The 11.08.11 Tubesday Lunch Report

GLDP Lunch Report. Tubesday November 8, 2011

Hope everyone had a good start to the week.
The break area at the shop is rather spartan. Many days I'll just slam a sandwich at my work area. Lunch today is no exception.
Some Italian beef on a nice kaiser roll gets the call, along with an apple picked up at one of the last farmers market's this season. We try to stock up on local fresh ingredients when we can.

Do you get out to your local Public/Farmers markets?

Quick Background Wrap-up:

So I ended up tagging along with my friend Greg to this bands' rehearsals, eventually lugging gear and setting things up. And since I brought the beer, they didn't mind me hanging around.
That band ended, but Greg, Myself, and Rick, the left-handed guitar player, ended up starting a project that still is active today with the name of F/i. We were getting together after Packer games and most other Sundays and recording all kinds of improvised stuff using guitars, bass, synths, and drum machines. Rick's motto of 'Record Sunday, Ship Monday' was taken literally, and we flooded the underground cassette networking scene in the mid-80's with numerous tapes of our takes. Eventually all the exposure garnered the attention of some indie labels and we kept on putting out LP's then CDs and even did some touring in the '90s, but the band is more of a recording project now, with a local gig every once in a while.

Went thru plenty of guitars and amps during this time, with the Ampeg combo making way for a Roland JC-60. In a brilliant move, The Roland was dumped for a fawn-colored '77 Marshall JMP combo - Great amp if you don't have to move it, In a not so brilliant move, the JMP was traded in for one of those fancy new valvestate Marshalls when they first came out. I was using lots of effects and overdrive then and the kind of amp did not make much difference. The clean channel on those valvestates is actually not horrible, IMHO. But at least now I think I'm back on the right track...

A Basement Find:
Seymour Duncan 84-50 - Story goes Duncan asked Randall Smith (Mesa) to come up with a hot-rodded AC-30 design to be sold under the Duncan Research brand. These did not last too long in the market as they were pricey and (I think) too clean sounding. 4 EL-84's @50 watts.
Bought by my wife, Veronica, back when they came out. She was playing a Rick 480 in a Psychobilly band thru it when we hooked up. It had been sitting in the basement for years until a few months back. Made a deal in which I could mess with the Duncan in lieu of a new purchase, and think it's dialed in pretty good now.

The stock tubes were OK, but the amp had no depth and little touch sensitivity. I put an old GE 5751 in V1, and kept the 12ax7's in V2 and V3. Hmmmmm, not quite there. The key was using a
12at7 in V3. (thanks Philby for posting the link to the phase inverter PDF). The thing is just awesome now. I'd put it up against a fancy boo-teek rig any day. Tube amp GAS pains - Gone!


So the question is: If you had to choose one, do you use a combo amp? Or go with the head and cab?

G&L Question: Would you like to see G&L continue to build amps? What would you add to expand the line?

I'll be back late again.... Bye for now.

BW

I am strictly combo guy. If I fell into the right head I would love to play with it, but it's a low priority.

Lunch today was grilled chicken and rice with a salad....and chocolate cake
I try to buy fresh local produce when I can but honestly it's nowhere near as often as I'd like to. We do have quite a few apple orchards around and usually once a year we go picking, nothing like an apple fresh off the tree!

I foolishly sold a '76 JMP head, when I was a kid, to fix my truck. In hindsight I should have sold the truck LOL
I had a pretty good run of trades to get my 66' bandmaster. Traded a blues deluxe for the Bandmaster and an ultimate chorus, also bought a '72 Bassman 10 at the time. Sold the Bassman and the ultimate chorus for a profit and built 1x15 and 2x10 cabs. I've got the itch again though, looking at a 67' Guild Thunder reverb for dirt cheap or a used 5e3 clone in a 1x12 blonde combo for less than the cost of a kit.

If I had to choose combo or head/cab I'd probably go head/cab. I like the versatility of the head/cab and it isolates the tubes from all that vibration, also easier to pack in my car. That Bassman 10 was a monster to move around.

