Re: I got a new amp today

James · Post by **James** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:54 am

noirengineer wrote: congrats james, looks like a sexy little half-stack man!

PS: what's the deal with the speakers again?
you mentioned both of them were celestion greenbacks, but
why does the one on the left look different than the one on the right?
Sorry if I might have overlooked any answers to that question above
by any posters.. but I just read through it kinda fast, and was curious..

either case... looks like a +1 for me! "high-five "

one is a greenback, one is a vintage 30.

del wrote: speaker... production number... blah blah

This is a great amp! Plug your guitar into bass input 1, run a short cable from bass input 2 to normal input 1, play your guitar, hear the "jumped" channels produce the best overdriven amp sound ever created.

huzzah!

I was talking to the guy who sold it me, he was recommending going into normal 1, and then jumping from normal 2 to bass 1. I take it that is the same but using the normal channel as the first gain stage? I'm a jumping noob. A normal guitar lead will work right? Say a George L patch cable?

øøøøøøø · Post by **øøøøøøø** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:04 pm

Both ways will be the same.

You are not cascading the two gain stages, you are going into them both at once, in parallel.

Which one you plug into first makes no appreciable difference. Jumpering is really virtually identical to using a "Y" cord to go into the "normal" and "bass" channels simultaneously.

James · Post by **James** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:12 pm

I take it there is also no difference in the 1 and 2 inputs?

Thanks a lot for the info here. I've been reading a fair bit about them, but getting detail behind "yeah the aa864 is awesome" takes a lot of dredging through search results.

Slightly off topic, but I played a 70s SF and the bass and normal channels were very similar seeming to me, is that a CBS cheapening the circuits thing? I haven't had much time to play with the one I just got yet but the difference was a lot clearer when I had a bash earlier.

noirengineer · Post by **noirengineer** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:18 pm

input 1 is 10 dB louder I think

noirengineer · Post by **noirengineer** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:23 pm

what he said

James · Post by **James** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 12:30 pm

I certainly came to the right place to ask a few questions. Sometime soon I'll have to open it up and take some pics, but I do have these.

Any ideas on the code? T84864? Is that along the same lines as a pot date?

As for the AA864 thing, it says that on the tube chart but I'll hold out til I get a look inside to be certain I've that. I've read in a few places that the charts aren't always as reliable as they should be.

øøøøøøø · Post by **øøøøøøø** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:47 pm

That's an AA864. If it was made in 1964 (and that date stamp in the chassis shows that it indeed was) then it's AA864.

The one partial pic of the board shows that at least that portion of the tag board is original and unmolested. Don't know about that one white wire though... but with old Fender anything is possible

This is good, but it also comes with a warning...

That red-orange Mallory big fat cathode bypass dual-cap is original and electrolytic. Which may mean that the electrolytics in the power supply are original too (many people change them out at the same time as part of routine maintenance). You'll want to carefully open the dog house underneath the chassis and check. If they're original, it's time for them to go.

James · Post by **James** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 2:10 pm

The previous owner said this...

perfect working order with the inevitable change of smoothing caps which are sprague atoms, a couple of grid resisters have been changed, all other components are original throughout.

(As you can probably guess the tolex and the cloth are recent, but he told me about that.)

I'll open it up later in the week and get some gut shots. Is it easy enough to do? I've never done it before.

I imagine you'll like to see the pics as much as I'll want to read the comments you make about them

øøøøøøø · Post by **øøøøøøø** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 2:15 pm

James wrote: The previous owner said this...

perfect working order with the inevitable change of smoothing caps which are sprague atoms, a couple of grid resisters have been changed, all other components are original throughout.
(As you can probably guess the tolex and the cloth are recent, but he told me about that.)

I'll open it up later in the week and get some gut shots. Is it easy enough to do? I've never done it before.

I imagine you'll like to see the pics as much as I'll want to read the comments you make about them

So it sounds like it's had new filter caps! That's good!

A lot of people like to leave the cathode bypass caps alone if they like the way the amp sounds. I can respect that for sure. They pose no danger of hurting anything if they go bad.

It's not too hard to get gut shots. Sometimes getting the nuts back on the chassis straps when you're putting it back together can be a mild annoyance.

I'd be happy to tell you what I see if you post them.

James · Post by **James** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:19 am

I've been able to turn this thing up to 10 today and try it with my pedal board. I suppose one way of putting it is...

I can't believe that a few years ago I spent so much on guitars (think I had 9 at one point) but never had a good amp. At least I've learnt my lesson now and I don't think this one will be leaving me for quite sometime.

noirengineer · Post by **noirengineer** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:01 am

what amp did you have prior?

James · Post by **James** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:23 am

Since october my only amp was one of these...

Before that it was a Laney TF300 (valvestate combo)

noirengineer · Post by **noirengineer** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:25 am

yep.. you've certainly just graduated from shitty amps-ville

James · Post by **James** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:28 am

It took me a while to hear the difference between the bassman and the SP-10.

The Laney wasn't a bad amp, but it's night and day to the bassman.

noirengineer · Post by **noirengineer** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:32 am

yeah.. was about to say.. laney aren't horrible amps..
but you had a solid state amp as opposed to a tube amp..
the differences are bound to be much bigger..

my first semi-good amp was a marshall (great amp manufacturer),
it was a valvestate half-stack.. and suffice the marshall name and rep.
it was like night and day when i switched over to an actual tube amp..
you did well though james, enjoy it bro!