Increasing gain in ROG Eighteen

[nebucanazza]

I breadboarded a ROG Eighteen and all the voltages are spot on. Now , I like the sound , but with gain(Volume knob) below 6-7, it is just too quiet and not really useful. At full crank, it gives a nice crunchy overdrive. Now, is there a simple mod to make the gain start from what was '5' on the original design, and go beyond the max gain from there on? 18W Marshalls certainly have more gain than this from the clips I've heard.

I know this topic has come up before. It was suggested that booster might work to some degree. Also, the Thor and BSIAB 2 , being higher gain designs might work. But I want to fix this design itself if possible. I'm thinking of making a do-it-all Marshall pedal..one side Eighteen(for the classic low gain plexi) and another side BSIAB2/Thor/Crunch IT (70's to modern high gain) for the full range of Marshall tones at my command 

[GibsonGM]

Playing with the gain pot might help...either tapering resistors, or possibly a reverse log pot? Mess around until you get that 'zone' that is now 5 down to 2 or 3.   This doesn't mean it will have more gain, though...it would just move the range of control down...so, from 6 on will likely stay the same. 

[nebucanazza]

Hmm...will try a 1M gain pot there...any more mods?

[raulgrell]

I guess putting a booster in front of it could help...

If you wanna keep it all in one box, look for the J202, very similar to the J201, only with more gain.

[MikeH]

These designs all work on the same "cascading" JFET gain stages principle.  You could simply add another gain stage to the design.  Although it would be the same as putting a booster in front of it; just built into the design.

[km-r]

im pushing it with a ts808 clone... well, booster...

i really think the 18 has already enough gain to cover stuff like modern rock...
but a little too bassy and creamy for metal...

[trevize]

a treble bleed cap on the tone control can probably make it "edgier".

you could also try to bypass the tone control, but you'll end up having probably too much gain and volume.

[nebucanazza]

Thanks for the suggestions guys...I'll try them out this weekend and report my findings