N.J. Ampfest

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CaseyJones
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N.J. Ampfest

Post by CaseyJones »

Yes there's a comprehensive discussion over at The Gear Page. The last five pages turned into My Dumble Is Bigger Than Your Dumble and the mystery, Who Blew Greg's Celestion Gold?!

Hitting the high points for those of you who didn't make it:

The musicians were as impressive as the amps. During the early part it sounded like Zeppelin was playin' a set, no surprise as the flavor of many of the offerings was distinctly British. Jimmy Page rarely hit all the notes in a genuine live Zeppelin set so for me this was better than the real thing.

There were two 'Wrecks discreetly tucked into one corner tagged "Allyn". That's where they stayed until well into the evening, once plugged into an old basketweave slant... Mine Ears Have Heard The Glory!

Dumbles, indeed! Gimme a 'Wreck, that's why I'm here! Dumbles are still guessin' under the goo, 'Wrecks are a bit more honest IMHO.

The not so carefully compiled People's Choice Awards:

Best Boyd Coddington Replica Knobs: That would be Germ's rack mountable amp that was over by the Bridgeport. PERFECT setting for his stuff! While we're in the area we'll give him an award for that triple channel preamp.

Best non-Marshall British: goes to Mark's HiWatt.

Best Value: Anything by Ugly Amps. They're not that ugly, they're actualy quite pretty.

Most Dumble Type Amps: Fuchs, who was apologetic about bringing so much stuff. Andy, it's ROCK 'N' ROLL! You can NEVER bring too many amps!

Best 'Wrecks: Allyn. I build my own stuff but I would happily plunk down money for one of those.

Ugliest Amp: That Crate/Princeton. It could be made uglier but we get the point.

Ugliest Amp, Honorable Mention: The three tube "18 watt" Marshall Trem in the pattern board cabinet. While we're here we'll give it the Most Interesting Small Amp award, let's see you get two channels and trem out of three tubes!

Most Interesting Small Amp, Honorable Mention: The single ended 'Wreck. If it wasn't for the points awarded for technical difficulty of the "Marshall" three tube trem the little 'Wreck would have easily taken this one.

Biggest Shame: That all of you that didn't make it... didn't make it. YES some of the talent was intimidating, still, you'll never get an opportunity like that to hear really good musicians playing through your stuff or to hear really good musicians playing through your stuff compared to everyone else's stuff. Not one amp there "sucked", in fact I'm going to build something that sucks just for contrast next time! :lol:
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FUCHSAUDIO
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My take on it

Post by FUCHSAUDIO »

I posted this on the gear page as well: The ampfest was a blast. The only observation for future fests would be better organization. There should have been a better idea of what was coming and how best to set it up for fair and equal comparisons. This is all stuff that fest organizers learn from doing a few of these. Last year's fest was significantly smaller than this year, hopefully next year it will grow as well.

While the jam was fun, IMHO it didn't exactly serve as a fair means of comparison when Marshalls were going up against Dumbles, Fuchs, Demeters, or whatever. As a jam it was a blast. As an amp evaluation tool, not really.

Had there been a "Wreck room", a "Marshall room" a "Dumble style room" a fair and objective judgement could be made against similar styles of amps, under "non-earbleed" conditions.

I tossed a cross section of what we build in the car, as I had no idea what would fit in and people would want to hear. I actually brought five amps and one cabinet: The TDS-150, a 112 matching EV-12-L cabinet, a Frost head, a Train-45 head, and two mods.

I didn't want to be "that guy" and drag them all in, but would have gladly brought in anything that anyone wanted to hear. Maybe next year fellahs (if you'll have me ) :) .[/i]
Proud holder of US Patent # 7336165.
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sliberty
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by sliberty »

CaseyJones wrote:Most Interesting Small Amp, Honorable Mention: The single ended 'Wreck. If it wasn't for the points awarded for technical difficulty of the "Marshall" three tube trem the little 'Wreck would have easily taken this one.
Hey, thanks for noticing my little amp. I call it the MiniWreck. I didn't think it would get much attention so I really only brought it out to get Allyn's opinon on tweaking it. His comments actually suggested that there were no significant tweaks that came to mind, but he did feel I should keep a bunch of EL84's on hand at all times :) Actually, the power tube holds up just fine Allyn. The light show is just an added benefit.
CaseyJones
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by CaseyJones »

Andy: You da MAN!

Maybe I don't get out much but I'd trade the "lack of organization" for that mind blowin' amp buffet any time! Even if they were all switched off my ears would still ring due to the abundance of cool gear in one location. It's Big News when many shops get a Dumble or a TrainWreck in inventory, it blows my mind when there's Fuchs' next to 'Wrecks next to Dumbles next to Komets next to Engls next to Marshalls etc., etc..

