Vintage Gibson Amps

[Petimar]

I don't personally know anyone who has a vintage Gibos amp, but I am very curious how they would sound. Of course I love Charlie Christians sound.

I would really like an OLD tube sound for around the house playing, not for gigging.

Anybody got one who would care to comment on if they like it or not?

[wintermoon]

I have a few EH-185's but don't really use them too much anymore. they sure look cool and sound great for what they are, but I gig w/old Fenders and usually play them @ home as well.




But you do get that early raw Christian tone when you use an EH-150 or 185 w/a/good C.C. pickup equipped guitar, and I'll still fire 'em up on occasion.

I think Whit Smith from the Hot Club Of Cowtown still uses them.

[Eddie Lang]

I'd love to get to play one someday.

Jonathan Stout plays one in his youtube videos.

https://www.youtube.com/user/campusfive/videos

[Jabberwocky]

Just as an aside, for anyone looking for that octal-tube based EH-150 vibe, this could get you close: www.vintage47amps.com.

[campusfive]

I've got three Gibson EH's, and I just picked up a '46 BR-6 for $400.




Given how collectable the EH's are, especially 185's (the market value basically doubled when Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age started using them, and now all these rock dudes are buying them), I think a Gibson BR-series amp is a good substitute, especially at home wattages. Other octal tube circuits that might work include those Vintage47 amps, and the Valco/National/Oahu amps they are based on. Also 5B3/5C3 Deluxes circuits, and there seems to always be one of those on ebay for under $1k.

A friend of mine picked up a Vintage47, and it sounds great.

[campusfive]

This guys makes an octal deluxe and and octal princeton circuits at pretty low prices: http://carlscustomamps.com/

[Petimar]

Thanks Jonathan. By the way, I like your videos. You play great and have a very cool sound!

[SteveAgosto]

I wanted to comment on Carl's Custom Amps Octal Princeton since I saw it mentioned in the thread here. I recently took a Fender Ramparte amp that had put a Eminence Patriot Texas Heat speaker in it and then gutted the chassis. I sent the chassis to Carl and he built me an Octal Princeton in the chassis. 6v6s, 6l6gc, and gz34 tubes. Cost was a bit over 330. One of the best tube amps I ever owned 5w of tube bliss. My only regret is that it doesn't have tube reverb. Pairs up nice with my Deluxe Reverb.

[neatomic]

nice repro (slightly tweaked)

MOONSHINE'39 Combo – The Nocturne Brain

[Petimar]

I have the first Vintage 47 EH185 type amp. It is wonderful! My amp search has definitely come to an end.

[neatomic]

david b of vintage47 is a great guy…total labor of love…shame he's kind of winding it down

he had been wanting to build an eh185 type amp for quite a long time…i know cause he told me years ago when i asked if he'd tackle a gibby GA 50-t type amp

cheers

[999369]

I have 1954 Gibson BR-9 very nice (tone) 7-9W amp.

Gibson BR-9 preamp tube is 6SN7 gain ratio low, may need use with preamp pedal.

[campusfive]

I've met the Nocturne Amps guy and talked with him about his products. It's a small operation - basically just him, as far as I can tell - and I know the major part of his business is more rockabilly focused (copies of blond bassman amps, that preamp in a pedal, the preamp from a roland space echo in a pedal, etc.), but he's a good dude.

[Little Jay]

This guy makes an EH-185 based amp in Europe (Netherlands): Elektra Amplifiers Europe on Strikingly

(not cheap though...)

[Greentone]

My next amp build is going to be an EH-150.

[Little Jay]

My next amp build is going to be an EH-150.

Cool!

With or without the field-coil speaker?
I have no clue how essential that is for the authentic sound, btw.

[campusfive]

I think the field coil is a big part of it personally.

[neatomic]

i'm never one to dismiss any gear tech specifics in order to arrive at a great tone..so yes field coils are part of that tone…however, today there are so so many speaker options, that finding one with similar tonal characteristics shouldn't be impossible...

i know david b at vintage47 was trying to get some new field coils up and running for quite awhile, but i don't think it ever panned out

tavo @ nocturne might be as well

cheers

[Greentone]

I have tracked down field coil 12" speakers in good repair. I think they do contribute. They are expensive! I will begin with an alnico 12, a la th GA amps.

