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Post by zak71 on Oct 10, 2014 2:22:01 GMT
Michael, not sure if you're aware of this guy, but his prices are very reasonable and the amps are extremely attractive: www.vintage47amps.com/
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Post by kiwi on Oct 10, 2014 8:35:57 GMT
I have had a Blues Junior since 2008 that I bought in Nashville, has been a great amp. I only play at home and run the master volume maxed out and use the volume to set the level, gives a great smooth sound, delay and distortion from pedals. Changed out the pretty insipid sounding reverb tank for a Modtone one, big improvement. Hey it is what it is, a nice sounding 15 watt amp that is very versatile. I also have a Valco 1954 5 watt that has had caps etc replaced and sounds great, and a Chinese made 1950 repro Princeton amp which is a nice point to point wired amp. Folks say the original speakers aren't that great, but mine broken in is fine by me. Before this I had a Pro Junior, a great sounding little amp, but for me too loud, and after 4 on the dial no more volume but distortion plus.
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Post by Michael Messer on Oct 10, 2014 9:08:42 GMT
Hi Zak,
I have used a Vintage 47 amp at a gig earlier this year. It was very good and and very close to the sound of an old amp. I did not realise how well priced they are, most of the companies doing this kind of thing charge way too much for the finished product. I used Swart as an example because their amps are excellent, but they are overpriced.
My new-old Champ was built by a guy who lives near me who just made a few copies of Fender amps because he wanted to. Everything is totally hand made and hand done, point to point on a board that he made himself. It looks like any repro Champ until you look closely. Like any musical instrument, it took a while to bed in and sweeten, but eleven years on and it sounds amazing. It has new old stock tubes in it, which I would advise everyone to put in their amps.
Shine On Michael
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Post by mitchfit on Oct 10, 2014 22:47:32 GMT
slide496, self confessed amp obsess-er here. agree with MM as to the suitability of 6V6 for [my impression of] your desired sound. single ended would allow even order harmonix through, same phase cancelled out in a P-P design when trading output duties 60 times a second. [USA] even more enamored with 6 volt preamp circuits for 6V6 output tubes. can't put the difference of 12__7 and 6__7 preamp sonic traits into usable terminology, you gotta try same for a true appreciation. being a true hollow body, your epi will be prone to squeal like a piggie when cranked up, 'specially with humbuckers due to their higher output. another reason to consider avoiding P-P circuits, IMO. however, if intended for live performing use w/o a PA system, snakehips' advice about increased head room is another variable to add into the equation. personally, i like EL84 for electric [read R&R electric] tones...but once again, roll with MM about 6V6 for my perception as to your target tone. good pricing on a single ended EL84 bad cat at TDPRI, [usual disclaimers] and not too distant to consider a live demo before shelling out american inflationary notes? www.tdpri.com/phpclassifieds/showproduct.php?product=42109&title=bad-cat-cougar-5-watt-1x12-quot&cat=22 looked for past thread posting about vintage 47 to no avail, they ~are~ an excellent choice for authentic retro-amps. was a sweet deal on one of their 1942 el capitan mdls at the gear page 'coupla weeks back. was about 1/2 price due to being purchased without the aluminum trim, may still be listed, membership required to view ads. same ~is~ a 6 volt pre/6V6 P-P out circuit, about/likely less wattage as an EL84 pair due to cooler jurasic period biasing. www.thegearpage.netanother option i'd ~highly~ recommend in champ flavors, [his specialty]---contact "muchxs" @: www.tdpri.com/forum/index.phpuse his email address @ his profile page, as his forum mailbox usually runneth over. tell him your requirements/intended use. he's an olde school electrotech who has forgotten more about vintage amp circuits than many will ever know. [was responsible for designing and installing the first mega-track recording studio in NYC back in the day...] i have [more than] enough faith in him to have ordered a "one-off*" amp build from him, currently being assembled. mitchfit * actually, "two-off" as he's plannning to build a likely tweequed circuit for hisself also.
