Finally found cure for Ace combo excessive brightness

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amused

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Evidence Audio Siren II Speaker cable
Amazing difference, strong bass the wierd harsh highs are gone.
it costs $5.90 a foot in bulk from lavacable.com, or you can buy cables premade.
For combo you need 2 feet of cable, solder a 1/4" right angle plug on one end and speaker tags on the other.

Before this I replaced my gtr -> pedalboard and pedalboard -> amp switcher cables with Lyric HG (again bulk)
this also made a big difference, and my pedalboard cables with monorail (very transparent).
tubes currently v1 gt12ax7m, v2 gtecc83, v3-5 mesa, STR450 power tubes.
it is probably a cumulative effect of all the cables but the speaker cable
appeared to make the largest single difference and is pretty inexpensive to try.
Blew me away.

(edited to make more sense)
 
hard to believe, not that I don't believe it, just hard to believe.

you need 1 1/2 - 2 feet, solder on 1/4" one end put tags the other

What does that sentence mean? Just buy 1 1/2 fee and put a couple of 1/4" plugs on each end? What is "put tags the other"?
 
I find it a bit odd too. Are you getting a fee for plugging this company? Although the tubes might make a difference, you make it sound like night and day. I am going to be picking up and Ace pretty soon and love it, but I think it must take more than these minor changes to make such a dramatic difference.
 
>>you need 1 1/2 - 2 feet, solder on 1/4" one end put tags the other

by this I mean the length of the speaker cable on the ace combo is 2 feet long
one end of the cable has a 1/4" right angle switchcraft plug soldered to it, the other end is soldered to the speaker.
I soldered tags on that end instead and pushed them over the speaker terminals, just in case I got the terminals too hot while soldering. This wire has six solid core cables, 3 for positive and 3 for negative so it takes take a little more heat than normal to solder it. cable info is here http://www.evidenceaudio.com//product.html

>>I find it a bit odd too. Are you getting a fee for plugging this company?

absolutely not - after changing various things in my Ace over the last 12 months I found this cable made the most difference to the harshness and wanted to share this with the people here, who I got the ideas to change things from in the first place. ymmv.
 
Thanks for the heads up regarding your findings. If I run into the same issue I'll consider this as a possible option for a cure.
 
amp is bright and punchy in a good way for me. I play mostly rhythm and solos as well. One thing i find is that a 4x12 metal grillcab loaded with all EVs is the best combination for me. Good tubes might also be playing a factor.
v1-gold pin jj
v2-old american phillips
v3-groovtubes mullard
v4-gold pin jj
v5-mesa russian
Winged C's for power tubes.
I wanted to share my input on this topic; the stiletto ACE is my favorite mesa to this day.
I also own a C+..but for some reason it has been taking the backseat to the stiletto these days.
Maybe it's because I started playing marshall first.
 
Agreed, both tubes and speaker are definitely the biggest part of the equation.
I tried an EV Thiel cab with the Ace but I preferred the V30 for some reason.
I guess what I am describing is a way to tame the "squawk" from the V30 in the combo.
 
I was thinking that maybe a higher rated greenback clone might be a good option or even a celestion 12-65. I like the vintage 30s, but the upper mid hum could be bothersome for some and I think a more balanced mid eq speaker might do the trick. Anyone out there using something besides the stock speaker in the Ace combo?
 
Personally, I ran JJ's all around in my ACE into a Mesa 4X12 w/V30's. High gain JJ's in the preamp and JJ EL34L's in the power section.

That solved all the complaints I usually hear about the ACE. It...

1. Tames the brightness.
2. Beefs up the low end.
3. Slightly increases headroom.

I run different tubes in my Deuce, but for the ACE head's I've had, it was JJ's all around.
 
So the high gain JJs took care of this? I wouldn't think this amp would need even higher gain capabilities as it is a hard rock amp at heart. How do these effect the clean channel? I have found that the clean channel on bright amps is more of an issue than the dirty one. Let us know.
 
well boys and girls...I just just put EVs in my ACE 2x12 combo and it sounds amazing!! I may not need the 4x12 for shows after all. All I can say is the sound is very warm and that ice-pick presence that a lot have a problem with is definately not there; then again it never was ther for me, based on my settings and tube choices. Have fun and try this combination out if you are felling froggy one day and also have the means to do it.
 
Stonge said:
well boys and girls...I just just put EVs in my ACE 2x12 combo and it sounds amazing!! I may not need the 4x12 for shows after all. All I can say is the sound is very warm and that ice-pick presence that a lot have a problem with is definately not there; then again it never was ther for me, based on my settings and tube choices. Have fun and try this combination out if you are felling froggy one day and also have the means to do it.

Do you need hand trucks to move it now? :wink:
 
so did anyone try the speaker cables?
its the most improvement I got for $20 since I changed V1.
 
I did some research on those EV speakers and the message I got from a bunch of reviews is that they are pretty bright/treble spiked speakers. I'm not doubting your findings, as that is from my eyes, not my ears. As for other research, I have noticed that Celestion g12-65s seem to be very balanced and seem to be simply higher wattage greenbacks and sound like a great alternative to the upper mid spike of the vintage 30. Anyone have any experience with these speakers that could chime in?
 
for hitman:
I have not tried 65s yet, although I used to play marshall through a jcm800(65s) 4x12 for years. However, I did get a chance to try a greenback 4x12 w/ it..to me it was a nice lead tone for sure, but i wasn't getting the rhythm tones that I wanted..a little too much preamp gain sounding. But then again I am kind of sick of that celestion voicing sound. I am really attached the the EVs these days. I like speakers that wont break up lol. The EV speaker is a very balanced speaker..Honestly I dont know why mesa stopped using them. They show the true color to almost any amp. I am currently using a forklift since I blew my back out with this baby to move her around hahaha. but seriously - XCases have some bad *** casters that will roll over anything and anybody.
 
Thanks for the insight. I have a Marshall 1960TV loaded with greenbacks that I play with a JCM2000 DSL50 and I love them. They are really balanced and breakup nicely. I know you said you don't like breakup, but to each their own. I think they sound great for either lead or rhythm, but I think that you could get the lead tone you are looking for with an eq pedal. As for the 12-65s, could you please describe the tone. I have never heard these speakers and I am only going on internet research. I know you haven't tried them with a Stiletto, but just your impression overall and what you think they might sound like in a Stiletto Ace combo.

Thanks in advance!!
 
65s were and still are probably some of my favorite speakers. The only problem that I found w/ them is that they do not cut as much as say a C90 does. I would say that those are both kinda similar speakers in my opinion. Another thing is it seems that everyone says that 65s are not too good for clean..this I can sort of agree with. The speakers are definately very wooly, I mainly liked them because they kill the ice-picky frequencies commonly produced by a crank marshall. When I discovered mesa, it was all over from there..it's pretty much mesa everything now. I however would like to hear a stiletto through them some day. There is this guy down hall from us at our practice space who just inherited an original 65 (england) 4x12. We told him what he had so he might bring it by one of these days I am sure lol.
 
Different tubes worked the best for mine. Tungsol's in V1 and V2. Also TS EL 34B's in the power slots. The 34B's made the most difference.

Tried a Private Jack from one of my other amps and it sounded pretty interesting for the 10 minutes that I tried it. :mrgreen:
 
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