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Music man Sixty-five 210
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Jarno
16 posts
Apr 02, 2016
9:23 AM
Hi everybody,

My amp-guy called me the other day and told me he had just the amp for me!
He said "I'll take that old SF bassman head that you ain't using anyways of your hands and swap you for it!"

A little sceptic, as you can imagine, I went to his place where I found a banged up 2x10 hybrid-type amp. Tolex was ripped of and it was spray-painted baby blue! All the knobs were there but the faceplate was drawn on with magic marker.
Speakers were two no-name ceramics.

"Jeez... You called me for this??"

Turns out it's an old Music man Sixty five 210. 65 watts, switchable to half power. 2x10 speakers, hence the name...

Two powertubes and a tube phase-inverter.

"This is what Clapton, Duane Allman, Mark Knopfler and Johnny Winter used!!"
Yeah right...

"Just try it!" So I did.

With guitar; nice! Clean. Very clean. I wanted to hear "sterile" but it really wasn't. Nice reverb. Good tremelo, which beyond 5 on the dial turns into a funky leslie type double tremelo or something like that. Good surf and country tone.

So, just before returning it, I thought I would plug my mic in. Just so I could say I tried it with harp and it's no good, clean and gainy.

MAN....!!
This thing screams with harp!
It's loud and it cuts!
With the amp on half power, 30 watts or so, plugged into the low gain channel on the "effects-side" and bass up, treble down and mid somewhere in the middle. Volume on 3 and Master on 6 it nearly made my ears bleed!

Granted, this might not be the warm Chicago or California-swing sound but it does have that tube-warmth.
I can definately see this amp working in a loud bluesrock-band!
And with the right speakers, maybe just maybe, this could turn into my main gigging amp!
Portable, reliable, good sound and plenty loud!
And even works for guitar.

Any of you guys ever used an amp like this for harp?
I see some rave reviews from guitarplayers. And this amp is, indeed, very sinilar to what the above mentioned guitarheroes played.
But no one using it for harmonica.

This might be a nice sleeper amp that can be had for sensible prices.

Cheers,

Jarno

Last Edited by Jarno on Apr 02, 2016 11:28 AM
barbequebob
3204 posts
Apr 02, 2016
9:35 AM
I tried out the 4-10 version when they first came out in 1977 and I was about to buy it until I got myself a mighty sweet deal for a '65 pre-CBS balck faced Super Reverb from a guy who had bought it brand new in 1965. The very first versions were great for both harp and guitar but the later ones not so much.

When I tired it, I never used the master volume because I absolutely HATED the sounds of them because you always lose dynamic touch from your breath control and it puts too many limitations on the availability of tonal color variety because of that. Bob Margolin had one of these for a few years.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Barley Nectar
1188 posts
Apr 03, 2016
6:04 AM
I played a MM RD100 for a while. Never could get it dialed in but I was just beginning my journey into amplified harmonica at that time. I would not mind trying that amp again now that I have a clue. A friend bought it for his son, the lad is still using it and that has been probably 18 yrs ago.

I have another friend who loves those 65"s for guitar. The SS pre w/ tube power section is the right way to build a hybrid IMO.

I would probably want to gig the MM a couple times before I made a decision, Fender Bassman's are pretty good amps and easy to mod one channel for harp...Just sayin...Good luck...BN

Last Edited by Barley Nectar on Apr 03, 2016 6:06 AM
Goldbrick
1371 posts
Apr 03, 2016
6:58 AM
My band mate has one inherited from her Dad.
We rarely use it. Can get a great Johnny Winter sound on slide guitar but not a very pleasant break up to my ears.
Jarno
19 posts
Apr 03, 2016
2:29 PM
Thanks guys,

I agree with you all.

BN, I will definately not trade in my SF bassman head for it. But I did buy it for 300 Euros. Which seems to be the price for one in the current condition.

It is NOT an amp you take on a gig where you wear a suite. It doesn't have "the" tone you expect from a tweed amp. And yes, break-up is a bit shrill.

But...

It is loud and sound is pretty nice. Not the fullbodied bassy honk but a screaming clean cutting sound. This will give any loud rockin' guitar player a run for his money!

I'm still experimenting and I think with some different speakers that will warm the amp a little, this will really be a nice adition to the family.

Johnny Winter played the same amp but with 4x10.


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