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New Amps = Tayste Happy


tayste_2000
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Here are my new babies









So basically the low down on these is they are 2 1970's 100w 4 channel PA heads and a 4x12. The 4x12 is a bit butchered the guy that owned it couldn't fit the original cab in his car so he took the speaker out of it and the grill and made a new smaller cab, so I may look in the future at getting a cab made to the original specs since I have most of the original material but the speakers are 75w each and 15ohm wired in series don't know whether it is worth rewiring to make it a more workable ohmage but the heads are capable of 15 and 7.5 so they will work fine with my 8ohm cabs (Euphonics Audio NM410, CXL112).

So on to the heads at the moment I've only plugged in the MKII the Orange one apparently they are both the same electronically except the MKII has an effects loop. The MKII through that 4x12 was thunderous all the EQ is passive and I had to cut the bass it was just silly, simply fantastic can't wait to get them hooked up to something a bit more modern and efficient.

So my plan now is to take them to a tech get the old illegal plug sockets replaced with IEC's, get any caps that need it replaced and probably completely re-tube it and put the old functional tubes away in a draw since they are probably Mullards (Can't confirm will I open it up) and I don't see the point in wasting them on my current gigs :huh:.

The thing with these heads is they are clean, not sterile but tube clean think studio mic preamp etc so guitarists hate them and since guitarists seem to have the big say in the vintage tube amp market these amps aren't popular at all, I picked these up for a very good price and while they'll need a bit of work to be giggable still a bargain and since they are clean perfect for bass and if you really crank them then you get a more gritty sound

I did manage to crank it up and get a sweet sweet distortion that I've never been able to get with my Mesa 400+ you know because that would kill you :) so these might be perfect for the studio with a Powersoak/Attenuator.

Here is a bit of new and old



and one artsy one for good luck



I'll post some pics of the inside when I open one up

Just thought I'd share

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[quote name='tayste_2000' post='149579' date='Mar 1 2008, 07:19 PM']Here are my new babies[/quote]
A shop in Ipswich had one of these for a while, and probably still has it tucked away at the back of the shop somewhere. Hopefully when you open it up you will see loads of nice point-to-point hand wiring and Partridge transformers.

There are some schematics for these at www.drtube.com and www.schematicheaven.com

This probably had EL34s in it. If they're original '70s ones I hope they're still OK - the KT77s in my Burman guitar combo were completely shot and had to be replaced. The JJ KT77 is a drop-in replacement for an EL34 and will give you a bit more power and IMHO a slightly nicer tone with better highs and lows.

You could be taking a big chance replacing an iAmp 800 with these reliability wise though, if that's what you did. At least you've got two of them, so the odds are that at least one will be working at any given time :-)

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[quote name='pete.young' post='149593' date='Mar 1 2008, 07:50 PM']A shop in Ipswich had one of these for a while, and probably still has it tucked away at the back of the shop somewhere. Hopefully when you open it up you will see loads of nice point-to-point hand wiring and Partridge transformers.

There are some schematics for these at www.drtube.com and www.schematicheaven.com

This probably had EL34s in it. If they're original '70s ones I hope they're still OK - the KT77s in my Burman guitar combo were completely shot and had to be replaced. The JJ KT77 is a drop-in replacement for an EL34 and will give you a bit more power and IMHO a slightly nicer tone with better highs and lows.

You could be taking a big chance replacing an iAmp 800 with these reliability wise though, if that's what you did. At least you've got two of them, so the odds are that at least one will be working at any given time :-)[/quote]

Well on the amp front I've got a Mesa Boogie 400+, still got the Iamp800 but am trading it for a Mesa Boogie M-2000 and then I've got these two heads. I'm up to my eyes in gear and if everything goes wrong I have a radial di as well :)

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Inside the silver head








Inside the orange head





Can you say Mullard :)



So since all the tubes in the Orange one are different I'm gonna get that completely revalved, not sure on the Silver one since I was told it wasn't working right when I bought it and I haven't fired it up I know there is a matched Quad in there but they appear to be unlabeled

Also noticed on the Orange one, one of the caps has been changed but they look pretty new in both heads so no biggy.

Enjoy

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[quote name='umph' post='149908' date='Mar 2 2008, 05:39 PM']i saw someone using one of these the other day there so cool[/quote]

Seeing that orange Simms Watts reminded me of my old one - I had the 200W version with 6 input channels. It had four KT88 valves in it - like milk bottles they were. You had to turn it on the day before you wanted to use it.

Used to use it as our PA amp when I were a lad but I kept it for 20 years in the garage and only sold last year when the garage was knocked down. I sold it on eBay and it ended up going to St. Paul Minnesota. The bloke was really keen to buy it - he paid £180 for the amp and another £180 to have it sent there! It weighed 45kg! I think he used to cannibalise them and build custom guitar amps using only recovered parts.

Wish I'd kept it now...

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