Wooks79 Posted May 23, 2011 Posted May 23, 2011 Getting hold of a Sound City b120 mk4, and its my first foray into the world of fully valve amps, so I'm pretty excited! Who's got one? Any tips or tricks, or any good or bad stuff to say about them? Quote
ShergoldSnickers Posted May 24, 2011 Posted May 24, 2011 [quote name='Wooks79' post='1242488' date='May 23 2011, 11:59 PM']Getting hold of a Sound City b120 mk4, and its my first foray into the world of fully valve amps, so I'm pretty excited! Who's got one? Any tips or tricks, or any good or bad stuff to say about them?[/quote] Battleship build. I had one many moons ago. During one rehearsal it was on the floor near the bass cab - not sure why now. On top of the bass cab was a pint. Yes - the vibrations moved the pint to the edge, gravity took over and contents of pint glass ended up going through the vent grille on top of the amp. Massive cloud of steam with a large farty noise then silence. The instrument cord was pulled out sharpish. All the exposed power stage valves had shattered. Cleaned up, allowed to dry, six new power stage valves later and it carried on as if nothing had happened. Wish I'd kept it, along with a Marshall Superbass 100 MkII I used to have. Quote
Dad3353 Posted May 24, 2011 Posted May 24, 2011 [quote name='Wooks79' post='1242488' date='May 24 2011, 12:59 AM']Getting hold of a Sound City b120 mk4...[/quote] Good afternoon, Wooks79... Just in case you've not seen it, here's the site with the gen on vintage amps. Might be worth perusal..? [url="http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewforum.php?f=9&sid=063f4ef47780add0403bd22834c5e0ac"]Vintage Amps, Sound City section...[/url] Great amps, until you've heard a Hiwatt... Quote
Wooks79 Posted May 24, 2011 Author Posted May 24, 2011 Cheers folks, I like the sound of it being hard to kill! Quote
Big_Stu Posted May 24, 2011 Posted May 24, 2011 [quote name='Dad3353' post='1242804' date='May 24 2011, 12:18 PM']Good afternoon, Wooks79... Just in case you've not seen it, here's the site with the gen on vintage amps. Might be worth perusal..? [url="http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewforum.php?f=9&sid=063f4ef47780add0403bd22834c5e0ac"]Vintage Amps, Sound City section...[/url] Great amps, until you've heard a Hiwatt... [/quote] Hiwatts were based on early Sound Citys, IIRC it was two SC guys (Dave Reeves & Harry Joyce) who left SC to go it alone with Hiwatt. It's why they're both built like tanks & have wiring that's absolutely perfect. If you go on Plexi watch out for 1953Vintage; what he doesn't know about Sound City isn't worth knowing. Quote
Mr. Foxen Posted May 24, 2011 Posted May 24, 2011 Sound City wiring is totally dreadful, that is why those guys left. They are good beefy valve amps, made of quality components (in the day), but the wiring is definitely the letdown. The MK4s (the common ones) are pretty noisy, especially as often the phase inverter valve is switched to a higher gain one (should be an ECC81, but often an ECC83/12AX7 goes there, because it fits). Basically, get it, get a full service by a competent tech, and you are good to go. It isn't uncommon to find a proper mess inside where people have tried to fix the noisy preamp. A good tidy up and right valves sorted the noise in the one I have to an acceptable level, and I have another sat with the tech right now. Quote
Wooks79 Posted May 24, 2011 Author Posted May 24, 2011 Anyone recommend a good Manchester amp tech? Quote
Dad3353 Posted May 24, 2011 Posted May 24, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1243202' date='May 24 2011, 07:01 PM']Sound City wiring is totally dreadful...[/quote] Just as illustration, see this page (all is interesting, the 'guts' are further down the page...)... [url="http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?p=10483054"]Sound City and Hiwatt Gut Shots; compare and contrast...[/url] Just sayin'... Edited May 24, 2011 by Dad3353 Quote
Big_Stu Posted May 24, 2011 Posted May 24, 2011 This is a pic of a mate of mines SC Mk 2, I know from my own experience that it's comparable with a vintage Hiwatt I also know a guy on Plexi who's a known authority on SCs who say his are well wired too. It may be that there was a point where they ceased to be, whether that was before or after Joyce & Reeves left I don't know. Quote
Mr. Foxen Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 This is a MK4: The one above looks like one of Harry Joyce's (his signature is in some Hiwatts), they don't often look like that, I'd imagine the custom ones for certain bands (such as The Who) looked like that. Quote
JTUK Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 How times may have changed. I can recall a time when Sound City were very poor man's Marshall and you never saw them used for gtr...P.A maybe. Hiwatt made very good bass amps.. but it was Marshall or nothing for gtr when I was growing up Quote
Pow_22 Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 ive got a B120 Mk4 and love it, run it thru a Bassman 2x15 and it sounds immence, mines loaded with 6 x Mullard EL34's, not sure what pre-amp valves are in it tho, never looked Quote
