These Go to 11 - The Guitar Amp Thread

[tbone_ 13991]

Yea that’s what I meant

[Deej 76219]

Regardless of what it actually may be, I am looking forward whatever Goredho buys next week. 

[Goredho 17181]

You’re going to be disappointed.

[Deej 76219]

So your next guitar will have a belly cut?

[Scooter Monzingo 820]

On 4/30/2021 at 4:44 PM, Goredho said:

I don't know exactly.  I trust the guy I am buying from (its my brother) and he's selling it as described to him and for what he paid for it so he can buy some other shiny toy.  I've played the amp and cab before, and they are great.  But looking around, there is a Dirty Shirley mini-cab that looks like this:



And a  Dirty Shirley 112 full cabinet which also has a 1x12 creamback like the cab in my previous post:



So I dunno, maybe its just the full cab and the story my brother has about it is wrong.

It’s nice equipment regardless. As I am a bit of a tinker myself, and wouldn’t hesitate to take something apart. I was simply curious if someone stumbled upon something I should know about. 

[Mileslong 4677]

[Chad Fuck 17309]

So random amp stuff.  My Dad got tired of hauling around his Twin and wound up buying this Vox AD30VT.  He wound up not liking it that much (too many whistles and bells on it - he wound up with a RI Princeton) so I took it off his hands.  I took it to practice in a garage with a power trio set up and damn if it didn't go from close enough Marshall to clean vintage Fender pretty credibly.  Granted, it's a practice amp, I wouldn't likely play it out.  But in a 13' x 10' room it kept up with the drums and bass and I didn't have to haul a pedal board around.  Once I get my minimalist pedal board set up, it'll probably stay home.  But for the time being it's a solid little amp for not more than $150 used.  I'm a fan. 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Chad Fuck

[topochico 1048]

28 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

So random amp stuff.  My Dad got tired of hauling around his Twin and wound up buying this Vox AD30VT.  He wound up not liking it that much (too many whistles and bells on it - he wound up with a RI Princeton) so I took it off his hands.  I took it to practice in a garage with a power trio set up and damn if it didn't go from close enough Marshall to clean vintage Fender pretty credibly.  Granted, it's a practice amp, I wouldn't likely play it out.  But in a 13' x 10' room it kept up with the drums and bass and I didn't have to haul a pedal board around.  Once I get my minimalist pedal board set up, it'll probably stay home.  But for the time being it's a solid little amp for not more than $.150 used  I'm a fan. 

You should have negotiated your dad down a bit on that price.

[Chad Fuck 17309]

4 minutes ago, topochico said:

You should have negotiated your dad down a bit on that price.

My mom's desire to have one less thing sitting around collecting dust meant I got it for zero. 

Funny I fat fingered the Reverb pricing though.  

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by Chad Fuck

[tbone_ 13991]

Nice Vox. But the real question is where’s that Twin?

[Chad Fuck 17309]

Nice Vox. But the real question is where’s that Twin?

It’s literally sitting in the closet at my folks house. It’s a mid 70s Silverface with the master volume. I already have a Twin and I ain’t got room for two. My brother hasn’t said, but I expect Dad is keeping it around for him.

[Deej 76219]

I’ve got the AD15VT sitting in a closet. It is actually a decent little amp. They have a preamp tube in there that can be swapped out. Mine sounded even better with a decent 12AX7 I had lying around. Some good tones in that Vox. I need to plug that thing in again. 

[tbone_ 13991]

It’s literally sitting in the closet at my folks house. It’s a mid 70s Silverface with the master volume. I already have a Twin and I ain’t got room for two. My brother hasn’t said, but I expect Dad is keeping it around for him.

Was the master volume versions when they introduced the ultra linear power transformers?

[Grandioso 2592]

Listen to what this guy does with a Vox AC4 and a Memory Man. Pretty awesome. He's not even mic'ing the amp up close.

 

[Chad Fuck 17309]

Was the master volume versions when they introduced the ultra linear power transformers?

I don’t know.

[dcbc 14282]

1 hour ago, tbone_ said:

Was the master volume versions when they introduced the ultra linear power transformers?

