-
AB:
You are essentially describing a vibrolux reverb type. In that zone, I can highly recommend the Allen Encore. It's a one channel amp inspired by the VR, but with some very useful extras. David Allen's stock build has a not massive output transformer, equivalent I'd say to the original BFVR. A common upgrade for Encore buyers/builders is to use a larger OT - the one Allen uses in their very super reverb type Old Flame amp - for tighter bass, more headroom.
The Old Flame would be just as good. Great flexibility in speaker formats and options. Both amps are available in kit form.
The extras are: 2 knob reverb on the Encore. I think 3 knob on the Old Flame. "Raw" control, which progressively dials out the tone stack. Excellent master volume. Bass, middle, treble, bright switch.
I've had an Encore head for almost 10 years. I leave the less beefy OT there because this amp has such a pretty edge and drive at higher volumes. Just like the original BFDR. Roll off the master, roll in a touch of raw, for that little extra at lower volumes. I have old Tung Sol 5881s in there. The Old Flame is similar, but in transformer sizes, much closer to a super reverb.
Plenty of other choices available could do what you want too, but I have a fondness for David Allen's amps.
MD
-
11-27-2015 09:16 AM
-
Dennis Kager was the designer of the Pignose. He is at Central Jersey Electronics, Edison, N.J. on Rt. 27, in the back of the Lou Rose Music shop.
Both these businesses have websites.
-
Forget tmb tonestack, there is only 15,000 other amps doing the same ideas.
2xkt66 with tube rectifier (much more forgiving feel, like a good super reverb), 2kt88 for higher wattage option
bandaxall tone stack. Steal polytones values and design a bright switch that is useful.
15 speaker, perhaps aluminum cone??? I have one 12 in a poly and it's really nice.
Thats a jazz amp, otherwise I would just buy a super reverb.
-
I agree with you about the super reverb. I have a 67 super and it is my favorite amp. I love everything about it except the weight, but it rarely leaves my house. I've played through the deluxe reverb head but it still doesn't sound as good as my super. My ideal amp would be to take and make a hand wired super reverb head and then add it to a 15" speaker cabinet. With heavy flatwounds... mmm yummy.
-
I know there are speaker options, but compare and contrast cabinets, guys: 2x10" or 1x15"?
-
abelljo-
What do you think of the concept Johnny Smith had, that amp designers should aim for an amp that had an equal or flat frequency response for archtop guitars.
JS even submitted an article to a magazine in which he criticized Fender for the excessive bass boost on their amps.
Some of the amps that JS had made were Jess Oliver's Ampeg 'Fountain of Sound"amp, the Gibson GA-75L amp, and the EMRAD 'Johnny Smith amp.
I think the Benson amp Co. on the West Coast also made an amp like this.
These amps are not available anymore, so maybe a modern, LIGHTER version would be of interest.
The best archtop sound I ever got out of an amp was playing my 1935 D'Angelico through a Peavy Vintage amp with two 12 inch SRO EV speakers. Unfortunately, the weight was ridiculous.
-
Many amps have an EQ type control panel that set dead center should be "0" Hz-KHz, many guys even use PA systems or acoustic amps. But that is not the sound that you hear on all the classic records. We are all conditioned to seek the sound we are familiar with and that is why there is no wrong or right. But tastes based on what we grew up listening too and for the most part that is Fender, Gibson, Ampeg etc...
-
Blackface and Tweed amps market is saturated. As far as I know, there are no Ampeg copies. That's likely due to the fact that you can get a Vintage Ampeg for less than half as much as the same year and condition Blackface. Blackface Fenders are just higher than a handbuild clone, that allows you to modify speakers, power section and tone stack at will to dial out the aspects. Allen amps for example have a raw knob that adjusts the negative feedback.
So here is where I see the market lacking:
Copies of Ampeg amps: great midrange, great reverb, great trem, overall awesome amps
Tweed style amps other than 5E3 and champ circuits: So many great Tweed amps with different levels of clean, though victoria et al. have this cornered.
Tweed amps with reverb: Reverb kills the tweed circuit, but what about somehow building a reverb into an effects loop into something like a tweed super? It's a big workaround but.... tweed with reverb....drool.
Valco style amps: I have a 35 watt Supro amp with 6L6 tubes and 2X12's and it has rich creamy midrange and stays very clean until it's absolutely dimed. Unfortunately, it's a bit noisy but I would buy a repro of this amp in a second. The new supros sound way different.
Traynor Bassmate, or Fender musicman combos: Two Fender style amps with solid state rectifiers and huge Iron for big punchy cleans.Last edited by Mr. Pocket; 11-29-2015 at 07:25 PM.
-
I love this theme. The idea seems simple but apparently there is so many "simple jazz sounds" that the mission is near impossible.
I have a Polytone Mini Brute IV from 70/80's. Just perfect jazz sound to my ears but soo solid state. A bit lifeless in the end. A bit ear fatiguing.
If I could get the same sound from a tube amp (12" speaker, 15Watts combo w/ spring reverb and tilt bag legs, ~15 kg) I would trade my '79 SF Princeton Reverb with it gladly!
Is Ampeg Gemini tone stack the key? Or Polytone ss preamp plus tube power amp? Can't say – You're the tech!
-
Oh my, almost forgot: my perfect simple straightforward jazz amp has an open back for the guitar cable! And for a wallet and a cell phone during the gig!
