RG50 pre preamp tone fix!!

Here's something I though i'd share with any of you RG50 owners. I don't know about any of you, but I find my RG50 doesn't cut through the din of a band as I would like it. Ie...it sounds very dark and the amp lacks any midrange cut and projection and generally sounds mushy. Well, I might have the answer! I was talking to an amp designer about this and I emailed him the schematic of the amp and he said that."Before the preamp stage, there is a direct copy of a Fender tone circuit which is preset as a scoop. In the preamp circuit there is also the standard tone stack, (bass middle and treble) which is goverend by the preset Fender tone circuit. By bypassing the Fender tone circuit it should give you a greater range of tonal possibilities including all the midrange projection and clarity you amp want." He went on tho say that he couldn't understand why Randall have included this small tone circuit as it effectivley restricts the tone controls. I've been quoted the conversion will cost around ?50! So it's practically dirt cheap, and he can make it reversable! The designer was a designer for a major amp company, so he's reputable. I have the schematic if anyone wants it. All you need is someone that can do the mod for you. It sould only take a couple of hours if that to mod and should dramatically enhance the tone of the amp. He said he's already modded one RG50 and it greatly improves the sound. Mine's being modded tomorrow so i'll let you all know what it's like as soon as I get it back.

Got it back this afternoon, it only took him an hour and a half! He got the preset Fender eq circuit wrong! In fact that circuit is to do with the clean channel. Anyway the mod has made the world of difference, the drive channel is much clearer and only really muddys up when the gain is cranked much further up. I use reasonably high gain, say around the same levels as George Lynch uses on the Wicked Sensation record, it has a much nicer sound and is much more defined. The Celestion Neodynium Century speaker that I fitted also helps this on its way. Prior to the mod, the Celestion Century speaker made no real difference to the sound, it sounded pretty much the same as the Vintage 30 that I also tried, which also sounded the simliar to the Eminence Legend 128 GB that I also tried for reference. 3 very different sounding speakers that still managed to sound the same before the mod. All in all i'm very pleased with the mod, it's given the amp some real tone, not just a wall of gain, although it will still do that I reckon it will cut through the din of a band more efficiently. The next mod i'm looking at is changing the transformers for some better quality ones which are a lot quieter and hopefully some further tonal improvment.

Hi,

I'm very interested by your mod.
Could you send me the schematic?

I should put out that the schematic I have is for the unmodified amp. You need to show the schematic to a qualified amp tech and tell him what you want to be done to it. He will then read it and then tell you what he can do to it for you.
Sorry for any confusion.

No matter.

Thanks.

Here's another mod I picked up from an amp designer, it should go along way, i'm told to remove most of the amps compression and giving the sound more clarity, I guess more of a Marshall thing. I haven't heard this mod in the flesh but i'm thinking of having it done to mine. I can't afford a Soldano or a high end Marshall but the designer did say, "It will go some way towards the sound you are looking for!"

* R4 to 2k7
* C75 to 0.68uF
* C200 and C201 removed altogether
* R38 to 10k
* R42 to 470k

I'm probably going to have this done within the next few months, if anyone has it done in the meantime let me know how it sounds. The reason the amp is so muddy is because it has 5 gain stages instead of the 3 gain stages most other amps have ie. Marshall, Soldano etc, making the sound very compressed and muddy.
longi.