They didn't show up at the same time.  I think MV began showing up on Twin Reverbs around 1973 or so.  The 135 watt ultralinear amps showed up in 1975 or 1976.  Shoot some pictures of the back of the amp and it will be pretty clear which it is. 

Edited July 21, 2021 by dcbc

[tbone_ 13991]

Yea I read about that. MV was prior to UL. Tdpri snobs seem to poo poo MV versions but I have never played one.

[dcbc 14282]

1 hour ago, tbone_ said:

Yea I read about that. MV was prior to UL. Tdpri snobs seem to poo poo MV versions but I have never played one.

I picked one up for a buddy of mine that was for sale here.  He paid $500.  It was heavy as hell, loud as hell, and clean as hell.  It had a hiss to it, but that was a gremlin.  If you play pedal steel, it's a fine amp.  Otherwise, you'll need a large venue and hearing protection.  This is a little video I made for him just to show him it worked.

 

[Chad Fuck 17309]

New amp day...soon.  

[hullabelew 3698]

21 hours ago, Grandioso said:

Listen to what this guy does with a Vox AC4 and a Memory Man. Pretty awesome. He's not even mic'ing the amp up close.

 

I've got that AC4.  LOVE the thing.  I have been using that to record a lot lately and it is amazingly versatile. And that little dude LOVES P90s.  I've got an 62 Epi Century with a single P90 and it doesn't really sound good thru any other amp I have, but it LOVES that Vox.  I also use this as my practice amp for a 50s/60s group I play in.  We played a party on Memorial day and I took it for that as well.  I have the 10" speacker which I think that one is.  They also make a 12" that I wish I had.  I paid $200 for this thing...tried several times to trade it in or sell it before I really spent some time with it.  They would only offer me $75...fuck that.  Then I got the Epi.  Since then, I've been playing a 339 a lot through it as well.  

 

[Chad Fuck 17309]

Well, here it is.  After chasing an Electrodyne for a while, then discovering how heavy they were, I started looking for something a few pounds lighter.  I found this on a guitar trader page for low enough that if I don't like it, I'm pretty sure I can flip it fairly easily for same/more.  Looking forward to dialing it in.  

[tbone_ 13991]

I’d be surprised if you want to flip it. Those are great sounding amps.

Is it really lighter than the electradyne though?

[Chad Fuck 17309]

15 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

I’d be surprised if you want to flip it. Those are great sounding amps.

Is it really lighter than the electradyne though?

Well, when I looked it up I thought it was, but now I think I was looking at the cab, rather than the combo.  

In any case, the cheapest electrodyne I found was in WI and I was not interested in having it shipped.  We'll see how it works out.

 

[noharleyyet 2826]

2 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

Well, here it is.  After chasing an Electrodyne for a while, then discovering how heavy they were, I started looking for something a few pounds lighter.  I found this on a guitar trader page for low enough that if I don't like it, I'm pretty sure I can flip it fairly easily for same/more.  Looking forward to dialing it in.  

Pre pandemic I'd have yelled thong! Goddam masks.

[Grandioso 2592]

6 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

Well, here it is.  After chasing an Electrodyne for a while, then discovering how heavy they were, I started looking for something a few pounds lighter.  I found this on a guitar trader page for low enough that if I don't like it, I'm pretty sure I can flip it fairly easily for same/more.  Looking forward to dialing it in.  

[Bogeywon 2518]

I want to try a PRS head. I am a fan of the brand and would love to actually get to play there heads 

[hullabelew 3698]

I traded an LP for a 1962 Epi Century some time ago and the guy wants it back. He has offered this in exchange plus a Korean made Breedlove D25 that I have no use for. Not going to do it because I love the guitar but kind of a cool amp.  I could buy this amp/cab new for what he paid for the guitar when he bought it at Carter's in Nashville.  

Edited July 23, 2021 by hullabelew

[Goredho 17181]

Considering selling my Dirty Shirley for a MB Mini-Rectifier.  Played both side by side at my brother's last week.  The Dirty Shirley is great for vintage tone, but the mini-rectifier covered that base fine with the red/vintage channel and had a lot more range with the others as demonstrated in this vid.  Anyone got one and if so, is there anything not to like?
 

