Gibson EH150

[Colossal]

I am spec'ing a clone build of a 1937 Gibson EH150 (Type III) for a client. This was one of the amps that Charlie Christian used and made popular. The originals had whatever coupling caps that were available at the time, presumably paper/beeswax. I am looking for suggestions for suitable coupling caps in 0.01 and 0.1uF values. Polyester? Molded cap clones such as the Sozo Blue moldeds? Sprague 6PS?

Thanks, in advance!

[ampgeek]

AES is now carrying Jupiter beeswax caps that might fit the bill.
But.....they are VERY expensive!

http://www.tubesandmore.com/

I have never been inside a vintage Gibson amp so I can't offer any first hand knowledge/experience on those unfortunately. If I had to roll the dice without any further info, I would try Sprauge Vit Q PIO's, Mallory 150's and your suggested 6PS.

Cheers,
Dave O.

[Cliff Schecht]

Someone told me that the Gibson reissue Bumblebee caps are ceramics in a different casing. Not sure if this is true though, anybody else know?

[Colossal]

AES is now carrying Jupiter beeswax caps that might fit the bill. But.....they are VERY expensive!

Hi Dave:

Yes, I considered those very caps before posting and wow (!), yes they are very pricey. They would probably be the best thing for the amp but the guy is trying to keep costs manageable and these would add a steep premium. The 0.01uF is $24.75 (only need one) and the 0.1uF are $29.95 and I need four of them (LOL).

I have never been inside a vintage Gibson amp so I can't offer any first hand knowledge/experience on those unfortunately. If I had to roll the dice without any further info, I would try Sprauge Vit Q PIO's, Mallory 150's and your suggested 6PS.

The amp is wired point-to-point, very minimalist. The caps look like a waxed roll of pennies. An amazing tone though.

Thanks for the ideas. I may need to consider some alternatives such as the Spragues.

[paulster]

Someone told me that the Gibson reissue Bumblebee caps are ceramics in a different casing. Not sure if this is true though, anybody else know?

The ones they used in the Historic Les Pauls were foil/film caps like Mallory M150s encased in a bumblebee shell.

About par for the course from Gibson these days.

[M Fowler]

Dave do you see any caps I can send you?

[Andy Le Blanc]

If any one has an amp that old it would be goo to see some gut shots.
Those old wax caps are pretty nappy, dioxin, and they go pooff when they're bingo.

Perhaps the best you can do is rig up a simple pre amp to listen to program
through and compare caps types with. count the number of caps in the signal
path and make a price list accordingly.

[martin manning]

If any one has an amp that old it would be good to see some gut shots...

http://www.timeelect.com/eh-150.htm

[Cliff Schecht]

Someone told me that the Gibson reissue Bumblebee caps are ceramics in a different casing. Not sure if this is true though, anybody else know?

The ones they used in the Historic Les Pauls were foil/film caps like Mallory M150s encased in a bumblebee shell.

About par for the course from Gibson these days.

Did you hear about the lawsuit from Gibson illegally importing tonewoods?


Also, here are some pics of my 1954 Silvertone. I guess it's not as old but it's still an ancient piece of equipment. Hope these pics help in some way .

[Colossal]

If any one has an amp that old it would be good to see some gut shots...

http://www.timeelect.com/eh-150.htm

Martin,

Yes, that's the one. Although we're building the Type III which is 3x6SQ7, 1x6N7 cathodyne PI, 2x6L6, and 1x5U4G. Microphone (Overdrive) and Instrument channels.

[Colossal]

Also, here are some pics of my 1954 Silvertone. I guess it's not as old but it's still an ancient piece of equipment. Hope these pics help in some way .

Thanks Cliff. Those are some nice old Mustards in your amp. The EH150 is also point-to-point but I will likely do it as a turretboard build. I'm trying to nail the tone however and want to get a good fit for the coupling cap replacements. $145 for 5 Jupiter hand-rolled beeswax caps is a little above the targeted cost for this build but they sure would be nice.

[Colossal]

Dave do you see any caps I can send you?

Holy smokes Mark! That's quite a collection. You've got some nice stuff there. Thanks for the offer, may need to take you up on it

[Colossal]

Perhaps the best you can do is rig up a simple pre amp to listen to program through and compare caps types with. count the number of caps in the signal path and make a price list accordingly.

Yeah Andy, you may be right...I need one 0.01uF and four 0.01uF. I thought about just clipping them in, trying different dielectrics; polyester, polypropylene, film/foil, maybe some of the new Sozo blue moldeds.

Check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-U1-AB_vnM

That's the tone...

I've got iron, a great schematic and everything else lined up for this...just need to get some caps that aren't too bright. Need that mellow/dark/soft feel.

[Phil_S]

Those pictures of the EH150 at Time Electronics...you should pick up the phone and call Rich Koerner, phone number on his website. He's old school and he didn't seem to have a problem using modern caps in it. I have connected with Rich via another group he no longer visits and can say he knows a great deal about old stuff like this. He can be a bit crusty at times, but I would be surprised if he didn't want to talk to you about this amp. email is not the way to reach him. Make the phone call. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[paulster]

Perhaps the best you can do is rig up a simple pre amp to listen to program through and compare caps types with.

With the amount of unknowns in an amp of this vintage and the low part count that's a very good idea.

The only trouble is that if you know the original used beeswax caps, you'd really want to include a set of these to tonally match against, which therefore becomes almost self-defeating for a single amp. It would still be beneficial to compare how different caps would sound though, but if I weren't inclined to do that I'd probably go for some PIO caps for this.

http://www.timeelect.com/eh-150.htm

You've gotta love those old pre-war amps.

Interestingly Josh Homme has started taking his 1930's Gibson EH185 out on the road with him for the Them Crooked Vultures tour. Definitely some tone to be had out of these little octal-based tweeds.

Did you hear about the lawsuit from Gibson illegally importing tonewoods?

Funny enough, there's a CITES conference beginning later this week and I wouldn't be surprised to hear Gibson being discussed. Not least as Henry was on their board until Gibson got busted and he was therefore forced to resign his post.