Cleaning up a single rectifier

[lavaxtris]

Running a 50 watt single rec into a Mesa 4x12 oversized cab. Using a schecter C1 Custom as my main.

Straight to the point.
I'm just not getting the cleans I thought I would have with this thing.

I tried dialing back the gain while pushing the volumes, doing the opposite, cutting the mids, boosting the mids, turning down my guitar, etc but the cleans don't want to stay clean.

I see many ska guitarists using Mesas and getting a nice clean tone, so what is going on with my amp?

[UnderJollyRoger]

Well, is the channel not clean at all or is it just breaking up too early?

If it stays clean to a certain amount, what are your settings then? Make sure pushed mode is not active ... maybe the switch is broken?

[dtrax]

Keep the gain below noon, scoop out the mids, treble and presence around 1-2oclock, bass around 10oclock. Those settings, in general, will be pretty "Fendery"; clean and bright enough for ska.

Gain as it approaches noon (and beyond) not only starts to clip and compress, but starts rolling off high end.

Treble and Mid controls act as gain controls for their respective frequency ranges, so pushing them too far will causing clipping even at moderate gain settings. Use the bass control sparingly - too much low end will eat up headroom and cause clipping as well.

Could just be that amp isn't for you?

[lavaxtris]

Keep the gain below noon, scoop out the mids, treble and presence around 1-2oclock, bass around 10oclock. Those settings, in general, will be pretty "Fendery"; clean and bright enough for ska.

This is what its at right now.

Well, is the channel not clean at all or is it just breaking up too early?

If it stays clean to a certain amount, what are your settings then? Make sure pushed mode is not active ... maybe the switch is broken?

The amp seems to be breaking up too early, but its not power amplifier gain. Its like the preamp is instantly overloaded, even though my guitar's pickups are not active. Rolling the volume down doesn't do much good. Just makes my tone weak and tinny.

I want to sound like streetlight manifesto's clean, and the guitarist in that band uses a dual rec with an orange 4x12. This can't be much different. My practice volumes are usually quite low.

[dtrax]

Ch1 has a good amount of headroom. Something sounds wrong.

Did you rule out bad tubes? Ch1 uses V1 and V2 for gain stages.

Are the overdrive channels working properly?

[deeman]

Try Tung Sol in V1

[dtrax]

Another thing to watch out for is the channel master. Run it too high and it will clip the proceeding gain stages (FX loop, PI) even with low Gain settings. That's actually my issue in a live setting, because I tend to run my high gain channel master at noon on Modern mode (which is incredibly loud compared to other modes that use NFB). I all but have to max CH1's master to balanced clean/drive volumes, so my "clean" sound has plenty of breakup.

Also, the FX send level (back of the amp) should be kept at noon, give or take, for proper gain staging. If that's too high it will clip as well.

If all your settings are A-Ok, it's probably (hopefully) a preamp tube issue.

[lavaxtris]

I tried swapping tubes, but no luck. Some of the tubes actually made it sound worse.

I don't understand what is happening. It always sounds overloaded even when I turn down my volume on my guitar down to almost nothing.
Its just a gritty yucky clean.

[UnderJollyRoger]

Did you double check your guitar? Cable? Maybe there is something wrong?

Apart from that, sounds a little like a job for the shop ...

[silentbob]

What kind of pickups are you using? I find hotter pickups make it hard to get a really pristine clean on my single.

[tele twister]

What kind of pickups are you using? I find hotter pickups make it hard to get a really pristine clean on my single.

I would have to agree with that.
Hum buckers would only get close to "clean" for me.
If I needed clean, clean*, I had to use single coils.

*What some folks refer to as clean (like that MXR dude, with the pointy beard),
others may find slightly gritty, like a five o'clock shadow.
To me, clean means No $hit clean.