes instead of an external 9 volt box of silicon.
Is it normal that sound flubbs out with mv past 1 oclock? Mine gets oversaturated and sound like shit, and i find that around 12 o clock is sweet spot.
yeah there is definitely a sweet spot with the soldano circuit. My SLO50 is the same way. Biggest flub contributor is the preamp gain on the lead channel. Once it hits noon or goes past that, it gets really messy. If you are wanting to be extremely loud with it and lots of gain, you have to lower the preamp gain and use a boost pedal. That's what I do and it' SO much cleaner.
Cool. EL34's should bite a bit more in the upper end. Wonder if they're making any other changes? I still have my 100H that I'm at some point going to have a DeYoung clone output transformer put in along with a few other component upgrades. Maybe convert the pots from soldered onto the board to separate with wires so I can get the correct value pots in there to match those of a real SLO. Everyone I've talked to hype the amp as a great modding platform since it uses a circuit that everyone knows.
FastRedPonyCar haven’t seen much about it except EL34s, white chassis with no designed by Soldano designation, and plastic switches like the HDM. Be interesting to know what the transformers are.
@@FastRedPonyCar Are you still running KT66s in that one man? Can't remember what exactly titan zach did before he stopped his bussiness (if he stopped, he had problems though...). But to have it a complete "SLO" like amp you need some modding and even then, you have to decide if you want the gain pot warren hayes or not (some SLO have it some don't), then I've seen some schematics with the return cathode resistor bypassed and some unbypassed etc...You can't really say "which" SLO is the finalised version... Then again you don't NEED to change the pots to chassis mounted from the pcb, because you just can put some resistors in parallel to get the correct values without desoldering anything. You want 500K? Solder a resistor in parallel. What the real "problem" is, is not tollerances (though those too, have their contribution) but more some difference in character. For example, resistors get heated up and some of them, in specific places, produce noise and ...distortion. Second order harmonics to be exact. One of the reasons that two amps may sound different if they use different brand of resistors alltogether. Bear in mind that caps are different too, spec wise even though they are of the same value so, again some minor differences then you have the deyoung trannies. And even then, you can end up crazy because pots nowadays can be made by adding some resistors in series internally, so imagine two 25K pressence pots, one can consist of 10+10+5 the other, maybe china made, will be smaller, so it can be maybe be noisier but also could be 8+6+11 so you may have different behavior for the same pot position lol. Layout differences and you may never "touch" the SLO sound exactly even though you may do what is possible to ape the circuit even with caps and resistors of the same brand. To be honest even your britone videos don't really sound that much soldano to me but they do sound good!!! What you can achieve with a jet city or clone is fine tune for your gear easily without ruining resale of a legendary amp...
@@81giorikas I have the sovtek 5881's in there now. As for the components inside the JCA, I'm really not familiar with all that. Anytime people start talking about the inner workings of amps my brain just glazes over. As for the Brittone clones, I think Bruce said they were never intended to be identical clones but both me and a few other people who have had the chance to have the brittone SLO in the room with a real SLO were unable to distinguish the two amps in a blind side by side test with the same guitar/cab. I think bruce makes some good changes with the SLO formula by adding a solo boost and better FX loop but he keeps all the other components the same (other than not having access to the same transformers) then again, a lot of the sound is in the player's hands and when I plug into my superlead, I can't get a good brown sound to save my life. When I plug into my Jubilee, I can't get anywhere close to Slash's Appetite sound either.
@@FastRedPonyCar I understand the last sentiment man, let alone that some of those sounds were heavily, tampered on the board... Still the jet city are great platforms or even great amps as they were. Did the KT66 not satisfy or were they electronically not recomended transformer wise?
@@81giorikas Electronically, they were safe but I had a spare quartet of the sovteks and tossed them in just to see how they compared to the 66's and the chinese 6L6's that came with the amp and I really liked the way the sovteks sounded.
