Lunch Report October 23 - NGD - Alnico's meet Big Iron

[sam]

Howdy campers!

LUNCH
Late lunch after a long morning was left over four cheese ravioli with a house salad and Pellegrino water. I'm a fan of Pellegrino and other mineral waters, what's yer take on all this fizzy water?

G&L topic
G&L topic of the day has to be a NGD report as well. A while back I found an ASAT Alnico Launch Edition that I have been looking for and this met the bill. I first played one of these at a shop in Los Angeles, soon after release, and foolishly did not grab it. Told the shop these alnico pickups on a sugar pine body are a wonderful match.


You may have seen my previous post on adding the Alnico pickup set to a 62 Re-issue, well I must say the G&L Launch Version beats the MIJ. The G&L alnico pups in the 62 re-issue are pretty darn good however, even a bit louder.

I'm a bigger fan of the big MFD's but these alnico's on this guitar tick my buttons nicely. For those who have tried G&L's alnico pups, whatchathink?

Non G&L topic
amps and BIG iron - While the world is going smaller and lower wattage I have always had a Fender Twin Reverb on my hit list. Something about the resonant 2X12 and sweet single coil sound through these. A few of my favorites Jerry Garcia, Beatles, Don Rich, Stevie Ray Vaughn used Twins. Beatles at rooftop concert is their best example. Jerry from a whole bunch of years and Stevie had a setup exactly like the one I just found.

This came my way this week via Facebook marketplace. A 1968 (early by serial #) with two EV-SRO's (my favorite speaker) that had some serious re-hab. The owner had it checked out a few years back and re-did tolex with a blue and cream color. It also had a Master Volume added before he got it. Also added rollers which help with 75 lbs of fun. So, with all of these mods, and it had a taped up vibrato footswith which I resolved, and a questionable cable amp input I was still able to score at a VERY reasonable price. So a 68 silverface, which still had blackface circuiry at the time of serial number made good friends with an ASAT Alnico Launch Edition!


Beatles with their brand new Twin Reverbs as the story goes.


What's your take on big iron amps? Twins, Marshalls etc. Too loud, too heavy, or just right? There is a volume knob on the guitar and amp. I believe I have found the amp I've been looking for.

[tomanche]

Thanks, Sam! I'll join in.

Lunch today is Cajun salmon salad over brown jasmine rice, hot Keemun tea.
I haven't delved into sparkling waters much, except occasionally at a restaurant.

I've been intrigued by the alnico model, but I have too many guitars...

Big Iron:
Nice score on a 68 with blackface specs!! The Tone Quest would be proud of you.
Like you, I'm hugely influenced by Jerry Garcia's big, bright, crystal-clear tone, derived (partly) from (modded) Fender Twins. Can't go wrong with the Beatles and a rosewood Tele, either! My main amp is an Electroplex Rocket 50, which is inspired by a tweed Twin on the green/clean channel and a Marshall JTM 45 on the red/overdrive channel. So, 45 watts of swat provide copious clean headroom, and the overdrive tone is simply stellar, IMHO. The tone controls are highly versatile, so many variations can be dialed in, and there aren't any bad sounds in there. It runs 6L6 power tubes for that classic American sound, but occasionally I pop in KT-66s to enhance the British sound.
I have a couple of smaller amps and another 40-watter (Vox-style); those are fun, but the big Twin sound always call me.

[sam]

Hey tomanche!

Cajun salmon sounds better than my ravioli.

Too many guitars almost kept me from this Launch Edition but like the amp, but I’m a bottom feeder and look for lowest price possible. The amp fell in line here unlike anything before. Sounds like yer Electroplex Rocket 50 fits the bill however. I’m not familiar, will do research and learn more. Big bottle 6L6’s is the sound in my head but the ability to slip in KT-66’s is a sweet bonus.

[mutts]

Nice looking Asat and amp, Sam. Congratulations.

Lunch was PB and J with chips today. I'm a La Croix fizz water drinker- of course it's just tap water but that's fine.

I have never owned any G&lL alnico pickups save for the P90 in my Bluesboy. I like the P90 but have no frame of reference as it's the only P90 I have ever tried.
A friend has a Legacy that sounds very nice but it might have the early Seymour Duncan units.

