SO, first of all, Thanks for having me on (this being my first ever post here) Uh, So basically I got this Bogen MX60A, It's a dinosuar. A garage sale find...Literally too! The thing looks like It's been in a Garage since 1979. Regardless of condition, It was thrown in with a 1965 Traynor YBA-1 I purchased recently.
SO, the thing looks like It's got some good potential. Now, I've seen and heard about all the to-do with daisy chaining the inputs to make this thing howl like a marshal head...re-biasing the power tubes to run EL34's etc...
my main debate is WHAT to use it for (if not at all). Some people suggest using it as a Mic pre amp. or using it for Hi-fi purposes. Or a poor mans guitar amp (my sentiment is that we already have a great abundance of Guitar amps as is) Basically how good was this thing to begin with? It seems like it was pretty middle of the road for it's time, or am I wrong, is it actually killer material?
Before I get ahead of myself, this thing hasn't been tested and the tubes are totally gutted, I doubt I will have much luck sourcing out a set of NOS valves..so no telling if the caps are any good still, who knows?
(all I know is that these things are pretty rugged, I've pulled a tube amp from an old barn where it had been for 20 years and it was no big deal to get it going again)
I intend to use it for it's original purpose more or less.
I Like the idea of Using it for a pre-amp for Recording as well, Is it possible for it to function as a PA, and also as a recording pre-amp without any modifying?
Anyone here got the owners manual? (thats my first order of business)
I'm relatively new to PA theory of operation.
My practical side has the idea to simply consolidate a set of monitor speakers in this really nice hand-made dual cabinet I have (it's totally huge!) and use this Bogen Amp as the head, for running various things, you name it! synthesizers to just vocals, and/or simultaneously giving some more horsepower to the bass and guitar amps , like just an extra Tube amp on stage...etc, This could be a long time coming.
but I'm mainly looking for Vocal and keyboard amplification at this point.
how much juice am I gonna get out of this thing?
and what kinds of speakers do I want to subjectionaly run it with?
And is there anything especially unique about this particular amp in any way?
all In all, If I can get it running, nevermind trying to modify it, is it worth the painstakingly arduous task of restoring in the first place?
They seem to have a vintage collectors appeal for some reason...and yes I definetly play in a 'vintage gear' oriented group. I have an oldschool Electrovoice 664 Mic I plan to try out with this thing. Something tells me it's going to be complimentary to the sound I'm already working with.
anyway, I need to do a lot of homework, any suggestions or additional information is Greatly appreciated!
let me know if I'm on the right track with that Dual Cabinet idea!
Thanks~
-Jules
SO, the thing looks like It's got some good potential. Now, I've seen and heard about all the to-do with daisy chaining the inputs to make this thing howl like a marshal head...re-biasing the power tubes to run EL34's etc...
my main debate is WHAT to use it for (if not at all). Some people suggest using it as a Mic pre amp. or using it for Hi-fi purposes. Or a poor mans guitar amp (my sentiment is that we already have a great abundance of Guitar amps as is) Basically how good was this thing to begin with? It seems like it was pretty middle of the road for it's time, or am I wrong, is it actually killer material?
Before I get ahead of myself, this thing hasn't been tested and the tubes are totally gutted, I doubt I will have much luck sourcing out a set of NOS valves..so no telling if the caps are any good still, who knows?
(all I know is that these things are pretty rugged, I've pulled a tube amp from an old barn where it had been for 20 years and it was no big deal to get it going again)
I intend to use it for it's original purpose more or less.
I Like the idea of Using it for a pre-amp for Recording as well, Is it possible for it to function as a PA, and also as a recording pre-amp without any modifying?
Anyone here got the owners manual? (thats my first order of business)
I'm relatively new to PA theory of operation.
My practical side has the idea to simply consolidate a set of monitor speakers in this really nice hand-made dual cabinet I have (it's totally huge!) and use this Bogen Amp as the head, for running various things, you name it! synthesizers to just vocals, and/or simultaneously giving some more horsepower to the bass and guitar amps , like just an extra Tube amp on stage...etc, This could be a long time coming.
but I'm mainly looking for Vocal and keyboard amplification at this point.
how much juice am I gonna get out of this thing?
and what kinds of speakers do I want to subjectionaly run it with?