 

[tbone_ 13991]

I don’t know if it’s true for the minis, but on the full size ones the single has a way better clean IMO than the duals because they have a different rectifier (of all things). I used to play a single and that’s why I bought it over a dual.

[Bogeywon 2518]

2 hours ago, tbone_ said:

I don’t know if it’s true for the minis, but on the full size ones the single has a way better clean IMO than the duals because they have a different rectifier (of all things). I used to play a single and that’s why I bought it over a dual.

I have a single and love it. Tried the triple and hated it. Also dual is closer to single but single It have has awesome distortion and decent clean for a rectifier 

[Goredho 17181]

Will do a more side by side feature comparison.  The cleans on the mini-rec  sounded good to me playing it at my bro’s.  Or at least they didn’t jump out to me as something I expressly didn’t like.  I was able to get a tone along the lines of “Pale Blue Eyes” by Velvet Underground that sounded very warm and buttery on the neck of my R8.  I did not try for a real glassy clean tone.

It really shined playing on the edge of breakup through to high-gain on vintage mode for something like Zeppelin/Sabbath, and then could go beyond to as chugga-chugga as I might ever want w/the modern mode.

[Goredho 17181]

Determined its a single solid-state rectifier in the mini.

Edited July 31, 2021 by Goredho

[hullabelew 3698]

I was talking with an old recording engineer from Nashville.  (He has worked with everyone from Johnny Cash to Faron Young to Mollie Hatchet.)  We were on a Zoom meeting and he spotted my 65 DR in the background and we started talking.  Great dude.  Anyway, he told me they use to carry two amp set ups in their van in case someone needed a backup.  One was a Marshall head and cab, he couldn't remember the model.  He said the other was a Fender Twin that had two different speakers loaded and you could run either speaker or run them both.   I had never heard of an amp set up that way.....pretty cool idea....essentially two amps in one.   

[Goredho 17181]

I've seen cabs loaded with different speakers, but yeah, not one where you could switch between either, or, all.

[dcbc 14282]

3 hours ago, hullabelew said:

I was talking with an old recording engineer from Nashville.  (He has worked with everyone from Johnny Cash to Faron Young to Mollie Hatchet.)  We were on a Zoom meeting and he spotted my 65 DR in the background and we started talking.  Great dude.  Anyway, he told me they use to carry two amp set ups in their van in case someone needed a backup.  One was a Marshall head and cab, he couldn't remember the model.  He said the other was a Fender Twin that had two different speakers loaded and you could run either speaker or run them both.   I had never heard of an amp set up that way.....pretty cool idea....essentially two amps in one.   

With the Twin, you can just pull two of the 6L6s (either the outside pair or the inside pair and disconnect one of the speakers to run the other speaker at 8 ohms with no mismatch.  It's a little quieter, but not by much.  I'm not sure I see the advantage to running a Twin with one speaker, and if the speakers were differently voiced enough to make a difference, would it sound good running them both at once?  Not trying to shit on the idea, which obviously worked as an option.  But not sure I see too much advantage to doing it.  ICBW

[hullabelew 3698]

I'm not smart enough to understand how all of that shit works.  His reasoning was these were back up options in case the artist's main rig shit the bed.  He said they could fill any amp need with just these two.    I love these old school guys.   He was showing me around his home office one day and it was amazing how many famous records and movies he had engineered over the years.    Most of the albums he worked on were live recordings and he apparently still does a lot at the Ryman which has to be about the coolest thing I've heard about him other than engineering "The Class of 55" with Orbison, Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis.  

 

 

[dcbc 14282]

3 hours ago, hullabelew said:

I'm not smart enough to understand how all of that shit works.  His reasoning was these were back up options in case the artist's main rig shit the bed.  He said they could fill any amp need with just these two.    I love these old school guys.   He was showing me around his home office one day and it was amazing how many famous records and movies he had engineered over the years.    Most of the albums he worked on were live recordings and he apparently still does a lot at the Ryman which has to be about the coolest thing I've heard about him other than engineering "The Class of 55" with Orbison, Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis.  

 

 

Me either, for the most part.  And that's awesome.  I love the old school dudes as well, with a shout out to my half-brother, who is a sound engineer who came up in the late 60s/early 70s and beyond. 

