i hav bought about 30 pairs of jj 6l6's from AES plus HEAPS of ecc83's and ecc803's and even after being shipped all the way to New Zealand (kicked around buy couriers, droped and fumbled by customs, etc) still not a single dead'un out of the box and no one has reported a failure in any of the amps i hav fitted em to.
The = C= are sopssed to hav about the best sound, but twice the price.
JR If the ECC83 sounds abit dull try an ECC803 its the long plate version, sum people prefer them. I hav 803's in my harp amp and like the tone, ....but i guess tone is a personal thing.
The = C= are sopssed to hav about the best sound, but twice the price.
JR If the ECC83 sounds abit dull try an ECC803 its the long plate version, sum people prefer them. I hav 803's in my harp amp and like the tone, ....but i guess tone is a personal thing.
If I only get 120 watts I'll replace them all. I used to get a real 130 out of a silverface bassman 130 with only 4 6L6s (ultralinear seems to give a few extra), I want to get the real rated 180 out of 6 6L6s in this ultralinear.
I need to look carefully at the super twin schematic compared to its closely related sister the Studio Bass. I know the centers for the EQ are different, but I don't know whether there are any other differences in the bass model, like size of coupling caps, bright switch, etc.
Yeah I heard good things about the Ecc803 and I tend to actually like long plates, I have them old Sylvania 12AX7 those sound pretty good, Not sure what I am after tone wise maybe some more Edge/clarity and bite but I still find lots of the long-plates have a nice 3D presentation I really liked. I would like find a nice gainy short-plate that still has a more lively open sound to it. I keep thinking I need to try a Mullard I61 or an Amperex BB, or else something with amazing harmonic content.
Them old Chinese "silver specials" were hot as hell but I found they still retained like a nice sound-stage/bite etc I wish I would of hung on to a few of them lol. Now I understand they have the 8th and 9th gens 12ax7a/b etc I haven't tried em yet but guys say they are nothing like the old ones.
I recently changed O/P tubes in a studio bass and it reached about 170 WRMS. I used chinese ones from TAD. 120 Watts in fact would be weak.
btw, ultralinear will not give you extra power, rather less than conventional pentode operation. To get most out of the amp you could try to convert the output stage. But the ultralinear transformer certainly gives the amp something special. Wouldn't want to play guitar with this one though
If you have the super twin with the infamous 6C10 then the preamp is different in some ways but they share the same output stage.
Just curious, how will you measure output power without a scope?
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Regardless of valve type, the studio bass and silver face super twin will only be rated to give 180 w by the output transformer.
Going beyond this will drive the amp into transformer saturation and/or output stage distortion (which may or may not be your cup of tea- but you did state previously that breakup modes were not what you were after).
Driving this excessively will cause undue heating and possible damage to an old transformer, so beware.
I'd personally try to measure current draw between both sides and balance the valves to get the best indication of that.
Then play the bloody thing. All this talk about what valves they are or aren't, or other peoples experiences with different brands doesn't matter if you can balanced current draw and it sounds good and works!
Going beyond this will drive the amp into transformer saturation and/or output stage distortion (which may or may not be your cup of tea- but you did state previously that breakup modes were not what you were after).
Driving this excessively will cause undue heating and possible damage to an old transformer, so beware.
I'd personally try to measure current draw between both sides and balance the valves to get the best indication of that.
Then play the bloody thing. All this talk about what valves they are or aren't, or other peoples experiences with different brands doesn't matter if you can balanced current draw and it sounds good and works!
...almost bought a 'scope yesterday. It was a Tektronix, just slightly larger than a handheld. The most interesting feature was that it goes to 200Mhz but all inputs are isolated differential with optical coupilng. That sure can't use a filament, maybe LED or laser or something?? Comes with a USB connection or you can plug a big VGA right into it if you need a bigger display than the built-in color display. Dual-channel dual-trace and you never have to worry about different grounds for the two channels, as each is completely isolated!
Battery, chargeable, wall-wart, and it comes with an assortment of leads, including a high-voltage set.
Only things I didn't like was that it was all buttons and I prefer the knobs I'm used to, and somebody else bid $10 more than my BidNip.com snipe was set for.
Battery, chargeable, wall-wart, and it comes with an assortment of leads, including a high-voltage set.
Only things I didn't like was that it was all buttons and I prefer the knobs I'm used to, and somebody else bid $10 more than my BidNip.com snipe was set for.
This amp is all stock for now, and I think it's the same as the Studio Bass except the EQ section has all different centers. I'm going to try it for bass before I even think of doing anything else to it, that was my original intent. I wish I had found a Studio Bass to convert into head and cabinet, but the Studio Bass might be a cool super-combo as it is. Nobody except Ted Nugent and some country pickers really liked the Super Twin much, maybe some super-clean pedal steel players...and the Super Twin could be found much cheaper.
I was under the impression Fender went to ultralinear to get just a little more clean power. You're saying it was more the "clean" than the "power"?
