Requested Pics of my 1959 MasterAmp

Walter Broes said:

I've been looking at Carrs online .... they're way above my budget for an amp anyway... what's not to like about two 6L6's, thirty watts, reverb and tremolo!? I just thought it's very obvious where he got the idea for the Rambler cab - the 1X12 almost looks like it's a direct copy of the Guild cab, dimensions-wise.

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There's a lot to look at on-line when it comes to high-grade US boutique amps;
http://www.victoriaamp.com/visitor/models
http://www.clarkamplification.com/
http://www.buffaloamps.com/
...and, you're right, compared to clones and vintage, they are expensive. The economics are that the manufacturers and dealers need to make money on them pushing the prices to the high $US1,000s - mid $US2,000s. I've seen VGC used Victorias and Clarks over on The Gear Page being offered at $1,400 - $1,800; essentially stripped of the mfr/dealer markups but they still don't get to 'affordable'. Agree that the Carr Rambler, with it's grill opening and gray tolex, is strongly reminiscent of early Guild amps. At some point, the prices of better-grade vintage are going to intersect with the prices of used boutique; given equivalent tone and other than simple preference, hard to determine a basis for choice. J

Thanks for those links, I wasn't familiar with the buffalo amps. Have played a bunch of Vickies and love them to death, I'd probably own half the catalog if I could afford them.
It's probably not entirely fair comparing kit prices to boutique amp prices - but the end user will do that in practice anyway.

And I'm liking my Weber kit Super so much I'm definitely going for another one (and have my tech or a very handy friend assemble it!), probably a 3X10 5E7 for a hair more headroom than the Super amp.
I'm enjoying the compression and less spikey treble of the tweed era circuit a LOT, coming from a BF Super Reverb. (that I still own btw, but it's been gathering dust lately!).

I'll post some clips of our new and just released CD later this week, the idea of getting a 2X10 Super came from the studio having the real deal, a great, great sounding killer amp, with the original P10R's in great shape. I recorded more than half the record with that amp!

My kit amp isn't as sweet as the real thing, of course, but for the money I paid it gets scary close as far as ballpark tone and feel are concerned. The kit is a little louder, tighter, and brighter of course.

Walter Broes said:

.... I wasn't familiar with the buffalo amps...with the original P10R's in great shape.

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The folks at Buffalo venerate the Gibson heritage the way Victoria/Clark salute the Fender tradition. I pulled and replaced a P10R from a Gibson GA18 and sold it to a fellow BBer; had already put in a new Weber 10A125 ... and have never looked back. I loved the P10R too but the fresh Weber has the P10R's tone and more soundstage ... continuing with the P10R would have meant less tone and presence but continuing risk ... waiting on a new Weber 12A125 now .... can take two weeks ... sigh .... J

Oh, I'll record with vintage speakers, but they wouldn't live a month in my stage rig! I'd love to try the 10A125 - I have the ceramic version , but it's a little "too much" : too efficient, too bright, too tight.

Great speaker though, but not for my current needs - two of them paired with two emi copperheads gave my Super Reverb the headroom of a twin, no kidding!! The 10A150 must be a BEAST!!

Is the 10A125 really a more efficient speaker with most of the Jensen alnico characteristics intact?

Walter Broes said:

Is the 10A125 really a more efficient speaker with most of the Jensen alnico characteristics intact?

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Yes, but I live musically in a 6V6 / 15 watt world; not a serious player in any respect ... just tilted towards what you'd call the 'tweed' era sound; browner, more compressed, limited headroom, rounded, chimey, syrupy, crunchy, distortion-prone. The Weber 'Vintage' series, including the 10A125, doesn't just copy Jensen designs, it duplicates the tone with extraordinary faithfulness and precision and IMO, their most significant attribute is the alnico speaker; a little cooler, darker, and with less 'twang'. I admit it isn't an especially versatile sound but it is the quintessential sound of the late 50s/early 60s ... with all of its warts and flaws. J

Just noticed this amp:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1961-VINTAGE-GUILD- ... dZViewItem

Thought it might be interesting for this discussion. Very similar to mine, maybe cosmetically a little nicer (even with the cheap Fender replacement handle and new grill cloth.) I'm not sure that's the right Jensen speaker either, but I'll leave that to the experts here to decipher.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the lot for me is the wiring diagram. Hmm... could be useful to me somewhere down the road. 8)

cawfeereglah said:

Just noticed this amp: Guild 66J on eBay Thought it might be interesting for this discussion. Very similar to mine, maybe cosmetically a little nicer (even with the cheap Fender replacement handle and new grill cloth.) I'm not sure that's the right Jensen speaker either, but I'll leave that to the experts here to decipher. Perhaps the most interesting part of the lot for me is the wiring diagram. Hmm... could be useful to me somewhere down the road. 8)

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Hi Mike; second time around on eBay for that amp; LTG thread Here. Seller's earlier offer included the buyer cleaning the paint splotches off the original grillcloth ... ceramic speaker dates to early 1961; depending on date of amp manufacture, might be original but if not, it's a period-correct replacement. The handle looks like it might be thick enough to be one of these Tweed Handles. I tried copying out the pic of the schematic but couldn't get it large/clear enough to read component values but did note that it uses a Fender-style phase inverter suggesting that it might produce a 'cleaner' rather than 'browner' signal. Gonna bid on it? John

capnjuan said:

I tried copying out the pic of the schematic but couldn't get it large/clear enough to read component values but did note that it uses a Fender-style phase inverter suggesting that it might produce a 'cleaner' rather than 'browner' signal. Gonna bid on it? John

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I should have known you guys would be all over this before me. :wink: I will give the seller credit for the clean-up job, but no John, I will not be bidding on this one. I need to be thinning the herd. Not a great time to be selling gear, though. If it sells it's going cheap these days. I'll reserve further comments about the eBay for the threat I missed.

cawfeereglah said:

... Not a great time to be selling gear, though. If it sells it's going cheap these days...