It's within my capabilities to bring along stuff that didn't make it this year. It might be fun to crank up a couple tweeds, there was NO tweed to be seen!
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lastwinj
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by lastwinj »

thanx casey. it was good fun. the knobs are made by grass instruments of quincy MA. think they are now called grass telefactor. the units those knobs were used on (the square jobs) were POLYGRAPH machines and eeg equipment. stupid expensive, too. oh well, i dig em.

i cant wait til the spring. daddy will bring lots of goodies.

germ
CaseyJones
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by CaseyJones »

sliberty wrote:
CaseyJones wrote:Most Interesting Small Amp, Honorable Mention: The single ended 'Wreck. If it wasn't for the points awarded for technical difficulty of the "Marshall" three tube trem the little 'Wreck would have easily taken this one.
Hey, thanks for noticing my little amp. I call it the MiniWreck. I didn't think it would get much attention so I really only brought it out to get Allyn's opinon on tweaking it. His comments actually suggested that there were no significant tweaks that came to mind, but he did feel I should keep a bunch of EL84's on hand at all times :) Actually, the power tube holds up just fine Allyn. The light show is just an added benefit.
I couldn't help but notice that one! BRILLIANT in concept and execution and a monster tone. You know you got a monster tone when it's still a monster tone in a room full of monster tones.
lastwinj wrote:the units those knobs were used on (the square jobs) were POLYGRAPH machines and eeg equipment. stupid expensive, too. oh well, i dig em.
So I gotta raid The Cop Shop or pilfer the emergency room to get a deal on 'em? What's "stupid expensive", they can't cost more than real Plexi knobs!
lastwinj wrote:i cant wait til the spring. daddy will bring lots of goodies.

germ
Yeah, I got to get busy! He With The Coolest Toys Wins and there were some absurdly cool toys there!
Zippy
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by Zippy »

lastwinj wrote:thanx casey. it was good fun. the knobs are made by grass instruments of quincy MA. think they are now called grass telefactor. the units those knobs were used on (the square jobs) were POLYGRAPH machines and eeg equipment. stupid expensive, too. oh well, i dig em.
http://www.grasstechnologies.com/produc ... fiers.html
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lastwinj
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by lastwinj »

CaseyJones wrote:


So I gotta raid The Cop Shop or pilfer the emergency room to get a deal on 'em? What's "stupid expensive", they can't cost more than real Plexi knobs!


about 20 each. in my book, thats up there.

germ
CaseyJones
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by CaseyJones »

lastwinj wrote:
CaseyJones wrote:


So I gotta raid The Cop Shop or pilfer the emergency room to get a deal on 'em? What's "stupid expensive", they can't cost more than real Plexi knobs!


about 20 each. in my book, thats up there.

germ
Yeah, twenties are easier to carry than a pocket full of those knobs! And yeah, I dig 'em too! "Bionic Chickenheads"?! :lol:
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mhuss
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by mhuss »

CaseyJones wrote:Yes there's a comprehensive discussion over at The Gear Page. The last five pages turned into My Dumble Is Bigger Than Your Dumble and the mystery, Who Blew Greg's Celestion Gold?!
LOL, sadly true
CaseyJones wrote: Dumbles, indeed! Gimme a 'Wreck, that's why I'm here!
Amen, brother! Sorry, D-fans, but I just don't "get" much of the Dumble sound I heard (including the real deal). However, Andy's Strat through his white mini-stack did sound great to my ears.
CaseyJones wrote: Best non-Marshall British: goes to Mark's HiWatt.
Thanks -- I love the way that sounds, I just wish it wasn't so stoopid loud!
EL84 versions just don't sound the same.
CaseyJones wrote: Best Value: Anything by Ugly Amps. They're not that ugly, they're actualy quite pretty.
+1 -- They sound pretty good, too.

--mark h
NitroLiq
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by NitroLiq »

CaseyJones wrote:It might be fun to crank up a couple tweeds, there was NO tweed to be seen!
Maybe next time Jon will bring his if he still has them. He's built a couple of different ones and had them at the first 'fest a couple of years ago (well, it was more like an informal gathering than a 'fest but you get the idea). I think this time around he only brought his JTM45clone and long pinstriped 2 x 12" cab—the one I was playing the goldtop through during the zep/who jam. I'd like to bring my blues deluxe sometime but kinda difficult when your only wheels are NYC and NJ transit. :lol:
mhuss wrote:
CaseyJones wrote: Best non-Marshall British: goes to Mark's HiWatt.
Thanks -- I love the way that sounds, I just wish it wasn't so stoopid loud!
EL84 versions just don't sound the same.
-mark h
I'm coming to the conclusion that Hiwatts are just better in person. At the last two ampfests, I've come away all gung-ho about the Hiwatt. Then, to try to keep the momentum going, I scour the web for clips and the results are a bit of a let-down. In person, it's raw power...like you'd imagine Townshend's sound. In clips, it sounds small, thin and jangly. Always throws me off.
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sliberty
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by sliberty »

Pete - You are mostly right. HiWatts have to be felt to be believed.
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FUCHSAUDIO
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Thanks !

Post by FUCHSAUDIO »

Hey MHuss, thanks man.
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gearhead
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by gearhead »

Scuse me, but I just don't understand the last comment.
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Allynmey
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Re: N.J. Ampfest

Post by Allynmey »

Casey, thanks for the nice comments about my 'wrecks! :D

I will say it was hard to pick high spots in the day since everything this year sounded great! I really liked Sliberty's Hiwatt :twisted: and also his SHO box. Andy's amps sounded very good also. Craziest amp builder definitely goes to Jeremy (Lastwinj) and his friend Al. I called them for breakfast Saturday morning and they were at home depot already...they ran out of hardware for the amps they built in the hotel room!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: Outstanding! I have one of his 'wrecks here...I think I'll play it a while! Jon's JTM45 sounded great as well as JA's 18 TMB PCB's I like Gary Johnsons Dumble Clone demonstarted by Scott Lerner.

Like I said...it's hard 'cause everything sounded so good!!!


Allyn
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