john_kidder said:
And now that I recall it, was the the S-200 head you have the subject of an earlier thread (on the old board)? I seem to remember inquiring about it there?
As a matter of fact it was. This was one of the threads that was saved from the old forum, here's the text:
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Date Posted: 10/22/2004 1:28 PM
Posted By: john_kidder
" Guild Stereo Tube Guitar Amp 200S made by Ampeg 1960's"
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 07611&rd=1
I find very little information about this amp in a quick cruise around the web. Does anyone have particulars?
Thanks
John Kidder
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Date Posted: 10/28/2004 7:58 PM
Posted By: john_kidder
Sold - last (legitimate) bid $367 - someone knows what it is!
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Date Posted: 10/28/2004 9:35 PM
Posted By: dklsplace
Wow! Too bad it had been cut down...wonder what it would've gone for had it been original?
I'm not sure if they farmed those out back then...seems I remember reading that they actually made some "in house" for awhile.
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Date Posted: 11/19/2004 8:33 AM
Posted By: john_kidder
Reply to : dklsplace
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 76207&rd=1
It's back - does no-one know what this is?
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Date Posted: 01/08/2005 8:49 PM
Posted By: matsickma
Reply to : john_kidder
Hi John,
I was the guy who finally purchased the chopped Guild 200-S head. I lost the initial auction and when it was relisted the seller told me an oversees buyer tried to scam him. So it was re-listed. I was reluctant to buy this amp but I am sure glad I picked it up. The chopped amp is in excellent electrical condition. It turns out the way the amp was cut down you can flip the head around and mount it on a cabinet in a way that the head looks a Marshall Plexi style head. I haven't finished the packaging modification yet but it will be very cool when finished.
The 200S first appeared around 1956. My earliest literature show that Guild released the 66J, 99J 100J and 200S at the same time in a two-tone color style with a trapezoidal fron grill cloth. The earliest amps continued to have the Guild Masteramp logo on the front and then appeared with the flat square letter logo. Some also had the Guild logo inked to a clear plastic label that was mounted to the grill cloth.
By the late 1950's the Guild amp style was changed to the "Grey with white paint drops" tolex and the amp had a traditional rectangular front grill. This version of the amp is my favorite because Guild used two seperate speaker baffel boards, one for each speaker, and they angeleed each about 5 degrees away from each other for improved stereo spacial seperation. On this model the back of the amp has a small divider board to provide some isolation between speakers. The final version of this amp is the "Grey Tolex" version. This is the model of the amp I picked up and was chopped down. In this model the front speaker baffel was straight, no longer angeled, and the divider board was removed.
The 200S is the only Guild amp that was designed around of EL-34 power tubes. The amp is two seperate amplifiers that allows stereo operation, dual mono operation ( i.e., two instruments) and a ganged mono operation. The Guild amps of this era do not have a very high gain in the preamp section so it isn't easy to break them up. I use a tube Copicat or a Guild Brian May treble boost to jack up the front end gain. It sound really good but gets very loud. (When I did this to my 100J using the Brian May boost I toasted the stock Jensen 15". You do have to use a bit of caution as these amps can put out a lot of power if the preamp is pushed hard!) I am now messing around with one channel having the EL-34 tubes replaced with a pair of Yellow Jacket EL 84's and plan to eventually have a friend of mine modify the bias to allow either EL34's or 6L6's to be substituted. This amp may end up being my version of a THD Bi Valve amp.
I almost chased after the re-listed 200S amp that was posted on eBay a few weeks ago but decided I will have more fun with this amp as a Head. I can alternated speakers and cabinets for a wider selection of sound options.
Hope the info was useful,
matsickma
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Date Posted: 01/09/2005 7:35 PM
Posted By: john_kidder
Reply to : matsickma
Thanks for the info - excellent summary, great history. Hope the amp continues to work fine for you. Keep us posted as you mod it.
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Date Posted: 01/19/2005 10:20 AM
Posted By: santfe
Reading that description, I am reminded that I don't know what people are talking about when they use the term "sag" (I know they mean voltage sag). Is this the same thing as having a "compressed" sound (the sense I know compression is in reduced dynamic range).
Can anyone lucidly describe in words what sag sounds like?
What does it sound like? My understanding is that my GA-79, like most Gibson amps, was designed NOT to have any audible sag, and I have heard the new Gibson Super Goldtones (which I also own) described as "stiff."
It doesn't sound like anything I would like for my (Atkins-style) playing, but I am curious as to what we're talking about here.
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Date Posted: 01/19/2005 11:44 AM
Posted By: Walter_Broes
Yes, a kind of compression, and no, not something you'd really want for atkins style picking.