Amp Poll

What's your favourite amp

  • Fender

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Guild

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Marshall

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mesa Boogie

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Matchless

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Polytone

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

andrew

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I'm new to this site and I'm just catching up! I've had Hiwatt 50 watters, 100 watters, 30 watters---- vox ac30's----- MatchlessDC30--- preamp combonations---mutations..... a few naesuations....after 40years a tube Risson LTA120: fits my style of playing which is clean sustain with an edge of breakup. Add a modded Tubescreamer and a good Fuzzface+wah it's all I need. I use it with a Kendrick Blackface 12". For the Guild Starfire 12 an Acoustic 135 four 10" and a JangleBox compressor (if I feel like hauling it around). For my Guild-Maderia strat my Champ clone with two 6V6 in parallel and a few Trainwreck mods is pretty swell too. Thanks, I love this site.
 

jp

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Okay, so I'm finally getting around to putting in my vote. It sure took me a while to finally see this thread.

Right now my main love is 90s Mesa Boogie DC-5. An outstanding and rock solid gigging amp that can get whatever sound I desire.

For bass I've will never give up my 1967 Ampeg B-18X Portaflex. Nothing comes close. I must admit that I'm partial to the old Acoustic Control Corp gear for that 70s rock madness, though.

After several torrid affairs with a '67 Super Reverb and a mid-70s Twin, I am currently on the hunt to have a Fender in the stable again. It will have to be a Deluxe or Princeton Reverb this time around.
 

jp

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Okay, so I'm finally getting around to putting in my vote. It sure took me a while to finally see this thread.

Right now my main love is 90s Mesa Boogie DC-5. An outstanding and rock solid gigging amp that can get whatever sound I desire.

For bass I've will never give up my 1967 Ampeg B-18X Portaflex. Nothing comes close. I must admit that I'm partial to the old Acoustic Control Corp gear for that 70s rock madness, though.

After several torrid affairs with a '67 Super Reverb and a mid-70s Twin, I am currently on the hunt to have a Fender in the stable again. It will have to be a Deluxe or Princeton Reverb this time around.
 

andrew

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acoustic amps

I have a soft spot for old ACOUSTIC turquoise blue face 150's for guitar. I first saw ACOUSTIC gear at the 1st Atlanta Pop Festival and it must have made some kind of impression on me.A few years later I saw Terry Kaff with Chicago (when they rocked) using a 150 with an Acoustic 6-10 cab and a wah pedal--- devastating. (Mr. Jimi gave major props to Terry in interviews... and also to Phil Keaggy). Johnny Winter was the best act in Atlanta with his array of 10 Fender Twins and that red Fender 12 string strung up like a 6 string. Real talent and showmanship! An albino ghost dressed in black floating across the stage relentlessly attacking that red thing. Please forgive the rantings of an old Guild geezer. Thanks..
 

andrew

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acoustic amps

I have a soft spot for old ACOUSTIC turquoise blue face 150's for guitar. I first saw ACOUSTIC gear at the 1st Atlanta Pop Festival and it must have made some kind of impression on me.A few years later I saw Terry Kaff with Chicago (when they rocked) using a 150 with an Acoustic 6-10 cab and a wah pedal--- devastating. (Mr. Jimi gave major props to Terry in interviews... and also to Phil Keaggy). Johnny Winter was the best act in Atlanta with his array of 10 Fender Twins and that red Fender 12 string strung up like a 6 string. Real talent and showmanship! An albino ghost dressed in black floating across the stage relentlessly attacking that red thing. Please forgive the rantings of an old Guild geezer. Thanks..
 

Jeff

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BB King equipment list.

Came across this equipment list in BB King's book last night.

Thought it might be interesting to some.

[img:450:338]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid214/p500d4ba4c3bf66d976b16e45c7975c4b/ed002677.jpg[/img]Well the picture resolution went South so go here for a clear image http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sra ... 002677.jpg
 

Jeff

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BB King equipment list.

Came across this equipment list in BB King's book last night.

Thought it might be interesting to some.

