New Amp Day!

[miroslav]

Just scored this baby.
It's a lower wattage plexi flavor, currently running a pair of 6V6 power tubes for 18W output, with a pair of 12AX7 tubes in front. I can have it modified to run a pair of EL34 tubes for 25W output, but first I want to play with it for awhile and see if I even want/need to do that.

It arrived today, so I'm just going to mess around with it a bit tonight, and maybe over the weekend I'll capture some tones to post. So far, with only about 15 minutes of playing, just to give it a quick all-around check....I like it as-is.
It's not quite on the maxed out plexi side of things, but it does have that basic plexi sound.

Comes with just Volume and Tone knobs, so it's basic meat-n-potatoes...but I like it like this.
The Tone control has quite a wide range, so it can go from very bright-n-edgy, down to dark and creamy.
With Volume dimed...mmmm, it's a bit loud, but not worse than a couple of my other amps, so I can certainly play it at the higher volume and push them power tubes. With headphones on when recording...it's not going to be any problem.
I plan on marrying it up with my Avatar 112 Bluesbreaker cab, which at the moment has a Celestion Gold in it...but I may try a couple of my other speakers in the cab just to see which one fits the amp best. It does sound good with the Gold....but I also want to hear it with a ceramic magnet speaker.

It's about $1k brand new from the maker, but I scored it for only $350 from a guy who had it for less than 1 year, and had to unload it for personal reasons...so it's like minty-new all the way around, minimal play time.
I couldn't say no to that deal.

Here's a few pics.

 

[XploZiveToyz]

Nice. Seems you got a good deal. I've got some Avatar cabs and an amp and can't say enough good things about their products! 18 watts is all you really need.

 

[muttley600]

Cool... My kind of kit...

 

[Greg_L]

18 watts is all you really need.

Um, no.


But that's very cool Miro. Nice, nice score. I like it. Let's hear it.

Nice cab too. Those Golds are great speakers.


Wouldn't a pair of EL34s be 50 watts? Or I guess you could run them triode or whatever. Maybe if you decide you want the "EL" sound, try some EL84s. That'll be about 18 watts.

 

[miroslav]

The amp is wired for cathode bias...and I believe in that configuration, a pair of EL34 tubes could only get up to about 30W output. In the fixed bias configurations, then yeah, closer to 50W.
I'm going to speak with the builder (Carl's Custom Amps) tomorrow, and just get a better sense of how he laid out the design for this amp, and talk about possible mods, etc.
Like, I know he can add a PPI Master Volume to this amp, as I've seen them on his website....but maybe only if I went for the higher wattage. I can certainly live with the amp as-is just using the Volume.

AFA going with EL84 tubes....meh....I've never been able settle in with them. I have only one amp that uses them, and I rarely ever use it. It sounds good (Tophat Club Royale)...but I always end up going with one of my other amps that use 6V6 or EL34 tubes, both which I like a lot....though I have one amp with KT66 tubes (Z Rt. 66), and I like that flavor too, a bit bold though.
I also don't seem to go for 6L6 tubes all the much. I can run them in a couple of my amps, but I find them too "hard" sounding, where the 6V6 and EL34 have a certain low end growl and creamier crunch zones than the other tube styles.
I have a 5E3 style of amp that is currently set with 6V6 tubes....but I can run 6L6 in it, as the tranny is able to, and the rectifier options allow it...and thinking about it now, I probably should drop a pair of 6L6 tubes into that amp, as it tends to go all crunch zone too fast, too easily. If I used the 6L6 tubes, I would get some more headroom and have to push it harder to get break up.......mmmmm....now I really think I need to do that.

 

[Greg_L]

I think the earliest Bluesbreaker/JTM amps had KT66s. You ever tried KT77s? I've been intrigued by those for a while. Never tried them though.

 

[miroslav]

Yes....the early BBs had the KT66 tubes.