G&L Amps: I'd like to see G&L continue with amps, but it's been said before here, the market is flooded with boutique hand wired high priced amps. If they continue I'd like to see them put out reasonably priced, quality renditions of classic circuits. It doesn't have to be hand wired as long as it's pro quality, panel/chassis mount the jacks/pots/tube sockets, uprate the components a bit, and maybe put a slight spin on them like a 2 channel Deluxe with 5e3 channel 1 and AB763 channel 2. Or just taking the best bits from different amps like a Deluxe Reverb with the brownface era bias vary Tremolo
I must have Deluxe's on the brain today

-Dave

You weave a fine tale, Brian. Where can we find your music today? I'd love to hear some "lost" tapes....

Farmers markets: We seem to have more of these than ever - which is great but odd since there are fewer local farmers than ever. Hmmm...
But I often can't resist pulling the car over and surprising the family with some fresh fruits and veggies when I can.

The amp thing: All my amps are combos, probably because I'm a moron. I'm better off having one less thing to plug into something else - especially when there's a need to match loads and such and the potential for equipment destruction.

I think G&L should stick to making guitars. There are too many choices in the realm of amplifiers already and I'm getting a headache!

Thanks for another great episode! - ed

We have a farmers market a few miles from our house. This being Portland, OR, the market only runs from spring through end of summer, but there are plenty of fresh produce and fruits from the area that are worthwhile.

I was in a casual get-together type band many years ago, but haven't been in another one until a few years ago. A few months ago we parted company with the singer and what was left was me, a bass player and a drummer. Since then we have added another guitar player/singer and recently added a female singer. We are a hobby band, our ambition is to occasionally play an open mic or a free concert somewhere. We are having fun though.

The reason I describe my situation is that my needs in the band is best met with just a grab-and-go combo amp. I did not even own a tube amp until a few years ago, and now I have a Swart AST. Most of the time for band practice I just take my Vox AD30VT modeling amp since it is very portable and the builtin effects are decent. I have been itching to take the AST to practice; I may do that this weekend when we play.

Kit

Nice basement find - sounds like you have yourself an amp you like..

Farmers markets - When the season is right, we go often. Heirloom tomatoes are the best there.

I would choose the combo amp for simplicity. The head & cab is more versatile though..

I have never seen a G&L amp - I doubt if I would buy one.

Good report, Brian

i had sushi for lunch, some salmon and tuna, and nonfat greek yogurt for dessert. back on track eating clean, getting back down to around 300 lbs.
i am a combo guy, but interestingly the amp i play mostly is a head/cab, but i am looking for a combo enclosure for it.

I do not have a farmers market nearby. We like veggies and fruits.

I have both combos and cab/head configurations. I guess that I like combos only for convenience but the weight can be cumbersome.

I think that G&L should keep doing what they do best. Today, custom amps are a dime a dozen. Everyone has a favorite amp for what is the sound that they like best. I don't think that G&L has enough marketplace to make it profitable unless they were to come out with an amp in 700 to 1200 price range. -- Darwin

I have a farmers' market right outside my office every Thursday in the summer and fall (it makes sense, working for the Department of Agriculture). The only times I go out there are when my wife and kids drop by for lunch. She is really into cooking, and goes to farmers' markets whenever she can. When we lived in Maine, a farmer had a stand in his driveway most weekends where he sold some of the corn he grew. We used to plan entire meals around that corn.

When I was growing up on the South Carolina coast, our equivalents were shrimp stands and peanut stands. The shrimp was locally caught and usually still alive (provided you went early enough in the morning). I don't know whether boiled peanut stands count as farmers' markets, but they were usually operated by the farmers' families and had raw peanuts for sale in case anybody wanted to boil their own. If you haven't had boiled peanuts before, they are nothing like the dried or roasted nuts you find in stores. They're a fresh food and need to be eaten pretty soon after they've been cooked.

Amps: I'm pretty well set for amps at this point (Blues Jr., SF Champ, JC-120, Super Reverb, Bassman Ten, Harmony H-200, and a pair of GK combos for my upright). I've never had any limitations from combos in thirty years, so I feel no burning need to use head/cab configurations. I do use an extension speaker with the upright for larger venues, but that's as far as it goes.

