Most popular/common Guild amp from late 60s to early 70s.

Joined
Jan 20, 2014
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
Los Angeles area of Southern California.
I've been thinking recently, which is always dangerous, about getting another Guild amp. Was going to buy a combo amp around 1970 but I forget what the model was that I was looking at. The Thunderstar amps look to be a little too big from what I remember and it definitely wasn't a tweed Masteramp. Any suggestions from this time frame? Thx in advance. Thmj.
 

Default

Super Moderator
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
13,596
Reaction score
3,008
Location
Philly, or thereabouts
Guild Total
11
I have to rebuild the amp sticky.
What wattage are you looking at? In house or play out?
On the lower wattage side, Thunder Ones are the liw end practice amp. Decent grind at garage volume. Thunder One RVTs have trem and a reall nice reverb. Thunderbirds and Mavericks have 7591 tubes and are good medium gig amps and the last version of the thunderbird came with 6L6gts for fifty honest watts. Thunderbasses are good guitar amps. Thunderstar and Superstar are great combo amps with trem, reverb and (I think) master volumes.
 

AcornHouse

Venerated Member
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
10,213
Reaction score
7,210
Location
Bidwell, OH
Guild Total
21
Thunderstar and Superstar are great combo amps with trem, reverb and (I think) master volumes.
No Master volume on the Thunderstar; just two different volumes for the two channels, ala a Bassman.
 

AcornHouse

Venerated Member
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
10,213
Reaction score
7,210
Location
Bidwell, OH
Guild Total
21
Let me know when you start reconstructing. I'll take pics of mine, as needed.
 
Joined
Jan 20, 2014
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
Los Angeles area of Southern California.
Thx for the info folks. After scrolling through what I could see in the amp sticky, it looks like the Super Star may be the one I remember. The Thunder 1 looks a little small but still a nice amp. Will use mostly at home or the occasional club/bar/restaurant gig. Thmj.
 

matsickma

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2005
Messages
4,280
Reaction score
1,028
Location
Coopersburg, PA
If I recall correctly the 15" diameter speaker of Super Star came in three speaker flavors: Oxford, Altec and JBL D130. The Oxford is pretty crummy sounding for guitar. Don't recall the Altec model but if it is a 418 for my money it will have the best sound for guitar. The JBL D130, although costing more at the time and having a greater power handling capacity, is a good choice if you plan to use it for guitar and a bass combo.

Their have been reports of a 4-10 Super Star ala a Super-reverb setup. Never seen one but think their is sufficient space for the 4-10's.

M
 

mavuser

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
8,128
Reaction score
2,636
Location
New York
In my personal experience the best (or my favorite) are the Thunderstar, 66-J, and Thunderbass.

The Maverick to a lesser extent is equal to the others, it's just too loud for me really, and does not have the second channel that the Thunderstar has. The tremolo on the Maverick is crazy! I've never tried the Superstar. But it looks like just the same as the Thunderstar, with a 15-inch speaker (instead of 12).

The full size Thunderbirds and Superbirds are just too much for me to even begin checking them out. Stadium rock!
 

matsickma

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2005
Messages
4,280
Reaction score
1,028
Location
Coopersburg, PA
Their is a output power tube difference between the ThunderStar and SuperStar. Basically the TS uses 7591 tubes @ 35W and SS, along with the 3rd version of the Thunderbird, use 6L6 @ 50W.
M
 

mavuser

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
8,128
Reaction score
2,636
Location
New York
Their is a output power tube difference between the ThunderStar and SuperStar. Basically the TS uses 7591 tubes @ 35W and SS, along with the 3rd version of the Thunderbird, use 6L6 @ 50W.
M

did not realize, thank u!
 
Joined
May 7, 2014
Messages
6
Reaction score
5
Location
San Jose, CA
Guild Total
5
I just got a Maverick guitar amp (not bass from what I can tell). I LOVE it. @mavuser you're right. That tremolo sold me. I had no intention of buying another amp and then I couldn't get that tremolo out of my mind. (I ended up selling a much beloved Alamo Montclair because I love the Maverick more. It was one of those rare pieces that just spoke to me. Also the Alamo's going to a friend who lost his in a flood. The Mav just made it a little easier to part with it.) I just got it, so I have a couple of questions and was wondering if someone could help me out.

#1) Does anyone have the schematic for the 1971 Maverick guitar amp?

#2) There's no foot switch, right? I can't find a 1/4 inch input/jack for one. Am I missing something? Is there a way to add one so I can turn the trem/rev off while playing?

#3) And this is probably a general amp question, but I can't figure out the "skittles-ish" noise that I get from it every now and again. Sometimes it works beautifully, and other times, when I play, it gets this weird staticky, noise like if you play a tube amp just as the power is going off. Is that a bad tube? If so, how do I safely identify it?

Any advice would be much appreciated. (Just don't ask me if it's the guitar or cables. It's not.)

Thanks, Guild lovers.
 