Hey Man, great video, i Just checked your Channel! I'm in desperate need of help, i just swapped power tubes on my Jch100a but I can't find the bias check points in the PCB board, would you please help me? I've already checked the OT tension. Please please please help me!
look up the Eurotubes bias probe. It's really handy and plugs into one of the inner 2 sockets and then the tube plugs into IT and you power the amp on and use a multimeter to read the milliamps and then slowly adjust the tiny bias pot on the inside of the amp. There's videos showing how to do this. Only put 6L6's or 5881's in the amp.
SLO mod was some cap changes. only the JJ's 66's run at the appropriate plate voltage to run safely. That said, properly biased sovtek 5881's sound better than the 66's IMO.
yeah i would put JJ's KT66's in there. They're a direct swap and sound better (less compression than the 6L6's) for preamp tubes, I like the ruby HG's. I get all mine from valvequeen.coom
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
You've always been one of the best candidates to showcase Jet City here on RUclips. I want to add a high gain to my JCA20H.
This sounds great. the Sheptones seem to keep their definition even with the super high gains.
V1 is closest to the input jack on virtually all amps. my advice would be to remove the amp chassis from the headshell and then remove the front panel using the 4 or 5 screws holding it in. Then use some heavy duty velcro from home depot or lowes and attach strips of that around the lip of the headshell and back of the front panel (use a staple gun for extra hold) and let the velcro hold the front panel on.
This way you have quick access to the preamp tubes. works great for me.
@JBL8863 no the camera angle is making it look that way. it never goes past half way. for this vid, I left it between 3 and 4. one thing zach mentioned was that this amp needed a different value pot for the presence knob which would make it better but didn't have any at the time of modding mine.
They were plug and play. I consulted with Zach at Titan amps and he verified that they would work properly with just a simple bias tweak.
@clayton5150 I would say if the 6L6's in it now are fairly new/fresh, hold off. the KT66's for this amp mainly are used to make it a bit cleaner and less compressed. The 5150 isn't compressed enough in the low end to NEED different tubes to alter that.
Sounds great.
I'd like to hear the high gain of just the amp though, to show/hear what the mods do to just the amp.
Got a demo vid of that?
Fantastic video Drew. I know your already thinking about what mods can be done to the new 22H that you have. LOL I bet if you put your amp heads on one of those Auralex platforms it would improve the tone a tad bit. I used to use those Brass Pryamids on my old home theatre processor and it did air out the High end tones. Don't laugh but I also put my 75LB Power Amp on 4 tennis balls and it sounded like it improved the sound also. Anyway, this amp really rocks now.
@JimmyPage968 thanks. for more gain from the JCA20, you either have to have it modified (like the friedman mods) or put an overdrive pedal in front of the amp.
Then this is twice a good job and a good sounding demo ! KT66's are my prefered power tubes.
Many thanks. !
Only really makes a difference when the amp is running balls out. This is normal.
Great job ! Is the original heaters current right for KT66's or did you change the input transformer ?
Nice work! Sounds almost like my Avenger. Try with EMG 81 pu's, they seem to give better definition and less mud in Soldanos.
partially. the KT66 tubes and tweaking the bias also help.
Cheers man, just been messing with different pre-amp tubes to try and tame the brightness of this. Sounds awesome but I've literally got the treble and bass knobs on '1' Currently got a JJ in there. Any power tubes you could recommend to replace the stock chinese ones?
That sounds really nice, I love it!!!
I'm sorry for another question. Was the choke original ? Being Belgian I could never be his customer but modding that amp by myself would be fine just understanding the direction to follow.
Great video, and the amp seems a lot tighter than before. Is this all due to the mod, or is there another cause as well?
yeah the 100H and 50H come with a choke but the 20H and 22H don't. Mojo sells a choke though that the 20/22h can use though. My 22H is modded with that and a switch on the back to go from the original cap to the choke. Only really makes a difference when the amp is running balls out.
A Duncan JB also works great with the Soldano's. :)
I've got the JCA50c12 and was wondering which tube is v1? I can only reach 3 of the tubes inside the chassis. the ones in front of the 6l6's and there're two hiding behind the transformer. Cheers.
Sounds much tighter than your other clips.
@FastRedPonyCar Well, I have my modified LPB-1, so it acts more like an overdrive instead of a boost. I need to crank the amp!!!
