Jump to content
Hamer Fan Club Message Center

Brewmaster

Members
  • Posts

    2,717
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by Brewmaster

  1. Should I build another PLEXI or....

  2. This is mission impossible. I just sold off a bunch of transformers I had lying around to accumulate cash for a purchase. I need to sell off My Sheraton and a few more amp parts I have lying around to have the amount I need. It never ends.........
  3. If you get them don't play in front of under aged girls and you should be fine.
  4. Yes, I'm interested in your report as well. I've installed BillM mods in several BJ's and had some happy customers. I put a Cannabis Rex in one and a 30 watt Greenback in another.(Whatever the customer wants I do). Anyway, with the Cannabis Rex the amp is extremly loud( 102db efficiency rating) and when combined with the basic mods increases clean headroom a bunch. It still broke up plenty when cranked and he learned to control OD with the volume knob on his guitar. He gigs with it on a regular basis. The Cannabis Rex is an unsung speaker, once is breaks in it sounds really good with most any amp, particularly El84 based amps. So good I put a pair in my old Marshall 2x12. I also put one in a couple of Marshall DLS401's for some customers and got the same feedback. Once it breaks in it sounds really good. What I'm trying to tell you is give the amp some time and wait for the speaker to break in if it isn't broken in already.
  5. Holy Moly!!!!!!!! Chord Chemistry, and what looks like an original copy. I had that and another from the same publisher called "Quadraponic Fingering" by Mitch Holder. I had learned all that stuff back in the day. Then I quit playing for 15 years. DOH!!!!
  6. Mine is self explanatory. I home brewed for years. I don't have the space any longer and I don't drink that much anymore. With the advent of the microbreweries there are plenty of high quality beers around these days so if I want a beer that is as good as one of mine was the odds are much better I'll find something.
  7. I actually found a replacement stylus for 39.99 @ J&R Music World. http://www.jr.com/shure/pe/SHU_N97XE/ The new cartridge there is 54.99 so why bother with just the stylus to save 15.00. I didn't buy either yet but now that you mentioned the SAS stylus I will wait a little longer.
  8. I ended up with the AT LP120. I ordered the AT95e cart right away. With I saw the recommended tracking force for the AT2 that came with the TT I cringed. I'll also ordered a replacement stylus for the Shure M97ex cart I have. The other POS TT I had chewed it up. I'll mount it on a spare head shell and then do some A/B comparisons in my spare time. A separate phono preamp is also in my future.
  9. Green ink Smoked glass and Blackplates are RCA manufactured for Sylvania and are most likely late 50's but why pick at nits. Those tubes are the smooth and creamy, same as the RCA black plates. The best of the best IMHO. The grey plates, clear glass, are great tubes as well and some actually prefer them.
  10. Many of those old preamp tubes may not die in your lifetime. Some of the superior materials from back in the day were also toxic so they don't use them anymore. There was a stretch of time were the Sylvania grey plates were identical to the RCA grey plates.(early 60's?)
  11. Those Mesa 12ax7's may be overstamped JJ's. I don't know for sure who they are sourcing from these days.
  12. The only tip I can give to people is to use preamp tubes with short plates to improve the odds. JAN tubes are best because they were designed for heavy duty use and G force resistance. I haven't tried any of the cyro treated tubes yet. From what I remember from my science classes and metallurgy I do know that cyro treatment impacts the molecular structure of the metal parts, as does extreme heat.
  13. The same can be said for the TAD Short bottle 6L6'(WCG-STR). I put a pair in a Deluxe Reverb for a local musician and they sounded spectacular. Speaking of 6l6's the short bottle Tung Sol 6l6STR is another great choice as a 5881 replacement or lower power 6l6. I put a pair in a real Tweed Bassman, (had to adjust the 56k bias resistor) and they also sounded great. Very good grasshopper. Speaking of old Tesla, the hex plate el-84's are my personal favorites. I got over two years in my 18 watt prototype and they sounded as good as the Mullards I have. I also like them better than the Amperex's I have. The round plate Tesla EL-84 sound good but have a tendency to go microphonic and are better off for use in old tube stereos
  14. Those RS tubes I believe were made by E.I. They manufactured tubes for Philips, Telefunken, and Siemans when the Iron curtain was still up and afterwards in the former Yugoslavia. They made some great sounding tubes through the years. The old Philips tooling is currently undergoing some changes, I don't have the whole story but I understand they will be up and running again. Lots of Marshall branded tubes came out of there from the late 80's forward. They had a run of 12ax7's that had the best gain structure of any current production tube. They had a tendency to be microphonic because of the large plates. The tube audiophiles liked them and they did well in heads. I put a pair in a Matchless Hotbox and they put that pedal into a different class. The friend I sold it to still has them in there after 7 + years. Welcome to the wild world of tubes. Once you get bit, you just can't quit!
