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dfcas
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 2815
Location: hillbilly heaven12/17/16 5:13 PM |
I'll always be attracted to tube type stuff. I'd like to have a home stereo with a tube preamp and power amps. The high maintenance and expense are the main attractions.
At least I have a tube type Hammond and Leslie.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX12/18/16 7:19 PM |
I had a Fischer 500C Integrated Amp and tuner for a long time. Wish I still did. I traded off my 1963 Fender Pro Amp this season. But it needed some attention and the cabinet was trashed by the guy before me, so I never got it. So just the working chassis I put in a ply head cabinet.
But cool having a Brownface 1963 point to point Fender amp, just no use for 40 tube watts without some attenuation or master volume of some type.
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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT12/20/16 6:48 AM |
Tubes v. SS
I fought the tube v. transistor battle in the '70s--first as a ham operator, and later as a musician, and I finally came down on the side of solid state. It's not perfect, but it's predictable in ways that tube circuitry isn't, and it's more likely to survive rough treatment.
That being said, when a tube amp is properly set up, it is a joy to belisten.
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Matthew Currie
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 802
Location: Vermont12/21/16 7:35 AM |
For many years I had tube equipment, a pair of Dynaco Mark III's and a pair of tube pre-amps in series that allowed various tape and audio processing. I gave it all up some years ago when the tubes became very hard to find. In recent years they've become easier and cheaper again, but I'm in the transistor world now. I had one of the old Mono Fisher receivers in the shop, with an enormous Heathkit speaker system, a bookshelf unit on top of an 'extender' that included a horn tweeter and an enormous woofer in a corner horn case. It sounded wonderful and was crazily efficient - a pocket transistor radio would drive it to room filling volume. All done now. Lightning came one night there, and just before it hit the overhead wires and fried half the electronics in the house, melted a bunch of breakers, and blew two pumps, the Fisher glowed with St. Elmo's fire. When it hit, the woofer woofed one mighty blast that tore the cone off the voice coil, and the receiver never received again.
I also had a 500C stereo receiver, which worked nicely but I did not need, so i loaned it to a friend. His house burned down. Fortunately it was not the Fisher that did it, but that was the end of that one.
With age my golden ears have tarnished anyway, but at its best that tube stuff was lovely to listen to.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX12/21/16 8:19 AM |
"but at its best that tube stuff was lovely to listen to."
Truly
For shiets and giggles, me at 16, 500C on the shelf, corner of Marshal tube amp lower right, and my 1st Les Paul. ;) And hair, I once had hair...
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI12/21/16 3:04 PM |
Tubists
quote:
It's not perfect, but it's predictable in ways that tube circuitry isn't
Yeah, but the tubes keep your listening room warmer. And when you combine them with vinyl, you get two sources of distortion to "warm" the sound.
Definitely reminds me of my youth. I had a Dynaco ST 120 and my roommate had a pair of Dynaco Mark IIIs. We had 4 AR 12" speakers between us, and you could hear "Won't Get Fooled Again" in the dorm cafeteria when we cranked it all up.
Funny amp story from just this month: I have a pair of Marantz mono blocks in one of my sound systems and one of them went funky (really high audible distortion). I had this problem once before and had the amp "repaired" which it turned out was the technician just re-soldering all the connections. He told me that the Marantz amps were known for that. So when the amp started sounding fuzzy, I pulled it apart and re-soldered (nearly) all the joints.
I fully expected a loud pop and a puff of smoke when I turned the amp back on, but instead was surprised to find I had actually fixed the sucker. I guess building all those Dynakits back in the day was not for nothing. Skillz baby!
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Matthew Currie
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 802
Location: Vermont12/21/16 5:51 PM |
Back in the way back dream time, I started my Hi fi career with a single Dynaco Mark III, only later getting another to make stereo, and eventually a third as a spare. A couple of times, I roasted chestnuts on the top of it.
I was in the KLH rather than AR camp, with a set of three KLH 6 speakers, using a pair for front, and a single one for back channel. The KLH's weren't very great for stereo imaging, but had lots of power, and a pair of horn tweeters on the front channel gave it a little more directional zing.
Crank up Verdi's Requiem or Saint Saens' organ symphony or the like on this baby, and lie on the floor. Better than drugs.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX12/21/16 6:13 PM |
I had some cool Wharfedale speakers for my Fischer. Then we started making Bose 901 copies with CTS drivers, bass augmented with some 12" bottoms sitting under them with chokes. ;)
I had AR9s I sold with the HT in NJ, did NOT wanna move them ever again. Prior to that DCM Time Windows, I miss these most.
My HT fronts to this day are DCM Time Frames. And the rest more modern Swiss Piega, the Piega front as rears, the rear in boxes. ;) I got the Piegas in a trade for some Radia X3s. I miss the ribbons. ;)
All my cars had Visonic subs and speakers in the day. I still have some f that stuff from late 80s still working...
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Matthew Currie
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 802
Location: Vermont12/21/16 6:27 PM |
I bought a set of DCM Time Windows some time in the early 1980's and still use them, though now with an NAD receiver. Not, perhaps, the top performers for rock and roll, but they sound just wonderful for many things, and almost everything else sounds like headphones by comparison.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX12/21/16 6:31 PM |
"still use them"
One of those 'Got Aways' for me. And the 1976 Telecaster, the 60s Guild Thunderbird and F48 Acoustic... I am going to go cry now...
