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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
awesome deal on a Sonny Jr amp on Ebay
awesome deal on a Sonny Jr amp on Ebay
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toddlgreene
2712 posts
Mar 14, 2011
8:12 AM
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http://cgi.ebay.com/Sonny-JR-Tweed-Bassmen-Harp-Amp-/230596767881?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b0a37089
See the Buy It Now...750$
I'm in the middle of major renovation expenditures on my house, and can't spare the money-but this is a very sweet deal for one of you who might be looking for a killer harp amp. Let me know if one of you snaps it up.
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Todd
Eudora and Deep Soul
Last Edited by on Mar 14, 2011 8:15 AM
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6SN7
154 posts
Mar 14, 2011
10:00 AM
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wow, that's deal.
i tell you, those amps are the most undervalued guitar amp.
a few tube tube changes and viola, a boutique bassman!
i saw Johnny Moeller play through one of these w/ the Thunderbirds.
If you know a guitar slinger looking for an amp, this is the one.
It puts a RI Bassman and other 4x10 wannabes to shame.
Last Edited by on Mar 14, 2011 10:00 AM
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Joe_L
1124 posts
Mar 14, 2011
10:17 AM
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You guys need to read the description of that amp a bit more closely. That is a reissue Bassman that was modded by Sonny Jr. That amp was on ebay about a year ago. It's not one of his hand wired amps.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
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5F6H
558 posts
Mar 14, 2011
10:19 AM
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@6SN7 "It puts a RI Bassman and other 4x10 wannabes to shame."
It is an RI Bassman, undoubtedly Sonny's set up & pine cab are a bonus, but this isn't the handwired 410 amp.
Still, a fair price.
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toddlgreene
2714 posts
Mar 14, 2011
10:24 AM
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Ah...good point, Joe. I only had time to scan the ad quickly. Still, not a bad price. I had one of those RI Bassman's though, and it was shoddily built. I'm sure the LTD Bassmans are much better-or at least I hope so.
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Todd
Eudora and Deep Soul
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Joe_L
1125 posts
Mar 14, 2011
10:28 AM
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It would be interesting to see what was modded, because I've seen reissue Bassmen as low as $500 on craigslist. I know someone who just bought a lightly used reissue Bassman LTD for $600. It looked as good as new and the speakers weren't broken in yet.
Amp prices in the U.S. are very depressed at the moment. If one lives in a major metro area, they can find some good deals on craigslist.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
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toddlgreene
2715 posts
Mar 14, 2011
10:32 AM
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I remember selling mine after I got the substandard solders redone for 550-about 10 years ago. It was in mint condition with a cover, too.
Joe-I'm hoping that buyer's market trend continues a bit longer-I'd much rather buy an amp second hand and save the extra for more harps or a Heumann wood mic. It does suck on the selling side of things, though.
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Todd
Eudora and Deep Soul
Last Edited by on Mar 14, 2011 10:33 AM
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5F6H
559 posts
Mar 14, 2011
10:33 AM
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Todd, the RI Ltds have a pine cab & a bias pot, there have been a couple of revisions to the boards, mostly around the bias circuit (inauduble, just improvements in negative voltage handling). They all still have flying wires to tube sockets, controls are PCB mounted. The old RIs & the Ltds are pretty reliable for modern PCB amps (though how they'll fare after 20ys on the road is anyone's guess...there's a cottage industry in re-wiring them with eyelet boards if yuo have a big failure). The odd resistor burns up from time to time but even this is pretty rare. For the price you pay, "shoddy" is a perhaps a little harsh?
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toddlgreene
2716 posts
Mar 14, 2011
10:54 AM
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Well, I bought mine new, and had to have it worked on three times in two years, and all of the problems were said to be due to worksmanship. I just thought of it as a lemon, as I know several folks who have owned them without a single hitch.
In fact, a buddy of mine here and an active local player had a RI that was sitting in about a foot of water for a couple days during Katrina, and he dried it out and still plays it. Cool-looking waterline stain on the tweed...
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Todd
Eudora and Deep Soul
Last Edited by on Mar 14, 2011 11:07 AM
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tmf714
540 posts
Mar 14, 2011
4:12 PM
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A few tips -actually-a lot of info-from Ron Holmes.
a recent out-of-town trip, I had an opportunity to play through a friends Bassman LTD that had been modded by Ron Holmes. After using the amp for the gig, out of curiosity I asked Ron what he had done to the amp. He was quite detailed with his explanation, as he can be. Ron has given me permission to post these mods, which I'm sure you'll agree is quite generous of him. He's cut down on working on amps, since he is now heavily involved in manufacturing. So he says it's cool to post the details, and let you all have at it. I liked the amp, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Nothing wrong with it, but for my tastes, I like an amp that is "stiff", and doesn't give it up too easily. However, I appreciate that there's "different strokes for different folks", and if anyone can benefit from this, then it's all good.
As far as tube compliment goes, the amp was set up with 12AY7 in V1, and a GZ34 tube rec. All other tubes were normal, although Ron says that he spends a good deal of time listening to the amp with different tubes of the same type to see if a particular tube sounds best in the amp.
In these quoted e-mails, Alan is the owner of the amp, and Sonny Jr. is a reference to Gary Onofrio.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hi Ray,
You are welcome to edit and post my comments. The stuff is tried and true. I either double or quadruple the coupling cap values (say from 0.022 uF to 0.1 uF, 400 VDC). I like the Vishay/Sprague 225P film- foil polyester cap series which are chubby but not as long as the too- bright film-foil polypropylene caps. The polyesters (Mylar, etc.) sound closer to the old foil and paper coupling caps than the ultra clean and bright polypropylenes. At least for harp use. Always use clear RTV or similar adhesive to support the bodies of the somewhat larger caps. The sealant and board should support the new caps and not just the poor too-small copper foil traces.
For a long time Sonny Jr. has been encouraging players to try different tubes in their amps. This sequence I use after tweaking the amp’s electronics. Alan’s amp was stock factory. I lowered the B+ to preamp stages by increasing the Metal Oxide Film 1 watt dropping resistor from 10K ohms to 39K ohms, 2 watt. I change first two stage plate resistors to 220Kohms, ½ watt carbon film. Cathode bias resistors to 2.7Kohms or 3.3Kohms. Technically this increases the gain but actually makes first preamp more compressible and mellow.
The first plate voltage ends up being around 85-90 volts DC. All main plate and cathode bias resistors should be changed to ½ watt carbon composition resistors. They sound different, faster, and fuller than the hideous carbon film resistors now covering the planet. Usually right before the phase splitter circuit I increase a coupling resistor to 1 megohm or better. Usually it replaces a 470Kohm, ½ watt.
Goal is to drop circuit gain output from preamps alone by ½ or 2/3. The different tubes also lower gain depending on which tube. All signal coupling caps need to be 0.1 uF. Including phase driver to power tubes. Don’t mess with 6L6 biasing to try to lower anything. Those you want running normally. Just progressively lower each stage’s gain so the accumulative effect is lower overall gain, a huge round sound and right vibe.
You should end up with the volume or gain control ½ to 2/3 all the way up and not at 2. The factory’s choices were based on economics and not premium sound. The PC work has to be done gently and methodically so as not to tear up thin foil traces. With care and good solder braid it can be done.
As I am focusing solely on manufacturing I am not doing any more service work or mods at this time. But, there are skilled folks out there that can follow this plan (with schematic in hand) and do these modifications. Carefully!
Best Regards,
Ron Holmes
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