I actually have (I think) one pair of JJ KT77 tubes in my tube pile.
When I use to have a THD Flexi amp...because it was designed to accept just about ANY type of tube, and you could even mix like a 6V6 in one socket and a KT66 in the other...I purchased a bunch of different power tubes just to mess with, and I had one pair of KT77 tubes.
They're close to the EL34, though the KT77 was to my ears, a bit more articulate...not as easy to go crunchy/compressed as the EL34 tubes. So you could find a nice spot between say...the 6L6 and EL34 thing.

At the time I was going for nothin-but-crunch when I had the Flexi....so the KT77 went back in the tube pile after trying them out. I might have included them with the sale of the Flexi, as there was no other amp to use them in at the time...and I started getting into the 6V6 sound. I'll have to look in my tube pile...maybe I still have them, and I do have a couple EL34 amps I could put them in now.
I miss that Flexi though...interesting amp.

Hit up Eurotubes and grab a pair of KT77 tubes....they really are not bad sounding at all, just a "little less" of what you get with the EL34, otherwise kissing cousins. The JJ EL34L are IMO also excellent, with extra-creamy crunch tones.


OK...so I just spent another hour with the new amp...and I'm liking it a lot. It has really great clarity even when in the crunch zone...if that makes any sense. IOW...when you strum full chords, they stay articulate yet crunchy...you hear all the strings/notes, unlike some amps where chords go all buzzy mush-like when you strum them in the crunch zone.
This is a well designed little amp, for sure.
It doesn't hit that very top end of the crunch zone that a typical Plexi could...so maybe for that, the EL34 tubes would do the trick.
It will be a hard decision to go for the EL34 mod, since it sounds quite good now....but I need to talk to Carl, and see just how complicated it is to do the mod and then reverse the mod. I mean, I'm sure it's like a real basic circuit change, maybe a couple of different value small parts, as he only charges $50 for the mod.
I figure, if I have him do the mod....I would like to then be able to change it back on my own, in case I end up liking the 6V6 setup more, or just something to do when I get bored with one flavor, just switch it out again.
It would be cool if it was like that Flexi amp....just drop in any kind of tube, rebias...done.

By the way....Carl's Amps is just over the TX/NM border in Las Cruces, NM...if you ever go out to that side of TX.

 

[XploZiveToyz]

I think my next amp will probably be the Swart ST-45.

 

[minerman]

Nice looking amp dude, but they left some of the knobs off.... Just kidding man, I'm sure it sounds great, but myself, I like to have at least bass/mid/treble on my amps...But, just the single tone knob could stop one from endlessly tweaking.....

We wanna hear it dude!!! I think you should try the EL34 tubes man, I've got the Egnater Tweaker 15w (which can use about any power tube), that came with 6V6's stock, & while it does have it's own thing goin' on, I still prefer the sound of my EL34 amps....I will say I've got a set of 63PS Russian power tubes in the T15 right now, & those tubes take it pretty close to EL34 territory, maybe your amp can use those??? See if you can find out or not, those Russian tubes are cheap as hell, & sound pretty damn good IMO...Just a thought...Might save you from having the amp modded, again, just a thought...

Congrats dude, great looking little amp, can't wait to hear it!!!!!

 

[Greg_L]

Yes....the early BBs had the KT66 tubes.

I actually have (I think) one pair of JJ KT77 tubes in my tube pile.
When I use to have a THD Flexi amp...because it was designed to accept just about ANY type of tube, and you could even mix like a 6V6 in one socket and a KT66 in the other...I purchased a bunch of different power tubes just to mess with, and I had one pair of KT77 tubes.
They're close to the EL34, though the KT77 was to my ears, a bit more articulate...not as easy to go crunchy/compressed as the EL34 tubes. So you could find a nice spot between say...the 6L6 and EL34 thing.

