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New toy! (vintage ampeg content)

#41
Do you guys have any recommendations for 6L6GCs? I found some STR387s for big money and some Sylvania 6L6GC for much less.

Seems like the STR387s are sought after by the guitar guys trying to get a Stevie Ray Vaughn sound but not sure if they're worth it for a B-15... or maybe they're just right. I have no idea :-)
 
#42
Joplin, I'll be totally honest with you...I have tried several different 6L6's in my B-15's...a wonderful set of old RCA gray plates that came with my Super Reverb, Sylvanias, GE's, JJ's, Sovteks...gun to my head, I couldn't tell the difference between any of them. I have heard the Sylvanias are prone to microphonics but that particular set sounded good in my amps.
 
#43
I'm bumping this thread because I'm officially back on the B-15 band wagon. I had to sell mine about a year ago, and had been sort-of-but-not-really looking for a new one since I've been back on stable ground. My opportunity came up the other night when one was listed in my town for a price I couldn't pass up. Turned out, the seller was only two streets over from me, so it was a pretty easy pick up.

It's not in the best condition, has been re-covered, needs some clean up and a few pieces of hardware, the speaker has been replaced with a JBL K140, and it needs some new tubes, but I'm still pretty happy, especially for what I paid.

It had some hum when I tested it out, but the power tubes aren't a matched pair (at least brand wise) and it still has a two prong cord which looks very precarious to me. I've already ordered new 6L6GC's and a new 5AR4 (didn't look good either) and when those come in I plan on checking the 6SL7s before ordering some of those.

Dating by the serial number (and double baffle cab) this is a 1965, which is a step up from the 68 single baffle that I had. The tolex is black, and the owner said it was like that when he got it in the late 60's/early 70's. In one of the pictures you can see there is still some blue check left on the side of the lid.

Anyways, all this blabber is worthless without pics, so here you go:

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#45
Thanks! The downside right now is that I'm kind of nervous to play it. I played it in the sellers garage, and it sounded great and I didn't die, but I plugged it in here and home and was hearing some static that sounded like it was coming from the area of the ground/standby/on switches. Also noticed the cord was actually twitching itself when I'd hear the static. I'm going to go on the assumption (for now) that it's just a grounding issue. The power strip I was plugged into has a little indicator light for signal and ground and while the signal was good, the ground was not. I know the other outlets in that room are two prong, it's possible the outlet I have the strip in was converted but is not wired very well.

Potential fire hazards aside, I was told that the amp was recently checked out by a local place. If they checked this thing out, I'm never having them do any work for me. There is no reason that some one should have left this power cord attached, especially given the fact that the end was open and there is exposed wiring behind the screws. I don't think I'm going to fire it up again until I can at least get the grounding checked out.
 

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