My main amp for many years was a Marshall JMP 50watt Super Lead. I've used some Twins too. Great amps. Super Reverbs always seemed cool too.
These days I love smaller wattage amps though. Just a better fit for my situation. My Dr. Z 18 watt head is so versatile and full sounding without further killing my hearing (too much). And it sounds gorgeous. Been thinking about trying the Friedman Little Sister for a more Marshall sound. Funny, I often use the low input of the Z and it can actually still be too loud for me - I must be getting old!

[sam]

Hey mutts,

Getting old? Hey I resemble that comment!

Played through a Super Reverb once and it was a great sounding amp. I understand the scaling down part, my normal is a Deluxe Reverb or Lonestar Special (on 5 or 15) but had a Twin itch to scratch, and the EV-SRO’s put it over the edge. Final purchase price made a difference as well. Your Dr. Z-18 has always intrigued me, only ever heard great things about those amps.

[john o]

howdy Sam and GbL dudes,

lunch was meatloaf (mah...the meat loaf!), green beans in some kind of creamy sauce, and brussel sprouts

G&L alnico's: the only ones i ever had were CLF-100's on a tribute legacy, and they sounded fabulous

big iron?

my amps were ('70's) magnatone (tube) 2 x 12 > ampeg V4 (tube) 4 x 12 >
('80's) early '70's Fender Twin reverb (tube) 2x12 >
('90's) '88 Peavey Studio Pro 60 (SS, still have it!) with a digitech RP-1 ME box/FS >
(2000) Marshall JTM 2000 (tube) DSL 401 > Marshall (hybrid tube/SS) AVT 100 >
(2015 on...) Carvin V3m (tube head) 50w thru 2x12 cab for bigger gigs, and Fender Princeton '65 RI (tube) 15w for smaller gigs.

i'm moving toward the less is more thing.

Congrats on your twin! That looks unique. Most people refer to twins as heavy and loud. But, for me, in the early '80's, I was stepping down from a very loud ampeg V4 with a 4x12 cab and I needed something more portable that still sounded good. I had seen Yes in the round on their Tormato tour and Steve Howe was using 2 side by side twins and i thought they sounded and looked great, so I knew I wanted one. I wasn't sure of the year of mine, est late 60's to early 70's silverface. It was well worn with a stained/faded grill cloth, some nicks and small tears in the tolex. I don't think the tremolo worked but the reverb did. It sounded great though, lovely clear tones with some nice bottom end too. It only started to break up a little around 8. There was no master vol. I played in a rock band at the time and our other guitarist had a marshall 1/2 stack, but the twin held its own. I ran a Tom Scholtz Rockman through it. It had a 1/8 in mini output for stereo headphones, and i wired up a cord from radio shack that split the signal, put 1/4 inch jacks on each of those and ran both channels simultaneously. Sounded pretty good. The rockman had 4 different presets that included 2 different cleans, edge, and heavier distortion, all blended with chorus. I just cranked it up to 10's for gigs. It was a great amp, so durable. I used that from '83 to '90, and never changed a tube! It just worked.

I like the ASAT Classic S alnico you have, love the 'bacco burst, mine is very similar (but not alnico) and sounds and plays very special!

[sam]

Hey john

Meatloaf and brussel sprouts, that is a meal at our house as well. British wife introduced me more to brussel sprouts and has been part of many dinners over the years.

Man that’s an impressive list of amps. Yeah, “unique” is a good way to put it for mine. Fortunately the guys of it is the Twin are there. Sometimes ya gotta roll with the blue tolex, kinda like blue spiked hair in the 70’s/80’s. Tom Scholtz Rockman takes me back.

I can hear your new tagline, Great tones, less power!

[repoman]

Howdy Sam,

Glad to see you're still adding to the collection.

Lunch today was some leftover farro with mixed veggies and cheese stirred in and a hard boiled egg.

Big Iron
I mostly gravitate to the smaller amps. But I did have a Fender Super reverb for a couple years. I foolishly let it go. Good lawd that amp sounded nice.
But my best big iron story is not about my amps. I used get together to basement jam with a friend. He had some Fender Blues Deville or Blues Deluxe or something like that. Then one day he shows up with a Marshall half stack! He said he always dreamed of owning a Marshall stack so one day he finally did it. He readily admitted it was complete overkill. But it completed an item on his bucket list so I couldn't really complain too much. He didn't keep the Marshall very long. I have no idea if he sold it at a loss or not. LOL

Jeff

[sam]

Hey Jeff!!

Great to see you round here again.

Another Super Reverb lover, there must be something about those that pours out great tones. Bucket list, overkill, Amp GAS...I wouldn't know anythinhg about that. Would love to have seen your face when when he showed up with the Marshall half stack.

