guild thunderbass-J H EXP

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I am hoping someone can help me solve a mystery. years ago I bought a used thunderbass Quantum at a pawn shop and when I got it home and started cleaning it I noticed two unusual things, it had a pair of added jacks on the back with a red strip label: INPUT/SLAVE/OUTPUT and on the bottom stenciled with white paint J H EXP HANDLE WITH CARE. can anyone out there shed any light on this?
 

capnjuan

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Hi tubezarmy and welcome to LTG; Do you still have the Quantum? An interesting amp; a 4-tube preamp Thunderbass with a 6GF7 screen voltage regulator ... a couple of members here own/have owned them. Just guessing at those jacks but they are likely preamp out and power amp in - an effects loop and the word 'slave' intended to mean either secondary or in parallel with the primary signal chain.

As for the inscription: "J H EXP HANDLE WITH CARE", I can think of two interpretations:
1) Just Horribly EXPensive .... therefore handle with care, or
2) Jimi Hendrix EXPerience ... handle with care.

Either you have a piece of gear once owned by a famous musician or an amp decorated by one or more people who had some extra paint and enjoyed stenciling in their spare time. But, so you don't feel so alone, I have a Univox U305R that has the name 'Petty' engraved on the back of the chassis. It currently doesn't work very well and my calls to Tom's agent aren't being returned. :lol: (click here if you think I'm just messing with you about the Petty thing)

Best wishes, and again, welcome to LTG! CJ
 
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Yes I still own it, it is currently being examined and repaired by David Weyer,amp tech.what I was looking for was any specific knowledge of its possible use by Jimi's band...somewhere out there is perhaps a matching cabinet or knowledge of how it was used or the person who modified it.maybe a picture of it on stage somewhere. the stenciling is very faded and someone messing around would not go to the trouble to paint it on the bottom...remember the obnoxios handle/mounting bracket...I appreciate the humor but was looking for serious knowledge.
 

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That's the problem with trying to research an amp that was built forty years ago. Companies go out of business, memory fades and documentation is lost. :( Humor is just a way of coping.
If you could post pot and transformer codes, we can narrow down the manufacture date - that would give us a time frame where it couldn't have been made before. One of our members recalled that they were used at Woodstock. Wish I could be more helpful.
 
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It is a 68 or 69, in researching I have on google search of Guild Thunderbass Hendrix found mention of the Guild cabinets and located David weyer one of Jimis amp techs.and he is working on it in Billings, Montana. WE Used and Abused {Hard Rock and Punk} the amp for nearly 20 years before it started making noise. Memory of and proof are two different things...In this case a picture would be worth more than a thousand words...maybe there is a picture of a stack of them at Woodstock being used as Monitor amps Or reinforcement...or someohe who worked for Guild or a music store.I do not have hi-speed net so searching images on dial up is slow.
 

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tubezarmy said:
It is a 68 or 69, in researching I have on google search of Guild Thunderbass Hendrix found mention of the Guild cabinets and located David weyer one of Jimis amp techs.and he is working on it in Billings, Montana. WE Used and Abused {Hard Rock and Punk} the amp for nearly 20 years before it started making noise. Memory of and proof are two different things...In this case a picture would be worth more than a thousand words...maybe there is a picture of a stack of them at Woodstock being used as Monitor amps Or reinforcement...or someohe who worked for Guild or a music store.I do not have hi-speed net so searching images on dial up is slow.

Yeah, the filter caps are supposed to be changed every ten years are so. Oddly enough, in amps that are frequently used, the caps last longer. As far as proof goes, memory is a lot of what we have to go on.
A quick search reveals this pic of Hendrix with a crapload of Guild Quantum Bass cabinets. I would like that a Guild head might be in the mix during this period.
What makes finding photos with a clear shot of the bass rig difficult is, well, we're talking Hendrix here.
Nobody was interested in taking pictures of the band when Hendrix was playing from another world. I'd love to be able to say that it was part of BOG's gear, but it's probably going to take combing through a ton of pictures, just to get a glimpse of one. Fortunately, Guild heads are very different from Fender and Marshalls, so it should show up in backline photos.

JimiNYE69.jpg


I'll check around later, the turkey and pie are almost done.
 

capnjuan

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Killer pic; pre-Experience ... but killer!
 
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the picture is great. BOG whicih would be Post- EXP? I found mention of use earlier in one of Chris Dixon's 30th anniversarry reviews. Big knobs and handle snould help. Probably was used as bass montor or reinforcement...Wonder who has the cabinets and if the stenciling and/or paint would match, Thanks for all help and picture.
 

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Excellent photo Default!

I had heard of the Quantum "monitior" reference at Woodstock but didn't see the Quantums in any pictures I looked at.

The stack of Quantum cab's in the BOG photo is great.

It looks like the stack of Fender heads on the right can be 4 Bassmans and a Bandmaster. I am not sure what combo is on the bottom. The aspect ratio doesn't look like a Twin or a Super. It may be a Vibroverb with a single 15" on the bottom.

M
 

capnjuan

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tubezarmy said:
BOG whicih would be Post- EXP?
I think you're right; pic and audio clip here from Fehmarn, Denmark last concert before Isle of Wight, I was there with buddies from the 33RD Field Hospital ... guy in left center doesn't look like Noel Redding. Funny how I didn't remember that it wasn't Mitchell and Redding ... must have been something in the air...
 
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