All About That ... Well, You Know

I finally bought a piece of musical equipment that I have never had.  A combo bass amp.  But before I get into that, let me catch you up.  You see, I bought a Dean Razorback for a great price.   Here's a picture of it.

However, I didn't really have a use for such a metal guitar.  I don't really play metal much anymore.  And even if I do, I still have a few other guitars that I would use to play that style of music.

So I decided that I really needed a Fender Blues Jr., Mark 3 combo amp.  It would be perfect for carrying and playing coffee shops.  So I traded the Dean Razorback for the Fender Blues Jr. 

I didn't really care for the sound of the EL-84 tubes, but then I read on the internet about a "mod" kit to make it better.  So I did that.  I also added $80 worth of expensive tubes.  Not only that, but I added a pretty good speaker to it.

Guess what?  I still didn't like the sound.

Here's the link to everything I did with that amp:

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2016/08/fender-blues-jr-new-mod-day.html

So I sold it off.  Now I have money burning in my pocket.  What to do?  Should I hold on for a rainy day?  Should I buy another guitar amp?  Maybe this time a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with the 6L6 tubes? 

But I thought about it, and realized I already had amps that were better than that.  What I didn't have was a bass amp.  I had two basses, but no bass amp.  I had been using an old SUNN Alpha 212R combo amp for a bass amp.  It came from the 70's when both the guitar and bass players plugged into the same amp.

A bass amp is what I needed, but what kind?  The immediate answer that most players would say is, "Buy an Ampeg and be done with it."  But there's kind of a problem.  St. Louis Music which used to own Ampeg sold it off.  The new ones are made overseas, and they have had nothing but problems.  My former bass player had one of the new ones, and it was in the shop something like over 15 times.

I thought about Kustom amps, both the old and new models.  However, they don't really have a gain setting on them.  They are some of the best looking amps, but looks don't make the sound. 

So they were off the list.  So I went into Guitar Center, and tried out a few amps.  I also made the smart move of taking one of my own basses.  The bass amps that really impressed me the most were the Acoustic Amp series of amps.  (Acoustic is the brand name.  It is not an acoustic guitar amp.)  They were big in the 70's, and had recently come back from the dead (business wise.) 

I really liked the B100 model.  It was a 100 watt amp with a single 15 inch speaker.  It also had a simple four band EQ, and a gain setting.  Frankly, it was everything that I needed and nothing more. 

It's perfect for small gigs and coffee houses.  Honestly, I'll probably use it more for recording than anything.  It's not too big, and it's not too small.  Although, I'm sure I will be told that I'm, "too loud" while playing in the house. 

Fender Blues Jr.: New Mod Day

I posted about a blog a couple of months ago about how I traded for my Fender Blues Jr. amp.  Here is the original post:

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2016/05/new-amp-day-ive-got-blues.html

I bought it used because I knew I was going to ruin the warranty with mods.  First, I changed out the speaker, and then changed the tubes. 

But I decided to go all the way for these kind of mods.  The kind that would involve me doing this:

Not these type of mods:

Let me start at the beginning.  Fender had a great idea for the Fender Blues Jr.  To produce a small amp for coffee shops that has a 12 inch speaker and reverb.  Not to mention a full EQ section.  So it works well for what myself and a lot of others would do live situations. 

The problem was/is, is that, Fender made a muddy amp, but instead of fixing it, they put in a tinny speaker to counterbalance it.  So when I put in my WGS speaker, it sounded muffled.  That's when I found this guy on the internet:

http://billmaudio.com/wp/

It seems that this tech knows what he's doing, and has a modification kit on Reverb.com to help improve the sound of the Fender Blues Jr.  For the long explanation take a peek at this:

 http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=2

So, on a day I knew I had a lot of time to work on the amp, I set aside four hours to work on it.  I ended up needing five.  Here's what I was looking at:

I don't want to get overly technical, so I won't.  I removed parts from the circuit board, and put other parts in their place.  The reason I did this was so that the sound would come out more balanced and clear. 

I was over the top careful, and kept a cool head about everything I was doing.  Then, the moment of truth.  I flipped the switch on, and it worked.  I couldn't believe it.  The first time I flipped it on after doing all those mods, it worked. 

The hardest part was actually taking the circuit board out, and putting it back in.  Once I had the board removed, I knew what to do.  Actually taking out the parts was harder than putting in the new ones.  Usually it's the other way around.

So here was my favorite part of the build.  Putting the back cover on after I had worked on it for five hours.

The other mod I performed that I absolutely recommend for the Blues Jr. is the three way switch mod.  It adds a stand-by switch in-between the on and off switch.  Every tube amp should have one, and why the Blues Jr. doesn't have one is a really good question.  I'd like to ask Fender what they were thinking.

