Crate V5 mods... anyone?

[jim p]

I wish the schematic mark ups were still on line, oh well. I should remember the mod, but it has been awhile. I don’t recall if the tone pot is a linear or audio (log) taper but there is way more signal across it then required you could parallel it with 25k to 50k ohms. The mod was to just use what you have with no new parts required. As far as ice pick tone I think just having an op amp as the input stage causes a brighter and colder tone from the amp. You could try adding some feedback capacitance on the first tube stage say 33pf to 100pf from the plate pin 6 to the control grid pin 7.

[Christopher Whitlow]

Thanks guys! I'm not afraid to add a resistor or change the entire pot. I did this after practicing on junk toys and have since installed a Keeley type mod in my DS-1 and "true" bypassed my CryBaby. Turns out a friend of mine is really good at soldering and gave me some great pointers so now my parts come out clean and get good connections MOST the time At this point my biggest biggest problem is lack of knowledge, I was all proud because I remembered that resistors in series add up in value lol!
Jim, when you say to parallel the pot with 25-50k is that a resistor across the pot lugs? If so thats way easy to check out while I look into the taper. I have CTS and Alpha pots lying around but mostly all of them will be 250 500k A&Bs for my guitars so if the amps pot is labeled with a low value can I just replace with a higher value audio pot?

I know these are way newb questions and I appreciate you guys still checking in on this thread. Any suggested reading/study material for an intelligent mechanically inclined older gentleman to learn from? I found resistor charts and schematic keys and studied PCBs to see the power flow and I sorta get it but think an "electronics for dummies" sorta thing might be in order.

[tunghaichuan***]

I know these are way newb questions and I appreciate you guys still checking in on this thread. Any suggested reading/study material for an intelligent mechanically inclined older gentleman to learn from? I found resistor charts and schematic keys and studied PCBs to see the power flow and I sorta get it but think an "electronics for dummies" sorta thing might be in order.

Here is the motherload of tube amp related books:

Peter Millett's Tech Books Online

There is enough there to keep you busy for a long time.

Here is another good book to start with:

Jack Darr's Guitar Amplifier Handbook

This is a good, basic intro to tube amps. It was written in the 60s and later expanded in the early 70s so there is no discussion of FX loops, channel switching, or distortion circuits, but it covers the basics of how tubes and amps work, and how to fix them. It is also available in print, and it is well worth it to have a hard copy as the above .pdf files only are about half of the book. The other half is a bunch of 60s and 70s era tube amp schematics, which make the book well worth the price.

[Christopher Whitlow]

Here is the motherload of tube amp related books:

Peter Millett's Tech Books Online

There is enough there to keep you busy for a long time.

Here is another good book to start with:

Jack Darr's Guitar Amplifier Handbook

This is a good, basic intro to tube amps. It was written in the 60s and later expanded in the early 70s so there is no discussion of FX loops, channel switching, or distortion circuits, but it covers the basics of how tubes and amps work, and how to fix them. It is also available in print, and it is well worth it to have a hard copy as the above .pdf files only are about half of the book. The other half is a bunch of 60s and 70s era tube amp schematics, which make the book well worth the price.

Huge thanks!