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Topic: Ultimate Session 400 Limited |
Dennis Detweiler
From:
Solon, Iowa, US
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Posted 11 Mar 2020 5:39 pm |
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I finally got around to making a Session 400 Limited sound good. I made a head from an old 400 cabinet and added enough space to drop in a Furman PQ-3 and TC Electronic M-350. Patched both between the 400 preamp and power amp jacks on the back. The Furman taylors the 400 preamp to fine tune the tone. I upgraded the 400 chips several years ago. Works great!
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8. |
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 6:45 am
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| Dennis, nice setup. Tell me more about the Furman PQ-3. I'm sure having that extra parametric eq is the trick. |
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Dennis Detweiler
From:
Solon, Iowa, US
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 10:02 am
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The Session 400 Limited has generally had a reputation for being too crisp in tone. Paul Franklin posted several years ago that they used to have to add an eq to it to zero in on a good tone. I did the chip upgrade and thought that would solve the problem, but it didn't.
Emmons used a PQ3 when he recorded the live double LP at the 1977 convention. I asked him why, even though he was playing through a Session 400 (before the Limited)? He said, he used it to control the lower mids a little more.
The PQ3 has 3 banks in it's stack. Each bank is capable of dialing in the frequency that you want. Then you can expand or narrow the bandwidth of that frequency. Then you can adjust the volume of the frequency (cut or boost). Each bank is capable of overlapping the other. PQ is abbreviated for Parametric Equalizer. The 3 is for the 3 banks. They were a popular and effective EQ in it's day and somewhat hard to find now. Very quiet unit.
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8. |
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 12 Mar 2020 1:13 pm
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| Thanks for the info. I have the same amp and tried the simple external eq including that in the Profex II without much success. Glad to know the PQ-3 takes care of the issue. I will start looking one. |
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Jacek Jakubek
From:
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 13 Mar 2020 9:46 am
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| Dennis Detweiler wrote: |
| I did the chip upgrade and thought that would solve the problem, but it didn't. |
A forum member recommended the FOX chip upgrade for these amps which he said made the amp sound as good as the earlier peavey models. The fox chip is different than the peavey factory chip mod.
I was going to get the fox chip but the I saw he does not ship outside the USA, so I let mine be. I'm just gonna leave my Sess.400 Limited as is and not mess with it. Got other amps instead for a different/better tone.
I wanted to say why not just get a different amp instead of modding your 400 Limited with additional equalizers, but then I remembered that because it is fun to tinker with amps to try to make them sound better. Great hobby. |
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 13 Mar 2020 12:35 pm
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| I have done the Fox chip upgrades on 2 Peavey Profex II and a Peavey special 130 amp. It helped a considerable amount. I haven't done that on my Session 400 Limited yet, but I probably will. I will soon have a Fender Tonemaster twin reverb and with its lighter weight I may not have to tweak anything. |
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Dennis Detweiler
From:
Solon, Iowa, US
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Posted 13 Mar 2020 9:42 pm
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I have a 1974 Session 400 that I will never part with. Currently playing through a Revelation into a Crown stereo rack mount amp. I had the Session Limited setting around and I just wanted to make it a better amp and usable. I'll probably sell it at some point in the future. I have too much extra gear.
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8. |
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Steven Paris
From:
Los Angeles
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Posted 14 Mar 2020 1:30 am
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| Jacek Jakubek wrote: |
| I was going to get the fox chip but the I saw he does not ship outside the USA, so I let mine be........ but then I remembered that because it is fun to tinker with amps to try to make them sound better. Great hobby. |
The "Fox chip" is just an OPA2134, available from Mouser or DigiKey, pretty much worldwide.
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Emmons & Peavey |
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Dennis Detweiler
From:
Solon, Iowa, US
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Posted 14 Mar 2020 6:11 am
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2134 is what I used in mine. Only difference I could detect was it was quieter. It didn't seem to have a benefit to the tone stack. An added preamp or eq is the best solution for the Limited.
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1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Revelation preamp, Carbon Copy Delay and Hall Of Fame Reverb, Crown XLS 1002, 2- 15" Eminence Wheelhouse speakers, ShoBud Pedal, Effects Pedals. 1949 Epiphone D-8. |
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