Music Man 65 amp --any experience with it?

bongomania · #1 07-14-2010, 09:38 AM

A shop near me has a Music Man 65 head (not combo) in beautiful condition; I tried it out and it sounds fantastic; but their price is $500 firm. I see these go for half that price on Ebay, but then the condition is usually worse, and the shipping is expensive, and who knows whether it will survive the trip after being thrown around by UPS/postal monkeys.

What do you think--worth the high price? Or should I wait until a good one shows up on the bay?

And what's your opinion of it compared to other low-wattage tube heads? Tone, reliability, anything else?

FWIW this will be for recording, so low wattage is good for me. Thx!

KramerBassFan · #2 07-14-2010, 09:41 AM

Too much IMHO.

Not a terrible sounding amp, and i actually have a HD212 awaiting a Cap Job on my work bench. Sounds pretty good when it isn't distorting (but thats due to the aforementioned need for a cap job)

Interesting hybrids, those musicmans are.

JTE · #3 07-14-2010, 09:47 AM

I think you can find the more popular (for bass) HD-130 head for that money, and it has a "low power" switch that drops the output by half. I got an HD-130 in late '76 and it was my main amp for over ten years, and the stand-by, rehearsal, home practice amp until I moved in 2000 and sold it. Great amp, reliable and stable, built to take a lot of miles without coming apart. VERY clean soldering and assembly too. It sounded great all the time, and I wish I'd kept it.

If I recall correctly, the 65 is the same pre-amp section with only two 6CA7 instead of the four in the HD-130. Make sure it's the 65, not the 65 Reverb. If it's got reverb, it's the guitar amp without the different EQ points on the bass channel, nor the "Deep" switch.

John

bongomania · #4 07-14-2010, 09:56 AM

Yeah, this one is the bass model, and man does it go deep! Huge lows. It does have the half-power switch as well (32/65). But you're right that if I can find a good-condition HD-130 for that price, that would be the one to jump on.

bongomania · #5 07-16-2010, 05:19 PM

So I went back, tried it out again... and I had to buy it--it just sounds so good. I traded in an old speaker cab that I had gotten for free anyhow, so I only paid $360 for the amp. It's in pristine condition too!

vinxbass · #6 07-16-2010, 06:06 PM

You did well, nice looking amp.

bifbugie56 · #7 07-16-2010, 06:13 PM

I bought one of those bad boys new in '76 with the RH115 cabinet. It was may first 'real'
bass amp. I traded the head straight up for an acoustic 450 head. I still have the cabinet
which I run with the 450 and a '72 straight back 'fridge. I recall getting head and cab with
covers for just under $500. The 65 with the 15 was hard to hear up close but 20 feet away....Nice find, brings back some nice memories.

wcriley · #8 07-16-2010, 06:32 PM

Two things to keep in mind about these amps:

1. The speaker outs are wired in SERIES, not parallel.
2. They sound a lot tighter with NOS 6CA7 output bottles than with EL34s.

johnk_10 · #9 07-16-2010, 06:44 PM

IMO, you did well. i think they're great sounding amps and the particular one that you got is beauty.

KramerBassFan · #10 07-16-2010, 08:43 PM

Sure looks much cleaner than the one on my bench right now.

bongomania · #11 07-16-2010, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wcriley

Two things to keep in mind about these amps:
1. The speaker outs are wired in SERIES, not parallel.
2. They sound a lot tighter with NOS 6CA7 output bottles than with EL34s.

Yes, I had read both of those points here on TB when I was researching it, but thanks for mentioning them in case I hadn't.

rllefebv · #12 07-16-2010, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

That is a beautiful amp! I'm sure that it sounds fantastic with your Bag Ends... IMO, it would sound PHENOMENAL with my MusicMan 115RH... It's a great 'vintagey' cab and is great for the low-power amps (It's a 65 as well and made to pair with that head)...

How come other folks are finding these deals locally when I have no cash??

-robert