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Holden/Wasp club

#61
I used to have a Holden Graphic in the late 80s. Great amp, very loud.
Back in the mid 60s, Tony Holden owned the nightclub my band was resident in. The club was in Christchurch, called The StageDoor, and the band was called The Chants. Tony went on to become a big shot TV producer. i think it was his old man who made the amps back then. I have vague memories of being taken to a shed where amps were built, and seeing literally dozens of tube amp chassis' stacked up.
 
#65
A couple weeks ago the back panel on my VBL 200 got smashed to pieces.Most of you here are familiar with the shape of the back plate on a wasp yes?
The band and a couple of friends were unloading our gear at a gig,and someone thought the measly bar running across the back was a handle.Needless to say,it snapped under the weight,and 200 watts of tube amp hit the deck.So me and dad have made a replacement,with a modified design.Much more protection now!
drunkcory008.jpg

And here's a shot of the front for those who are interested
drunkcory009.jpg

Just the other day,someone showed me an old New Zealand band from the early 70's.I was watching through the video,and sure enough,those are some might fine sonding wasp stacks sitting behind them
 
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#66
Downunderwonder said:
Holden 200 pro on trademe going cheap for someone. Solid state graphic pre and 200w of kt88.
Click to expand...

One of my mates bought either this one or a very similar one after it got serviced by Ryan at Custom Audio Boutique in Auckland. Great sounding thing, a little bit hi-fi for my tastes though.

Any of you NZ fellas got a Holden for sale at the moment? I'm selling my 4x EL34 prototype ugly carpet Holden head as it's more of a guitar-oriented beast and I am looking for either a 2x or 4x (100 or 200w) KT88 or 6550 Holden with tube pre and tube power. 6550s preferred - if it's a KT88 head I will be replacing them anyway!

You can get a hold of me pretty easy by PM.
 
#67
lordy! ran my DC208 absolutely full blast for a set the other night out west Auckland through my Orange OBC410. what a monster.

looking for some tubes, though, and have changed my mind from above.. I need a whole buncha clean headroom and a 2x or 4x KT88 head, either a slave or regular head would be awesome.
 
#68
Back in about '73 I bought a pair of WASP empty cabs off Tony Strain, the bass player from FINCH. They were covered in a dark blue vinyl which was rare compared to everyone elses black thought a little torn.

I took them to WASP and Ian worked his magic by fitting new speaker (I think) and recovering in a lighter medium blue he had in stock. He also built me a. Ew 200 watt head to drive them.

It was a great amp but the EB3's we used in those days made them fart so after another 3or4 years I let it go and moved back to a Marshall/Sunn dual rig set up. By that time I was playing in Walrus and sound quality was tough to achieve.

Never really liked my sound until about 5 years ago.
 
#70
There is a 200W 4x KT88 power amp going cheap enough on Trademe at the moment. He had new tubes in it at $400 reserve and then subbed them for used ones when relisting $300 reserve for some lowball buynow offer. Weird. I bet the lowball guy flakes out so you could get it with the new Groove Tubes for $400 and freight.
 
#71
TeddySea said:
I'd like to join with my wasp owning brothers. I've been playing a little guitar as well as my usual bass in the band and our levels are creeping up at a few of the pub gigs. My Marshall transistor combo is starting to rattle so I have just pulled out the old Wasp head to add to a Session pa box.
What an awesome beast. I remember why I put it away now. It is heavy!
I used to run it through a W-bin with a JBL 15" in it. Too big for an old fella like me. Needed a van. I still have the JBL and may slip it in this box.
regards
Click to expand...
This is TeddySea 5 years on and I've still got that Wasp (message #29) sitting in my cupboard. Is anybody interested?
 
#75
CAM01402[1].jpg
Same, own a Holden 200w Graphic Bass head circa 1976 + speaker cab (Here's another member for the club/New Zealand) this amp has some serious output power, like the volume on 2 and 2 on master would crush a new 100w amp, these were built to be sonically loud, warm clean tone....I'd never sell it. Iconic! and made in Christchurch here's a small blurb:
* Holden Graphic GBL 100 and GBL 200 hybrid
Released 1976. GBL stands for graphic bass lead. Hybrid design combines solid-state graphic seven-band equalizer preamp with classic valve output stage. Same preamp used in big selling solid-state Graphic DC208 bass head.
That's off 'audioculture.co.nz' it has a big write up on Holden/Wasp amps.
CAM01402[1].jpg






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#77
Thought I'd post this on here.

I've recently started gigging as a bassist and bought this Wayne Jones 2x10. My dad has generously long term loaned me his Wasp XL head!!

Loving playing with it, it's a real peach. Although I'd love to learn more about it's specs and history. My gosh it's brutal for bass. Nice and warm but still thunderous haha.

Eventually might try to buy it off him and do a full resto on it, and a master volume switch add on. Amazing amps and this setup is all made in australia which is cool.
 

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