Do the kt66 put stress on the transformers as ive read online? Or are they pretty much as compatible as the stock chinese 6l6 tubes besides the bias?
very comparable to the 6L6's if you get the JJ's versions of the 66's. I've been using the slim base (pancake base I think it's also called) Sovtek 5881's and they sound really good also.
FastRedPonyCar hey also, did you replace the preamp tubes too? If so what did you replace them with?
@@_mind_drifter_6483 I ended up with a mix of some JJ's and some ruby HG's.
have you thought of doing a depth mod on the 22h? i noticed mine needs more bottom end its like its just not there
Noob Question! I have the jca100h and it say speakers should be 16ohm or 2X8ohm. If i have only one 8ohm cab is that enough or do i need to plug in 2 8ohm cabs???
How easy is adjusting the bias on the 100h if you have never done it before? I am competent and I am aware of the dangers of capacitors..
On the 100 watt HDM's, when you switch to half power, which pair of tubes are being used or does it do it another way?
I'm honestly not sure. I think traditionally, the outer 2 tubes get cut but I don't know if that's how Mike designed this or not.
@@FastRedPonyCar Thanks, I have a pair of KT66s and thought I'd just experiment then maybe get a quad. I can test it out by putting in half mode, and see if there is any power when the outer two power tubes are removed. I like what they did for a different combo I have, really added more thunk and clunk.
it's not hard if you know the voltage it should be reading and the pins on the socket you draw measurement from (I'm not sure what either of those are right now)
Does Titan do any other Soldano inspired mods? Like to other amps? I want the "Hot-Mod" done to my Peavey Classic 30, not the compactron triple-triode one, but the one the adds an additional 12AX7 up front with a little bit of high-pass filtering off the first stage of the added tube. Basically a clean/bright boost added right in to the amp, but with 2 more 12AX7 triodes instead of an external 9 volt box of silicon.
Yeah zach can do pretty much anything really.
i have a modded 5150 and was thinking about droping some kt66s in. are they worth paying for?
@hawg427 Tone is in the yellow pages! haha About all those things are good for these days.
sounds awesome FRPC!
What bias are you running with the kt66's
Is it normal that sound flubbs out with mv past 1 oclock? Mine gets oversaturated and sound like shit, and i find that around 12 o clock is sweet spot.
yeah there is definitely a sweet spot with the soldano circuit. My SLO50 is the same way. Biggest flub contributor is the preamp gain on the lead channel. Once it hits noon or goes past that, it gets really messy. If you are wanting to be extremely loud with it and lots of gain, you have to lower the preamp gain and use a boost pedal. That's what I do and it' SO much cleaner.
so Jet City are reissuing the 100H for 2018, this time with EL34s. any thoughts?
Cool. EL34's should bite a bit more in the upper end. Wonder if they're making any other changes? I still have my 100H that I'm at some point going to have a DeYoung clone output transformer put in along with a few other component upgrades. Maybe convert the pots from soldered onto the board to separate with wires so I can get the correct value pots in there to match those of a real SLO.
Everyone I've talked to hype the amp as a great modding platform since it uses a circuit that everyone knows.
FastRedPonyCar haven’t seen much about it except EL34s, white chassis with no designed by Soldano designation, and plastic switches like the HDM. Be interesting to know what the transformers are.
@@gingataff Big and heavy, I have or had, Mercury and Heyboar in my 50h, they are nice, but the stock ones are pretty good left alone.
Cool, I'll have to try that.
sounds awesome. what type amps? (message me back vs replying to this)
Is that a hand duct taped boutique phone book vibration buffer?
Only the finest methods to preserve the even order harmonics and all the transients :D
@@FastRedPonyCar Are you still running KT66s in that one man?
Can't remember what exactly titan zach did before he stopped his bussiness (if he stopped, he had problems though...).
But to have it a complete "SLO" like amp you need some modding and even then, you have to decide if you want the gain pot warren hayes or not (some SLO have it some don't), then I've seen some schematics with the return cathode resistor bypassed and some unbypassed etc...You can't really say "which" SLO is the finalised version...
