Return to Thunderstar

[mellowgerman]

Sometime around early 2009, I bought a 1968 Guild Thunderstar Bass amp head. I wasn't quite as picky when it came to tone then, but I knew I wanted a tube bass amp and I realized pretty quickly that this one sounded fantastic with any bass I plugged into it. The problem was that at around 45watts and only being able to run an 8ohm cab with it, it was only loud enough to play with a drummer if I pushed it into overdrive territory. Which sounded cool, but not my cup of tea really... I like mostly clean with a little grit when digging in maybe. That being a time in my life when I couldn't really afford to have multiple amps, I ultimately sold it to fund a larger amp.

I always wanted to come back to a Thunderstar Bass head eventually and casually kept an eye out for a good deal on one to come along at a time when I had some extra cash. Luckily their used market value never really increased much and they still remain (in my opinion) a grossly undervalued, overlooked, and unique amp. A few years back I picked up a Thunderbass model when the opportunity presented itself and had it restored, but it seemed to be missing some magic that I remembered from the ol' Thunderstar Bass model.

If you haven't heard one (especially paired with Bisonic pickups) here's a decent little demo jam I recorded with a drummer buddy of mine around 2010:

ANYWAY... a few weeks ago I came across something that made my heart skip a beat. A Thunderstar Bass head at a good price... with a clean bill of health.... from a reputable amp shop... that had been fully restored with all new filter caps, a grounded plug, PURPLE tolex, and... most importantly... a 4ohm transformer! I had to have it and today it finally arrived.

Stay tuned for more...

EDIT: After some time with the amp fired up, it seems like there may have been some internal damage in shipping. Will post update after chatting with the seller. Fingers crossed!

 

[GGJaguar]

It's always a great thing when you find your sound. Congrats!

 

[lungimsam]

Congrats!! Purple and Oxblood! All the finest from the era! I love those transparent knobs! Comforting to look at. I guess reminds me of times with my Grandad and Uncle back in the 70's. I think he had a tv with transparent knobs. I bet it sounds amazing. Looking forward to sound samples.

 

[mellowgerman]

Congrats!! Purple and Oxblood! All the finest from the era! I love those transparent knobs! Comforting to look at. I guess reminds me of times with my Grandad and Uncle back in the 70's. I think he had a tv with transparent knobs. I bet it sounds amazing. Looking forward to sound samples.

Unfortunately the transparent knobs are but an illusion!
It looks like somebody had big knobs on this amp at some point that may have had some moisture trapped underneath, resulting in a ring of oxidation. Then when the original, smaller knobs went back on, the oxidation ring is exposed. Here's a closer look without as much light reflecting.
If I can find giant transparent knobs though... I will be sure to swap them out, because now I can't get that awesome image out of my head!

 

[mellowgerman]

Heck, I may have spoken too soon on this one. Last night I only had a brief time to plug in this amp and check it out, but today when I turned it on it got a whole lot of hissing crackling and popping right off the bat. Something's definitely not right with it. This is one of those moments when I wish I knew more about amps and could recognize what might be off, just by the sound... Time to reach out to the seller, but since they're a well established amp shop, I still have hope!

 

[lungimsam]

Just don't go in the amp yourself unless you know what you are doing. Lethal charges just waiting to discharge somewhere. Even after unplugging, at least according to a dealer I worked for who was a vintage Marshall repair guy.

Interesting about those knobs. Even those knob numbers were transferred.

Don't worry, I am sure any able amp tech can fix it!

What does the slider switch do?

 

[mellowgerman]

Just don't go in the amp yourself unless you know what you are doing. Lethal charges just waiting to discharge somewhere. Even after unplugging, at least according to a dealer I worked for who was a vintage Marshall repair guy.

Interesting about those knobs. Even those knob numbers were transferred.

Don't worry, I am sure any able amp tech can fix it!

What does the slider switch do?

Yeah, I don't mess around with the insides of amps. Even though I have a basic understanding of how the separate components work and know in theory how to discharge the circuit, actually poking around in there is beyond my level of experience. Maybe someday I'll take a class to get a proper introduction.

I actually noticed that the numbers slightly overlap the the words "volume" "bass" and "treble". Taking a closer look, the numbers are actually a clean sticker of some sort! Not a ring of oxidation.

Seller was quick to respond and I'm sure we'll figure out some kind of solution. More to come!

 

[Nuuska]

. . .

What does the slider switch do?

It is the tone switch - in low right corner of the schematic

 

[Westerly Wood]

I really like the jam you and drummer friend have going on there. Kind of like jazz, kind of not. But easy to have playing while working. Really cool bass tone too.

 

[mellowgerman]

Thank you, WW! I'm so glad we decided to record that day and it probably plays a large part in keeping my fondness of these amps alive, years later.

And Lungimsam, apologies that I neglected to respond to the switch inquiry! It's just a 3 position voicing switch, essentially bright/normal/dark. I guess I always thought of it as a sort of mid-frequency character switch (in absence of a mid control knob), though that may be a very dumbed down way of putting it into words and not technically what it does. The three settings are drastically different. I like the bright and normal (again not official terms) but the dark setting is super dark and woofy, which isn't really a sound I have a use for.

 

[lungimsam]

That sounds like a great amp. Simple controls. Covers all the bases.

 

[mellowgerman]

Update: seller plans to send me a new matched set of 6L6 power tubes. Swapping those in should tell us right away if it's a bad tube or something else. If the problem goes away, then it's just a matter of biasing and we should be all set. Wish me luck!

 

[mellowgerman]

SUCCESS! It was definitely just a shipping-damaged tube. Now just a matter of biasing the amp and we'll be good to go! So relieved that it wasn't a larger issue.