HawkeyeKane
1096 posts
Jul 29, 2012
1:37 PM
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This amp belongs to a friend of mine, and he uses it so seldomly, he let's me borrow it anytime I want. It's a Gretsch 6149 Reverberation. What's really cool about it is that it serves two seperate functions. It can work as a regular amp, with a volume knob and a range selector switch. But it has another jack and channel, into which a seperate amp head can be run, and then it serves as a reverberated speaker cabinet with the volume knob functioning as a reverb intensity control.
It's preamped by two 12AX7s, rectified by a 5Y3GT, and powered by two 6973s. About a 25 watt output. I've used her all weekend to great success, and another local harp player used it at an open jam Friday night. We were both blown away at this baby's capabilities! This is the only 6149 I've ever come across. They're one of the rarest Valco's today. I can't bring myself to trying to buy it off my friend because of the sentimental value he has for it. It was a wedding gift.
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Hawkeye Kane
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HawkeyeKane
1118 posts
Aug 08, 2012
11:35 AM
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Gonna bump this because I need a little help...
I've been doing a little maintainence and restoration work on the Gretsch for my friend in repayment for allowing me to use it whenever I need it.
I've already done quite a few things. Resecured the loose chassis so it doesn't thump when the amp is bounced, tightened the pin socket clamps to the power tubes stay in, air blasted the chassis, the cabinet, and the sockets out (found a spider corpse on the second power tube socket terminals), cleaned and polished the chrome control panel and volume knob, tightened the range switch knob, and cleaned and shined the tolex with Armor All and tire shine. Still need to replace the brittle power cord, possibly mount retainers over the 6973's, and reupholster the tattered grill cloth and replace the broken Gretsch badge (all when he has the cash to buy the materials).
But the thing I need help with is identifying the speaker. From what I've read, almost all of the Valco-made Gretsch's came with a Jensen AlNiCo of some type. But this thing has what appears to be a 12" ceramic in it. The magnet on that sucker is HUGE and HEAVY! Here are a few shots:
The basket on it is brown. I haven't had the chance to remove the baffle or grillcloth yet to get a look at the projecting side of the cone or the dustcap. But so far, I've not found any stamps or serial numbers. If anyone can clue me in on what make this speaker might be, it'd be really helpful. I'm hoping I can get the original label sticker for it and reapply it to the magnet.
Also...if anyone knows of a good place to find a grill cloth that would VERY closely match the original, lemme know. Mojo and AES are busts so far.
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Hawkeye Kane
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Noodles
218 posts
Aug 08, 2012
11:52 AM
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There's an online community dedicated to vintage Valcro amps.
http://www.valcoamp.com/
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HawkeyeKane
1119 posts
Aug 08, 2012
12:11 PM
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@Noodles
I'm a member of it, but for some reason, I can never get my submissions or comments to post. Can't even get to the site at work because it's blocked.
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Hawkeye Kane
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5F6H
1312 posts
Aug 08, 2012
4:11 PM
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If the basket is brown, my guess would be CTS.
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www.myspace.com/markburness
http://www.facebook.com/markburness
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Jim Rumbaugh
770 posts
Aug 09, 2012
5:45 AM
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Slighty of topic.
This article taught me that Gretch is Valco. In the early 70's, I played bass through a Gretch Super Bass. It had some unigue circuit designs, like 2 output transformers, 1 for each speaker. It was not a bad amp. The only reason I did not keep it was lack of tone controls. It only had one knob for tone.
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theharmonicaclub.com (of Huntington, WV)
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HawkeyeKane
1120 posts
Aug 09, 2012
8:45 AM
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@5F6H
Yeah, I was thinking CTS since it was the other major speaker manufacturer in Chicago during that time period. That coupled with this photo I found yesterday of a 12" CTS alnico.
The basket design looks the same. So I'm pretty sure it's a CTS. Now the hard part....trying to find the model number somewhere and seeing if there was a label sticker of any kind.
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Hawkeye Kane
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