I was under the impression Fender went to ultralinear to get just a little more clean power. You're saying it was more the "clean" than the "power"?
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Yes, that's about the point, but the difference is nothing to worry about. The efficiency of a UL configuration is considered slightly below a standard pentode. You can regard this as a negative feedback involving the output transformer, contributing to lower distortion. What's the use in a guitar amp? I dunno Normally you find this in hifi equipment. But for bass it might be interesting.
I had some STs for servicing. No amp suiting my taste and style. The first one I saw many years ago, at first Ithought there had to be a problem with the distortion circuit. Nope. Distortion always sounds like it was broken.
Normally you find this in hifi equipment. But for bass it might be interesting. I had some STs for servicing. No amp suiting my taste and style. The first one I saw many years ago, at first Ithought there had to be a problem with the distortion circuit. Nope. Distortion always sounds like it was broken.
SED Winged C
That's what I used a few years ago in my friend's Studio Bass, which measured 165-180 watts on my bench on a good day, depending on interpretation of onset of clipping.
From GeorgeK
The first one I saw many years ago, at first Ithought there had to be a problem with the distortion circuit. Nope. Distortion always sounds like it was broken.
That's generally the case with the 70's fenders with built in distortion- it sounds dreadful. They should have stuck to what they were good at, but I guess they were trying to fit more in for a given price point.
I have had a couple of studio bass amps on my desk, they are quite rare over here (London, UK). Not bad sounding, but I think speaker cab design has probably moved on leaps and bounds, I'm sure the combo isn't very efficient in it's use of watts.
Try coupling (your head) with a slot loaded push pull for the grunt and a 2x10 for the top- I reckon it would be a winner with that wattage.
And fiddling with the tone stack could be interesting to voice it for bass.
The first one I saw many years ago, at first Ithought there had to be a problem with the distortion circuit. Nope. Distortion always sounds like it was broken.
That's generally the case with the 70's fenders with built in distortion- it sounds dreadful. They should have stuck to what they were good at, but I guess they were trying to fit more in for a given price point.
I have had a couple of studio bass amps on my desk, they are quite rare over here (London, UK). Not bad sounding, but I think speaker cab design has probably moved on leaps and bounds, I'm sure the combo isn't very efficient in it's use of watts.
Try coupling (your head) with a slot loaded push pull for the grunt and a 2x10 for the top- I reckon it would be a winner with that wattage.
And fiddling with the tone stack could be interesting to voice it for bass.
I hope the super-twin guitar rotary graphgic EQ works OK for lead-style bass, though the lower centers of the studio bass graphic might help more for the typical boomy bass nodes. One way or another the graphic tone controls should be useful.
I picked up a bunch of unpopular Fender bottoms to try for cheap.
I got 4 10X12 Fender Rock Pro cabinets for about $100 each. The low-power Rock Pro transistor amp with 1 tube looked good but had disappointing performance. I think the Rock Pro 100 only put out about 65 watts, just a bit more than the Rock Pro 60. But the cabinets are decent and rated for 300 watts. They're small, so there's not a lot of deep bass. Guitar Center lowers the price on used stuff every month it doesn't sell. These were unpopular partly due to the hardcore metal grille that's not very sophisticated, and the driver cones have a reddish-brown brick color. I can't tell what the suspension is made of; it might be treated paper roll and totally unsuitable for bass. The cabinets are small, so there's going to be a lot more treble than bass. I will have to see whether it makes sufficient bass as I add more cabinets.
Then I also have an old 'wedge' 12X4 from just after Fender bought Sunn, from the Sunn plant with a Fender badge. Again the matching head was unpopular, so the bottom was not in demand. Got mine cheap, with snakeskin tolex.
I picked up a bunch of unpopular Fender bottoms to try for cheap.
I got 4 10X12 Fender Rock Pro cabinets for about $100 each. The low-power Rock Pro transistor amp with 1 tube looked good but had disappointing performance. I think the Rock Pro 100 only put out about 65 watts, just a bit more than the Rock Pro 60. But the cabinets are decent and rated for 300 watts. They're small, so there's not a lot of deep bass. Guitar Center lowers the price on used stuff every month it doesn't sell. These were unpopular partly due to the hardcore metal grille that's not very sophisticated, and the driver cones have a reddish-brown brick color. I can't tell what the suspension is made of; it might be treated paper roll and totally unsuitable for bass. The cabinets are small, so there's going to be a lot more treble than bass. I will have to see whether it makes sufficient bass as I add more cabinets.
Then I also have an old 'wedge' 12X4 from just after Fender bought Sunn, from the Sunn plant with a Fender badge. Again the matching head was unpopular, so the bottom was not in demand. Got mine cheap, with snakeskin tolex.
You can try to set the center frequencies to values that better suit you. Adding film capacitors in parallel to the caps of the resonance circuits (the ones in series with the inductors) allows you to lower each center frequency individually. And you can remove them easily if you're not satisfied.
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