Last edited:

Default

Super Moderator
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
13,596
Reaction score
3,008
Location
Philly, or thereabouts
Guild Total
11
Hi! Glad you found a Maverick, l have one as well. The schematic is at Prowess amplifiers under miscilanious. The footswitch uses rca jacks on the back panel. The occasional glitchy noise might be dirty tube pins or sockets. Try pulling the tubes part way out and then in 5-6 times to clean them off.

Hope that helps!
 

mavuser

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
8,128
Reaction score
2,636
Location
New York
nice, glad there is yet another mav user out there!

I find with my amps they dont seem to like the footswitch. although it is a very convenient feature to have, I just use the knobs to turn the effects off (and on).

enjoy the mav!!
 
Joined
Oct 11, 2017
Messages
2
Reaction score
1
No Master volume on the Thunderstar; just two different volumes for the two channels, ala a Bassman.

Interestingly, I found a super useful quirk of the thinderstar design while working on mine. If you leave the tremolo tube out, the intensity knob will reduce the output volume as you turn it up. Because of where the term is in the circuit you can still crank the volume to get overdrive, then dial back the output volume with the intensity knob, much like a master volume. I'm not sure why this works, I hope it's not damaging anything. If anyone can explain it, I'd love to know what's going on electrically.
 
Joined
May 7, 2014
Messages
6
Reaction score
5
Location
San Jose, CA
Guild Total
5
Maverick "Lead"

Thanks! I actually had to buy a schematic for the Maverick "Lead," but it was worth it. I ended up replacing the tubes, which sounds just fine; however it turns out I'm going to have to replace a speaker. These are 10" 50W 4 ohm, right? I can't figure out the coding on the speaker. Any advice? I know the CTS code, but I don't understand the rest of it. Anyone care to drop some knowledge?

137
018013
708

I'll try to get a photo up.

Doug
 

Default

Super Moderator
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
13,596
Reaction score
3,008
Location
Philly, or thereabouts
Guild Total
11
They are box stock 8 ohm CTS 10 inch speakers, same a Fender used in some of their amps. Replacethem with a decent set of Webers, or whatever floats your boat, sonically speaking. Make sure that the speakers are 8 ohms impedance and wired in parallel for a 4 ohm total load and you will be golden.
 
Joined
May 7, 2014
Messages
6
Reaction score
5
Location
San Jose, CA
Guild Total
5
They are box stock 8 ohm CTS 10 inch speakers, same a Fender used in some of their amps. Replacethem with a decent set of Webers, or whatever floats your boat, sonically speaking. Make sure that the speakers are 8 ohms impedance and wired in parallel for a 4 ohm total load and you will be golden.

Thanks, Steve. I really appreciate the reply.
Doug
 

mavuser

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
8,128
Reaction score
2,636
Location
New York
I put the jensen C10Q 8 Ohm reissues in mine. they are 35 watts each, instead of 25. So a little louder maybe, or more headroom or power for pedals, or something. But they sound just like the old CTS that were in there. I found Weber sound clips and other speakers to sound fantastic, but the Jensens sound the most like the mav. heres a link to the speaker-

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/acce...1716327-sku^665002000000613@ADL4MF-adType^PLA

in retrospect now that ive replaced everything else in the amp, I wonder how the old speakers sound. They were never blown or anything, just tired sounding. but the new ones sound nice
 

Nuuska

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2016
Messages
7,668
Reaction score
6,028
Location
Finland
Guild Total
9
Hello

Old thread - but seems right place to ask.

I am in process of helping LTG-member Mellowgerman with his Thunderbass amp. So he sent me two schematics. The tone control circuitry looks very different from the usual Fender-Marshall type. These seem to be +/- or boost/cut controls like in hifi units or mixer channels. And those three-way-switches -are they similar to what some Ampegs use?

I´m tempted to build one for guitar playing. But before I let my energy loose on that project - can you guys describe the sonic difference between a Fender-amp vs Guild-amp. Low power units are more interesting. And I always play with clean sound.


Thank you.
 

sailingshoes72

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2014
Messages
1,477
Reaction score
414
Location
Virginia, USA
Ampeg was well-known for using a Baxandall tone stack in the 60's for the Portaflex series and Gemini series amps. But not in the "Universal" series amps (Jet, Rocket & Mercury).

... it was different from the Western Electric-inspired circuits used by Fender and Gibson in that its separate tone controls could either boost or cut bass and treble. This arrangement leaves the the midrange frequency response flat, or neutral. By comparison, the Fender and Gibson amps equipped with bass and treble controls were only able to boost those frequencies. As an artifact, the midrange frequencies were scooped, or cut. Therefore, Ampeg amplifiers had more midrange response than other makes of amps. ***

*** Ampeg (the Story Behind the Sound) by Gregg Hopkins & Bill Moore (1999)

A mid-60's Ampeg Gemini I amp would be a good example of the sound of this type of tone circuit.
 
Top