[img:450:338]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid214/p500d4ba4c3bf66d976b16e45c7975c4b/ed002677.jpg[/img]Well the picture resolution went South so go here for a clear image http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sra ... 002677.jpg
 
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I voted "other" My favorite was a Traynor YBA-3 head with 2 8-10 cabinets. It was all I ever needed but got dumb and sold it. I see a few heads now and again but not the cabinets. :cry:
 

Kap'n

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Re: BB King equipment list.

Jeff said:
Came across this equipment list in BB King's book last night.

I love it. "No Twin Reverb II."

Even guys who play solid state know. :lol:
 

Darryl Hattenhauer

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BB has ten kids. None of them by any of his four wives. He plays for free every year at a Mississippi prison. That's because one of his daughters resides there.
 

mojomike

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I use a 94 Peavey Classic 50 212. (The poor man's Mesa?) Now that I'm going to be playing out again (after 33 years) I'm considering a real Mesa. Is there a better combination than a Bluesbird and Starfire IV played through a Mesa for blues? If so, let me know. I'd like to check it out before I spend money that I don't really have for the Mesa.


Thanks,
Mojo Mike
 

Kap'n

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I use homemade stuff virtually exclusively. A pretty close to vintage spec 5E7 (narrow panel tweed) 3x10 Bandmaster, and a highly modified 5E3 (narrow panel tweed) Deluxe. Made from Weber kits.

When I use a "store bought" amp, it's a '63 Princeton. :D
 

dklsplace

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Kap'n said:
....Made from Weber kits.

What's your take on the quality of goods in the Weber kits? Particularly the OT's?
 

Mark51

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Weber Kits

I have built about half a dozen amps and most of them use Weber transformers, speakers, chassis, and a few other parts. Haven't had any problems with any of his parts. MM or Heybour may be better power transformers but you'll spend 2X or 3X more. I think Weber kits are the best "bang for the buck" out there.
 

Kap'n

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dklsplace said:
Kap'n said:
....Made from Weber kits.

What's your take on the quality of goods in the Weber kits? Particularly the OT's?

OK, let me preface this by stating up-front that I consider Ted a good friend of mine, and I've known him for probably 15-20 years.

I think that the quality of nearly everything in a Weber kit is of excellent quality. If you're trying to build a 100% authentic replica of a 1957 5E3 Deluxe, you're looking in the wrong place. If you're concerned about location of spot welds, number of staples in the grillecloth, etc., go elsewhere.

However, if you're looking for an amp that will give you 90+% of the sound, this is where you go. Ted uses good quality components for the most part. The two places I would suggest swapping out before constructing an amp are the jacks and the pilot light assembly. I didn't think they were up to par, but as my recollection of conversations about these with him were that the standard items people wanted for these were extremely expensive, and that they would drive the cost of the kits up unreasonably. That being said, I'd swap them anyway. There's no sense in replacing these items later. It's a pain in the [nice substitution there - mods], with no tonal gain. IMHO, the resistors and coupling capacitors are as good as anything on the market, and better than a lot of things people use as 'upgrades.'

The other thing I'd mention is that Ted is a tweaker by heart. I think his philosphy of the kits is not to give people an ultimately tweaked amp. I think the idea is to give the customer everything you need to make an amp that sounds close to the originals given off-the shelf components. For example, he provides decent quality current manufacture tubes (Shuguang, mostly) to get the kit going. He knows that most of the folks building will try new tubes, etc, to find their tonal nirvana. What comes with the kit is supposed to be a baseline.

OK, now to the transformers.

I think that people greatly underestimate the amount of work Ted's put into the transformers. Yes, they're made offshore. Yes, they're inexpensive. But he's done a lot of R&D and prototyping. I would put my Weber-kit 5E7 Bandmaster (100% kit, except for jacks, pilot light assembly and tubes) up against any amp out there.

And, to make sure I wasn't missing anything, I did put a Mercury Magnetics output transformer in my Weber 5E3 kit after trying the one tha came with the kit.. I :think: it made a difference. It wasn't huge, but I think it's better. Is it worth the money? Maybe on the 5E3, since the MM tranny is pretty cheap for that one, but I'm not considering changing my Bandmaster, that's for sure.

I've ended up making way more substantial tweaks to my 5E3. I've discovered, I really don't like a 5E3 in it's regular state. With the tweaks, I like the amp a lot. Did the MM transformer make a difference? Maybe, maybe not.