pete.young Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 [quote name='Wooks79' post='1243209' date='May 24 2011, 06:07 PM']Anyone recommend a good Manchester amp tech?[/quote] Dave Lunt in Stockport - his address is in the 'Recommended Amp Techs' sticky. Quote
Big_Stu Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 [quote name='JTUK' post='1243810' date='May 25 2011, 07:52 AM']How times may have changed. I can recall a time when Sound City were very poor man's Marshall and you never saw them used for gtr...P.A maybe. Hiwatt made very good bass amps.. but it was Marshall or nothing for gtr when I was growing up[/quote] You must be quite young, and referring to the Marshall domination of rock music from the early 80's onwards??? [url="http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/guitar/soundcity-hiwatt.html"]http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/guitar/...ity-hiwatt.html[/url] I'm guessing - and I stress guessing - that Sound City's quality control went downhill fast after Reeves left to create Hiwatt, Joyce was recruited much later because he also had a reputation for neat work. My mistake earlier, Reeves & Joyce didn't both work together at SC. Quote
Wooks79 Posted May 26, 2011 Author Posted May 26, 2011 [quote name='pete.young' post='1243904' date='May 25 2011, 09:19 AM']Dave Lunt in Stockport - his address is in the 'Recommended Amp Techs' sticky.[/quote] Thanks for that, I should have probably searched... Oops. I picked this up today, so am looking fwd to getting it plugged in and having a good go tomorrow. Prob get is serviced pretty soon just to make sure it's all tip top Quote
3below Posted May 26, 2011 Posted May 26, 2011 I also recall when Sound City were the poor man's choice. Having moved Hiwatt DR103, Hiwatt 200 and a Marshall Supa lead on a long long time ago (all before 1981) I now have a SC 120 lead. Bargain at £175 about 1/1/2 years ago - with a Fane loaded 2 x 12 as well . Downside, it needs some noise reduction. Upside, unmolested, in bedroom nick, seriously loud even on original Mullards. The wiring is superb, not far off the early Hiwatts I owned. They are still out there at sensible money if you get lucky. Sadly - I prefer my Peavey Tour 700 with Barefaced Big One to the SC 120 for bass. Quote
Mr. Foxen Posted May 27, 2011 Posted May 27, 2011 Word got round about Sound City's now, so they don't go as silly cheap as they did. Quote
Spike Vincent Posted May 27, 2011 Posted May 27, 2011 If it doesn't work out for you,I'll take it off your hands for you.... Quote
Wooks79 Posted May 27, 2011 Author Posted May 27, 2011 Haha, cheers, but I reckon it will... Got up this morning all excited, and... [b] it wouldn't turn on [/b] Just been in and had it serviced with Dave Lunt, he said it was one of the best kept ones he had seen (its still got the original plastic cover) He had a bit of a fix around, replaced the heavy duty mains switch, the treble pot, bias trimmer, bias cap and something else bias that I cant read on the invoice. Now its sounds sweet on first listen, gonna go platy some more Quote
Wooks79 Posted May 27, 2011 Author Posted May 27, 2011 Oh, and cos it looked like a few people like to see the insides and all that, I took a quick pic with my phone whilst Dave was looking at it... Is this a nicely wired one? I dont know what Im looking for, lol. Quote
Mr. Foxen Posted May 27, 2011 Posted May 27, 2011 I was told the smarty caps on the rectifier diodes were an addition on mine, but yours has the same. Maybe it was a standard mod. Quote
Neuroscar Posted May 31, 2011 Posted May 31, 2011 (edited) I was a total noob to the tube world as well. B120 was and still is my main amp/head. Loving the sound and the looks but eventually you gotta think of your back and the headroom. Fortunately for me, im still not THAT old and can still carry heavy stuff (it is is damn heavy), and my band is not that famous to need more than 120 watts. Just some things to keep in mind. Pair it with a really nice cab or in my opinion its a waste of awesomeness. Lots of usefull info here. [url="http://www.soundcitysite.com/sc_webpages/amp_descriptions.htm"]http://www.soundcitysite.com/sc_webpages/a...escriptions.htm[/url] I was lucky and till i got the hang of it i only blew one fuse (0.50euro). Edited May 31, 2011 by Neuroscar Quote
Wooks79 Posted May 31, 2011 Author Posted May 31, 2011 What cabs have people been using it with? I have it through an Ampeg 1x15 at home at low volumes, but its probably gonna go through the Marshall 2x15 I've been gigging with lately for anything else. Been playing some guitar through it with a Marshall 4x12 at home too and that's sounding pretty lovely! Quote
Pow_22 Posted June 1, 2011 Posted June 1, 2011 running my thru an old Fender Bassman 2x15, sounds the muts nuts Quote
shine182 Posted June 3, 2011 Posted June 3, 2011 I used one of these as my main giging amp for three years! 60 plus gigs i reckon. Best running this beast at 4ohms. I had an Ampeg SVT 2x10 and an 1x15. Too many speaker magnets will sap its power etc. Also you can bridge the two channels so you can get best of the highs and lows. It took me a while to get best out of this amp but once your there you'll not want to part with it. Quote
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