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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
What are these amps have in common ?
What are these amps have in common ?
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silpakorn
115 posts
Feb 12, 2012
7:37 AM
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This might be a dumb question and I know very little about amps (I mean the circuits) but I'm very picky with the sound and I'm now pretty sure that I like the sound of these amps the most (I think they have pretty much the same charactor) so I think it might be a good idea to try to know them better. The amps are tweed champ, lonewolf project amps and meteor. Is it just the charactor of 6v6,6l6 or is there anything else that I should know. Thanks.
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5F6H
1069 posts
Feb 12, 2012
9:02 AM
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Tweed champ, Lone Wolf SE project amp & the Meteors are all "Cathode-biased"...that's pretty much all they have in common. Other cathode biased amps are Mascos, SJ1 & SJ2, ALL other Fender Champs, Epi Valve Jr, VHT Special 6, Kalamazoo Models 1 & 2. The vast majority of amps made prior to the mid 50's were cathode biased, some budget manufacturers stayed with cathode bias into the 60's like Premier, Valco/National, lower powered Gibsons, Ampeg Reverberockets/Gemini/Jet & Danelectro/Silvertone.
Amps like 4x10 tweed bassmans & bandmasters, brown Concerts & Bandmasters, BF/SF Fenders with 6L6 power tubes (bandmasters, twins, super reverbs), HG DT, HG50, Harpking, SJ Cruncher & Avenger are all "fixed bias", they typically have a tighter, less compressed sound.
All cathode biased amps do not sound alike however, neither do all fixed bias amps. So I would really focus more on the fact that these amps, specifically, make a sound that you like.
6V6 & 6L6 don't have a particular sound, they only make a sound in a circuit (and we are used to hearing them in THOSE circuits)...e.g. if you swapped the 6V6s for 6L6s, & vice versa, the amps would still retain the bulk of their essential character, they would just sound "a little" different tonally & with respect to playing dynamics...even if you swapped either tube type for EL34, KT66, 6550 (not recommended, as these all require more heater & plate current and will burn out a power transformer that is not designed to supply these currents).
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Last Edited by on Feb 12, 2012 11:25 AM
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rbeetsme
623 posts
Feb 12, 2012
10:26 AM
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Silpakorn, amp choice is always subjective. However, most blues players prefer a warm tone, smooth distortion, big bass and enough treble and volume to cut through the fog of the guitar players amp. Many low watt tube amps fill the bill. The Champ, early Gibson GA's, Mascos and Valcos have been well received by harp players. The Bassman has been the most copied. A lot of the boutique built for harp amps owe their design to those vintage amps.
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