Amplifiers
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Yes it does! I’m leaning towards putting my blues Jr. back to life. I found this site http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=65 seems like he’s very much alive. Do you recall which mods he made to your amp?
New reverb tank, extra power supply caps, adjustable bias, thats all I can recall on my, but it’s been a long time. Changed the speaker to an EV-12L but there are lighter options if you want a speaker change/upgrade.
Hi guys, new/old guy here, Lou from Canada.
I started pretty late in life as a hobby but I got the gear bug early on and in the past 15 years have been through A LOT of gear..! I think the whole tone thing is VERY subjective and we all have our preferences, but I’ll just share a few things here if I may…Big lesson for me: if the amp is staying at home, don’t bother with a big one!! I’ve had Twins, Deluxes, Tremoverbs, Bassmans, etc etc…my current faves are about 5 watts: ’59 and ’61 Gibson GA5’s. Great tone, simple. Old is good. Break up pretty early, but if I want a nice breakup at very low volume, I use a Greer Ghetto Stomp pedal (and I’m NOT a pedal guy), but this yeilds warm snotty woofy greasy tone that I like a lot. Rick Holmstrom has used these…Really good with hollowbodies! I also have a Victoria Regal with a 15 that can run on a variety of tube compliments…of course, I like 1x6V6 at home.
There’s a guy in California makes “Li’l Dawg amps, Jim Nickerson if I recall…I have a tweed Champ circuit amp from him with a bigger box/12 inch speaker that sounds great too. Volume/tone.
I like reverb so I use a Fender tank or a pedal for that as most of the little amps don’t have verb onboard…
If you’re gigging your needs are different as you likely need more volume, at least for the stage even if going thru the PA…
Charlie Baty likes his Vero and Fender Super Reverb amps, but they’re two quite different amps…Doug Deming uses a Vero too…Thing is, the tone is not really in the gear so much…kinda, but only partly. BB would get his sound with anything, and those players that have a distinctive sound will usually do the same. It’s in the fingers, the touch, the attack, etc….I love Dave Specter’s tone and was really excited to get one of his guitars from him…a ’65 Epi Riviera. I plug it into the Victoria usually, Dave’s amp choice. I sound nothing like Dave…not just chops, tone-wise too. I could go on, but that’s it in a nutshell…
To conclude: Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS), and practice, practice, practice….
Cheers guys! Oh…love the Bill Jennings/Get Hot lesson!!
Hey Louis! Sorry I didn’t get back on the forum sooner. I hope you had a good holiday. True words my friend. I think amps that fit the environment are very important. I try not to play very loud sometimes given a show I can’t help it. I find that tone is really in the hands and attack. Kid can play a solid state vox and sound huge. I think a lot of what we view as volume has to do more with conveying energy. I use a tweed pro when I can. I find that 15″ and cabinet sounds very big without ripping heads off. I do like the Quilter, responsive and the best swiss army knife I’ve had.
My quest for a great sounding small amp ended about 6 years ago when I remembered Kid Ramos, A friend of mine for over 30 years, telling me about a little amp he bought he bought for his son. The Vox Pathfinder 15. He now uses one or two for smaller gigs.These amps need absolutely nothing done to them to sound great! Yup, it is solid state and has no tubes whatsoever. If thats a problem for you, get over yourself and save some money. Bought my first one brand new for $119.00. Bought a second one used on Craigslist for $60.00 These are no longer in production but can still be found used for under $100.00. I consider myself very lucky to own some very cool amps, including A Juke 1210, 5E5A Tweed Pro, Red Plate CDT, Ampeg Reverberocket II & J20, Quilter MicroPro 200-8 & 101 Mini Head, and a couple old Sano’s. Anyways, I keep the Vox Pathfinder 15r in my living room and play it the most. Always puts a smile on my face.
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