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Hi Mike; we have (yet) another thread going Here that has tracked some eBay sale prices of '50s / '60s Guild amps. Given the choice between a few shares of a profitable oil drilling company and a vgc Guild amp, I'd probably take the shares but, generally the market for tube gear is drifting up and taking better-grade Guild vintage gear with it: "A rising tide lifts all boats" famous political saying J

cawfeereglah said:

Just noticed this amp: http://cgi.ebay.com/1961-VINTAGE-GUILD- ... dZViewItem Very similar to mine ...

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Hi Mike; didn't sell - Reserve Not Met; top bid $456. CJ

capnjuan said:

Reserve Not Met; top bid $456. CJ

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That's what I'm saying... not a good time to try and unload gear. I think either people don't have it to spend or if they do they're holding back until things aren't so tight.

cawfeereglah said:

capnjuan said:

Reserve Not Met; top bid $456. CJ

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That's what I'm saying... not a good time to try and unload gear. I think either people don't have it to spend or if they do they're holding back until things aren't so tight.

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You might be right Mike although nothing wrong at the top of the Fender/Gibson vintage market. This seller has to be upset. Link to earlier 66J auction that ended at $415/Reserve Not Met; the speaker grillcloth and handle got them another $40 but still no sale. John

[quote="capnjuan] although nothing wrong at the top of the Fender/Gibson vintage market [/quote]

I will give you that, John. I suspect it parallels a lot of other markets right now. Really high end stuff continues to move and Wal-mart's business is brisk -- but, everything in the middle seems to be sluggish.

I feel for the seller. Looks like they put a lot of effort into that sale. Hopefully they will hang onto the amp and relist after things turn around. (I'm hearing that it's already happening.) I would hate to see it sell at a cut-rate price.

cawfeereglah said:

... I would hate to see it sell at a cut-rate price.

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Unless, of course, you or I were the buyer.... This is thread you may not have had a chance to see yet; started by matsickma talking about some upsurge in Guild amp prices Here. One the driving forces behind the '07 surge in Silvertone 1482 and Gibson GA19RVT prices were 5-10 YouTube demo vids of these amps. Decent players grinding stuff out; an opportunity for prospective buyers to have some sense of what they were getting into. There are a number of Guild guitar vids including several done by our own BBers Steelpickin', Jahn, Dudley Smith and others but not a one extolling the virtues of Guild amps .... had your 15 minutes of fame yet? J

I am kind of getting late to the party on this thread. I listed my 100J big brother amp on ebay last night. It is the big brother to the 66J and 99J. It is a pretty cool amp but I decided I am only keeping the amps that get a fair amount of play time. Check it out at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300223767786&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=020

M

p.s., To coastie...The paint on the amp front grill is actually a yellow colored plastic thread that is woven into the grill cloth.

I would love to be able to get a hold of cloth like that. My Hilgen bass amp has multi-color squiggles and Estey/Magnatones also had similar cloth.

matsickma said:

I am kind of getting late to the party on this thread. I listed my 100J big brother amp on ebay last night. It is the big brother to the 66J and 99J. It is a pretty cool amp but I decided I am only keeping the amps that get a fair amount of play time. Check it out at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300223767786&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=020

M

p.s., To coastie...The paint on the amp front grill is actually a yellow colored plastic thread that is woven into the grill cloth.

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I've looked at that amp, and thought "Hhm ! Yes interesting ! Do I need it ?? "

I paid no attention to the seller's name.

I'm not a big fan of 6L6 amps......... I'm wondering idly; would it convert cheaply to KT66's ? Easy to remove and replace the speaker baffle ?

The grille cloth is groovy !

coastie99 said:

... I'm wondering idly; would it convert cheaply to KT66's?

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Hi Coastie; pinouts for 6L6 / KT66 below:



They have the same pinouts however whether the power transformer would support the current demands of the KT66 is an unknown and whether or not / how to re-bias is another ...

coastie99 said:

Easy to remove and replace the speaker baffle ? The grille cloth is groovy !

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Baffle would come out from the back easily enough but rescuing the grillcloth would be a matter of how it's attached; staples are one thing but if glued ... J

I was hoping to find a description of the amp's tone. What can you say on the subject, cawfeereglah? A clip would likely leave me giddy for a week. It's gorgeous, by the way, I just wanna know what it sounds like

AfterDarkMusic said:

I was hoping to find a description of the amp's tone. What can you say on the subject, cawfeereglah? A clip would likely leave me giddy for a week. It's gorgeous, by the way, I just wanna know what it sounds like

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I'm gonna work on that for you. Would be good for me to figure that out anyway now that I've aced the whole picture-posting thing. :lol: