Nitro still sounding like flabby ass

[MetalHeart]

Dec 15, 2010 12:52:45 GMT -5 porkchops said:

It's been a while since I used KT88's but don't they bias somewhere in the 50's? Values in the 30's sound like EL34's bias range.

My KT88s were value at 32,that don't mean you bias at 32. I bias at 52 ma. Its the whole tube breakup,headroom thing

[splawndude]

Good point guys - biasing the amp to 31 for KT88s would be an awfully cold bias - but it would still work. The problems he is describing actually sound like his amp is biased too HOT.

But like I said, until you actually read the plate voltage and cathode bias you'll never know what you are dealing with. You can do this first part safely without even opening the amp. You just need a bias probe and a multimeter. You can find 'cheapish' ones on eurotubes.com

[stompboxfreak1972]

I hated my Nitro through Mesa cabs. Not saying that it was bad... I just hated it.

Got a Splawn 2x12 and problems solved. No more uncontrollable flubby bass. Just saying. YEMV.

[flgearnut]

i know this thread has been open a while...thought id give an update to whats been done:

I decided to try swapping out all my pre's for new ones. I ordered a quartet of JJ high gain pre's from Laura @ valve queen and while they gave the amp a slightly different tonal character, it did what i wanted. It tightened the amp back up a good bit. Ive just realized that in order to get any amp "tight tight" i HAVE to be running a clean boost in front of it. I should also say the JJ pre's are really quiet tubes. Even with the amp gain at 1 o' clock and an OD808 engaged in front of the amp, i get nothing more than a low hiss coming through my speakers..

[banenis]

Yeah I'm baffled at how quiet the nitro is. I use a two stage gate in my rig and I keep the threshold all the way down so it's only gating the pickup noise when I'm not playing. dead silent otherwise. No amp noise at all. Way to go Splawn.

[snappinnecks]

Dec 13, 2010 22:08:59 GMT -5 flgearnut said:

Ok a while back I posted that my Nitro was having tone issues. The low end when palm muting is anything but tight and defined. Its extremely loose, thuddy, and dark. Ive tried a ton of different EQ settings and the only thing that tightens it up is running my maxon boost ALL THE TIME. While id use the boost anyway, I dont like the fact the amp sounds borderline unuseable without the boost.

to update, today I received a brand new quartet of KT88's from the guys at splawn. I popped em in and while they gave the amp better headroom than the old tubes, the amp still hasnt tightened up any on the OD channel. My preamp tubes arent even a year old yet and I havent touched the bias from the factory either. I'm just wondering what else my options are. Its getting to the point I dont wanna play through the amp much and im about ready to sell it off and get something else.

Any advice? Ive thought about trying JJ high gain pre's but dont know if that 60 dollar expense will solve anything. Would the bias being off make this happen?

Haven't been on here in a while and saw this. Yikes.
Here is the deal. Amps are voiced for STANDARD TUNING.
When you drop tune depending on how far down you go your amp will start to loose tightness the lower you go. A Nitro is a modern voiced amp for a standard tuned guitar. When you play in drop tuning which I am assuming since you use a boost to tighten up palm mutes you have to back off the gain a bit and also crank the mids, turn down the bass, and make sure you adjust the presence to taste for the amp to have good cut. I personally don't like KT88s in a Nitro since the Nitro already has huge bass. I play in drop B and my Nitro needed a swift kick in the mids to get it where I was happy. Also check you bias. I have found that biasing Splawns by ear work the best for getting the tight tone you seek. What I do is I bias it to 32MA (on EL34s) and then turn the amp on, let it warm up, and then start playing some riffs (palm muted stuff) to get the flabb out. Then check the reading (usually around 30-31MA) to make sure it is not out of range and then thats it. I think people are mislead by the Nitro having a modern voice. When I buy amps I focus on how much midrange it has instead of low end. I have to eq out most of the low end when mixing anyway. Guitars are meant to cover the midrange frequencies.
Here is a link to a scratch track using a Nitro with no boost, Boss eq in the loop, using a PRS SE singlecut with a Tremonti Treble pup in the bridge. www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmkEJDD-3lE
Maybe running an eq in the loop will help you.