Trying to set bias on Bluesbreaker - crackling and popping

[McGoogle McDougal]

Ok, I took a look at the schematic and realized I had pins 2 and 3 of the treble pot reversed. I switched 'em and voila, the tone controls all work perfectly! I still have to investigate the tremolo circuit, but I went ahead and mounted the chassis into the cabinet, ready to do some rockin. I had to place a bout a 1/4" spacer on the bottom side of the chassis to give room for the KT66's in the chassis, but it fit OK with that.

I gave it a good workout at full volume for about 45 minutes and this amp sounds fucking great! If this thing gets even better after a break in period then I am one happy dude. I only had my strat, but at full volume I was nailing "Manic Depression" on pickup position number four. Roll back the guitar volume a little and "Third Stone From the Sun" and all of the great clean sounds from "Axis Bold as Love" fall into place. This amp sounded good before, but damn, the definition and touch sensitivity are fantastic now!

Thanks George, in addition to getting an greatly improved (basically new) amp out of the deal, I have learned a hell of a lot. The best thing about having the problems that I had is it made me read the damn schematic (very educational)!

Eamon