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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I spent some time messing with a new (to me) pedal last night (a Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive with Keeley mods) and wanted to run it through a clean tube amp, so I used the vintage Bandmaster stack. Having not used it in a while, I’d forgotten just how sweet these old Fender amps can be. I had the head gone through by the local amp doctor a while back and he made it a point to show me how he’d brought it back to precisely within the specs established by Fender himself. This fact seemed to be really important to the technician, who insisted that Fender got it right and that it wasn't up to him to change it. I can hear why. Its tough to beat a properly working vintage Fender tube amp. The pedal was also impressive, particularly in capturing a tone similar to the one used by the Beatles’ for Revolution. The pedal belongs to our bass player, so I expect we’ll negotiate. |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | some of the old fender amps are remarkable.
I imagine you went to Scooter for the tuneup.
My '66 Princeton is a great little amp that deserves to get more use than it currently receives. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Originally posted by stephent28:
I imagine you went to Scooter for the tuneup. Yep, thanks to your referral. |
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Location: Yucaipa, California | ....couldn't agree more. Nothing puts hair on your tone like a tube! :rolleyes: |
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Location: Nova Scotia, Canada | Vintage Fender amps are simply the best in tone and reliability once they have been properly serviced. |
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Location: Texas | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
Having not used it in a while, I’d forgotten just how sweet these old Fender amps can be…
…Its tough to beat a properly working vintage Fender tube amp. Absolutley! I finally got the reverb working again on my mid-60's blackface Deluxe Reverb and I had the exact same reaction when I played through it again… "hello, old friend!" |
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Location: NJ | absolutely nothing compares to a vintage fender
my amp of choice since I was in 4th grade |
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January 2006
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Originally posted by alpep:
my amp of choice since I was in 4th grade When I was in 4th grade, there wasn't anything offered by Fender that would've been considered as vintage. It was more like state-of-the-art. Fender didn't invent the guitar amplifier, but he sure perfected it and, with the able assistance of his marketing partners, made them readily available to all electric guitar players, from the bedroom hobbyist to the top professional musicians of the day. |
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Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | well black face princeton reverbs where all that were available at the time
yup it was absolutely state of the art.
but so was
ampeg
gibson
epiphone
to a lesser degree
magnatone
supro
dan electro
guild |
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January 2006
Posts: 1482
Location: Michigan | back in the 60's the amp that i most desired was a fender twin reverb but it was so far out of me or my parents price range.
i was fortunate back then to be able to plug into our lead guitar players (twin) and play through it once and awhile. now that i am older wiser and financially more stable i went and bought a fender
"hot rod deville" 4 x 10 tube amp .they say it has amazing sound when it gets warmed up but out of the 10 times i have played thru it i cant turn the volume knob past 1 without shaking anything not nailed down in the house off the walls :D
then moma starts screaming the zappa jingle from joe's garage :mad: "turn it down" " turn it down " :mad:
luv that twin reverb . GWB |
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Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Hey Wannabee, your Blues Deville has a Master Volume control! You have it made. Dial up the channel volume, add as much drive as you can control, then dial down the Master Volume and enjoy the tone! |
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Location: Michigan | thanks for the advice prof.bb , i will try that the next time moma leaves for a little while.GWB |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | get a THD Hotplate
this will allow you to run the amp at maximum volume (which is where the sweet spot usually is) but actually dial it down on the speaker to where it can be a whisper or a roar.
Essential piece of equipment if you own a higher wattage animal (from back in the days when everybody played loud and amps were made to be even louder). |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | As Stephen points out, the THD Hotplate serves as one of the more feature-laden outboard master volume control devices on the market. I'll bet this would work well at the end of a '59 Bassman fronted by a '63 Reverb Unit. |
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Location: Michigan | now your talking my generation b-4 marshall amps took over the world. GWB :eek: |
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Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Funny. I just 'discovered' the existance of THD Hotplate in another forum just yesterday.
Have any of you used one yet? |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Hey Wannabee, your Blues Deville has a Master Volume control! You have it made. Dial up the channel volume, add as much drive as you can control, then dial down the Master Volume and enjoy the tone! Same thing applies to the Deluxe HR...I used twin 60's twins on stage for years: so heavy...now this is my go to amp...awesome Fender Tube tone. The HR Deluxes are a great buy...try one with the extension cabinet...mmmm good!
Funny. I just 'discovered' the existance of THD Hotplate in another forum just yesterday.
Have any of you used one yet? I got one built inside of a fabulous THD Univalve from Stephen...I love it! Incredible amp as well!
But I have always been and will always be a Fender driver... |
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August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | The THD Hotplate is probably more than I need for my 5W 6v6SE wonder amp. (Used primarily for blues harp)
Any suggestions for something simpler and cheaper, or a DIY schematic? |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Not to muddy the waters, but there's a lot to say about Vox tube amps, too. We're working on some jazz pieces right now and I'm struggling with some ridiculously fast chord changes, like three in one measure of a fast jazz waltz of 168 beats/minute, the chords being BMaj7, F2, and G9. I'm working on fingering muscle memory and spent three hours last night just on this number. Yuck. But back to the Vox . . . we're working with a recording and I was able to closely capture the lead tones using an AC30CC2X with some top boost dialed in, no reverb, with the Hamer Mon III. I just wish my skill matched the quality and potential of this gear. |
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Location: Yucaipa, California | Vox tubes are great.
Brian May's Vox AC30 stack:
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April 2004
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Originally posted by muzza:
Have any of you used one yet? Wouldn't recommend it if I hadn't used it.
Yes, they are comparatively expensive but they are one of the only units that actually does want it claims to do (unlike powerbrake and a few other products). |
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Vintage Tube Amps: Hard to Beat
