Why doesnt my Q tron like amps w/ a master volume ?

[Tennessee Jedi]

I have OBEL and a buffer and yet any time I play thru a 2 channel amp w/ a master volume the Q-tron gets over-driven/distorts.
One channel amps and the the Q Tron is sweet sounding .... LOVE IT
Its a Qtron mini ... sounds great love it ... with the right amp ...
The distortion cleans up with the channel volume at 1 and the master way up but the volume is gone. And it never cleans up nice all the way ...
Volume knob helps a bit but not enough ..
Amps in the stable - Music Man Head / Peavey Mace / a Peavey head / Fender Twin - all two channel amps with a master volume ....
very frustrating

[Tennessee Jedi]

Any advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

Not really sure why the master volume amps would be any different, but one thought is that maybe you're running the preamp section too high and running out of clean headroom. The quick trick would be to crank the master all the way up, and then turn down the "gain" accordingly. Maybe this gain structure will give cleaner headroom throughout the amp and make it less prone to clip from the Mutron peaks.

B

[Tennessee Jedi]

Not really sure why the master volume amps would be any different, but one thought is that maybe you're running the preamp section too high and running out of clean headroom. The quick trick would be to crank the master all the way up, and then turn down the "gain" accordingly. Maybe this gain structure will give cleaner headroom throughout the amp and make it less prone to clip from the Mutron peaks.

B

Yeah Brad thats what I do --- Master is cranked ,,,, gain knob / channel vol is down ... but then there is no volume ...
And The Q Tron isnt over peaking too - its slightly distorted.
My band mates say go with it - but it sounds like crapp-ola.
Thing I dont get is the Q tron works and sounds as it should with SS one channel gear. As soon as go to the other rigs - the Q tron - sounds crappy .....
The SMS is a one channel pre-amp , right ?
I like how the Q tron sounds with the SS state gear - my reverbnation page has a Shakedown and Estimated jam segments up - Its a decent Qtron Tone I think ...
SMS Time ???????

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

You axin' me?? It's always SMS time....

[playingdead]

Sounds like a problem with overdriving the input on that two-channel amp, not necessarily a function of its master volume. The other amp might have more headroom. When the envelope opens up, as Brad said, it's a very sharp spike and can overdrive everything.

Try putting something with a level control right in front of the amp, like an EQ set flat and back off the volume going in a little bit and see if that doesn't clean it up. On a Fender amp, you could plug into the 2 jack instead of the 1 for lower gain going in.

Or, get the SMS!

[JonnyBoy]

An SMS-> mac is a master volume preamp/amp set up. I would venture to say that the amps you have chosen either need some tune ups, or you need to EQ the guitar tone going into the Qtron. I use a GE-7 before my Qtron. I thought I would use it for my Distortion or OD but it lives by the Qtron. The GE-7 is the "tone" knob for the qtron in my case. It really can dial in a great tone from it with any amp. I have noticed using different amps makes my Qtron act weird. my twin a year ago was sounding sweet, It now needs to be recapped and a new set of tubes. Guitar player in my band put new tubes in his AC-15 and it is SO LOUD and CLEAN. amazing what new tubes can do.

FWIW I found a guy on ebay that is selling me a whole filter cap package and a set of 4- 6l6 GC tubes for under 40 bucks. All new stuff, he is just trying to liquidate it. If you have an amp that needs a redo, I'll let you know how they are.

[hippieguy1954]

An SMS-> mac is a master volume preamp/amp set up. I would venture to say that the amps you have chosen either need some tune ups, or you need to EQ the guitar tone going into the Qtron. I use a GE-7 before my Qtron. I thought I would use it for my Distortion or OD but it lives by the Qtron. The GE-7 is the "tone" knob for the qtron in my case. It really can dial in a great tone from it with any amp. I have noticed using different amps makes my Qtron act weird. my twin a year ago was sounding sweet, It now needs to be recapped and a new set of tubes. Guitar player in my band put new tubes in his AC-15 and it is SO LOUD and CLEAN. amazing what new tubes can do.

FWIW I found a guy on ebay that is selling me a whole filter cap package and a set of 4- 6l6 GC tubes for under 40 bucks. All new stuff, he is just trying to liquidate it. If you have an amp that needs a redo, I'll let you know how they are.

Yea, something is not right. I have a Twin with a master volume and a Qtron. I always have the master on the twin on 10 (this almost eliminates the master volume). The channel volume is the "volume" control. Even with the channel volume on 2 or 3, it still triggers the Qtron just fine. I agree with JonnyBoy.

[Tennessee Jedi]

Thanks for all the feedback - I appreciate how the board shares its knowledge and experience
- I like the new tube thing - the twin is loaded with ruby tubes - they suck , right ?
Vic I like the idea of the putting some EQ before the amp - do you mean last in the pedal chain or outside the FX loop ?

Yea, something is not right. I have a Twin with a master volume and a Qtron. I always have the master on the twin on 10 (this almost eliminates the master volume). The channel volume is the "volume" control. Even with the channel volume on 2 or 3, it still triggers the Qtron just fine. I agree with JonnyBoy.

This is what Im doing - and the higher the channel volume the more distortion the Q tron has. If I lower it it cleans up a bit.
Messing with the volume control seems to help a bit too.
Hippieguy -it is frustrating and driving me nuts .... cant play Dead without a nice Mu sound ....
Anyway I'll get the twin to the shop and get some JJ's in and see if that helps ...
Meanwhile I am amp-less.
Its a scary feeling.

[hippieguy1954]

Thanks for all the feedback - I appreciate how the board shares its knowledge and experience
- I like the new tube thing - the twin is loaded with ruby tubes - they suck , right ?
Vic I like the idea of the putting some EQ before the amp - do you mean last in the pedal chain or outside the FX loop ?

Yea, something is not right. I have a Twin with a master volume and a Qtron. I always have the master on the twin on 10 (this almost eliminates the master volume). The channel volume is the "volume" control. Even with the channel volume on 2 or 3, it still triggers the Qtron just fine. I agree with JonnyBoy.

This is what Im doing - and the higher the channel volume the more distortion the Q tron has. If I lower it it cleans up a bit.
Messing with the volume control seems to help a bit too.
Hippieguy -it is frustrating and driving me nuts .... cant play Dead without a nice Mu sound ....
Anyway I'll get the twin to the shop and get some JJ's in and see if that helps ...
Meanwhile I am amp-less.
Its a scary feeling.

Yea being amp-less sucks, but it shouldn't take very long to get it right. Twins are not that complicated when it comes to changing and upgrading tubes and other components. I only keep my twin for a back up at this point, but still love it. I use a SMS classic Jerry into a rocktron velocity 300 into a 2 x12 cab with E120's as my main rig. Also, there are many more GD songs with out a Mu sound than there are with it. I do understand your frustration though. I think many of us have gone through the same thing as you or very similar lol.