At the time I was going for nothin-but-crunch when I had the Flexi....so the KT77 went back in the tube pile after trying them out. I might have included them with the sale of the Flexi, as there was no other amp to use them in at the time...and I started getting into the 6V6 sound. I'll have to look in my tube pile...maybe I still have them, and I do have a couple EL34 amps I could put them in now.
I miss that Flexi though...interesting amp.

Hit up Eurotubes and grab a pair of KT77 tubes....they really are not bad sounding at all, just a "little less" of what you get with the EL34, otherwise kissing cousins. The JJ EL34L are IMO also excellent, with extra-creamy crunch tones.

That's the going opinion on KT77s. They fall between the the EL34 and 6L6 sound. More articulate and not as bassy as 6L6s, but not as compressed and overdriven as an EL34. Seems like a good tube to me.

OK...so I just spent another hour with the new amp...and I'm liking it a lot. It has really great clarity even when in the crunch zone...if that makes any sense. IOW...when you strum full chords, they stay articulate yet crunchy...you hear all the strings/notes, unlike some amps where chords go all buzzy mush-like when you strum them in the crunch zone.
This is a well designed little amp, for sure.
It doesn't hit that very top end of the crunch zone that a typical Plexi could...so maybe for that, the EL34 tubes would do the trick.
It will be a hard decision to go for the EL34 mod, since it sounds quite good now....but I need to talk to Carl, and see just how complicated it is to do the mod and then reverse the mod. I mean, I'm sure it's like a real basic circuit change, maybe a couple of different value small parts, as he only charges $50 for the mod.
I figure, if I have him do the mod....I would like to then be able to change it back on my own, in case I end up liking the 6V6 setup more, or just something to do when I get bored with one flavor, just switch it out again.
It would be cool if it was like that Flexi amp....just drop in any kind of tube, rebias...done.

By the way....Carl's Amps is just over the TX/NM border in Las Cruces, NM...if you ever go out to that side of TX.

There's a guy here in Houston that builds amps that can accept any power tube. I think, IIRC, his amps have a modified bias circuit, external bias test points, and a huge range bias pot so you can safely inset any power tubes and bias it up properly. You can even blend different style power tubes. Pretty cool feature. I'm sure that Carl guy could do something like that.

 

[miroslav]

OK...finally had a chance to spend some time messing with the amp.
Tried out a few different speakers in the Avatar 112 cab....ended up going with a Weber Chicago in there for now.
Also swapped out the stock JJ tubes with some old stock I had, some GE and Sylvania stuff. Not the the JJs sound bad, I was just trying out stuff, and the GE 6V6 tubes had just a bit more kick and clarity than the JJs.

Anyway...after a couple of hours of that ^^^ I went into this 12 bar boogie thing, and I was having so much fun with it, I did a couple of rhythm guitar tracks, bass, piano and lead guitar on it. The drums were actually recorded for another song I've been working on, and just I "borrowed" them for this jam......they just seemed to fit the boogie flavor, plus the fills were in sync with the 12 bar thing.

The two rhythm guitar tracks and the lead were all done with this new amp. I did this "as it falls"...so not a lot of trying out mic positions and different tones and stuff. The two rhythm guitar tracks I did with the low gain input and I think the volume was like 3/4 of the way up. The lead I did with the high input and the volume dimed.
I used the same mic (AKG D1000E) in the same position for verything....can't remember much else, it was 1-2-3 one track after another.
Oh...on the lead guitasr, I used the Neck PU the first 2/3 and then Bridge the last 1/3 of the clip.

Boogie Jam
(6 MB)

The amp can certainly gets some nice R&R tones. I haven't tried any OD pedals with it, but I'm sure I can goose it into some higher-gain/overdrive territory fairly easily. I bought a OD pedal from the same guy who made this amp...should have it in a few days. It's not an over-the-top OD ...it can just bump the amp enough to push it over the edge...at least that's how it sounds in clips the guy had on his website. It was like $65...can't beat that.

