Pignose G40V ...... Sounds Bad.

jwells393 · December 2nd, 2004, 03:20 PM

I recently purchased a Pignose G40V described as brand new and also described as having a very warm tone. It appears to be new ......... looks new and has all the hang tags and such. It arrived well packed with no apparant damage. This thing has a very shrill sound and appears to be distorting ........... especially noticable with chords........definitely not what you would expect from a tube amp.
I have an old 68 Twin Reverb and a couple of solid state amps to compare it to and they all sound so much better. I've never played any other G40V
Has anyone else had similar experience or have any suggestions for this situation?

Raymond · December 2nd, 2004, 03:55 PM

Sorry to learn that... I'd say that your amp has nothing wrong; it's just a bad amp. That's what I think about all those Pignose amps.

Of course, a lot of people have told me that "it can be improved by just changing the tubes, the speaker, the x, the y".... what's the point? It'd better to just a get a good amp in the first place like your Twin Reverb!

If you're looking for a small tube amp, send that thing back and get yourself a used Champ, a Peavey classic 30 or a Blues Jr.

Matt Plescher · December 2nd, 2004, 08:28 PM

I know Praisecaster uses one. I don't know if he visits Amp Central, you might drop him a PM.

I've generally heard pretty good things about these amps.

Cheers
Matt

DADGAD · December 2nd, 2004, 09:37 PM

I've got a G40V and use it primarily as my Tele amp. The amp and speaker are fine. Dump the Chinese tubes. When I received mine, it sounded just as you describe. Looking in the back, the plate on one of the output tubes was glowing red. BAD TUBE.

My G40V is currently packing an Amperex ECC83 for V1, G.E. 12AX7LP in V2, RCA 12AT7 blackplate in V3 and a pair of RCA Blackplate 6L6GC's for outputs. Since those tubes are hard to find, and pricey, I'd recommend Ei & JJ Tesla's. Get some Ei ECC83/12AX7 tubes in the preamp & driver stages and a pair of JJ 6L6GC in the output and she'll be a sweet little rocker. Those tubes are easily obtainable and prices are very affordable.

Congratulations. It's a good, portable tube amp. Plugged into an extension cab, well, it's sweet. 8)

Gary

Ptrallan01 · December 3rd, 2004, 04:41 PM

if the problem is harshness in the sound. If you search the forum here you will find several responses to my similar questions. My amp sounds much better with new tubes but I still have humming that I haven't addressed yet. The humming isn't noticable when playing at volume but I wouldn't record at low volume with it. My amp also sounds incredible when its raining or extremely humid. Don't know why. I got it used and it was in bad shape but for $100 bucks more than worth it.

Peter

DADGAD · December 3rd, 2004, 04:59 PM

FWIW - There is some G40V discussion here, including some hum fix talk. http://tdpri.com/viewtopic.php?p=167...um+loop#167300

jwells393 · December 15th, 2004, 02:39 PM

I've replaced the tubes as suggested by DADGAD and opened up the amp and found that the ground of the input jack was already grounded to the chassis ground point.
The amp sounds pretty good now but has a fairly loud and anoying hum when the Master Volume is turned up with nothing plugged in.
Has anyone with a similar problem come up with a solution?

December 2nd, 2004, 03:20 PM	#1 (permalink)
jwells393 Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Albuquerque, USA Age: 64 Posts: 12,487 101 Photos	Pignose G40V ...... Sounds Bad. I recently purchased a Pignose G40V described as brand new and also described as having a very warm tone. It appears to be new ......... looks new and has all the hang tags and such. It arrived well packed with no apparant damage. This thing has a very shrill sound and appears to be distorting ........... especially noticable with chords........definitely not what you would expect from a tube amp. I have an old 68 Twin Reverb and a couple of solid state amps to compare it to and they all sound so much better. I've never played any other G40V Has anyone else had similar experience or have any suggestions for this situation? __________________ Jack's Disclaimer: When I say something.... always ask yourself ..... "What the hell does he know?" _ Guys - learn to disable the flash on your digital cameras.

December 2nd, 2004, 03:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
Raymond Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Herndon, VA Posts: 2,417 3 Photos	Sorry to learn that... I'd say that your amp has nothing wrong; it's just a bad amp. That's what I think about all those Pignose amps. Of course, a lot of people have told me that "it can be improved by just changing the tubes, the speaker, the x, the y".... what's the point? It'd better to just a get a good amp in the first place like your Twin Reverb! If you're looking for a small tube amp, send that thing back and get yourself a used Champ, a Peavey classic 30 or a Blues Jr. __________________ "That's a hard pill to swallow, buddy; when you find out what the blues is all about"

December 2nd, 2004, 08:28 PM	#3 (permalink)
Matt Plescher Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: West Michigan Posts: 837	I know Praisecaster uses one. I don't know if he visits Amp Central, you might drop him a PM. I've generally heard pretty good things about these amps. Cheers Matt __________________ She's not your satellite She doesn't miss you So turn off your smoke machine And Marshall stack

December 2nd, 2004, 09:37 PM	#4 (permalink)
DADGAD Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Palmdale, CA Posts: 801	I've got a G40V and use it primarily as my Tele amp. The amp and speaker are fine. Dump the Chinese tubes. When I received mine, it sounded just as you describe. Looking in the back, the plate on one of the output tubes was glowing red. BAD TUBE. My G40V is currently packing an Amperex ECC83 for V1, G.E. 12AX7LP in V2, RCA 12AT7 blackplate in V3 and a pair of RCA Blackplate 6L6GC's for outputs. Since those tubes are hard to find, and pricey, I'd recommend Ei & JJ Tesla's. Get some Ei ECC83/12AX7 tubes in the preamp & driver stages and a pair of JJ 6L6GC in the output and she'll be a sweet little rocker. Those tubes are easily obtainable and prices are very affordable. Congratulations. It's a good, portable tube amp. Plugged into an extension cab, well, it's sweet. 8) Gary __________________ "I need to learn some new scales and stop obsessing about this stuff." http://www.myspace.com/slickshoes

December 3rd, 2004, 04:41 PM	#5 (permalink)
Ptrallan01 Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 571 3 Photos	Change the tubes if the problem is harshness in the sound. If you search the forum here you will find several responses to my similar questions. My amp sounds much better with new tubes but I still have humming that I haven't addressed yet. The humming isn't noticable when playing at volume but I wouldn't record at low volume with it. My amp also sounds incredible when its raining or extremely humid. Don't know why. I got it used and it was in bad shape but for $100 bucks more than worth it. Peter

December 3rd, 2004, 04:59 PM	#6 (permalink)
DADGAD Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Palmdale, CA Posts: 801	FWIW - There is some G40V discussion here, including some hum fix talk. http://tdpri.com/viewtopic.php?p=167...um+loop#167300 __________________ "I need to learn some new scales and stop obsessing about this stuff." http://www.myspace.com/slickshoes

December 15th, 2004, 02:39 PM	#7 (permalink)
jwells393 Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Albuquerque, USA Age: 64 Posts: 12,487 101 Photos	Replaced the tubes. I've replaced the tubes as suggested by DADGAD and opened up the amp and found that the ground of the input jack was already grounded to the chassis ground point. The amp sounds pretty good now but has a fairly loud and anoying hum when the Master Volume is turned up with nothing plugged in. Has anyone with a similar problem come up with a solution? __________________ Jack's Disclaimer: When I say something.... always ask yourself ..... "What the hell does he know?" _ Guys - learn to disable the flash on your digital cameras.