Anybody have experience with Fuchs ODS?

[fluffytone72]

I've got a twin reverb reissue modded to Fuchs ODS specs on the way. https://reverb.com/item/285631-fuchs-ods-modded-fender-twin-with-celestions-new-lowered-price  For $1300 I couldn't refuse.  I saw it on reverb.com, sold my maz jr., and bought it all in one day.  Seemed to good to pass up on.  I mean according to everything I've read his mods are exact replications of his ODS amps minus the chasis, transformer and cabinet.  So not exact, but close enough where it counts.  I've wanted one of these things forever now but could never justify spending $3500+ on one.  Again, I can only go by what I've heard, but I know Jimmy Herring, Luther Dickenson, Derek Trucks, and many more monster players use these amps.  I love the fact that I can get rid of a couple overdrive pedals now as the overdrive channel on these amps is supposed to be among the best out there.  Anyone care to share thoughts/experiences?

[Buffered]

Congratulations! I saw that one and was contemplating it for a bit. I have an ODS mod, a 2011 (I think) and have it in a Hot Rod Deluxe. I love that amp. It'll do the Jimmy Herring tone just fine. I'm not familiar with the trannys in the TRRI, but Andy said the hot rod's transformers are just fine so the TRRI should be great too. I'm not positive the celestions are the best pick for the amp but I haven't tried a ton of speakers with my ODS - only an EVM12L, Emi RWB, and a WGS ET65. All are great, I have the Emi for grab n' go, and use an EVM12L at home and the sound is unreal. I think the EV's are a perfect match for Dumble style amps.

You hit the nail on the head with OD pedals. The only reason I keep mine on the board is for liquid lead tones at home, the balance between the OD and clean can be finnicky so don't give up on it! Tubes are also important. I've tried the SED 6L6, TAD short bottle, and Mesa STR 6L6's in the ODS and they all sound good - the SED was real nice but real pricey - lots of bass too. For value and tone the TAD short bottles were the best, and it's all the 6L6 I need/want. The cool thing about these amps too is you can bias them yourself with just a DMM and screwdriver (I suggest gator clips for safety purposes)

As far as preamp tubes go, try a few and see what works for you - I use a EHX 12AX7 in V2 (OD gain) and it's more rocking/raw, the JJ & Tung-Sol are both nice, and smoother and darker. I'm still playing with that after owning it for a year. For the PI, I stuck a matched triode in there and set the pot to the middle and theoretically the AC should be balanced for smoother feedback (I don't own an oscilloscope) Matched triode in an AC control/PI spot is hit-or-miss I guess, I just did it because I had the chance at the time - I do like the sound better. The PI only really plays a part when the Master is high, and at that point it's ear melting loud for my 50W at least.

Bringing me to my next point, were you planning on using the loop? I liked the parallel option with a kill dry unit when I used delay, but nowadays I'm just plugging straight in and using it in series as a PPIMV. Cable length here matter, I am using a 5 ft cable in the loop and I'm pretty happy with it. Also swap the speaker cable, so the + and - on the cable is mismatched with the + and - tabs. The gain stages in the ODS (Dumbles, Bludotones, etc) are odd numbered, and by doing this puts it all back in phase and benefits the tone (lots of resources online for this)

The trim pots are also a big tone factor. On mine, I have them for OD in (clean channel cascading into OD input) I set it for about 30%, a little higher than factory, OD HF (High filter trim, amount of high end) I set this about 30% too, and only use humbucker guitars. Then theres the AC control which I explained a bit above. This is really non-user adjustable - I think the previous owner fiddled with mine and so I did the aformentioned "fix" on mine.

Andy Fuchs is a great resource, and Shocked has a TDS (My dream amp) and helped me out when I first got mine. Spend time with it! Don't be afraid to kick on that mid boost! I'm at work so sorry about the meager post, I love ODS amps. Feel free to hit me up with any questions at all by commenting here!

Here's my babae

[fluffytone72]

wow! she's a beauty, love the design on that.  Thanks for the input.  I did notice that the picture on reverb.com didn't show an effects loop, so I guess he didn't have that mod done which is kind of a bummer.  I was excited about finally having an effects loop for delays because my maz jr. didn't have one, seems like he could have mentioned that in the listing.  I'm sure I'll get around to messing with trim pots and what not in time, but am hoping to get a solid overdrive tone from her pretty much right away.  I've got a few gigs in the next couple weeks so I won't have a ton of time to figure stuff out.  I'm confident that I can find a fat strat tone on that overdrive channel pretty quickly though, like you said the mid boost is supposed to be effective for fattening strat tones.  I've got a birthday coming up and I'm pretty sure my girlfriend is going to buy me a pair of NOS tubes, I've heard mullard's in V1 and V2 are where it's at in this amp.  What overdrive pedal are you using primarily to get those liquid tones?  I've been using a jetter gs124 which is a dumble in a box type tone, but I think I'll probably trade it at a local shop for something more fitting for this amp.  I'm thinking maybe just a standard ts808 will be a good match?  or maybe like an xotic BB or something, really don't have a clue what's best though.  I'm thinking overdrive channel for lead sounds (kick on gain boost for over the top shred tone), clean channel no pedal for funk rhythm, and kick on an OD pedal for crunchy in between stuff, and that should cover everything I need for these gigs (I play in a funk/rock jam band).  We've been recording shows lately so I'll try and post some audio soon. 

