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Post subject: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 11:33 am
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Bought a new DRRI today. I used to have one years ago, but like an idiot, traded it for a Mesa/Boogie. Well, I'm back in the fold and man, this thing sounds awesome.

I'm playing a Clapton Strat through it with a tube screamer (TS-9 Re-issue). I play blues, classic rock and country. Any advice on taming the high end a bit? I was considering replacing the stock Jenson speaker with a Weber. Would that do it? How 'bout Alnico vs. Ceramic? Will I lose clean headroom with Alnico?

Any advice is welcome.

Thanks,

Darryl


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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 11:50 am
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Give the OEM speaker time to fully break in before making any replacement decisions -- say, thirty or forty hours of play. I'm not a fan of the import Jensen re-issues but its tone may improve as the driver ages.

Should you decide to replace it, an alnico speaker will deliver some nice warm compression when overdriven while a ceramic produces a more contemporary "in your face" vibe. Both are good of course, dependent upon the type of music you play.

HTH

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 12:09 pm
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Thanks for the tips. I'll give the stock Jenson some break in time. Does the alnico break up earlier than the ceramic? That's a concern because I need all the clean headroom I can get for the older country stuff we play.


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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 12:17 pm
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The alnico *might* but that'd be contingent on the particular driver's power handling capability. A Weber 12A125 will begin to break up in a DRRI more quickly than a Weber 12A150. For classic country stuff and general rock and blues, a modern ceramic may better suit your requirements......say, an Eminence Swamp Thang or a Red, White & Blues. Both will enhance your amp's clean headroom.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 5:01 am
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Congrats on the new amp. +1 on breaking in the stock speaker. Mine sounds fine to my ear. The worst thing was it would fart out when breaking up, but that doesn't happen anymore. I get clean headroom up to 4 on the volume, after that, some typical DRRi breakup. All I've done so far is swap the stock tubes to JJs. I think they cleaned up the tone a bit.


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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 7:44 am
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Thanks for the tips on breaking the stock speaker in. I played it for almost eight hours last night (I'm o.c.d. like that :) ) and I've got to admit, it does sound really good. I can imagine that it'll sound even better after about 40-50 hours on it. This amp really does sound amazing...very articulate compared to the HRDxIII it replaced. I don't know why I waited so long to buy it. Between the amp and my one pedal I've been able to nail all the sounds that I'll ever need. My wife even commented on it yesterday (and she never comments about guitar stuff). I was playing along with some backing tracks and she said that she thought it was a CD playing instead of me. The volume is perfect as well. I really couldn't recommend this amp highly enough.


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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:09 am
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They're truly great amps, Darryl -- perhaps the most versatile of FMIC's entire lineup.

Congrats and......

ROCK ON!

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:16 am
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Welcome to the Forum!! Congrats on the DRRI. Fabulous amp, You'll love it!!!

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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:48 pm
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Thanks for the welcome. I played the heck out of it today. It sounds so good that I just can't stop. The reverb is quite nice too. I'm really liking the o.d. sounds with my TS-9 plugged into it too. And of course it sounds fabulous to overdrive the amp...around 6 on the volume with the mid-boost on my guitar cranked. Not quite early Clapton tones, but very close.

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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:51 am
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"My one wish when I die is that my wife doesn't sell my guitar stuff for what I told her I paid for it..."

LMFAO at your sig line, Darryl!

:mrgreen:

I took my two Deluxe Reverbs to my gig tonight -- a vintage '67 and a re-issue '93.

They sound awesome together!

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:56 am
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I'll bet they do sound awesome together!

What O.D. pedal do you use (if any)? I've tried many over the years (various ts-9/ts-8 clones, OCD, Fulldrive, etc.) I seem to always come back to the ts-9.

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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 1:24 am
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I use a Fulltone OCD and a Zoom amp simulator, with a Radial Big Shot A/B/Y to feed the signals to either amp or both simultaneously.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:08 am
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Definitely listen to the advice on breaking in the speaker properly before deciding to swap. If you check my earlier posts you will see i'm doing the same thing.

In addition, I can advise that you should wait until you play with a band or in a band like atmosphere before deciding. At home practicing, yes, the treble boost is quite noticeable. But while playing with my new band I noticed that my tone sits nicely with the frequencies of the other instruments. And the treble boost helps it to cut through.

So wait before deciding to modify.


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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:43 am
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Blind Gilbo wrote:
In addition, I can advise that you should wait until you play with a band or in a band like atmosphere before deciding. At home practicing, yes, the treble boost is quite noticeable. But while playing with my new band I noticed that my tone sits nicely with the frequencies of the other instruments. And the treble boost helps it to cut through.


+1

It's interesting that no matter how a particular amp sounds during a store demo or when played in the privacy of one's home, it's usually an altogether different sonic situation when playing live with a band.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Bought a new DRRI today...
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 4:44 pm
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I played through it with my band the other night. Actually it sounded great...didn't notice excessive high end at all. I think I'm going to keep the stock speaker. You guys are right - there is a major difference from practicing at home to playing with a band. I can't believe it sounds so different.

I'm not altogether certain that I'm content with my O.D. sound though. I found my tube screamer sounds really great at home but with the band it's just....well... lacking something. I've heard lots of good stuff about Fulltone's Plimsoul on other boards. I think I might give that one a try.

-Darryl

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