Well, since my 18w is actually a "lite" single channel, I ran a homebrew 2203 preamp into V2's unused input pin7.
needless to say the thing was a snarling beast, but when i disconnected it and left the .01 cap on (I didn't have it installed before) the gain of this puppy is now through the roof!
especially grounding the .01 like on the lite scem, why did my gain shoot up?
Now this thing is a mean little fire breathing beast.....roll back guitar vol and she cleans up nicely though!