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Post by mitchfit on Oct 10, 2014 23:09:56 GMT
slide496, self confessed amp obsess-er here. agree with MM as to the suitability of 6V6 for [my impression of] your desired sound. single ended would allow even order harmonix through, same phase cancelled out in a P-P design when trading output duties 60 times a second. [USA] even more enamored with 6 volt preamp circuits for 6V6 output tubes. can't put the difference of 12__7 and 6__7 preamp sonic traits into usable terminology, you gotta try same for a true appreciation. being a true hollow body, your epi will be prone to squeal like a piggie when cranked up, 'specially with humbuckers due to their higher output. another reason to consider avoiding P-P circuits, IMO. however, if intended for live performing use w/o a PA system, snakehips' advice about increased head room is another variable to add into the equation. personally, i like EL84 for electric [read R&R electric] tones...but once again, roll with MM about 6V6 for my perception as to your target tone. good pricing on a single ended EL84 bad cat at TDPRI, [usual disclaimers] and not too distant to consider a live demo before shelling out american inflationary notes? www.tdpri.com/phpclassifieds/showproduct.php?product=42109&title=bad-cat-cougar-5-watt-1x12-quot&cat=22 looked for past thread posting about vintage 47 to no avail, they ~are~ an excellent choice for authentic retro-amps. was a sweet deal on one of their 1942 el capitan mdls at the gear page 'coupla weeks back. was about 1/2 price due to being purchased without the aluminum trim, may still be listed, membership required to view ads. same ~is~ a 6 volt pre/6V6 P-P out circuit, about/likely less wattage as an EL84 pair due to cooler jurasic period biasing. www.thegearpage.netanother option i'd ~highly~ recommend in champ flavors, [his specialty]---contact "muchxs" @: www.tdpri.com/forum/index.phpuse his email address @ his profile page, as his forum mailbox usually runneth over. tell him your requirements/intended use. he's an olde school electrotech who has forgotten more about vintage amp circuits than many will ever know. [was responsible for designing and installing the first mega-track recording studio in NYC back in the day...] i have [more than] enough faith in him to have ordered a "one-off*" amp build from him, currently being assembled. mitchfit * actually, "two-off" as he's plannning to build a likely tweequed circuit for hisself also. SOMEBODY NEEDS TO PROOF READ THEIR POSTINGS BEFORE HITTING THE "CREATE" ICON. WAS Zak71 WHO ADVISED 6V6. SEE MESSAGES AT INBOX, LIKELY FROM HIM...THE BAD CAT IS IN WISCONSIN, NOT THE HEW HAMPSHIRE STUCK IN MY REMAINING 3 FUNCTIONAL BRAIN CELLS! {blush}
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Post by zak71 on Oct 10, 2014 23:36:12 GMT
Actually if money was not an issue, I'd recommend a Valco amp running on a pair of 6973s. But both the amps and NOS 6973s are really expensive now, and those things Electro-Harmonix re-brands as '6973s' do NOT sound right to me in those amps. I still have a Supro Sahara 1x10" with 6973s that sounds delicious at low AND high volumes. You can still find the Airline-branded version in the tan tolex cabinets at reasonable prices.
For a while I was playing with a guy that had one of the earliest 'Vintage 47' amps and it was a great sounding amp. If I was paranoid about old amps (and I'm not! Never owned a 'modern' amp...) that would be my first choice for something small. And they look great, too.
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Post by slide496 on Oct 10, 2014 23:39:25 GMT
Hi Mitchfit,
Thanks for for your response but the reason I am getting this set up is specific - it has to do with the difference in how I hear Fred McDowell revise some of his material when he switched to electric, some of his phrasing and I would like to try and study those electric arrangements and see how he does things. I wasn't able to do that with my current equipment and I thought the combination of the epiphone played through the blues junior in my hand - sounded like I would be able to get on with the study, so I went for it.
Its here and the main thing is double check its consistent at a low volume - I didnt get the epi semi -hollow body yet though its definitely on my mind.
Best, H
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Post by mitchfit on Oct 11, 2014 0:15:37 GMT
Zak, +1 from me, and the other 3 guys who keep on talking too loudly when i'm trynna post.** :-0 likely their fault about messed up info in above postings, yeah, that's it...THEIR FAULT... other un-imaginated people in agreement here, and finally some input on pigtronix' new supro re-issue amps. www.tdpri.com/forum/amp-central-station/501295-supro-new-amps-whats-verdict.htmlmitchfit ** i ~think~ a Frank Zappa quote, but can not verify on the 'net: there are only 7 people in the world who understand my songs, and i'm 4 of them.
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Post by mitchfit on Oct 11, 2014 0:42:38 GMT
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Post by pete1951 on Oct 11, 2014 9:15:53 GMT
The Blues Junior has become the cheap valve amp to go for in these parts. However Fender have squeezed a lot into a small space. The `sweet spot` for me is at about 5-6 on the gain setting (with the Master at max) This is too loud for most `Jams` I go to , so the master has to come down, and you don`t get any power amp distortion (which is less harsh than pre-amp distortion) The Pro Junior has no reverb, no master vol and a smaller speaker. Again is sounds (for me) best at 5-6 (too loud) so when I had to play through one I took a dummy load for the speaker, to bring the power down. If you don`t want a dirty sound ,then I`d go for a small older (pre printed circuit) Fender a Champ might even be big enough. PT
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Post by slide496 on Oct 11, 2014 11:41:33 GMT
I found that with the modern ones all the small ones other than the micro cube are dreadful, and same for the vintage remakes. Anyhow here are the settings I liked - master on 2, volume 4, similar volume to what Snakehips described - I think!! Hard to choose when you don't know much about them and want to try it with the guitar itself. The guitar itself was up to 10 on all controls, hopefully that can come down a little across the board.
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Post by slide496 on Oct 27, 2014 21:40:34 GMT
Hi Harriet, The Hot Rod Blues Junior is a very good amp, there is no question about it. However, I think it is overpowered for what I think you want it for. 15 watts of tube guitar amp is loud, especially if you are only using it at home. Shine On Michael UPDATE: No doubt about it in my co-op! YMMV This idiot slide guiitarist Just packed hers up for return. My best, Harriet
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2014 10:55:01 GMT
Hi. I am a retired electronic tech that presently runs a small amp repair business in NJ. I have a dozen small tube amps. If you want to stay away from vintage due to cost and maintenance issues, and don't want the raw over-juiced Fender blues amps, look into finding a Marshall class 5 combo. I got one recently and love it. Fender makes a pawnshop series of low power low price tube amps but I have worked on some and found they seem to overheat and are unreliable.
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Post by slide496 on Oct 28, 2014 14:16:05 GMT
EDITED: Looks like the executive decision today is back to the epiphone les Paul Special through the microcube. Harriet
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