Also, FWIW, after building/modding amps for fifteen years, I don't think I have golden ears by any means, but I think they're pretty good (both my ears, and the Weber transformers).
 

capnjuan

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Gibson GA18 Explorer

Resonant, musical, absolutely dead-on vintage tone; warm, vibrant, balanced low to high, easy to work on and maintain.

10" Jensen alnico; easy, crunchy breakup at 5. With a couple of pedals, it will do everything except metal.

We're here because we respect Guild's triumph over Martin and Gibson in producing better-made and better-sounding instruments.

If you/we reject Fender for the same reasons you/we reject Martin and Gibson - because substance counts more than form, then the amp answer is Gibson.

I had copy of Fender's ball-knocking F75; strong enough to throw down the stairs but no where near as pleasant to listen to as early Gibsons.

capnjuan
 

jp

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Hey there capnjuan,

I was looking at your gear list, and I was a little curious. How does your Guild Thunder I RVT stack up against the GA-18 and the Falcon? I've always wondered how the Guild Thunder series are compare to other amps from the same period.

I also have a '65 Gibson Falcon GA-19RVT (surf heaven) and a '64 Epiphone from roughly the same era but with the Devon style cabinet--a Mighty Mite EA-22-RVT. The thing is, the insides have been Frankensteined. I hope some day to give the Epiphone a thorough overhaul.
 

capnjuan

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Hi JP:

The T1 RVT is better for cleaner tone at greater volume which it was what the designers were after and got it. Brightish, forward, good balance, a very sweet tremolo, with a separate on-board reverb amp.

At some time, a Guild amp designer bought and played a Gibson GA1RT which, were it a Fender Champ, would have had a single-ended 6V6 output. Instead, the GA1RT has a 6BM8 output; triode / pentode to handle the tremolo and the output.

The reverb amp on the T1 RVT literally takes it's input from the primary speaker taps and runs it through the reverb amp which is a phsically separate board. Except for small details, the T1 RVT's reverb amp circuit is identical to the GA1RT circuit; 12AX7 plus a 6BM8.

Very warm-sounding 6BM8s are available from Electro Harmonix and the result is a lush but not rain forest reverb. However, the Guild designers used 6GW8s in the primary output; a tube a lot more popular in Europe especially in radio but without a good substitute.

I bought fresh NOS Sylvanias and maybe didn't wait long enough for them to break in before replacing them with a pair of used Mullards; now we're talking; silky, warm, round, IMO - what tubes do best. I play my F212 through it; rich, satisfying sound. Upgraded both speakers to Celestions; has 3 Weber can caps instead of the original two Spragues.

GA18: Breaks up, warm, 6V6s, versatile; cowboy music, rock, country, 'Wooly Bully', sacrifices tonal accuracy for crunchy, wide, aggressive soundstage. 10" Jensen P10R. Happy in its relationship with the SFIII which, while wonderful, isn't a Les Paul; it doesn't do sharp / cutting / edgy tones the way solid-bodies do.

GA19: On the workbench getting power supply rebuild, fresh caps/resistors, new Trem/Depth pot and trem cap. Some zzz from the reverb can, not enough time to A/B it with GA18.

My understanding is that all the early-mid 60s Epiphones are virtual dupes of the Gibson line. What makes all the early 60s practice / student tube amps stand up and shine is fresh tubes, plate resistors, and new power supply caps.

I play the Gibbies more because, like a lot of folks on this board who own acoustic guitars without factory electronics, before you can get good tone, you have to go through the mic / mic + pre-amp / pickup [multiple variations] thicket. I haven't gotten out of that thicket yet and have no fix in sight.

If I was a strong flat-top player, I'd take the Guild over a Gibson; since I am better at slinging solder and playing fat chords, I tend to spend more time with the Gibsons.

I can't recommend strongly enough rehabbing the EA 22 particularly if you can handle it yourself; requires being able to solder and follow a diagram.
There are 5 or 6 reliable sources of carbon composition resistors on the web and plenty of places to buy capacitors - not alot more difficult than buying, say, screws.

Good luck!

capnjuan
 
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