Does everyone set their channel 1 for 100W?

Since I got my LSC I've had my Ch. 1 set at 100W most of the time. It's no wonder because it sounds great and has a ton of headroom for that luscious buttery clean tone. Yesterday I set it up for 10W and set Ch. 2 on 50. It was a sound I've never got from the amp before and I loved it. Ch 1 on 10W with the gain around 12:30 and the Master cranked pretty high sound spongy and old school with some really complex overtones.

I realize that not everyone has an option to use 10W but for those of us who do, what do you think of it?

I don't have the 10w option but, I had mine on 100w for a couple of years before I discovered the 50w switch. Ha ha. Well in a sense, I loved that 100w tone so much. Well about a year ago or so, I committed myself to leave it on 50w and really see if I liked it, and I do. It has more sag and less headroom. I'm diggin it. Ch 2 also. For gigs I kick it back to 100w. So, if I had the 10w option, I'm sure I would use it, especially in the bedroom.

I've really been liking the tube rectification thing. That, and the fact that I've always liked a little dirt in my clean tone makes me stick to the 50w setting for both channels. (I got no 10, unfortunately) I rarely have opportunity to really fire the amp up at 100, but it's nice to know I can if I need to.

I usually have my Ch1 gain at about 1:30 for my LP and 2:00 for my Strat. Like I said, I like me some grit.

don't overlook the option of plugging the 8 ohm speaker into on of the 4 ohm jacks: On my LSC there's even some print that says "sounds best @50 watts" or some such...

thirstypirate said:

Since I got my LSC I've had my Ch. 1 set at 100W most of the time. It's no wonder because it sounds great and has a ton of headroom for that luscious buttery clean tone. Yesterday I set it up for 10W and set Ch. 2 on 50. It was a sound I've never got from the amp before and I loved it. Ch 1 on 10W with the gain around 12:30 and the Master cranked pretty high sound spongy and old school with some really complex overtones.

I realize that not everyone has an option to use 10W but for those of us who do, what do you think of it?

Click to expand...

boogiemon said:

don't overlook the option of plugging the 8 ohm speaker into on of the 4 ohm jacks: On my LSC there's even some print that says "sounds best @50 watts" or some such...

Click to expand...

Yes, forgot to mention that. It says this right under the speaker jacks. I do this too, since I've got both channels at 50, and it makes a big difference; maybe almost as much as the rectifier setting.

Seems like we're all on the same page: tube rectification, lower wattage settings, 4ohms out. I forgot to mention that I was getting that good loose tone with the Tweed setting on. I'm gonna try to work up another tone tonight using the dual 50w and see what I can find.

BTW I never noticed the print that says"best with 50w" before. Not only are there new sounds to be found everyday with this thing there's even hints.

Where does it say that?

It's printed right underneath of the 4ohm jacks in parenthesis.

Wow! I never saw that before. I had to use a pair of reading glasses to see that. Now what's the logic behind that? And does that apply to the 10w mode as well and they didn't bother to change the silkscreen from the original one?

Probably,

On a somewhat related note: does it bother anybody else that the head & combo versions of many of the boogie amps use the same chassis, just inverted & painted differently, such that the controls are exactly reversed between the formats?

plan-x said:

Wow! I never saw that before. I had to use a pair of reading glasses to see that. Now what's the logic behind that? And does that apply to the 10w mode as well and they didn't bother to change the silkscreen from the original one?

Click to expand...

plan-x said:

Wow! I never saw that before. I had to use a pair of reading glasses to see that. Now what's the logic behind that? And does that apply to the 10w mode as well and they didn't bother to change the silkscreen from the original one?

Click to expand...

Actually, my amp tech explained it to me and it does make sense to change it to 4 ohms at 10 watts. However, it still constitutes an acceptable mismatch -- as does leaving it at 8 ohms at 50 watts.

I can't put it together exactly, but what he said was basically an amp's output is a function of output power into resistance, and an amp outputting 100 watts into 8 ohms is happy simply because that portion of the signal path has been gauged to expect it. The 4 ohm outputs have been gauged to expect 4 ohms.

Cut the output power in half, and suddenly the resistance it meets (8 ohms) overmatches what that path was gauged for. So to make up for this, you can plug the 8 ohm load (speaker) into the 4 ohm jack. Now, this gets a little confusing because it seems like the 4 ohm output would be working extra hard to push that 8 ohm load. And frankly that's where my guy lost me. There's a swerve in the logic that I think I have a hard time digesting, so I'll have to read up on it again. Ohm's Law and all that. But it works, and you can hear the difference.

