Thanks for the review! Really glad its makin you happi! I stuck #4 circuit in a Fender quad reverb, tricked it out, and am REALLY happi, esp with a Eric Johnson fuzz into a ts-10!!212Mavguy wrote:please 'scuse the intrusion, my .02...
Just took delivery yesterday of my C-tone SSS ordered delivered sans tubes. Running it through a slotback bluesbreaker sized ex- Peavey Mace 2/12 combo cab loaded with a pair of JBL g125's in series, 16 ohms, closed off the chassis slot in front, fabbed back baffles 3 1/2 inch slot in line with VC centerlines all the way across. Lots of other 2/12's 1/15's, a Leslie G27 and a 2/15 to pick from as well.
V6-V9 sweaty Svetty 6l6gc's 3%match, 37mv reading on my DVM.
V5 Raytheon long black plate rectangular getter 12ax7, strong tight triode match
V4 NOS RCA labeled Tungsram 12ax7
V3 NOS Sylvania black full plate 12at7 double mica milspec
V2 VOS Hoges labeled Tungsram 12ax7
V1 VOS Tung Sol 12ax7 longplate rectangular getter halo
I'm getting the tones that the circuit is designed to deliver and then some, and with the range and interactivity of the tone controls plus the use of my Hilton volume pedal in front, it's like having a rhythm channel plus three distinctly different solo voices/channel settings to go with it. With a C-lator in the loop (VOS Siemens longplate 12ax7) this best can easily deliver great tones at smaller room venue volumes, but why play this topology with the master cranked down to nearly nothing when the original was designed to be played loudly? No attenuator needed with C-lator, but without I'd not hesitate to use my Weber Mass 100 to take things down a few clicks, no need to choke the chicken to the point to where it won't squawk...modest volume, modest attenuation settings are the way to go. My MASS custom ordered balanced line out, with Vol TMB tonestack between the amp and the main board, player operated on the MASS front panel, slick.
Mod this circuit to another? Nuts! Mine is awesome to play through, decent tubes, appropriate speaker/cab, appropriate bias settings and front panel knob settings, nothing wierd, ... all happy here! It is incredibly adaptable to many different styles, the jazz switch makes acoustic/electrics, hollow and semi hollowbodies sound especially sweet.
It's one thing to read about something and have it sound really cool in print, it's a whole new ball game when one shows up on your doorstep, completed or a trickle of parts arriving over months filling a BOM wish list being assembled with great persistence and effort, fired up for the first time...after sizeable monetary cost to have that privelege... you'd better know what your buying in the first place and do your homework first, because it sure is going to be exactly what it is when it shows up, and if it doesn't fit in right because you failed to have an appropriate application for it in your little limited world of guitar playing it's your fault, not the circuit's.
This was a great lesson to me, this particular dose of a "new unique" to me to originally own and for the first fireup personally voice beforehand from my modest collection of cabs and tubes, and I do really love this amp! The success did not come without setbacks and surprises, I had used 6bg6ga's with adapters with great results in my OTS and HRM 50w heads, not so with the SSS
Don't even think about trying adapted 6bg6ga's with this amp they won't work with it at all. Found out the hard way but no harm done, at anything but very low volumes...oscillation city and worse. Great for a fire alarm...the sonic equivalent of someone experiencing a grand mal seizure, and every bit as frightening to be around.
I'm admittedly a cork sniffin' tube snob weenie but couldn't care less whether the half power switch works by triode strapping the 6l6's or not, it's a warmer, bubbly sound result, very approprate to lower volumes, evocative of smaller, more intimate venues with their wealthy patrons, wives, or cosmetically enhanced trophy dates. and .... Surprise! The knobs still work to fine tune it right where you want it at half power.
The uniqueness of this circuit greatly rewards the player who actually knows how it operates in order to quickly adapt to get the best mix of the unusually interactive control settings for various venues, IMHO. It deserves to be played out.
respectfully submitted,
Gary
It ALMOST rivals my HRM in feel, tone, gain ,set-up like this..etc..love it, great to change up! jim@Omegaamps.com
