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I'm almost ashamed of spending more on gear after this (Dream come true: 1938 Epi Deluxe) but the opportunity was just too juicy to pass, and the two acquisitions go together as you'll see.
I've eyeballed Tweed Pros since entering a swing big band years ago. I saw them as the amp that can give me the right fat clean tones at volume – a view validated by people like Greentone on this forum. My old Zephyr is awesome, but needs a mic and is very fragile. My 62 Brown Deluxe and 64 Tremolux are also awesome but they are needed elsewhere and good but not ideal for the application (a bit too dirty at volume, a bit too "modern" for DeArmond pickups…).
There was a Pro local to me that had been for sale for months on the Italian equivalent of Craigslist: it was as new, and the price had fallen down to about 60% of usual street price. I had an upcoming jazz gig, my wonderful new guitar and… no PA at the venue to mic any amp I might carry. So I went to test it: not love at first sight, but I sensed that it might be right for me. At that price, I also felt I could flip it for a profit if not. So I smuggled it home (that's the word…) and A/B'd it with my other amps. It sounded better with my DeArmond pickups than either the Tremolux and the Deluxe, and could stay clean way longer than the Zephyr or the Deluxe. It also sounded amazing and nothing like my other amps with teles and strats: big, fat, rich , round cleans. Big, more than anything else. Especially fantastic with a tele: it retains all the bite, while eliminating any ice-pick. A stellar amp and a perfect addition to complete my collection.
I fooled around a little with tubes and determined that I wanted 12AY7 in both V1 and V2. A DeArmond rhythm chief plugged into Input 2, where it sounds best, never gets ear-shattering loud. Still loud enough to keep up, on "8", with a rather hard-hitting drummer. In Input 1 it can get a lot louder while sounding marginally less good. The manual suggests that with a 5U4 as rectifier, it might even give me more clean headroom … I may test that if required.
Be that as it may, it came with me in Switzerland and now is my "gig" amp there: primarily big band swing, but I'm spoiling to take it at a blues jam with my tele. It did splendidly at its first jazz gig. It's beastly heavy for my bad back, and I move in public transports, so I had to find a solution… and I did (see picture below!).
It's the tweed for me, and I now think that major gear acquisitions are over for some time: I have all my gear needs amply covered. Time to just play, and play!
Last edited by radiofm74; 10-04-2021 at 01:08 AM.
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10-03-2021 05:44 PM
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A superb collection of classic amps, the new one just as nice! Congratulations, and play it in good health!
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Great amp! As you know, I love my tweed Pro. BIG is the right description of the sound--with archtops, Telecasters, and Stratocasters.
Enjoy.
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You have the coolest bedside tables I’ve ever seen!
Post some sounds if you have a chance…. ;-)
Enjoy!
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I know this is about the pro but that 6g3 is sick.
Pro tip about Fender brownfaces. The original oxford speakers tend to distort really easily, which makes people think these amps have no headroom. I use a p10q instead of the original oxford in my brown princeton and it's my favorite gig amp with plenty of clean headroom at "jazz" volumes (unfortunately out of service at the moment).
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Wow. Jealous. Of ALL of it!
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Awesome tweed Pro...as well as all of your other amps pictured.
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… i.e. the three types of guitars I care about ;D (Heck, throw in 330s/Casinos… archtops too in a way, but of a different kind)
Originally Posted by Greentone
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Duly noted about the Brownie. For now, I like it as it is. It's my rock, blues, country amp. I like it that it has a little hair even at loud but not crazy volumes. I'm back from rehearsal and it was so great and so easy to carry. But yes, it has beautiful cleans in it. Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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Originally Posted by Little Jay
Originally Posted by Gitfiddler
Originally Posted by ruger9
Yes, I love them all, as well as my tweed champ clone and Zephyr. Over the past few years I've collected all the tube amps I may conceivably need to play, record and perform: 5W 8", a ?12-ish W octal amp with as 12" field coil speaker, 20-ish W with 12", 26W with a 15" and the big black 30 watter with 2x10 – all having pretty different flavors. I am an amp junkie, sigh…
I have some clips of all but the Tweed Pro.
The Tremolux has been my main rock gigging amp. I have clips of it but none online. Here's a version we played of "Shine on you crazy diamond" live right before covid happened – hope the link works:
Dropbox - Shine On You Crazy Diamond.mov - Simplify your life
The Zephyr is what I recorded my "Quarantine Swing Postcards" with. Here's a repost of one of them:
The Brownie has not been gigged yet… got it during COVID. I recorded some non-jazz stuff with it at bedroom volume levels:
The Tweed Pro has been at a gig already, and a jazz one. Would have liked to post something here but no-one thought to record anything… Hope to have something to offer soon!
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I have an original BF Vibroverb. It does indeed break up beautifuly. It is being serviced as we speak. Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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