simple dual 6V6 heads
- marqueemoon
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simple dual 6V6 heads
Starting to think about selling my current EL84 head in favor of some 6V6 goodness. I like simple. No master volume, and ideally just volume/tone or volume/bass/treble. Onboard reverb not necessary. Looking for a blackface Fenderish or similar voice or something comparable. I'm not a fan of the overdriven tweed sound. Looking for 12-15 watts - enough to have some natural breakup at rock band volume. 4 and 8 ohm outs would be good, as would high and low gain inputs. The snob in me would prefer a handwired thing, but whatever.
Suggestions? I have a short list going, but I figure y'all might know of some I haven't thought of. I haven't ruled out a custom job, but $1K is probably going to be my very upper limit, and that's with a lot of scrimping and selling stuff. I will say cosmetics are not a big priority. I'd be fine with an ammo can amp or an uncovered birch ply box as long as it's rugged enough to transport to practices and shows.
Suggestions? I have a short list going, but I figure y'all might know of some I haven't thought of. I haven't ruled out a custom job, but $1K is probably going to be my very upper limit, and that's with a lot of scrimping and selling stuff. I will say cosmetics are not a big priority. I'd be fine with an ammo can amp or an uncovered birch ply box as long as it's rugged enough to transport to practices and shows.
- MechaBulletBill
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
Ampeg GVT15H? It has gain/volume but runs on 6v6s and not a lot does.
- Embenny
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
Yeah, I'm not aware of any dual 6V6 heads with no master volume.
The Traynor Darkhorse 15 is a Canadian-built dual 6V6 head, but it has a master volume. It does have a "USA/Brit/pure" switch that moves the tone stack pre/post-inverter or bypasses it altogether. In "pure" mode, all you have is volume and master volume, which is about as simple a dual 6V6 circuit as I've ever encountered in head form.
It's very compact, very well built, and sounds great. I owned one for a number of years. It would be worth checking out - one of the purest 6V6 tones I've ever heard.
The Traynor Darkhorse 15 is a Canadian-built dual 6V6 head, but it has a master volume. It does have a "USA/Brit/pure" switch that moves the tone stack pre/post-inverter or bypasses it altogether. In "pure" mode, all you have is volume and master volume, which is about as simple a dual 6V6 circuit as I've ever encountered in head form.
It's very compact, very well built, and sounds great. I owned one for a number of years. It would be worth checking out - one of the purest 6V6 tones I've ever heard.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.
- ifallalot
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
Ibanez TSA15 will be perfect for you
https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=tsa15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=tsa15" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- marqueemoon
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
The Dark Horse is actually on my list. Don't know if there's a dealer in town. Cool that it comes with a soft case too.mbene085 wrote:Yeah, I'm not aware of any dual 6V6 heads with no master volume.
The Traynor Darkhorse 15 is a Canadian-built dual 6V6 head, but it has a master volume. It does have a "USA/Brit/pure" switch that moves the tone stack pre/post-inverter or bypasses it altogether. In "pure" mode, all you have is volume and master volume, which is about as simple a dual 6V6 circuit as I've ever encountered in head form.
It's very compact, very well built, and sounds great. I owned one for a number of years. It would be worth checking out - one of the purest 6V6 tones I've ever heard.
I'm hoping to try out a Benson Monarch when I'm in Portland in a few weeks, but at $1700 it's wayyyyy over the budget. I tried a Supro 1600 combo today and it sounded amazing until it rattled, like all combos do.
KO Amps does a few 6v6 ammo can amps too. I'm curious about the Silvertoneish one.
Does anyone have experience with Filmosound conversions? I've never played one.
- druunkonego
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
Maybe check out a Mesa Blue Angel. They have a bit more headroom but might be worth checking out. I've seen a couple show up on the used market recently for less than your limit.
- CorporateDisguise
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
I bought the Ceriatone OTS mini when looking with the same basic guidelines as yours. Brilliant fender like clean channel, and the overdrive is just astounding. I didn't know I could like preamp gain until I got this amp. It runs at around 15 or 20 watts. Worth looking into. You get a hand wired amp for PCB prices. I think Ceriatone also makes a Princeton head as well called the Princeztone. I have nothing but good things to say about them.
- OffYourFace
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
I'm sure you can find some sort of pre-built Weber kit or something. My main amp is a '76 Deluxe Reverb but I've thought about having a head version with only Reverb.
- Jaguar018
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
I have this exact thing, built by Pete Cage. Great minds think alike right?OffYourFace wrote:I'm sure you can find some sort of pre-built Weber kit or something. My main amp is a '76 Deluxe Reverb but I've thought about having a head version with only Reverb.
- marqueemoon
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
Thanks, everyone. I might have an opportunity for a deal on a Dark Horse, so that's moving it up the list a bit.
- muchxs
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
ODS style amps don't have discrete clean and overdrive channels. The overdrive circuit stacks on top of the clean circuit. They're in series.CorporateDisguise wrote:I bought the Ceriatone OTS mini when looking with the same basic guidelines as yours. Brilliant fender like clean channel, and the overdrive is just astounding. I didn't know I could like preamp gain until I got this amp. It runs at around 15 or 20 watts. Worth looking into. You get a hand wired amp for PCB prices.
The clean tone disengages the overdrive circuit.
- onebigholiday
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
Satellite Amps, 3 Monkeys maybe?
- Embenny
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
Sweet, I say do it! I loved that little guy. It did this really cool thing where, within a certain range of the preamp gain knob, it just started getting super fat and juicy without breaking up. I would set it just below the point of preamp clipping, and then use the master volume (note: 6V6 power mode is the only one worth using). Gave a HUGE clean tone up until the power tubes start breaking up. If I wanted to thin out the tone a bit, I'd back off the preamp gain a little and it would sound like you engaged a Bright switch by comparison.marqueemoon wrote:Thanks, everyone. I might have an opportunity for a deal on a Dark Horse, so that's moving it up the list a bit.
I liked the USA voicing of the tone stack (very Deluxe-ish), but taking out the tone stack entire in "pure" mode gave quite the bold tone and volume boost. I mainly used a closed-back V30 1x12" enclosure with it and the Pure mode had a bit too much midrange for my taste with a V30 (it really let the uncoloured tone show off the speaker's midrange bump), but I bet with most other speakers it would have been perfect.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.
- W.L.Weller
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
http://ballseffects.com/amplifiers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I'm pretty sure the Balls 20 is a 2x6V6 amp.
I'm pretty sure the Balls 20 is a 2x6V6 amp.
- marqueemoon
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Re: simple dual 6V6 heads
Interesting. Unfortunate name though.