5150 Clean channel

[pedr0666]

Hi Jerry,i have the 5150 with block letters and have done the bias mod which is running just under the recommended max setting.I have a very low gain pre-amp tube in the centre tube slot.Now the clean channel is a little better but without chorus and delay it sounds like me plugging my guitar into a car stereo,its just awfull.Now ive heard of people putting a really low gain valve in the 1st postion instead of middle postion,is this a better option?i know id lose some overall gain but the 5150 has a ton of it and i only ever run it on 4-5 anyway with no external distortion devices.Any advice would be great

cheers
pete

[Jerry P]

The 5150 clean channel will never sound great. The clean channel runs thru 6 gain stages so it's always going to have a little grit to it. Running lower gain tubes can help a little. I would try the lower gain tube in the first spot, farthest to the right looking in from the back. Running a 12AT7 in the phase inverter spot helps too. That's the preamp tube closest to the power tubes.
Plugging into the low input jack and/or rolling the guitar volume down a bit helps too.
Jerry