You could also just not worry about it, because the mismatches along the way between the power settings and basic speaker configurations are within the range of acceptability. This might be why Mesa put that section suggesting mismatched speaker/output configs in the manual. It's also why they suggest using 4 ohms while using 6V6s, which essentially cut the power in half.

I can't add much to the technical explanation without doing some research, but tonewise it seems to soften the speaker response in a really pleasing way and accentuate my playing dynamics.

I'm onto day two of using channel 1 on 50w and I'm having a good time with it. I've dirtied up my clean tone just a bit and it sounds amazing when pushed by my Barber LTD SR, but I'm still struggling to get my fuzz tone to sound right. I have a buffered pedal after my fuzz that is probably negatively affecting it. Anthony from MaxxPlay (http://www.electrick-garage.com/) is building me a looper that should solve my buffered woes. He's putting two separate paths in it. One that goes to the front of the amp and then a second one for the effects loop. Should be cool to have the effects loop foot switchable with the LSC.

He's also going to true bypass my Dimebag wah and make the boost switch on it independent of the main on/off. I gotta learn how to do this stuff myself...

I do leave mine set to 100. I am addicted to the bouncy high-headroom

Ok djw, that explaination is good enough for me. Thirsty, it's kinda funny that before on 100w, I had a buffer inline(Keeley BD-2), but now on 50w, I got rid of it and just run True bypass. Oh, did you see the new Super Sport pedal. I am so broke, I can't afford the fees to have a bank account. :lol:

I saw the Super Sport and then quickly closed my laptop and walked away. Enough is enough. Just kidding, it looks great. I don't own a DD so I might pick one up in the near future. Did you order one?

If I buy any more pedals, I'll have to give up eating. And that won't sit well with the wife and kids. I have the DD mod, and that pretty much covers that territory. The problem with Barber pedals is they are all good. DD's are a marshall in a box, very desirable.

thirstypirate said:

Since I got my LSC I've had my Ch. 1 set at 100W most of the time. It's no wonder because it sounds great and has a ton of headroom for that luscious buttery clean tone. Yesterday I set it up for 10W and set Ch. 2 on 50. It was a sound I've never got from the amp before and I loved it. Ch 1 on 10W with the gain around 12:30 and the Master cranked pretty high sound spongy and old school with some really complex overtones.

I realize that not everyone has an option to use 10W but for those of us who do, what do you think of it?

Click to expand...

So far it has always been set to 100Watts! I need all the headroom I can get!

plan-x said:

If I buy any more pedals, I'll have to give up eating. And that won't sit well with the wife and kids. I have the DD mod, and that pretty much covers that territory. The problem with Barber pedals is they are all good. DD's are a marshall in a box, very desirable.

Click to expand...

So, your family is on the Dave Barber weight loss program.

I don't have any of the DD's. I've wanted to pick one up for a while but I have a Keeley modded DS-1 that's filling that role for me now and I'm sure if I try out the DD the Keeley will be lonely. Is it true in your opinion that the best Direct Drive is the original one with the black knobs?

jjboogie said:

So far it has always been set to 100Watts! I need all the headroom I can get!

Click to expand...

I also left mine at 100w for the longest time but lately I've been getting a ton of great tones using the 50 and 10 settings.

thirstypirate said:

plan-x said:

If I buy any more pedals, I'll have to give up eating. And that won't sit well with the wife and kids. I have the DD mod, and that pretty much covers that territory. The problem with Barber pedals is they are all good. DD's are a marshall in a box, very desirable.

Click to expand...

So, your family is on the Dave Barber weight loss program.

I don't have any of the DD's. I've wanted to pick one up for a while but I have a Keeley modded DS-1 that's filling that role for me now and I'm sure if I try out the DD the Keeley will be lonely. Is it true in your opinion that the best Direct Drive is the original one with the black knobs?

Click to expand...

Barber diet haha. I have the black knobs. They've been the same for a few years now and still call it the new Direct Drive. The older ones had a different signature graphic. As for the best, the DDSS(super sport) is the one everybody is after. So this timely release before Christmas of a pedal that people have been jonesin for is a smart move on his part. I don't think there is a difference in the basic circuit, just internal trims added for the SS. The DD mod has the same trims as the SS, plus more stuff under the hood.