The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    So I recently grabbed a 1970 Standel(Serial number 70-30304) with a 15" JBL(serial number 34901) and man it sounds SO GOOD. The ONLY complaint I have is the reverb BALOOOWS! It is just awful. Luckily the amp sounds really great without it. I might take it in to see if there is something wrong but part of me feels like maybe I should just find a decent reverb pedal...

    At any rate this amp is just about everything I could hope for in a vintage SS amp. 8 out of 10(mostly because the reverb is just so terrible).

    Anyone else have any experience with these?

    'Mike

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  3. #2

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    I've heard vintage Standels are spendy. How much did you pay for yours?

  4. #3

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    Buckle up...Less than $50. Thas right. Excellent shape as well. Missing the tremolo knob but everything else is there and intact and seems to work as it should Though the reverb sounds terrible. It may be worth having it looked at...But I feel like a decent reverb pedal will be a cheaper solution.

    'Mike

  5. #4

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    Giddy Up! You normally pay two or three times that just for the speaker!

    I'm sure a amp tech could fix your reverb. Even a new tank isn't that expensive, although it'll be more than what you paid for the amp!

  6. #5

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    To my ears the quality reverb pedals out there have outclassed the built in amp reverbs by a long shot anyway. You might want to have it looked at by a tech though to see if it's something he can doctor up.

  7. #6

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    I think I may take it in for a check up and make sure that the poor sounding reverb is not an indicator of some other issue. Also I am not fully aware of the operation of the on off on switch. I wonder what the difference is between the two on switches is.
    I was kind of looking at a Electro Harmonix Cathedral Stereo Reverb pedal but I feel like that might have a few to may bells and whistles for my uses.

    'Mike

  8. #7

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    On some other forums, you would get the following reaction:

    PICS OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN!



    I'd love to see some pics!
    Even of the interior. Does it have these typically epoxy-covered circuits?

  9. #8

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    I have to figure out how to post pictures here. When I do I will post a few.

    'Mike

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Double 07
    To my ears the quality reverb pedals out there have outclassed the built in amp reverbs by a long shot anyway. You might want to have it looked at by a tech though to see if it's something he can doctor up.
    I agree 100% on this although it's nice to have a good reverb on the amp - on same occasions taking pedals it's not very ptactical.

  11. #10

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    Is it tube? I know it sounds like a "dumb question" but I had an 80 watt Standel Studio II which was solid state. Plastic boxes with colored epoxy on the circuit board. It had been "re-capped" with Spragues and Mallorys where they could be accessed and it sounded pretty good.

  12. #11

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    I am stuck as to what pedal will be a good sound and a good value for me. I saw the electro harmonix cathedral reverb pedal but I feel like that was way more bells and whistles than I could ever think about ringing.

    'Mike

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by WhoisLevang
    Is it tube? I know it sounds like a "dumb question" but I had an 80 watt Standel Studio II which was solid state. Plastic boxes with colored epoxy on the circuit board. It had been "re-capped" with Spragues and Mallorys where they could be accessed and it sounded pretty good.
    It is a solid state. Standel switched from tubes to all solid state around -64. Before that, for about a year, they were hybrid ( tube power amp, solid state pre ) and up until -63 they were all tube.
    I have had the reissue 25L15 since 1999 and before that an 80L15 ( all tube ) and I've played probably a dozen or so different Standels, they've all been great, very high quality and well built. Couple of my buddies have the same SS Custom model that Wes used, once you plug in it's easy to understand why Wes hauled the amp all the way to Europe for his gigs. As far as vintage SS jazz amps, the Standels are still a great bargain.

  14. #13

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    Interesting that these solid states sounded good early on. Now that I think about it, mine might have been a "studio XX". It's been about ten years since it was sold.

  15. #14

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    I wish I knew the model(the model plate lettering has worn off). But it is a SS amp and all I know is it sounds great at living room volumes and keep sounding great all the way up the dial. Overall I'd say its in great shape without 1(well really 2) knobs missing on the tremolo. The reverb sounds OK if you barely turn it on. But man this amp just sounds great. I would say kind of a one trick pony but then again I have not tried nor do I intend to put any pedals in front of it except perhaps a decent reverb pedal.
    I feel like its worth it just for the vintage 15" JBL alone.
    'Mike

  16. #15

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    Mine had 4 10s in it and it put out very well. I used a tube screamer and some other distortion pedal with it and it's reverb wasn't bad. (playing blues/rock at the time) Oddly, the tremolo was dead when I bought it and I never even thought to have a tech repair it.

  17. #16

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    I have no idea if the tremolo works or not...not even a concern for me...haha
    I would like to get some useable reverb though.

    'Mike

  18. #17

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    do a tube swap first. Try a new driver and a new recovery. Then maybe a pan swap. Some reverb pans are boingier than others

  19. #18

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    No tubes to swap that I can see and I don't see a reverb pan to swap either...

    'Mike

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by WhoisLevang
    Interesting that these solid states sounded good early on. .
    Well, Bob Crooks wasn't your everyday amp tinkerer anyway! Lot of the CA top pros were Standel endorsers, country, pop and jazz, I'm pretty confident that Neil LeVang played a Standel too

  21. #20

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    It sounds really good WITHOUT reverb so I imagine that I will totally love this thing with some decent reverb. It gets distorted sounding on any setting much past barely being on.

    'Mike

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jazzman301
    No tubes to swap that I can see and I don't see a reverb pan to swap either...

    'Mike
    Well that's probably why the reverb doesn't sound very good. ;-)

  23. #22

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    Trust me that was the first thing I looked at. NO PAN. I think the reverb is bad because its a very early attempt at digital modeling perhaps.

    'Mike

  24. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Jazzman301
    Trust me that was the first thing I looked at. NO PAN. I think the reverb is bad because its a very early attempt at digital modeling perhaps.

    'Mike
    Absolutely not. There is a reverb tank somewhere.

  25. #24

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    Or because someone took out the reverb pan

  26. #25
    As I understand it, the reverb works, though not satisfactorily.