[Buffered]

wow! she's a beauty, love the design on that.  Thanks for the input.  I did notice that the picture on reverb.com didn't show an effects loop, so I guess he didn't have that mod done which is kind of a bummer.  I was excited about finally having an effects loop for delays because my maz jr. didn't have one, seems like he could have mentioned that in the listing.  I'm sure I'll get around to messing with trim pots and what not in time, but am hoping to get a solid overdrive tone from her pretty much right away.  I've got a few gigs in the next couple weeks so I won't have a ton of time to figure stuff out.  I'm confident that I can find a fat strat tone on that overdrive channel pretty quickly though, like you said the mid boost is supposed to be effective for fattening strat tones.  I've got a birthday coming up and I'm pretty sure my girlfriend is going to buy me a pair of NOS tubes, I've heard mullard's in V1 and V2 are where it's at in this amp.  What overdrive pedal are you using primarily to get those liquid tones?  I've been using a jetter gs124 which is a dumble in a box type tone, but I think I'll probably trade it at a local shop for something more fitting for this amp.  I'm thinking maybe just a standard ts808 will be a good match?  or maybe like an xotic BB or something, really don't have a clue what's best though.  I'm thinking overdrive channel for lead sounds (kick on gain boost for over the top shred tone), clean channel no pedal for funk rhythm, and kick on an OD pedal for crunchy in between stuff, and that should cover everything I need for these gigs (I play in a funk/rock jam band).  We've been recording shows lately so I'll try and post some audio soon. 

Hehe thanks man, I was a little skeptical at first but the snakeskin is kind of hilarious. "Tone so good it's hilarious!" Hmm thats strange, AF usually puts a loop on them unless there's just not a lot of space in the chassis - like a champ or RD110 ODS mod. You never know though, wouldn't hurt to ask the seller. I was able to get great tones right outta the box, and you really can't hurt anything by twisting them a bit - just take picture sof where you originally set them and you'll be good to go. Mullards soud great in that amp, I was able to try one for a few hours and really loved what it did - too pricey for my blood though. the PAB (Preamp Boost) is a very useful feature, perfect for cutting through the mix (disconnects tonestack, adding mids and gain/volume) Looking forward to hearing it! I use mine with a jazz group (using the jazz switch) and can do classic rock/ABB tones with the rock switch with ease. Congrats again on the amp!

[fluffytone72]

So I got the amp today and have been messing around with it.  For some reason the overdrive channel seems really harsh sounding.  Maybe I'm dialing it in wrong but I wasn't happy with the sounds I was getting and I had the mid boost on with my strat at all times.  I'm probably going to call Andy tomorrow and see if i can have him talk me through the controls a little better.  With an overdrive pedal I got a good tone with the clean channel but as soon as I got on the OD channel, it was just harsh which didn't sound right.  Maybe it was the tubes or something because these things are supposed to be smooth as butter.

[Buffered]

So I got the amp today and have been messing around with it.  For some reason the overdrive channel seems really harsh sounding.  Maybe I'm dialing it in wrong but I wasn't happy with the sounds I was getting and I had the mid boost on with my strat at all times.  I'm probably going to call Andy tomorrow and see if i can have him talk me through the controls a little better.  With an overdrive pedal I got a good tone with the clean channel but as soon as I got on the OD channel, it was just harsh which didn't sound right.  Maybe it was the tubes or something because these things are supposed to be smooth as butter.

Hmm, what preamp tubes are in it? Have you checked the bias? AF demonstrates how to online in a safe manner, he says 36ma but I like mine at 35ma

Also could probably be the trim pots. I set my OD in trim (about V1 on my mod) to about 35% of the way up, OD HF (treble OD trim) about the same, (This control is very touchy, and likely the culprit IMHO) Have you tried other speakers? What celestions are they? If the're G12-65's I think those are good. The ET-65 I use is great in my mod, and WGS sells them wicked cheap. The trim pots have a big effect on tone, I'd start there.

Does yours have a loop? Sometimes setting it in series and using it as an external master gets harsh for me unless the return is pretty hot.

[Buffered]

Any updates?

[fluffytone72]

yeah, so I'm finding some really juicy tones now but it's not with the overdrive channel.  I just put an old JJ long plate tube I had lying around in V1 and hit the clean channel with my trusty jetter GS124 OD pedal and now this amp sings.  It's the fattest, creamiest tone I've ever gotten with a strat.  I've found that I like the mid boost on all the time, deep switch engaged, bright switch off, rock switch up, and all tone controls at 11 oclock.  From there, I use the gs124 for leads, Mad Professor Little Green Wonder for rhythm, and analogman comprossor is on all the time.  I played my first show with it last night and I don't think I've ever gotten so many compliments on my tone.  Another cool thing is the amp's reverb is incredible and never gets mushy.  I like to have it on all the time set mildy, then I use a delay set mildy as well for some real gilmour like tones.  I'll get around to the OD channel in time but am just loving the clean channel as a pedal platform now.  There is only 1 trim pot in my model and it's just for gain level.  I messed with it some but still sterile sounding.  Maybe that channel works best with les paul or semi-hollow guitars.  I generally use bundles of overdrive and go for trey like tones, and I think maybe the OD channel just doesn't have enough gain with a strat to get there, or it doesn't smooth out like my OD pedal does at high gain levels.  Really loving this amp though.  Now I just need to get a case with wheels!  I forgot how much it sucks to carry a 2X12 around.lol