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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
'58 Fender Deluxe vs. '58 Gibson FA-6
'58 Fender Deluxe vs. '58 Gibson FA-6
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Rick Davis
87 posts
Jan 27, 2010
12:09 PM
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(Subject line should be Gibson GA-6)
Yesterday I had the opportunity to do a comparison test of these two excellent vintage amps. The details are at my Blues Harp Amps Blog. Preview: The Gibson kills.
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
Last Edited by on Jan 27, 2010 12:15 PM
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toddlgreene
623 posts
Jan 27, 2010
12:27 PM
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Nice writeup, Rick! You get to play with all the fun toys!
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Todd L. Greene, V.P.
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Kingley
726 posts
Jan 27, 2010
12:32 PM
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Nice review Rick. Those old Gibsons always get great reviews.
I totally agree with you about 2X6V6 amps. I currently use a Fender '65 Blackface Princeton Reverb Reissue for gigging and it kills for harp.
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bluzlvr
305 posts
Jan 27, 2010
1:24 PM
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Man, that tweed deluxe looks like the one I had to part with a few years ago when times got tough. (Sniff.)
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pharpo
114 posts
Jan 27, 2010
1:33 PM
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How do they compare to the MASCO
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Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. - Charlie Parker
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Rick Davis
88 posts
Jan 27, 2010
1:50 PM
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pharpo, good question. The Masco is by nature very "woofy." The Deluxe and Gibson have an "ah" sound, while the Masco has a deep "oh" sound.
The Masco sounds bigger (20 watts vs. 12 in the Deluxe and Gibson). The Masco has two big 6L6 tubes vs the smaller 6V6 tubes in the other amps. 6L6 power tubes have a distinctive tone, not as warm as the 6V6, with more texture. The real difference in the Masco is the old-school output transformer: Paper wound on a paper bobbin, with great low-end punch. If that thing ever blows out I am well and truly screwed. They are impossible to find.
The amp I usually use for gigging -- the 5F2H custom amp -- sounds better than the Gibson or Fender. But that is not surprising, since it is a custom design intended only for blues harp.
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
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nacoran
897 posts
Jan 27, 2010
11:02 PM
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Bluzlvr- "Man, that tweed deluxe looks like the one I had to part with a few years ago when times got tough."
I'm always amazed how quickly many of my musician friends sell their music stuff when money gets tight, especially when you consider how much money you usually lose selling electronics. I guess when money gets tight there isn't much you can do, but I see a lot of musicians go out a couple months later and replace the stuff at a huge net loss. If there isn't already a blues song about it, there should be.
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LittleJoeSamson
229 posts
Jan 27, 2010
11:54 PM
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I like your write-ups, Rick....always good info.
I had been playing with different pairings of 6V6's in my Gibson EH-125. The Magnovox set that dated from 1948 sounded good...great tone, not much volume. I acquired two different but close matched grey glass from early 50's. Any combo was fine, with more volume. I also was given a pair of Raytheon's. Plenty of volume, but way too much distortion. Couldn't dial it down. Then, I got a triad of '58 clear top GE's.
Smmoth, creamy, punchy. Finally...got a Sylvania blackplate JAN 5Y3GT for the rectifier to compare with
the NatUnion old one.
My other ongoing experiment is with the Blackheart BH-15H.
I swapped power tubes to Sylvania bluetip, long black oval plates 6BQ5's. Super Sweet!
I had used a Sylvania 12AY7 BP in V1 and a 5* GE 5814A in V2. Great tone, but only small club volume.
Wanted to try the weird concept of a 12DW7 in V1, but was waiting on a primo Mullard 7247 that finally arrived. I flipped the Syl AY to the V2, and popped the 7247 into V1. MAJOR difference!
Still crunchy and a harmonic breakup, but GREAT volume!
Before, I had to overdrive to get decent tone at the expense of volume. Now, it has super tone with a cleaner setting.
I use my cheapo stick/ball mic that I modded and pimped with a transformer jack.
{ Played out with the Handsome Devil tonight. It becomes Harp Central at this venue...four other harpers showed. I get there early, so can strut and then sit and flirt with the ladies... Anyway, I do three numbers and then do a feature song "Mother Earth" by Memphis Slim.
I do it well. Singing and harp.
I get done, and then turn it over to others.
Next up, a really good player, very entertaining, good material, nice voice, and a great Bassman amp that he plays at FULL VOLUME!!!!!!
Mind you, ...it sounds great, just TOO EFFIN' LOUD.
I have come to expect it, and grab my earplugs and go outside.
As customers leave, they greet me with gratitude. HA! )
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Bluefinger
11 posts
Jan 28, 2010
4:40 AM
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That Gibson chassis is almost empty!!! That looks strange ...
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Rick Davis
94 posts
Jan 28, 2010
9:19 AM
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Little Joe-
Trying different NOS tubes is fun, but can be expensive. For 6V6 I really like 2 different tubes, one old and one new:
-The RCA Blackplate tube is the shite. They were commonly branded with different labels; can still be found if you are willing give up the name RCA.
-The new production Tung Sol. I really like the sound of this tube, very warm and musical. Kind of colorful sounding, if you know what I mean.
If I can't get a good tone with one of these two 6V6 tubes I look elsewhere in the amp for tweaks.
Yep, I know exactly what you mean about players dragging a 4x10 amp to a jam and playing way too loud. (They think they "smoked" you because they were so loud. Idiots!)
My 5-watt Champ has beautiful tone, and a good line out. Our PA has many thousands of watts. If the guy with the wheezy-sounding RI Bassman wants to get into a pissing contest he's going to lose. But I'm not interested in that; I'm interested in making good music and puting on a good show, even at jams.
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
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Rick Davis
95 posts
Jan 28, 2010
9:23 AM
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BlueFinger, the filter caps are on the other side of the Gibson chassis, so that makes the circuit look kind of bare. The Gibson circuit is very old school; no eyelet board, with components just hanging here and there. It resembles the guts of my 1953 Masco, or the 1947 Gibson BR-6 I sold last year. Don't be fooled by the primitive look: The Gibson sounded fantastic.
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-Rick Davis
Blues Harp Amps Blog
Roadhouse Joe Blues Band
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LittleJoeSamson
230 posts
Jan 28, 2010
10:42 AM
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Rick -
To followup...whenever I'm at a jam ( particularly this one ) and there are a bunch of other harpers, I exit the stage early. I figure I get to play regularly, at gigs, for $$$. Most of the others do not. This is their time to have some fun. I know this to be the case with my ear-splitting friend. He has only recently started to play out after a hiatus due to health problems and other unstated reasons. I take this into account, even though it feeds into the common perception of harmonica players being oblivious stage hounds. Enough other players of all different instruments have spoken with the guy, and he pays attention for all of two minutes.
In the middle of a song, he will rush up and offer me his mic. I always politely decline. He just doesn't get it. I don't want to sound like him.
I'll try that dissimilar 6V6 trick....maybe incorporating one of the super strong Raytheons with a tamer one.
My Gibson has a patched line-out, so feeding into the PA and getting good volume is no problem. I just don't use this amp for regular gigging...too valuable.
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