The Tone Thread

[Minerman]

Alrighty then....time for the business side of this amp. This is why I wanted to build this amp.

Not much direction or organization in these clips. I just stood in front of it and twiddled the dials on the Vibrato channel.

Hallmark 60 Custom - Fat Pig bridge pickup
Deluxe Retard - Vibrato channel - bright switch off
Bass and Treble - mostly around 5
Volume - all over the place
Reverb - pretty much everywhere
Tremolo - comes and goes
Marshall 1960B 4x12 - Celestion G12H30
MXL R144 ribbon mic dead center about 6" off grill
No EQ or FX in DAW. All amp, cab, mic, ears.

Sounds good dude, very Fender-y to me, especially with the 'verb & tremolo...Well done IMO, a different animal altogether from your usual amp sounds, but again, that was the whole point...
Well done...

[Greg_L]

Sounds good dude, very Fender-y to me, especially with the 'verb & tremolo...Well done IMO, a different animal altogether from your usual amp sounds, but again, that was the whole point...
Well done...

Thanks man. It's exactly what I hoped it wold be. Surf twang reverb madness!

[liv_rong]

Sounds good, I agree with what Boob said. Now the clips with the verb and trem, great! I love them all. The verb sounds much better than on my Mesa, the verb on that thing is weak as fuck, which sucks because I love reverb. That thing definetely has that "drip" all the surf dudes talk about. And the trem sounds good too, all of it. Very nice.

[Greg_L]

Sounds good, I agree with what Boob said. Now the clips with the verb and trem, great! I love them all. The verb sounds much better than on my Mesa, the verb on that thing is weak as fuck, which sucks because I love reverb. That thing definetely has that "drip" all the surf dudes talk about. And the trem sounds good too, all of it. Very nice.

Thanks dude. The drip is very important. That's a feature of spring reverb that just has to be there.

I figured this thing would have a pretty heavy reverb with the size of the reverb tank. I've read some dudes complain that it's too much on their builds. They're dumb.

[Minerman]

I figured this thing would have a pretty heavy reverb with the size of the reverb tank. I've read some dudes complain that it's too much on their builds. They're dumb.

[Greg_L]

Lol.

I see what they mean though. They're probably looking for a nice subtle ambient type of reverb. They need a plate reverb. The spring reverb on these things is not subtle.

[Minerman]

I see what they mean though. They're probably looking for a nice subtle ambient type of reverb. They need a plate reverb. The spring reverb on these things is not subtle.

Yeah, they're probably looking for a nicer sounding 'verb, but they're still fuckin' dumb...

[Greg_L]

Yeah, they're probably looking for a nicer sounding 'verb, but they're still fuckin' dumb...

I'd even consider putting a bigger reverb in it. They make 3-spring tanks.

[Tadpui]

Is that the mic, the amp, or the cab that's putting out a bit of staticky distortion?

I love the tones, all of them. The first of that first clip is a little weak like you said, but it sounds great once you start digging in a bit. Even the stoopid amounts of reverb sound good to me. Love the trem too. This thing definitely outclasses my '68 DR Custom reissue thing. Yours sounds like what I was after when I bought mine. I've been shopping for vintage Fender amps, but I haven't found the right one yet. If I were a bit more brave, I'd try building one like yours!

[Greg_L]

Is that the mic, the amp, or the cab that's putting out a bit of staticky distortion?

I don't know what that is. It's on these clips, but it's not on some others I did. I can't hear it in the room. It might be a little bit of tube rattle. This thing has cheapo no-name chinese tubes in it. I'm gonna break it in real good before I put better tubes in it. Supposedly a new build needs like 20-30 hard hours of work before everything settles down. I don't fucking know. I'm just glad it works. I can iron out anything else later.

I love the tones, all of them. The first of that first clip is a little weak like you said, but it sounds great once you start digging in a bit. Even the stoopid amounts of reverb sound good to me. Love the trem too. This thing definitely outclasses my '68 DR Custom reissue thing. Yours sounds like what I was after when I bought mine. I've been shopping for vintage Fender amps, but I haven't found the right one yet. If I were a bit more brave, I'd try building one like yours!

Ha thanks. Well, I left you a blueprint, so build one!

Is the 68 reissue the silverface one? I like those. They always sound pretty good to me.

If you want an actual vintage Fender and don't mind it being a head, look for a Bandmaster Reverb. I bet you can find a late 60s/early 70s Bandmaster for like 700 bucks. They are a steal and pretty much the same circuit as all the more popular vintage Fender amps. The only problem is the output impedance. I think they only do 4 or 8 ohm.

[Minerman]

If you want an actual vintage Fender and don't mind it being a head, look for a Bandmaster Reverb. I bet you can find a late 60s/early 70s Bandmaster for like 700 bucks. They are a steal and pretty much the same circuit as all the more popular vintage Fender amps. The only problem is the output impedance. I think they only do 4 or 8 ohm.

1968 Bandmaster Head & 2x12 cab

[Greg_L]

1968 Bandmaster Head & 2x12 cab

Jesucristo that's expensive. I've seen them in person for like 700 bucks.

[Greg_L]

https://reverb.com/item/8821257-fender- ... -blackface

[Minerman]

1968 Bandmaster Head & 2x12 cab

Jesucristo that's expensive. I've seen them in person for like 700 bucks.

Yeah, high-dollar, but it's the head + a 2x12 cab...Still too much IMO...

[Tadpui]

That's the ballpark I'm looking at. Bandmasters and bassmans seem to be attainable in the vintage market.

Damn '65 deluxe reverbs are apparently some sort of holy grail. I'd be willing to go with a fair budget for a good old fender amp but jeez, $3K and $4K is kinda silly. So I'll focus on the lesser known fender brethren for now.

[Greg_L]

That's the ballpark I'm looking at. Bandmasters and bassmans seem to be attainable in the vintage market.

Damn '65 deluxe reverbs are apparently some sort of holy grail. I'd be willing to go with a fair budget for a good old fender amp but jeez, $3K and $4K is kinda silly. So I'll focus on the lesser known fender brethren for now.

They're almost all the same thing. Bassmans are a different animal, but as far as I can tell, all the other Blackface mid 60s amps are pretty much the same thing. I'm looking at a schematic for a late 60s Bandmaster Reverb.......it's virtually identical to the "holy grail" AB763 Deluxe Reverb. I see a few different bright caps in the preamp and the power supply/power section is a little beefier. That's pretty much it. A cheaper, more powerful Deluxe Reverb. Oh the horror!

[WhiskeyJack]

Greg,

i want to say your tones are awesome buddy but for some reason unbeknownst to me i am hearing quite a bit of clipping and stuff that no one else has mentioned. So i think it is on my end. It doesn't do it for youtube here but pretty much any thing that isn't youtube seems to have that characteristic currently. I will review tonight from my cave.

[Minerman]

Here's one of the demos I've mentioned for the Bogner La Grange pedal...Keep in mind this guys is killer player, with a pro setup to record with...The pedal is still damn impressive to me though...It gives the amp he plays through that squishy, pushed sound that I like so much...

[BBvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aFPTe6IV9U[/BBvideo]

I think the guitars on this sound really good, but I think about everything he does sounds good...

[WhiskeyJack]

This first one starts pretty timid and gets a little more ridiculous at the end.
Hlmrk DR vibch G12H30 R144 1.mp3

at home on my monitors. Checked the LG sound bar, the Jeep and all my ear phones. The only thing i do not hear it on is my phone.

2:04 - 2:11

Does anyone else hear it? As the notes make their way out? Is that the normal sound of break up?

[Bubba]

Love these tones - and what a massive reverb!