<EDIT>
I also had some cleaner tones with it tonight, though I didn't record them...it cleans up real nice, very articulate, so it should make for a great rhythm guitar platform for recording.

 

[Greg_L]

Sounds pretty awesome miro. Nice classic style growl to it without being over the top, and it's got that "creamy" thing going on with the neck pickup. Sounds like a well designed amp. The only thing about it that seemed a little less-than-great to me is that cab. I'm just not a fan of 1x12s. They're small and they sound that way. But that's just my own personal taste. You got a bigger cab to run it through? I'd love to hear that.

 

[minerman]

Cool Miro!!! Sounds pretty nice dude, is this as dirty as the amp will get on it's own??? Sounds pretty good dude....

Toontrack drums dude!!! Are these just something you just threw on there, or is this one of your custom-kits???

Details dude, I'd like to have some more details about the whole shebang!!!

 

[miroslav]

Thanks for the comments guys.....it's usually a tough crowd around here when it comes to amp tones!

The only thing about it that seemed a little less-than-great to me is that cab. I'm just not a fan of 1x12s. They're small and they sound that way. But that's just my own personal taste. You got a bigger cab to run it through? I'd love to hear that.

Yeah...well that's where things are right now. I'm ensconced in 112 cabs.
I have only one 212 that's part of my Swart amp/cab rig, it has a G12H30 and a Greenback in it. The rest are all 112 cabs with my amp heads and my combo amps. It was mostly a space-saving mentality that got me to this point.
I use to have the huge Avatar 212, but it was just sucking up too much space, and I wasn't really using it, so I sold it.
Awhile back, I had a nice 412 with my old Traynor amp from the '70s, big sucker....but both are now somewhere in Florida.

Yes, lately I've been "considering" getting a compact 412, as I know it would be the best option for the classic Rock crunch sounds...but then I would have to also get anther head to sit on top of it...can't have a lonely cab sitting there.

Details dude, I'd like to have some more details about the whole shebang!!!

Yeah...that's about as dirty as the the amp gets. Like I said earlier, it doesn't go all the way into full-on plexi territory, but it gets you about 85% of the way, but I'm sure just about any OD or mild Fuzz pedal can goose it the rest of the way.

The drums.....well, I can tell you, but then I'll have to kill you.
As mentioned, they came from another song I'm working on...I just grabbed the chorus section that runs long at the end of that song, and used it for this short boggie jam.
OK...yes....it was done with Superior Drummer, and if I recall, the base kit is the default Rock/Pop kit that you get with EZ drummer (the one everyone seems to hate).
I tweaked it some, as I do all the stock kits, but I didn't use any add-on samples...it's just what came with it. I think it sounds good for this boggie jam, and it also sounds good in the song I'm using it on.
I looped the last few measures of the drum track for this, as the section I took from the other song just wasn't as long as I wanted for the boogie jam...but it's pretty seamless.

Some people get all too icky-picky with the various drum samples you get with drum apps, but I think it really comes down to the song/mix that you use them on, rather than just auditioning them on their own.
The "reality" comes mostly from the grooves/fills, and not the samples themselves....besides, all the samples come from "real" recorded drums, so it's just a matter of finding the right combination for a given song.

 

[Greg_L]

Yes, lately I've been "considering" getting a compact 412, as I know it would be the best option for the classic Rock crunch sounds...but then I would have to also get anther head to sit on top of it...can't have a lonely cab sitting there.

Those big Avatar 2x12s are great cabs.

Yeah dude, for all the amps and guitars you have, you gotta have at least one 4x12. Or a 4x10 would be cool too.

You can find Marshall AVT 4x12s for like 100 bucks used. They're much smaller, lighter, and cheaper than the typical 1960 cabs and the speakers generally suck, but you can fit whatever 12" speakers you want in there. Behringer, Crate, and Randall cabs are cheap as hell and easy to find used too. They're not great cabs, but you aint gigging them, so it shouldn't be a big deal.