Need 2X10" amp recommendation for a friend

capnjuan

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jp said:
... as I find myself divested of a certain, highly versatile, complex, and sophisticated Swiss Army knife of an amp, of the Carlos Santana variety. That would be the GA19? The Italians may even label it "industriale." Might have been the best all-around, dollars-for-tone amp they ever produced. ... And upon my bench there remains a tidbit of vintage aged goodness, small but mighty, though not yet ripened to perfection ...
Hi JP; there are penalties for everything ... I purged my Photobucket account 6-8 months ago including my pics of the Mightiest of Mites ... not the bugs ... that powerhouse EA22 of yours ... the onlyiest amp of its kind; 50 watts of EL34 cheese and on-board reverb .... using the Fender/Gibson design with two gain stages for the to-be-verbed signal ahead of the reverb can. Fwiw; there are lots of GA19s coming and going for when the money machine is working the way you want it to but there t'ain't hardly any of those 'Mites around. :wink:
 

tele4tone

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Heh... mine sat and toiled in a consignment shop as well.... no takers.

Capn, we must have similar ears:)

Do you like ampeg combos as well? I think the Gibby's are a close albeit darker sounding cousin especially using 7591's

Cheers, Jeff
 

jp

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capnjuan said:
jp said:
... as I find myself divested of a certain, highly versatile, complex, and sophisticated Swiss Army knife of an amp, of the Carlos Santana variety. That would be the GA19? The Italians may even label it "industriale." Might have been the best all-around, dollars-for-tone amp they ever produced. ... And upon my bench there remains a tidbit of vintage aged goodness, small but mighty, though not yet ripened to perfection ...
Hi JP; there are penalties for everything ... I purged my Photobucket account 6-8 months ago including my pics of the Mightiest of Mites ... not the bugs ... that powerhouse EA22 of yours ... the onlyiest amp of its kind; 50 watts of EL34 cheese and on-board reverb .... using the Fender/Gibson design with two gain stages for the to-be-verbed signal ahead of the reverb can. Fwiw; there are lots of GA19s coming and going for when the money machine is working the way you want it to but there t'ain't hardly any of those 'Mites around. :wink:
Actually, it was the mighty Mesa DC-5 which I let fly into the hands of a chronic tweaker--the kind of gear guy who will fiddle with knobs all day and figure out the amp's true potential. Me, I'm too impatient. Once I grab a good sound which inspires me, it's off the to the races till I'm riffed out.
I slightly regret it for sentimental reasons. That diehard tone monster followed me through dozens of states, stinky college bars, to society gigs, and never once let me down. When I finally get my grubbies on an AC15TBX or a Valvetech Hayseed, I may eventually snag a DC-3 head running EL84s. BTW the Mighty Mite doesn't push nearly 50 watts. My guess is more like 15-18 watts. That's its current attraction--early fuzzmania. Don't know if its charm is enough to keep out the gimmes if one of the aforementioned comes along, but those require a handful of bills as well. Time will tell.
 

capnjuan

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jp said:
.. Actually, it was the mighty Mesa DC-5 which I let fly into the hands of a chronic tweaker--the kind of gear guy who will fiddle with knobs all day and figure out the amp's true potential ... I slightly regret it for sentimental reasons ... BTW the Mighty Mite doesn't push nearly 50 watts. My guess is more like 15-18 watts. That's its current attraction--early fuzzmania.
Ok; had forgotten about the Mesa ... you mentioned its weakish reverb ... I wondered about the low voltage in the recovery / return stage. I can (sort of) relate to the loss of the gear ... I had a Rockwell 346 power saw ... when I used to "... get my back into my living ..." Expensive by standards 40 years ago, it didn't cost as much as a Mesa but it was just as important to me.

A little surprised about the EA22's power; the schematic doesn't give test voltages ... I guess if I'd thought about it, I would have realized that they would have scrimped on the transformers ... but early fuzzmania is what I like best about low-power 6V6s ... I don't have to turn it up ... preserving the domestic tranquility isn't without its cost. :wink:
 

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kakerlak said:
Have a friend who is looking for a 2x10" all tube combo. He is a long time Super Reverb fan and looking for something fairly light weight and portable with a similar sound. I know he's had a 4X10" Blues Deville in the past and was never fully satisfied with it. I'm thinking he's looking for something with a fairly simple circuit, point to point wiring is a plus, but not a must...

Anybody have any recommendations? The caveat here is that he's working with a budget that precludes pricey vintage and boutique stuff...

I'm having a hand-wired 2X10 combo built for me by Mission Amps. It will be based on a 5B4/5C5 tweed circuit, with octal preamp tubes (6SL7GT) and 6L6/5881 power tubes. The kicker is that I'm having a V-front cabinet built for it, like an old tweed Dual Professional or early Super. If Fender decided to produce a modern-day clone of the '50 Super, this would be that amp. Output should be about 20-25 watts. It should be able to do round/clean/jazzy tones at low volume and then really grind the blues from "5" on up. Total price with cab and speakers should end up being about $1200... not bad at all for a new boutique tweed.
 

capnjuan

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tele4tone said:
Capn, we must have similar ears:) I suspect we do! Do you like ampeg combos as well? I think the Gibby's are a close albeit darker sounding cousin especially using 7591's
Hi Jeff: I'm not to be mistaken for a serious player ... I'm a Stoly-sipping toe-tapper with a rhythm-playing front-man R&R fantasy ... but I'm good with a soldering iron. I'm old enough to remember the ratty sound of crappy bands at after-school sock hops ... the sound these guys might make:

invictas03.jpg



To get that sound, I currently use one of these; a 'reclaimed' (DOA, covered-in-paint) Gibson GA20T ... the one in my siggie with a pair of Bendix 5992s, 6087, Sylvania 5879, and a '59 C12Q ( .... an effort to end my alnico addiction). That's a Gibson GA8 (threaded here) sitting in the background ... traded away for a MIM tele:

front08.jpg



Agree that the 6V6/7591 Gibsons are dark ... never had the pleasure with an Ampeg but did listen to one of our better-playing members play through his Guild 66J which, with all due respect to Guild, is an Ampeg M12 in almost everything but name. One of our members recently bought a vgc vintage Reverberocket ... he's crazy about it ... another has a RI RR and another I think still has a Gemini VI ... Ampeg spoken here. :wink:
 

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fungusyoung said:
What about a Dual Showman Reverb head with the 2x10 cab with his speakers of choice?

The Dual Showman Reverb is basically a Fender Twin in a head. They can be had very reasonably. If he was that in love with the Super Reverb, I'm guessing he wants & needs headroom... this would give it to him in spades.

If a bit lower wattage is an option, Dr. Z makes some fabulous 2x10 combo options. If buying used, you can find some great Z's out there at decent prices.

I agree that Dr. Z makes some outstanding combo amps. I play through a "MAZ Junior" 2 x 10, which puts out a loud 18 watts. It also comes as a 1 x12. Mike Zaite (Dr. Z) is a great guy, and builds really solid amps with just enough features to allow you to shape your tone (such as the "cut" control), without having too many bells and whistles. Check 'em out at http://www.drzamps.com/
John
 

mad dog

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Speaking of 2x10s, someone on The Gear Page has a Holland Lil Jimmy up for sale. 35 watt tweed, 2x10, with built in reverb. Always wanted to try one of these.

MD
 
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