[DanDoulogos]

SAM: Love the ASAT and love the amp too. That is the exact amp I am always looking for and haven't found it at a price my wife would allow me to spend.

I've been benched with a bad back for the past few days, but I'm on the mends. Lunch on Wednesday was, you guessed it - protein powder and water. It was chocolate flavored in the same way Ex-lax is chocolate flavored: it hits that "close, but notably not quite chocolate" flavor. Palatable in small doses, and consumed with all the joy of cough syrup, or other prescribed (rather than desired) edibles.

I finally got around to installing the Will Ray Z-coil in my Comanche Tribute this weekend. I had set it up with heavier strings (52-12) with the intention to tune down a half step and maybe have a bit more tone subtlety. I ended up not playing it very often and just tuning it to standard. I hadn't done a setup on it since I'd changed the strings (a few of years ago now). So I decided that if I was going to change the strings, I may as well put in the pickup, and do a set up.

I may write a post about it. I did take some picks. The funny thing was it already had a Will Ray Z-coil in the bridge. The one I bought came in at 8.0K and the one that was in there was 8.5K! So I dropped it in the neck!

Anyway, that's all an asside.

I only have two amps nowadasy - both modded Fender Blues Juniors, one is an original (first generation) with the BIll M mods, and a MUCH larger output transformer - so large in fact that it had to be moved very far from the tubes and shielded mightily - as it would cause all sorts of whistling otherwise. I dropped in a matched set of "Fender Blues Junior SRV - JJ Tube SetI" I ordered from RotoTubes (great tubes - sloooooow turn around - but worth it). I dropped in a Patriot 12" Texas Heat speaker - love the tone I get.

The other is another Blused Junior, modded, but I didn't do that mod. I bought it on a whim. I didn't care for the speaker, so I dropped in a Cannabis Rex and that really gave it some character.

Notwithstanding - I totally would sell the tweed to buy the right Twin. Good Score Sam!

If I was made of money I'd pick up a Two Rock amp - I am quite impressed with their lineup.

For those who may be interested, this is a decent review:

[sam]

Hey Dan,

Sorry to hear about the back, I know how that can bring you to yer knees.

Thanks on the new acquisitions, as usual right time / right place. Like you, I’m not made of money and am really a bottom feeder. On your amps, I’ve heard nothing but great reviews on the Blues jr with BillM mods and Texas Heat speakers and Cannibis Rex as well. All of that turns it into a totally different amp.

Looking forward to a write up on the Comanche with WR pup in both neck and bridge. I LOVE my guitars with WR in bridge but never heard in neck. Let us know whatcha think.

Be on the mend my friend.

[DanDoulogos]

Hey Dan,

Sorry to hear about the back, I know how that can bring you to yer knees.

Thanks on the new acquisitions, as usual right time / right place. Like you, I’m not made of money and am really a bottom feeder. On your amps, I’ve heard nothing but great reviews on the Blues jr with BillM mods and Texas Heat speakers and Cannibis Rex as well. All of that turns it into a totally different amp.

Looking forward to a write up on the Comanche with WR pup in both neck and bridge. I LOVE my guitars with WR in bridge but never heard in neck. Let us know whatcha think.

Be on the mend my friend.

Thanks for the well wishes. I'm at the edge of the deep dark woods now, so it's much better than when I was in the thick of it.

I'll probably write a post next week and do a video - it's much easier to get an appreciation of it via sight/sound than even the best descriptive prose. I played it in church on Sunday and it played well, but I'll need to button down the middle pickup height a tad - it sounds different in a large open space than it does when I am fiddling in my rather muffled bedroom, at 1/10th the volume. in my last Lunch report I mentioned doing setups, in part because I was motivated to finally dropping that Will Ray in my Comanche - and getting rid of the set of heavier strings - which I had originally planned to compensate for by tuning down a half step to play Hendrix schtuff. The end goal was tone of course, but I found they didn't really add all that much tone. In any case, when I was picking some categories to cover on my Lunch report, that was in my head - knowing I'd have to do a new setup on it, and looking forward to it. I haven't pull a guitar apart for something like 15 months - and then it was just to tame the uncomfortably high action on one of the "church" guitars (a MIM strat that had taken a beating prior to being donated to the church). It had been bugging me for months before I finally begged to take it home and clean it up.

Anyway, look for such a post in the week (or two... if the week gets away from me).