Pignose G40V

[lpdeluxe]

I know this is old news to most everybody, but I just got a Pignose G40V. I have already changed out the speaker to an Eminence Patriot Series Ragin Cajun 10", and I have to say, this is an awesome little amp!. Soon I will pull the head out and do the mods from the original GuitarNuts site. Any one here have any advice, warnings, alerts, bulletins? ;D

[erikh]

The only advice I can give you is to be careful. Tube amps have deadly voltages inside. Definitely discharge all the caps before digging around.

[lpdeluxe]

Always good advice. My tube amp experience goes back to my 1963 Sears Silvertone Twin Twelve, which has electrocuted me so many times I have renamed it "Old Sparky."

[guitarist]

Get the 1st tube heaters on DC. (Blue Guitar) I did this and super quiet. Just a hush sound. It was annoying before that.
I also inserted an effects loop after the tone stack.
HTH

[lpdeluxe]

Thanks. I'll look at Blue Guitar. I have had another amp, with an effects loop, since 1982, without using the loop, so that's pretty low on the list.

[dinis64]

Guitarist Said:

I also inserted an effects loop after the tone stack.

I've wanted to do that mod, but when he started talking about "buffered inputs", I wasn't sure if I could use standard stomp boxes with that mod.

Is it okay to use standard stomp boxes with that mod?!

If so, I'm doing it. I've asked around about this a lot but never got an answer.

[bottomend]

I just picked up a G 40 for super cheeeeep a few days ago. I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I wanted something small to record at home in a low volume situation... hopefull get some crunch, ya know?

I got it home and was quite impressed to say the least!

I've already changed the speaker. The stock unit is a joke to say the least. I had a couple of 12" Fane's marked as Hiwatt's that I'd removed from my Hiwatt SA 2-12 combo ( got EV 12L's in there now... can you say HEAVEY!!!!!) so I figured i'd give it a try. It was a noticable improvement.
It took me a couple of days to modify the front baffel to accomidate the larger speaker but it fits good. Looks cool too! The thing is kinda alian looking. Like it's got a big head or something....

The next thing I'm gonna do is cut the holes in the top of the amp as per the advice of the Amp mod dude. I found some standard rack ( 19") width grill stuff that'll be perfect. I'll cut two slots on either side of the handle running along the lenght of the handle. It should actually look like a stock piece.

Another thing I'm doing is closing in the back. I'm pulling out the bottom piece of wood that runs along the back and then moving the tube protection grill to the highest point ( right up near the amp itself) in the cabinate. Then enclosing the space between the two areas. there will still be plenty of air circulateing because of the top opening and I should get some added bass response by having the cab closed in.

I'll tackle the electronic mods when the cabinate stuff is finished....

[lpdeluxe]

I'm not that adventurous -- yet -- but for the price I could probably buy another one to mess with. Yesterday I traded out the 12AX7 for a 12AT7, and the improvement in tone was immediate.

Can anyone recommend a reverb pedal to use with this beast? I am strongly considering gigging with it as a harp amp pretty soon, but I gotta have reverb.

[bottomend]

So, lpdeluxe, did you just replace the tube... or did you do the resistor mod as well?

I read about the second mod to the amp and I think I'll do both at the same time.

My band played our first gig yesterday and we used the Pig. It was running through a Vox 2-12" cab and it sounded very good. Master and pre were set at 9:00 and it was plenty loud enough to blend with a decently loud drummer in an acoustically terrible room.

[lpdeluxe]

No resistor/capacitor mods yet. I'm very happy with the sound I'm getting and I may use it like this for awhile. I was out looking for a reverb pedal yesterday and discovered the music store has a G60VR Pig in stock with a reverb, but it's quite a bit larger, heavier, and more expensive. Plus it doesn't have the covering made from real vinyl pigs. I did try the Danelectro Corned Beef slap echo, and it was pitiful.

[bottomend]

Well, I guess I'll try popping in a tube first and seeing what it does to the sound.

I'm gonna take it to a club tonight and have a guitarist friend play through it and give me his opinion. I'm actually a bassist, so I'm looking for " feedback' on this thing.

where do you live lpdeluxe?

[lpdeluxe]

I spent the afternoon with the Green Bullet harp mike plugged in, then my Chet Atkins Country Gent. Nice amp. I think your git player'll like it.

I'm in Deep East Texas, otherwise known as the Oldest Town In Texas [not counting other contenders].

[lpdeluxe]

I just got a Danelectro Corned Beef Reverb [yuck!] and plugged it and my DOD Tube Emulator pedal into the Piggy.


Wow. This is it, guys.

[bottomend]

Well, I took the amp to a blues gig. the harp player didn't have an amp with him ( it's a very loose gig) So I told him he could plug into my little piggy.

I thought it sounded really good. It's the sound I hear guys getting when I sit in the audience and think.. " hey, that guy sounds good".

It had a nice cranking OD tone for sure. I need to get this mod done though because there is just too much distortion to early in the sweep of the knob . If I understand correctly, the Mod will allow a person to crank the pre-amp a little more before it goes into crunch, right?

I let a friend who is an excellent guitarist plug in to the amp with his '62 335 ( yep... a real one... very sweet and in great shape too!) He said he was really impressed with the tone and not just for the $75 I paid for it. I love this little guy!

[lpdeluxe]

That's great. A friend called from DC about his upcoming visit and told me he got a new amp that he gigs with -- a Pignose G40V. They are everywhere. He runs a Martin with a pickup directly into it and reports great tone. His is stock.

My understanding is that the guitarnut mods allow more gradual dialing in of overdrive. I have to say, though, that the preamp tube sub was a serious improvement. Yesterday I had my Country Gent plugged into a DOD Tube Emulator and the Dan-o reverb, and it made me feel pretty good. I ordered an A/B floor switch so I can plug the guitar into the DOD, then into one side of the switcher, and the harp mic into the reverb, then the other side, then into the amp. This will allow me to switch back and forth. I also play a mic'd Dobro (never have found a pickup that sounds worth a squat) and this will keep everything under control.

[UnklMickey]

the mods are mostly sound, but i'd recommend against changing the cathode resistor (R17) on v2b.
if you do change it, don't use a 12ax7. you'll be running about 500% of max plate current at idle. the configuration of the front end is way too cold for my taste. Try replacing the cathode resistors on v1a&b with 1.5k You can go even lower, but if you do, increase the value of the plate resistors to limit the max current. about 220k should allow you to try anything you want on the cathodes. You could bypass R11,12,and16 fully with 50uF caps or just leave them unbypassed for less gain. Obviously you would never bypass R17. If you really want to get into it, replace the marshall style tone stack with a baxandall. Consider adding some resistance in series with the rectifier to provide some sag. You also could configure v2b as a common cathode amp (like v1a&b and v2a). You might use the middle pot not used in the new tone circuit to trim the signal going into it.