My bit above really is based on working with a friend who wanted his twin reverb to sound more like a deluxe reverb.  Hence, the trick of pulling a power tube pair and a speaker wire.  The result was a slightly less loud twin reverb.   It's still pretty cool that you can do all sorts of tricks with these old Fenders to get them to behave differently. 

Lots of that stuff here if anyone is interested.  Usually no danger of electrocution or soldering involved either.

http://fenderguru.com/amps/

 

Go to the drop down "amps" menu for each specific amp.

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by dcbc

[tbone_ 13991]

Yea that fender site is cool. As are the amps in general for what you just stated - you can do lots with them.

There’s a guy here in Phx that works on old tube amps. I love going to his shop and checking out all the cool shit he’s working on. He’s done all of my old amps - upgraded whatever internals he does to work his magic plus the following:

1970 Dual Showman - added a depth and presence in place of the vibrato. Sounds glorious.

1971 - Pro Reverb - added a mid and presence in place of the vibrato. These amps really needed a mid control.

1970 - Super Reverb - no mods.

They all sound so much better than when I brought them in. Old pre-ultra linear silverface fenders are the best amps out there in my opinion. Easy to work on, sound incredibly good, not stupid expensive, and absolutely perfect tube pedal platform. Plus they just have mojo.

[dcbc 14282]

On 8/3/2021 at 11:05 AM, tbone_ said:

Yea that fender site is cool. As are the amps in general for what you just stated - you can do lots with them.

There’s a guy here in Phx that works on old tube amps. I love going to his shop and checking out all the cool shit he’s working on. He’s done all of my old amps - upgraded whatever internals he does to work his magic plus the following:

1970 Dual Showman - added a depth and presence in place of the vibrato. Sounds glorious.

1971 - Pro Reverb - added a mid and presence in place of the vibrato. These amps really needed a mid control.

1970 - Super Reverb - no mods.

They all sound so much better than when I brought them in. Old pre-ultra linear silverface fenders are the best amps out there in my opinion. Easy to work on, sound incredibly good, not stupid expensive, and absolutely perfect tube pedal platform. Plus they just have mojo.

I've had stellar results shipping my amp chassis off to David Allen (allenamps.com) for service.  Same deal.  Services them and gets them sounding their best.  My 73 Deluxe Reverb sounds killer now, and it sounded great before.  He just serviced, blackfaced it, and removed some of the tick from the vibrato.  With that amp though, part of it is the 1968 Jensen C12N I put in there.  I haven't heard a modern reproduction that comes close.  I'm pretty convinced that speakers always sound best with lots of mileage on them.

He also worked on a 1976 Princeton Reverb for me, which I no longer own.  He got rid of that ratty overdrive (Princeton fizz) and slowed down the vibrato, which sounded amazing.  It basically was a DR in a PR sized package.  And as great as it sounded, I already had a DR and realized that I didn't really care to have both.  Sold it to a buddy of mine, who absolutely loves it.

Edited August 15, 2021 by dcbc

[Ollie Slatt 289]

I'm thinking of buying a new amp.  I want something really small/quiet with a classic fender tone.  Currently leaning towards the new 68 Champ RI -- I was able to a/b one against an original silverface champ and liked the RI better.  However, those are expensive enough that it probably makes sense to shop boutique alternatives that offer a bit extra (12" speaker, spring reverb, etc.).   Anyone have a champ alternative they really love?    Tone King Gremlin looks interesting, but I don't think there is a place to demo one in Austin.  

[Buzzrock 14785]

Blues Jr?

[Ollie Slatt 289]

I used to have one.  Never loved it.   Could sort of fake the classic fender sound if you turned the mids all the way down, but still wasn't quite there.  And I want something lower wattage than that.  

[Deej 76219]

1 hour ago, Ollie Slatt said:

I'm thinking of buying a new amp.  I want something really small/quiet with a classic fender tone.  Currently leaning towards the new 68 Champ RI -- I was able to a/b one against an original silverface champ and liked the RI better.  However, those are expensive enough that it probably makes sense to shop boutique alternatives that offer a bit extra (12" speaker, spring reverb, etc.).   Anyone have a champ alternative they really love?    Tone King Gremlin looks interesting, but I don't think there is a place to demo one in Austin.  

