GGJaguar
Reverential Member
This followed me home. I've owned the 2x10 version and the 1x12 version so I thought it only fitting to give the 1x10 version a place to live for a while. This is the early version of the Thunder 1 amp that has the cathode biased circuit and a 2-sided chassis. This chassis has very little support at the back of the amp that allows for more chassis flex when plugging and unplugging a guitar cable into the input jack. The fuse is located inside the chassis which is inconvenient to replace, but these early amps have a trim pot for the tremolo intensity which is an advantage. Sometime in 1966 (I think), the circuit was changed to fixed bias and the chassis was 3-sided and mounted from the top with machine screws as on Fender amplifiers. This provided better support and less flex. The rear chassis panel also provided a place to mount an external fuse holder as well as a polarity switch. Unfortunately, the tremolo trim pot was removed.
Anyway as with the other Thunder 1 amps, this one sounds bright and a little hi-fi, but is very pleasant especially with humbuckers. I think the bass response is a little more focused on this 1x10 compared to the 1x12 I had although the 2x10 version had the best bottom end of them all. The best feature is the tremolo which has lots of shimmer and depth and the internal trim pot allows the depth to be adjusted albeit with a small screw. It's too bad the power tubes are getting so expensive for these. That may be the biggest drawback to the Thunder 1 series these days.
Anyway as with the other Thunder 1 amps, this one sounds bright and a little hi-fi, but is very pleasant especially with humbuckers. I think the bass response is a little more focused on this 1x10 compared to the 1x12 I had although the 2x10 version had the best bottom end of them all. The best feature is the tremolo which has lots of shimmer and depth and the internal trim pot allows the depth to be adjusted albeit with a small screw. It's too bad the power tubes are getting so expensive for these. That may be the biggest drawback to the Thunder 1 series these days.