Love to still have that 50 Watt Marshall you see the corner of in the picture there as well...
To the right of the Marshall out of view is an Ampeg V4 Head and one 412 Cabinet. ;)
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Alenhoff
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 240
Location: Detroit, MI12/21/16 6:41 PM |
Tubes aren't what they used to be
Unfortunately, the durability/quality of the Russian and Chinese tubes available today is often very poor.
The youngest Hammond tonewheel organs are more than 40 years old (and the oldest are more than 80 years old), but it's not uncommon to see them still equipped with their original USA-made Hammond-branded tubes. Many of the modern replacements fail in a couple of years.
Alan
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX12/21/16 7:19 PM |
Agree tube quality. If I was gigging I would have to decide on having multiple sets or crazy investment in NOS stuff.
I have a small stash of NOS tubes for a few amps in my possession.
One has some 1968 Mullard power tubes I would not want to have to procure again.
I find especially pre amp tubes have much less glass and metal as to not be so great in the wear and tear dept for the riggers of playing out. I have tossed lots of microphonic [or relegated to non front end use] tubes.
I'd probably take one of two Solid State amps. ;)
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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT12/22/16 6:56 AM |
Guitars of Days Past
For more shits & giggles, me at 20 or 21:
That's a Peavey Pacer, IIRC, 50 watts of solid-state power that was really quite good. The distortion was so-so, but I used a Gibson fuzz pedal. The other thing that the Pacer had was a real reverb tank. A good whack to the side of the amp lead to fun special effects.
The guitar, long, long, long gone, was an Ibanez MC200. These photos were taken before I built a little preamp into it that gave me lots of gain, as well as treble or bass boost controls. I had three pots to control the preamp, and I left the individual volume controls for the pickups.
Yeah, like a lot of people back then, I really wanted an Alembic.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX12/22/16 12:14 PM |
Dead Head?? Still have the Alembic? I was not one that wanted one, although hard not to appreciate the sweet laminnated woods used in them. Strictly a Les Paul guy myself.
I Still have one Peavey amp, and was using a Peavey PA CS800 for my dual folded horn Home Theater Sub for years. I also had a LTD-400 for a few years that actually was owned by Jerry Reed. My neighbor in TN was his niece and the cousins brought a bunch of amps to one of their yard sales. All Peavey Freebees to Jerry.
And a few other Peavey guitar amps like Delta Blues and a few early one like your Pacer went through while in TN for almost 10 years.
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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT12/22/16 1:21 PM |
Alembic
The irony is that an Alembic Model I would have cost $1,800 in those days, and that Ibanez hippie sandwich model that I'm playing cost $550, and then I built the electronics myself. These days, an Alembic will run you $10,000 easily.
So I suppose that I should have invested, though where in the freaking world I would have got that kind of $, I do not know.
Yeah, Dead Head. I built a pedal board with a nice little regulated power supply to run the board (Small Stone, Fuzz Face (IIRC), Wah Pedal, Peavy footswitch) and put it in a nice little aluminum box with a SYF sticker on top.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX12/22/16 2:09 PM |
"Yeah, Dead Head"
Not much of a stretch, every friend that wanted that type guitar was. I was solidly in the Jimmy Page camp. Then some Humble Pie, Bee Bob Deluxe, Beck etc etc.
On the hardware front, USPS just delivered a 12" Speaker with new Tech to it called FDM [Flux Density Modulation]. Has means via a mechanical dial which I presume moves the magnet in/out, end result up to a -9db attenuation.
In the hopes yet another 50 watt amp won't outlive it's usefulness from being too loud.
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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT12/23/16 10:39 AM |
Interesting knob. Does it go to 11?
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX12/23/16 11:48 AM |
" Does it go to 11?"
More importantly, it goes to -9. ;)
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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT12/24/16 2:54 PM |
Got to play out this morning
I played for the food pantry where I work Saturdays. Guitar, piano, sax. And 200+ appreciative guests. I had forgotten how much fun performance can be!
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI12/25/16 9:56 AM |
Looking back
quote:
Flux Density Modulation
Combine that with a flux capacitor and I believe you would really have something.
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX12/25/16 10:38 AM |
You made a guitar amp...
Out OF A DELOREAN???
Speaker workd well, the tone only changes slightly when atten is on full. This speaker and the master volume being in the Traynor YCV50 seems like a multi window volume solution that still has what you get a tube amp for. Like to get it out with a drummer et al.
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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT12/25/16 4:26 PM |
Yabbut
My amp has an oscillation overthruster, buckaroos.
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ErikS
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 8337
Location: Slowing boiling over in the steamy south, Global Warming is real12/29/16 4:39 PM |
how about soundcloud some licks for us?
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX12/29/16 4:54 PM |
You don't wanna hear me or watch me climb on a bike.
This is on the bench getting assembled today. Have an Amp Cabinet in the planning stage with same pattern.
Thought I'd share
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