Then again you don't NEED to change the pots to chassis mounted from the pcb, because you just can put some resistors in parallel to get the correct values without desoldering anything. You want 500K? Solder a resistor in parallel.
What the real "problem" is, is not tollerances (though those too, have their contribution) but more some difference in character. For example, resistors get heated up and some of them, in specific places, produce noise and ...distortion. Second order harmonics to be exact. One of the reasons that two amps may sound different if they use different brand of resistors alltogether.
Bear in mind that caps are different too, spec wise even though they are of the same value so, again some minor differences then you have the deyoung trannies.
And even then, you can end up crazy because pots nowadays can be made by adding some resistors in series internally, so imagine two 25K pressence pots, one can consist of 10+10+5 the other, maybe china made, will be smaller, so it can be maybe be noisier but also could be 8+6+11 so you may have different behavior for the same pot position lol.
Layout differences and you may never "touch" the SLO sound exactly even though you may do what is possible to ape the circuit even with caps and resistors of the same brand.
To be honest even your britone videos don't really sound that much soldano to me but they do sound good!!! What you can achieve with a jet city or clone is fine tune for your gear easily without ruining resale of a legendary amp...
@@81giorikas I have the sovtek 5881's in there now. As for the components inside the JCA, I'm really not familiar with all that. Anytime people start talking about the inner workings of amps my brain just glazes over. As for the Brittone clones, I think Bruce said they were never intended to be identical clones but both me and a few other people who have had the chance to have the brittone SLO in the room with a real SLO were unable to distinguish the two amps in a blind side by side test with the same guitar/cab. I think bruce makes some good changes with the SLO formula by adding a solo boost and better FX loop but he keeps all the other components the same (other than not having access to the same transformers)
then again, a lot of the sound is in the player's hands and when I plug into my superlead, I can't get a good brown sound to save my life. When I plug into my Jubilee, I can't get anywhere close to Slash's Appetite sound either.
@@FastRedPonyCar I understand the last sentiment man, let alone that some of those sounds were heavily, tampered on the board...
Still the jet city are great platforms or even great amps as they were. Did the KT66 not satisfy or were they electronically not recomended transformer wise?
@@81giorikas Electronically, they were safe but I had a spare quartet of the sovteks and tossed them in just to see how they compared to the 66's and the chinese 6L6's that came with the amp and I really liked the way the sovteks sounded.
you can run just 1 or you can run a pair of 8 ohm cabs. either is fine.
Hey Man, great video, i Just checked your Channel! I'm in desperate need of help, i just swapped power tubes on my Jch100a but I can't find the bias check points in the PCB board, would you please help me? I've already checked the OT tension. Please please please help me!
look up the Eurotubes bias probe. It's really handy and plugs into one of the inner 2 sockets and then the tube plugs into IT and you power the amp on and use a multimeter to read the milliamps and then slowly adjust the tiny bias pot on the inside of the amp. There's videos showing how to do this. Only put 6L6's or 5881's in the amp.
@@FastRedPonyCar THX a lot!!!
Will the amp run kt66’s successfully without the SLO mod?
SLO mod was some cap changes. only the JJ's 66's run at the appropriate plate voltage to run safely. That said, properly biased sovtek 5881's sound better than the 66's IMO.
FastRedPonyCar do you know of any ways to have the plate voltage modified for other types of kt66’s or kt88’s?
@@_mind_drifter_6483 Replace the transformers.
FastRedPonyCar oh ok so if i have transformers that can handle kt66 or el34 tubes then it should run the tubes properly?
@@_mind_drifter_6483 yep. that's what bruce from Brit-tone told me and he knows more about these amps than anyone I know.
I could but I don't have a stock one to compare it to.
holy shit killer tone just fn nasty i like it
sounds pretty ruff!
At no point did you lower the presence knob. Too bad. Would have sounded WAY better!
yeah i would put JJ's KT66's in there. They're a direct swap and sound better (less compression than the 6L6's) for preamp tubes, I like the ruby HG's. I get all mine from valvequeen.coom