I have to say.  I love the sound.  It is clear and full without being muddy.  The EQ is much more balanced.  The sound can vary from acoustic to wooly blues.  I really dig it. 

The funny part is that I have been so busy lately, I haven't even had much time to play any instrument of mine.  But I'm going to have some fun with this once I get a chance.  Heck, in all the time I've owned this amp I've never even turned it up loud.  I may have to take it outside, and turn it up.  That way, I don't bother the other people in the house.  I have a good feeling about this.  I really do.

Little Amp, Smooth Power

So I've talked/ written about my little combo amp before.  It's the Epiphone Valve Jr. that I built into a combo amp.  Here's the picture of it.

Anyway, I moved the WGS speaker that I had in to my Fender Blues Jr.  So I looked around for the right speaker to replace it.  The hard part was finding a speaker that wasn't too loud.  Modern 12 inch speakers are made for such high volumes that it makes finding a low wattage one difficult. 

So I was looking at gear on Reverb.com when I came across something interesting.  There's a company that takes old roughed up speakers, and re-cones them as well as updating them.  The seller had a 1962 Rola, Pre-Celestion Alnico speaker for sale.  It was only 40 watts so that made it perfect for my 5 watt amp. 

So I bought it, and it arrived today.  I dropped it right in my combo amp, and cranked it up.  Since the company's name is Hemppopotamus Speakers, I suspect the cone is a hemp cone.  That means it takes a while to break in due to having such a strong cone.  I turned it up all the way, and noticed it was doing the "speaker fart" when I played the low notes.  However, after I played for about 15 minutes it stopped doing it.

I know a lot of players say that speakers need 20 hours of playing time on them before they start to break in.  I could hear just how "tight" this speaker sounded, and figure it will take at least that long.  However, the longer I played it the more it started to break in. 

I can hear how the speaker doesn't have that modern aggression to it, and it has to be cranked to really get great overdrive to come out of it.  But I can understand how musicians say that Alnico speakers have a "sweet" sound to them.  It's very smooth and early Fender-ish sound. 

He has a few more up for sale on Reverb.com.  If it's something you may be interested in, I'd say give it a try.  His cost is much more fair than the modern Alnico speakers.  In fact, his are the only Alnico speakers that I could actually afford.  I'll see about getting some sound clips up in a future blog.  But I want to break the speaker cone in first.   

New Amp Day: I've Got The Blues

I've got the blues, but not in a bad way.  I now own a Fender Blues Jr. 3 combo amp.  I have wanted one for playing out at coffee houses and small venues.  Here's the pictures:

So this leads to the question, "What did you pay for it?"  Well, they had it overpriced at $399 used.  Two amps down they had a new one for $529.  Due to it saying "Fender" on it, they have always been overpriced.  However, I decided to do some wheeling and dealing.
 

The truth is I have too many guitars.  So I am guitar rich, and amp.... well okay, I have a lot of amps too.  But I wanted this particular one for a few reasons.

• It has a three band EQ.  So many small amps don't have a mid setting.
• It has a nice little reverb unit build in.
• It has a nice gain to it.
• It's 15 watts, so it's perfect for small venues. 
• It has a 12 inch speaker.
• I can easily perform modifications on it.

Speaking of mods, there are a few mods I have in mind for this amp.  There's a few kits on the market that I am thinking of installing.  This amp is pretty clean and crisp, so there's one that turns it into a blues monster.  There's also a mod that adjusts the reverb so that it will sound better.  Finally, and most simply, I want to change the speaker out to something more bluesy instead of clean. 

But back to the wheeling and dealing.  Since I have too many guitars I decided to trade one of them.  However I had to trade something that would cover the cost of the amp, and let them make a bit of profit. 

Since I am performing more Americana/ Southern Rock, I didn't really need my Dean Razorback Stealth anymore.  I managed to snag it from a pawn shop on a closeout special for $214.  So I wasn't actually losing money when I traded it for the amp.

So I took it to Sam Ash, and they looked it over.  Since it was in fantastic shape they were okay with doing an even trade on it.  I'm going to miss it, but to be honest I never really played it that much.  And if I need my Dean fix I own two ML's so it's not like I can't rock out like Dimebag Darrell. 

What's funny is that I decided to stop by Sam Ash on a whim.  I had a doctor's appointment that I had to kill time for, and since Sam Ash was on the way, I dropped in.  I actually ran into a salesman that I hadn't met before.  He was really cool, and I appreciated that he was willing to work with me on the deal. 

So, look forward to some updates on this amp.  When I get the scratch I will be upgrading it with some cool mods.  First thing, I am going to change the speaker.  We'll see where I go from there.