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Post subject: 1965 Pro Reverb Amp
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 5:46 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Just acquired this beauty a few days ago :shock:


Enjoy! :mrgreen:



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:mrgreen: :mrgreen:


Last edited by Nikola Tesla on Fri Jun 06, 2014 7:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 5:50 am
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Image

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:lol: 8)


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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 3:07 pm
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Sweet! What's the story behind it? It looks too clean to be found in a "widows garage"

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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 3:24 pm
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Very nice


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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 3:35 pm
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That one rates a Schweeet on the T2 Scale. Great score and thanks for the amp porn!

T2

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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 4:29 pm
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.

Thank you guys.
Amps of that age/condition are hard to come by down-under, so this one came from Oklahoma.

In anticipation of this:
http://www.beyondeleven.com/Mercury-Magnetics-FBFPRO-P-240-p/mercury-tone-fbfpro-p-240.htm

.. I'm running it on a step-down transformer at the moment.

Would anyone know if the Mercury Magnetics will be a straight swap (size wise)?

:)


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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 4:30 pm
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Man that's clean!!! Congrats!!


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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 5:30 pm
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Very nice. All Blue Molded coupling caps! And the lytics changed out. Advice: keep those Tungsol 5881/6L6WGB biased around 15 watts per tube. Approx 31mA per tube at 475VDC on the plates. The tilted wing on one 5881 may or may not be an issue. Is it tight against the glass? If so, you are cool.

The rectifier looks like a Matsushita made GZ34. Should have a definite seam on the top. Very good rectifier.

Nice deal. Bet it sounds great.


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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 10:38 pm
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I was told the rectifier tube is Mullard GZ34, but maybe not; there is nothing written on it.

I will get my tech check the bias when the Mercury Magnetic power tranny arrives; thank you for the suggestion Steve.

Trying to figure out how to describe the sound of this amp to the best of my ability (as English is my 5th language). I was hoping for this amp to be quiet, and its really dead quite, even when cranked up to 8 - 9. I've never seen an amp (and had 40+ amps in the past) with such a simple equalization ( treble + bass only) and such effectiveness at the same time, with only those 2 dials (+ bright switch). Simply put - this amp sounds huge in all aspects, plus it has the responsiveness like no other amp I ever played.

As for the 5881 tilted wing, looks like it has the same distance from the glass as the other wings. The question is how to ascertain if this tube is performing fine. I may get a new 5881 and try it, but it looks like every new set (or a single) tube(s), requires biasing (or maybe not??) to achieve the optimal performance.


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:)


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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 12:42 am
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Nikola Tesla,

The Matsushita GZ34 is made based on the original Blackburn Mullard GZ34 tooling. The slight difference in shape of glass envelope and the anode plates. Plus, what looks like a seam at the top of the glass --- equals Matsushita. A very, very good tube. As good as any version of Mullard GZ34. Does the tube have any acid etched codes where the glass meets the base?

If the 5881 hold a steady bias, before use and after ---- you should be good to go. That Tungsol is a museum piece. As their QA was so tight for these tubes, boo-boo's like the tilted wing is a rare bird. Really, the wing is a redundant feature to help keep the plate aligned, esp under heavy G-loads an F104 might pull.


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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:32 pm
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BMW2002Ti wrote:
Does the tube have any acid etched codes where the glass meets the base?




Indeed, B 1 E


Image

:D


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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 5:53 pm
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B1E = Blackburn, UK. 1 = 1961. E = May.

Just above "B1E" is a faint "f 3" = GZ34, first iteration.

So this is a Blackburn made Mullard GZ34. Congrats! One of the best GZ34 ever made. Sorry, the first photo looked like it had a seam on the top and Matsushita style plates.


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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 8:51 pm
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Thank you for all the valuable information Steve. I can understand better now as to why this amp sounds so huge ....

I can't stop playing it. Pushed it to Vol 8 without any pedals (who need them with amp like this?). Amazing punch and sweeeeeeet sound everywhere :lol: :lol: :lol:


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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 6:03 pm
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The new part arrived today (240 Volts).

4.5Kg in weight :mrgreen:


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Post subject: Re: 1965 Pro Reverb
Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 2:41 am
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Man! That is one hefty piece of iron. Should give you many, many years of good service. My bet is the thing will only get a tiny bit warm --- even with the amp at "10," under 50Hz power.

Be sure to rebias the amp. Pretty sure your B+ is going to go up after you install that puppy.

One other thing... I'd replace the first two 100mfd/500VDC caps under the doghouse. These two are in series = 50mfd/1000VDC. But, your precious Mullard GZ34 should not see much above 40mfd in that first stage. I'd go to 80mfd/450VDC F&T caps = 40mfd/900VDC total rating on that first stage.


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