And is there anything especially unique about this particular amp in any way?
all In all, If I can get it running, nevermind trying to modify it, is it worth the painstakingly arduous task of restoring in the first place?
They seem to have a vintage collectors appeal for some reason...and yes I definetly play in a 'vintage gear' oriented group. I have an oldschool Electrovoice 664 Mic I plan to try out with this thing. Something tells me it's going to be complimentary to the sound I'm already working with.
anyway, I need to do a lot of homework, any suggestions or additional information is Greatly appreciated!
let me know if I'm on the right track with that Dual Cabinet idea!
Thanks~
-Jules
Amps like that old Bogen were generic public address amps. Never intended for live band music, they were the sort of thing a school building would use for the PA speakers in each classroom. Or remote speakers in a church, or a gymnasium or a bus terminal. Hifi would not be the term I would use to describe them. Not like they sound AWFUL, but nothing like a modern pro sound amp either. Perfect for filling the garage with sound at the car repair place. Allows paging too!!!
They are pretty basic, and fun to play with. COnverting them to guitar amps is popular, because the basic power stage and heater wiring is already in place, so a few circuit changes and there you go. Not because we need more guitar amps, but because it is fun to make something into one.
What tubes does that model use? Most tubes are available in current production, you don;t usually need to find NOS tubes unless you are going for something particular.
They are pretty basic, and fun to play with. COnverting them to guitar amps is popular, because the basic power stage and heater wiring is already in place, so a few circuit changes and there you go. Not because we need more guitar amps, but because it is fun to make something into one.
What tubes does that model use? Most tubes are available in current production, you don;t usually need to find NOS tubes unless you are going for something particular.
These things make great chassis for a real hifi amp. The power transformers are okay, the output transformers probably don't allow high frequencies for high fidelity to pass. Guitar amps don't need high frequencies. Electrolytic caps if not shot today, will boil out the water in a day or two past 25 year old rubber. Save your power transformer and replace those first. Read high voltage for newbies at top of tube amp forum (above) before touching any metal under the chassis. Rules are simple but must be followed to prevent death.
Look at triodeelectronics.com or tubesandmore.com for tube type parts, especially output transformers. Radial lead caps from farnell.com or mouser.com can be bought in 3000 up hours life to solve the cap wearout treadmill. I've replaced the electrolytic caps in my ST70 tube amp 3 times for low power or short in the 40 years I've owned it. Two good things about tube amps- they are impervious to lightning that didn't melt the case. They are impervious to shorted speaker leads caused by the 1/4" phone plug being pulled partly out. One bad thing about tubes- carrying them around all the time for a band PA causes early tube damage.
Look at triodeelectronics.com or tubesandmore.com for tube type parts, especially output transformers. Radial lead caps from farnell.com or mouser.com can be bought in 3000 up hours life to solve the cap wearout treadmill. I've replaced the electrolytic caps in my ST70 tube amp 3 times for low power or short in the 40 years I've owned it. Two good things about tube amps- they are impervious to lightning that didn't melt the case. They are impervious to shorted speaker leads caused by the 1/4" phone plug being pulled partly out. One bad thing about tubes- carrying them around all the time for a band PA causes early tube damage.
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Thank you for your excellent posts!
I still don't know what I'm going to do with it though!
If I can get away with using it to run Vocals and possibly guitar in a band, then I will fix it up...if not, I guess someone else could use it.
all I know is that need a Tube PA that will drive sound loud enough to keep up with 3 or 4 traynor YBA style amps and a Rogers kit!
oh, PS. where should I get a HI/LOW impedance cable for my Electrovoice 664 microphone?
-J
I still don't know what I'm going to do with it though!
If I can get away with using it to run Vocals and possibly guitar in a band, then I will fix it up...if not, I guess someone else could use it.
all I know is that need a Tube PA that will drive sound loud enough to keep up with 3 or 4 traynor YBA style amps and a Rogers kit!
oh, PS. where should I get a HI/LOW impedance cable for my Electrovoice 664 microphone?
-J
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