Oliver B120 amp

[johnk_10]

i just got a hold of an early 70's Oliver B120 that belongs to a friend of mine. it's in pretty rough shape, but i'm going to completely go thru it, including re-tolexing the cab since someone decided to bore two big hole in the sides of it and installed two peizo tweeters (aiming out of it's sides!). there's no 15" speaker in it right now, but a JBL 15" has been put aside for it. it looks alot like and early 70's ampeg as far as the PCB in it. it has two 6EU7's in the preamp and it's output is driven by two 6L6CG's so it should be about 40-50 watts.
anyway, here's some pics of it:

 

[beans-on-toast]

Those are very nice amps John. I don't know why but I always see them modified so the one that you will be working on is no exception.

Here is some info on them for those interested.

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[johnk_10]

thanks for the extra info and the schematic BOT! i didn't have the schematic for it yet.

 

[Interceptor]

I can't wait to see how purty this turns out!

 

[beans-on-toast]

thanks for the extra info and the schematic BOT! i didn't have the schematic for it yet.

 

[JimmyM]

Awesome! A little crumpled but awesome. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

 

[Mike Carr]

Very cool amp John! Hope it turns out ok. how did the Sunn I sold you work out?

 

[will33]

Cool. Does the amp portion separate from the cab? Meaning is that hardware on the front functional, actually holding the 2 pieces together?

Digging the slant face and angled in piece of grillcloth in the amp part.

 

[johnk_10]

Very cool amp John! Hope it turns out ok. how did the Sunn I sold you work out?

i completely went thru it (replaced all the caps filter caps and tubes and it sounds awesome. it cleaned up really well too.:

 

[johnk_10]

Cool. Does the amp portion separate from the cab? Meaning is that hardware on the front functional, actually holding the 2 pieces together?

Digging the slant face and angled in piece of grillcloth in the amp part.

the hardware on the front was someone's idea of a 'bumper'' and has no real function. the amp/cab is a one piece, single 15" combo.

 

[JimmyM]

What the...??? Did someone shave down the front of the headbox? In David's catalog picture, it comes down even with the cab. This one's recessed and has those bumper thingies on it.

 

[johnk_10]

What the...??? Did someone shave down the front of the headbox? In David's catalog picture, it comes down even with the cab. This one's recessed and has those bumper thingies on it.

i think that this one cab came with a recessed head (like some of the early Sunn combos), and the bumper thingies were added later by someone else.

 

[will33]

Reading the old instruction manual is cool.....

" if it hums....just flip the plug in the wall outlet"

 

[JimmyM]

I see...just seemed a little odd at first...I should really start sleeping more often

 

[Mike Carr]

So happy that you were able to bring it back to life John. It had not seen any use for more than 20 years and was just going to waste with me here in Asia all the time, where everything runs on 220 volts. Great to know that it's up and running again!

 

[solodb]

Very cool John and we know it will be first class when you are done; did you ever have, see or play the Oliver model with the motorized head by any chance?

 

[johnk_10]

nope. i've never seen one in person, let alone play thru one, but, judging by the videos and pics that i've seen of them, i actually do like that crazy motorized contraption.

 

[solodb]

John, you're the guy that should have one of those. Ever thought of building one ? You sure did a fine job on the old Vox reconstruction awhile back.

 

[Sifl]

I need one of these Oliver amps. It'd be cool to have an amp with my name on it!

 

[Zentner]

Very cool John and we know it will be first class when you are done; did you ever have, see or play the Oliver model with the motorized head by any chance?

I own this head, but unfortunately not the combo/elevator version.

The amp sounds great for bass, even better for guitar. It's essentially a fliptop- so it does those low-gain Marshall type tones for guitar. It's my main guitar amp, so that's actually what I'm most familiar with.