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Sounds fine to me. I think I can hear what you are talking about though.

Try disabling the reverb as that can cause harshness with the vintage lo/hi modes.

What power tubes did are you using?

I wonder if you are running your power tubes overly hot, either accidentally or by choice. You may also be getting a thermistor effect from a bad bias component that lets the power tubes run away (the hotter it gets, the hotter it tries to get). A tech might not catch that by just quickly checking bias with no power output.

You might also be losing gain in the PI. Often "harsh and lifeless" means "not pushing the power stage". You could be getting unintended headroom by losing drive signal.

You have your Volume(gain) turned way down. Increasing the volume and decreasing the Master should bring back all the huge low end and warmth. Does it still sound lifeless dialed in this way?

Hollis said:

You have your Volume(gain) turned way down. Increasing the volume and decreasing the Master should bring back all the huge low end and warmth. Does it still sound lifeless dialed in this way?

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+1!! The volume (gain) needs to be turned up, and then set the overall volume of the amp with the Master. This should make a BIG difference!!

Yes, master DOWN, volume up. And shut the reverb OFF. The reverb turned on at low to medium volumes kills the tone.

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I could tell that yours was a bit darker. Like you said, I'm sure it's way more obvious in the room. What guitar and pickups are you using?

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timop82 said:

Hollis said:

I could tell that yours was a bit darker. Like you said, I'm sure it's way more obvious in the room. What guitar and pickups are you using?

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Yes, it was darker and much weaker sounding that seems to be hard to hear from the video. It felt like 10W amp compared to 100W amp.

Another thing about the reference Ed it seemed quite more trebly than my old ED before the issue. Same rig and guitar.... weird. Is it possible there is so much difference between two ED, maybe bias or something? Both got Mesa branded tubes.

Timo

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You may also be surprised at the difference preamp tubes can make - the same brand, batch, etc can have quite a wide range. Thanks!