Get a real Silverface Champ and take it to a good tech. Each of those old ones is a little different because shit inside has gotten old and drifted. It will hold value. 

I've got a SF Champ that every time I plug it in, I'm like "Yep, that's the tone."

Edited August 31, 2021 by Deej

[BoomMF 1396]

I'm slowly and with much resistance coming to the conclusion that random YouTuber with a guitar has chops that shit all over my heroes. Bassists, too. There's dudes out there with 500 subs that can absolutely wreak havoc.

Edited August 31, 2021 by BoomMF

[AnotherUTFan 9576]

I have 3 Drip Edge (black face circuitry) Fender amps, all '68, and a '65 Deluxe Reverb. In all honesty, I cant hear the difference in the Reissue and the the real thing. A little bit, but not much

Point to point wiring vs PCB is another discussion.

Also, some of the Feder reissues are like "Reissue Custom", or something similar. That means they have the vintage looks, but are hot rodded versions of the original. Not saying thats bad, they can sound great if thats what you're after, but they don't sound vintage.

[dcbc 14282]

4 hours ago, Ollie Slatt said:

I'm thinking of buying a new amp.  I want something really small/quiet with a classic fender tone.  Currently leaning towards the new 68 Champ RI -- I was able to a/b one against an original silverface champ and liked the RI better.  However, those are expensive enough that it probably makes sense to shop boutique alternatives that offer a bit extra (12" speaker, spring reverb, etc.).   Anyone have a champ alternative they really love?    Tone King Gremlin looks interesting, but I don't think there is a place to demo one in Austin.  

Agree that a 70s champ, properly serviced really can sing.  Toss an 8" Jupiter speaker in it and you're good to go.  That said, I ditched mine for a Princeton Reverb, which I ditched because my Deluxe Reverb was all I ever needed from a blackface fender.

For clones, Allen Amplification does great things with Blackface Style Fender amps with options to make them even more useful.  Lil Dawg amps is extremely reasonable for top quality plus a lot of tweed style Fenders.  David Allen has gotten two of my vintage Fenders sounding absolutely incredible.  And I have a Harvard style 1x12 5F10 from Jim at Lil Dawg, which is absolutely incredible. 

[BrickHorn 18072]

To add to the list of clones, I fucking love my Vintage Sound V20. It’s a 20 watt Princeton Reverb clone, and it has glorious cleans at bedroom volumes. Another option along those lines is the Headstrong Lil King. 

[dcbc 14282]

Also, these are pricey, but cover a lot of bases.

 

/edited because I meant to post the Falcon Grande rather than the Imperial.  Both are cool.

Edited September 1, 2021 by dcbc

[DougO 5231]

On 7/20/2021 at 11:35 AM, Chad Fuck said:

So random amp stuff.  My Dad got tired of hauling around his Twin and wound up buying this Vox AD30VT.  He wound up not liking it that much (too many whistles and bells on it - he wound up with a RI Princeton) so I took it off his hands.  I took it to practice in a garage with a power trio set up and damn if it didn't go from close enough Marshall to clean vintage Fender pretty credibly.  Granted, it's a practice amp, I wouldn't likely play it out.  But in a 13' x 10' room it kept up with the drums and bass and I didn't have to haul a pedal board around.  Once I get my minimalist pedal board set up, it'll probably stay home.  But for the time being it's a solid little amp for not more than $150 used.  I'm a fan. 

I had one of those. It's a really good small amp, great cleanish sounds. Not as great for something dirtier, but quite a good bang for the buck.

I sold it a few years ago when I was on a quest to find the perfect real tube bedroom amp, needed both cash and space.

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by DougO

[dcbc 14282]

Going through some old amp pictures and found this one from back when I had some Fender head cabinets.  1967 Bandmaster and 1973 Bassman 100.  Two homemade cabinets with (at the time) 1968 Jensen C12N speakers in them (one is in my 73 Deluxe Reverb now).  Bassman once sat atop a 1970 Sunn 412.  But this was later.