-
How do you guys feel Alessandro Comins has this covered? I saw a head selling for 599.00 Cheap for a boutique amp. It has reverb knob, but didn't see a tank and it looks like a very simple clean circuit. I wonder what it is based on. It has 6550 tubes, just like an amp I previously built. They give any amp a great bass response!
-
Here's what you are up against, if you want (1) small, (2) tubes, (3) options like reverb, etc: HEAT. The reason that tube amps with reverb, tremelo, etc., that produce anything other than a handful of watts of output power are big and heavy is that they require large chassis, transformers and cabinets to deal with the power and heat requirements. A small cabinet and chassis is just incompatible with power and options. Jess Oliver came up with the smallest practical design for a no frills tube amp with the Portaflex design. Any options or additional power would have blown the footprint, as the Ampeg B12xt amp demonstrates.
If you want a small tube amp with reverb, the Fender Princeton Reverb is about the state of the art. If you want a different tone stack, go with an old Ampeg.
Modern boutique amps basically play with these designs.
-
It might have a digital verb, some boutique builders are doing that now. I've only heard Derek Trucks Alessandro amps, and that's definitely not the tone we're talking about. But an amazing one nonetheless. I've never played a 6550 amp, but I've heard they have more headroom and "edge". I love 6L6 amps for cleans, and I don't think I would want anything with more punch or presence. I think 6V6s are sweeter, but mushier. The thing I love (and I think most people without realizing it) about tube amps is that they are rarely sterile clean, and that's what gives them a sweet sound. Once you get into huge iron, solid state rectifiers, and high wattage speakers I would just assume play a solid state amp.
I think Louis Electric is making some of the best classic inspired amps right now.
-
There are two ways to go, it seems to me. (Full disclosure: I have built lots of tube amps and designed my share.)
(1) Direction One--the 30s-50s, octal preamp tube/6L6-style amplifier with 20-30 watts of output power into (depending on the sonic vibe you are seeking) a single 12" alnico speaker, or a multiple array of alnico speakers of small, equal size or varying, unequal size. These designs emulate everything from the venerable Gibson EH-150 to the "Woody" Fender Pro/Deluxe to the late-40s/early-50s Gibson GA-50 amps. The tweed Fender Pro is a good template, too. All these amps sound great for jazz and blues. Think Charlie Christian, T-Bone Walker, and Louis Jordan music...but also the King Cole Trio, Les Paul, George Barnes, and early Barney Kessel/Herb Ellis.
(2) Direction Two--stronger, cleaner takes on the tube combo amp, with 6L6, 6CA7, 6650, 6146b (cap fed), or 807 (cap fed) power tubes. These amps should be run into one 15" JBL-type driver or two 12" JBL/EV-type drivers. Most modern speakers are designed to either be coupled with solid-state power amps, or to be played into clipping with tube equipment. Neither type of driver is optimal for a jazz amp. This amp is a Standel/Crooks-type circuit, but the old SUNN 200S bass amp would make a great template, too.
***addendum***
Of course, if one is inclined to keep the overall volume down--and recall that jazz, like anything else, wasn't always played at the volumes encountered today--then a MUCH sweeter option is to simply go with the Fender 5e3 Deluxe amp as a template. Rudy Van Gelder kept one in his studio. All of the guitarists recorded with it who used Van Gelder Studios. The 5e3 sounds magnificent with the archtop guitar. I have been unable to consistently beat it with _anything_. Played cleanly, this amp sounds great. I would say that only the tweed 5f11 Vibrolux sounds comparably good--comparing clean signals.
-
Update- just read that the new Mambo 10 has a switch that does this.
Originally Posted by boatheelmusic
-
Some random thoughts: I play an 18" custom made adi topped archtop with big bands since 1982, my role is comping rhythm changes. I have played many amps over this period. Here are some: the Fender Jazzmaster Ultralight, an Allen Accomplice I built with a larger cabinet with an Eminence Legend 15" speaker, a Heritage Kenny Burrell Freedom with both the stock Jensen C12N and an Eminence Canis Major hemp cone 12" now, a recently built Fender 5E8A low power twin with the original 12AY7 layout in the preamp section, a JC-120, and most recently using an AI Clarus with a Rich Raezer original 10 extended range cabinet.
My favorite now is the AI/RR combination, but it lacks a great tone when I switch to electric solidbody to cover some of our modern charts.
The Allen has always had 6V6s as power tubes, but can use 6L6s, I love the 15", it can make the archtop feedback at times.
The Fender JM was a great amp in lots of ways but was the property of the band I played in so there it stayed after my tenure.
The Roland JC 120 is a great amp I have owned since '79, heavy and has some background white noise/hiss that is common to that breed.
The 5E8A low power tweed twin is a great circuit with low gain 12AY's and a good reverb pedal like the Neunaber Wet or an Alesis Nanoverb makes it a pretty fine amp for both the archtop and my Collings SoCo.
The Heritage KB is the closest thing to some of the posters choices as it has solid state rectification, 6L6s for a reported 60 watts, three band eq and in amp spring reverb, but in my experience it just does not have a great tone and is short on even having a good tone/too sterile. I would like to rewire it to a super reverb/Allen Old flame type of eyelet layout and see if it gets closer to Wes type tones, albeit without the benefit of 4 speakers moving big air.
We are all chasing tone, surely an elusive goal when you factor in all of the variables of equipment and practicality.
Reply With Quote
I Could Write a Book
Today, 10:04 AM in The Songs