[stringmaster]

I gig my EH150 and EH185 on occasion for smaller venues. Lately my experiment is to run the 185 along with a second more powerful amp for "support". I picked up a Fulltone A/B box to deal with any phase issues. In the home setting it sounds great--set the 185 where I normally would, and then bring in a little of the second amp (BF Deluxe or Vibrolux in my case) until it fattens up the sound--it really doesn't take much. Gonna try that on a medium sized gig next month.

[Shamblin]

Im sorry campusfive, I'm shamblin' I just found my old user name and password, logged in and thought I'd be
funny talking 3rd person.
This video here with YOU killin it w Charlie Christian tune https://www.facebook.com/thenocturne...5506553657685/

is a perfect PERFECT representation of you sharing the tone, texture and feel of the sweet side
of an EH-185 amp and Gib ES-150 CC guitar. I was also very impressed with the Slaman, albeit it a brighter guitar
it sounded fantastic through my Moonshine '39 amp. I've come as close as you can get w a PM speaker to the
sound of that prewar octal tube EH-185. With 3 EH-185 amps and the help of TK Smith with his gibson octal tube amp collection, I designed my amp on these working models I have. You can take the schematic and substitute other more readily available tubes but it really is the octal tubes and a proper Output transformer, which to my knowledge; Mercury Magnet tone clone transformers is the only correct reproduction available (as a production item). So I stick to Merc Mag for both my Gibson EH-185 creation and for the Blonde bassman 6G6-B amps I produce.

Tommy Harkenrider came over with his Grez Guitar and a little looper pedal to help demo the difference
between my moonshine '39 amp vs the Eh-185. its a bit myopic, outside of a band performance but
it lets you A - B the two. I do have a PM Speaker option avail but its expensive. I'm comfortable that my Tonetubby Red alnico 50w hemp cones come very close to the sound of the original in a live band setting. I've got to let you take it to the club for a test drive as well as getting you my new little preamp pedal "The Jr Barnyard" to ape some of the textures of a hot EH150-185. You had mentioned you wanted a character box of sorts to not change or detract from your EH185 and I think I got it with this new stompbox, but more so w use on my Fender amps. .. aux options of course

oh ya and Matt Codina

Nico Duportal and Tommy with the Moonshine and the Blondeshell w a moonshine ext cab

and some more Memphis kings doing some Freddy King with more EH185 sounds from my Moonshine 39 on an open stage

[campusfive]

Damn, Tavo, you had me there. At least you know I've got your back, ha!

We've really gotta get together and have me spend some time with the Moonshine, and since my EH-185 has it's field coil speaker in tact, we can always compare those, too.

For me, what I was hoping for out of a "character" pedal was something to bring that 185-ness to the kind of amp one might stuck with on the road. I was playing at Lincoln Center and I was stuck playing a '65 Twin RI, and I was dying because I didn't have time at sound check to find some way to get it to be less strident and twangy. There's nothing worse that being stuck with a rental/borrowed backline amp instead of the Octal tube warmth/grind. I'm kinda hoping the Jr. Barnyard might be able to bring some of that warmth to say a Peavey Classic 30 or a Blues Deluxe or something, or, god forbid, a JC-120 or something. It's a tall order, but you've done something similar bringing the character of a Bassman in a pedal, so perhaps it'll help.

[stringmaster]

Hey I know that Slaman What a great day that was! Keep us posted on the Jr. Barnyard pedal--could be a cool tool!

[DMgolf66]

If you red my other thread about Dave's Guitars, you will know about how I acquired this. Anyway, it has arrived and is in excellent shape aesthetically as you can see. I know very little about amps, so before I even plug the tubes back in I'm going to run it down to local amp tech for a look,etc.

A few questions for you guys in the know:

1) as you can see from the pics, the cords have deteriorated and will need to update to a 3-prong. How easy is this for an amp tech? Pricey? Anything I should be aware of?

2) Once that is done and assuming there are no issues, are there any mods that need to be done to get this amp to sound it's best? Headroom is a non-issue for me. I'm a beginner and home player. The guitars you see in the pics are what I'll be using to try and play jazz and a little blues.

In the future I hope to post a little demo and possibly from a special guest....

Cheers!!!

[wintermoon]

nice amp, the cord replacement should be relatively inexpensive.
but definately have a tech go through it to check the caps resistors and tubes.
enjoy that one....