  15. Those are the grey plates, clear glass IIRC. Same as GE ca. early 60's. Still very good just not as creamy sounding as the black plate. Some folks actually preferred them. Lot of tubes coming out of the Reflektor Factory. Eh, Sovtek, Tung Sol, Mullard RI, and I think the new Svetlana's. All are built to different specs with a few exceptions. Example: The Sovtek 12ax7a LPS which is the best Sovtek offers appears to me to be identical to the Mullard 12ax7 RI. BTW, the new Svets are nothing like the old ones. I think guys in the know like Poe are aware that the "Winged C" is the old Svet. That is critical knowledge for El34's since the "Winged C" is far superior.
  16. First off not all NOS are created equal. and the best sounding/performing NOS power or preamp tubes, are getting harder to find. I hate to be "captain obvious" but that needs to be said. There are some very good sounding current production tubes. They don't last as long or sound the same for a myriad of reasons but to answer your question, a bar full of drunks cannot tell the difference. I can't tell you how many folks I know that don't even gig with tube amps anymore because the ease of changing sounds overrules tonal quality and, as many have put it, the average person has no clue about tone. Add in alcohol......... The current production 6v6's are nothing like the best of the NOS. The JJ 6v6 isn't even a true 6v6 but more of a small bottle 6l6. I still have some RCA Blackplate 6v6's. NOTHING comes close to these. I have some GE, Brimar, Mazda, and Haltrons, all sound better than any current production 6v6 using a Tweed Deluxe and a BF Deluxe Reverb as test beds. The best sounding current production 6v6's are the Tung Sol and EH. Yeah, I said EH. There were some bad batches a few years back but recently they have been solid and they can take the voltages. A builder friend of mine who specializes in Tweed type amps likes both. We have both spent hours and hours testing tubes in our amps. We had a joint effort on a 24 watt 6v6 amp that delivered Marshall Plexi- JMP- JCM800 type tones and when I was done the EH's delivered the goods. TAD deserves a mention as well but I think they are just "select" EH's anyway. I don't know who GT(Groove Tubes) sources theirs from but the premium is not worth it. As usual, JMHO, YMMV.
  17. Beat me to it. I have been using one for years with a crokus cloth, or emory cloth.
  18. JohhnyB, your opinion on these would be appreciated. http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MHMMF2.2
  19. And...Yngwie has no talent for well placed notes but can shred those arpeggios. Shred does not = talent. I have always favored the more melodic style player. JMHO About that video, some people should stay in their bedrooms. If you get so nervous playing in front of people you freeze and lose track, do the world a favor, don't do it.
  20. Hope you heal fast and get back up and running in no time.
  21. If I had the $$ I would take it off your hands. LP style body and P-90's I can't see how anybody could go wrong. Besides that it is less than treefiddy.
  22. Bingo! Brian knows his sh*t. Helped me out a few years ago when I "misremembered" a few things I had learned back in the day.
  23. You are correct about the tonal quality of the el84, they have more top end. You call it shine, some call it chime. I think the best dominant feedback comes mainly from the upper mids. From there the harmonics feed off of each other to the upper and lower frequencies and create much of the tonal, high quality feedback people crave. The trick is balancing this charactistic with classic crunch that is the driving force of most Marshall based amps. EL34's are the tube of choice for the desired tones and crunch in most cases. Some folks like the old JTM45 with the old KT66 tubes. Some like the 5881 found in the reissues. I think they are a different beast but they are always brought up in any Marshall conversation. While many can duplicate the circuit(s) of the old Marshalls, the tubes and trannies are another issue. I could go on forever but I won't. There are a lot of opinions on this stuff and I like to avoid the techno weenie psycho babble. I am willing to share my knowledge and I am willing to do so, just offline. Please PM me or email me with any questions. Germino is one of if not the best IMHO. Roccaforte is up there as well.
  24. Wanna bet? Edited to add: Ernie Santella put up a reveiw of the amp I sold him. I hate to brag, and I rarely do, but his review is typical of the feedback I have been getting. http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews...1x12+Combo/10/1]
×
×
  • Create New...