If G&L amps ever become a reality, I may very well be tempted to try one if it's built in Fullerton and lists for under $1000. Given my own amp situation though, I would probably put the money into a guitar first unless there is something really compelling about the amp.

Ken

Made it home again for lunch: Cheese quesadillas with tomatillo sauce.

I always owned combo amps but those sounded best when coupled to a cabinet.

The problem with boutique amps is that you do not know how long the company will be around. There are so many and trying the product in person is a problem when they do not have a wide distribution. I'd like to try a few but they are only in stores out of my state. I do not trust ANY demo online because every single one out there is biased and designed to promote the product. I have not come across a source that is objective. At least if G&L offered amps you would have the same dealer infrastructure that exists for the guitars. But G&L would have to offer something Fender does not. I could go along with what Dave_P said,

"If they continue [expanded into the amp market?] I'd like to see them put out reasonably priced, quality renditions of classic circuits. It doesn't have to be hand wired as long as it's pro quality, panel/chassis mount the jacks/pots/tube sockets, uprate the components a bit, and maybe put a slight spin on them like a 2 channel Deluxe with 5e3 channel 1 and AB763 channel 2. Or just taking the best bits from different amps like a Deluxe Reverb with the brownface era bias vary Tremolo."

They would need to avoid offering a mere token amp and produce a serious contender.

...If they continue I'd like to see them put out reasonably priced, quality renditions of classic circuits. It doesn't have to be hand wired as long as it's pro quality, panel/chassis mount the jacks/pots/tube sockets, uprate the components a bit, and maybe put a slight spin on them like a 2 channel Deluxe with 5e3 channel 1 and AB763 channel 2. Or just taking the best bits from different amps like a Deluxe Reverb with the brownface era bias vary Tremolo...
-Dave

Hi Brian. Glad to hear that the 12at7 got your Seymour Duncan amp where you wanted. I've left Dave's 12at7 in my Blues Jnr and it makes all the difference in V3.

As far as amps go I only have combos but if I had my time over I'd probably go the head cabinet route because of the extra flexibility.

I try to support Farmer's Markets whenever I can. I doubt whether supermarket fruit and vegetables have much nutritional value left by the time they hit the shelves. And supermarket chains aren't renowned for paying their suppliers fairly.

Thanks again everyone for bearing with bits of my past. Pulling in the garage tonight, noticed the wife's ride has a flat tire, so it's looks like an early morning coming up.

Farmers Markets - Great to see folks buying fresh, locally grown ingredients. Nothing wrong with supporting your local economy.

Combo Amps - Rather surprised at the almost clean sweep in favor of Combo amps. You really can't go wrong with a good one. And as a few noted, it's easy enough to hook up a cab if you really need to move some air.

G&L Amp - Yes, they exist. They released the 'WhipperSnapper' not too long ago. Sure there's plenty of choice, but I think G&L's guitar dealer network gives them in-house exposure. If priced to compete against equal spec Marshalls/ Egnaters/ Blackstars etc. it would give the guy buying a G&L guitar the option to try one of their amps too.

Again, sorry 'bout the time crunch, but I'm working out how everyone here will get where they need to be in the AM as I write this....

Stay Tuned
BW

PS: We do have some tracks up on a myspace page - http://www.myspace.com/fispacerock - There are some punky late 80's tracks on there, as well as a sound collage done here on Garageband, and a few others.

hi guys,
Just re-discovered my old Seymour Duncan 84-50. It's been un-used for about 10 years and was wondering about valve replacement. You seem to have got yours sounding how you want it now.
Can you explain what you did (in layman's terms) and say wether there was any modification requiring soldering etc or simply valve exchange.
I can wield a soldering iron but that's about the extent of my skills.
Thanks in advance for your time.
Andy
musicmunro@gmail.com

We were getting together after Packer games

Another cheesehead? this board gets better every visit!

So the question is: If you had to choose one, do you use a combo amp?

BW

Depends on the context really.a head if I was playing different size rooms to switch cabs out to suit but just doing bread & butter gigs in small venues a combo's one less trip back to the car
Loved the old JMP's as well leder.cheers mate.