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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 8:06 pm
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Steve, I think the intention is more to protect the innards of some truly vintage amp (say, a woodie or a tweed) than to alter the sonic footprint. At least that's what I got from reading the blurb about the Brown Box shortly after it appeared.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 11:01 pm
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Thanks! Got it. :)


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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 11:16 pm
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For an extremely rare piece, it might make sense. But Leo over-spec'd and over-engineered most of his designs, especially the brownface and blackface models. I'm not convinced that there's any real benefit to using the Brown Box with either of them, certainly not with the silverface amps. But personal preferences are best left to the individual.

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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 11:22 pm
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Yeah. I've run my '49 Champion straight into power strip, no problem. PT never runs hot. Even playing at full blast for hours. Those Triad are good trannies.


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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2016 10:30 am
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Quote:
I think the intention is more to protect the innards of some truly vintage amp (say, a woodie or a tweed) than to alter the sonic footprint
Spot on, as always.
I'm not looking for it to alter the amps general characteristics. But I do expect to get better operating parameters for the circuit as a whole, longer tube life and maybe subtle tonal effects related to operating voltages.
I'll definitely give you my feedback after checking it out thoroughly.


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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2016 10:43 am
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Sonic nuances are often more perceived than palpable but enhanced tube life is likely.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2016 8:30 pm
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Well the brown box and A/B/Y came in this afternoon.
I had to revert to the original spec 250ohm cathode bias resistor and change the dropping resistors as well to 10k & 12k. On the way, I swapped out the 2nd & 3rd PSU caps down to 16uf from the 20's.
Overall, it definitely operates much better between 110-115vac. Runs very cool and transitions to distortion more smoothly with less of what I expect was blocking distortion at higher voltages/volumes. It isn't as compressed a tone as it was, maybe just a cleaner headroom not necessarily more headroom. Hard to say how much is the voltage reduction and how much its the RCA vt107a's and the 6sc7gty's. At 110vac I'm seeing a B+ of 350 +/- 1% and plate voltages about 332 @ 34ma w/ 11watts output. The amp surprised me only drawing about .5 amps of power from the digital read-out on the brown box.
All that's left is the fine details, a little tone shaping never hurt and lots of practicing. Didn't employ the A/B/Y
just yet.
Happy New Year


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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2016 11:49 pm
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Sounds promising, Eric. The 332 VDC at the plates is probably as close to Leo's original design spec as you can expect and the sonic results you've observed are likely as near to that of an original tweed Deluxe as is possible.

Rawk on!

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 2:37 am
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Hope everyone had a good New Years Day.

I forgot, Eric... are you using the stock OEM speaker, which came with the Deluxe?

Thanks!


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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 10:19 am
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I forgot, Eric... are you using the stock OEM speaker, which came with the Deluxe?

No, its got a Weber 12A150 25watt speaker. Its probably got 50-100 hrs on it from the DRRI.


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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 12:10 pm
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sfceric64 wrote:
Quote:
I forgot, Eric... are you using the stock OEM speaker, which came with the Deluxe?

No, its got a Weber 12A150 25watt speaker. Its probably got 50-100 hrs on it from the DRRI.


A pretty authentic stand-in for a 5E3's original Jensen P12Q. With fifty or more hours on the clock it ought to sound pretty damn sweet.

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 8:08 am
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I love the alnico 12A125 and 12A150 weber speakers. Vintage tone, after break-in. I like the non-doped cone styles.


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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 9:42 am
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
I like the non-doped cone styles.


+1

Most speakers intended for guitar application sound more articulate without the doping.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 10:58 am
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Had a minor issue w/ the plug supplied w/ the brown box; loose poor fitting connection. Sweetwater took care of me, with a new cord. Their service/support is exceptional.

I'm really enjoying the amp; it is everything I hoped it would be albeit a little more money than I wanted to put into it initially.


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Post subject: Re: Trying to buy my 1st Vintage Amp
Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 11:13 am
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I won a bid on ebay yesterday so I will be back to tinkering at months end.
Posted a pic of the non-Fender in the lounge under new gear purchase thread.http://forums.fender.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=99747&start=495
I believe its a National version of the 1948 Supro made by Valco.


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