Rola Amplifier

[Dan Arciniega]

Testing this out amp for possible purchase.
Wondering if anyone has any experience with these amps .
It is a 200HW .-
The sellers says it’s a Marshall Major clone ,
But the circuit looks like a Marshall /Tweed Fender type circuit .
I emailed the builder and am hoping for a response soon ,
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks ,

 

[agedhorse]

There was a speaker company called Rola, they may have been loosely related to Celestion decades ago. Is the amp somehow related this company?

 

[Dan Arciniega]

There was a speaker company called Rola, they may have been loosely related to Celestion decades ago. Is the amp somehow related this company?

I doubt it,
They are most likely cashing in on the name
In my opinion

 

[beans-on-toast]

Rola was an American company that dated back to the 1920’s. Speakers for radio were big business. Stock was bought and eventually Rola was fully owned by Mutter. Mutter owned Jensen and they were merged and produced Rola-Jensen speakers. At some point prior, a subsidiary called British Rola was formed. They competed with Celestion and in 1945 Rola bought Celestion. They were making the same speaker for WWII contracts. Their speaker brand became Rola-Celestion. These and original Rola’s are highly sought after by guitar players. Some Marshall cabs came with Rola speakers.

 

[Dan Arciniega]

So
The builder replied .
he said it is basically a Super Bass with a 200 watt output section .
It’s probably a Very generous rating IMHO .
So it looks like a 5F8a circuit with 6550 power tubes .
It does have some massive Mercury Transformers

 

[agedhorse]

Rola was an American company that dated back to the 1920’s. Speakers for radio were big business. Stock was bought and eventually Rola was fully owned by Mutter. Mutter owned Jensen and they were merged and produced Rola-Jensen speakers. At some point prior, a subsidiary called British Rola was formed. They competed with Celestion and in 1945 Rola bought Celestion. They were making the same speaker for WWII contracts. Their speaker brand became Rola-Celestion. These and original Rola’s are highly sought after by guitar players. Some Marshall cabs came with Rola speakers.

This sounds about right, didn't realize the connection with Jensen though.

So
The builder replied .
he said it is basically a Super Bass with a 200 watt output section .
It’s probably a Very generous rating IMHO .
So it looks like a 5F8a circuit with 6550 power tubes .
It does have some massive Mercury Transformers

Size of the transformers doesn't matter, changing the materials and design can change the size for identical performance. The word "massive" does make the marketing guys more tingly however.

 

[slagheap]

So
The builder replied .
he said it is basically a Super Bass with a 200 watt output section .
It’s probably a Very generous rating IMHO .
So it looks like a 5F8a circuit with 6550 power tubes .
It does have some massive Mercury Transformers

What's the verdict sound-wise?

 

[slagheap]

Rola was an American company that dated back to the 1920’s. Speakers for radio were big business. Stock was bought and eventually Rola was fully owned by Mutter. Mutter owned Jensen and they were merged and produced Rola-Jensen speakers. At some point prior, a subsidiary called British Rola was formed. They competed with Celestion and in 1945 Rola bought Celestion. They were making the same speaker for WWII contracts. Their speaker brand became Rola-Celestion. These and original Rola’s are highly sought after by guitar players. Some Marshall cabs came with Rola speakers.

amazing reservoir of knowledge on this board.

 

[Dan Arciniega]

What's the verdict sound-wise?

Sounds good I guess
I have a ‘69 Fender Super Bassman that I converted to the same 5F8a circuit and I have 6550 power tubes in it and a circa 90’s 100 VHT output transformer
I would say my amp has more character
But it is not as loud because the stock Fender power transformer can only supply 400 volts to the plates of the power tubes.

 

[Frndmoretti]

I would love to have one because rola means male organ in Portuguese and it would be hilarious.

 

[agedhorse]

Sounds good I guess
I have a ‘69 Fender Super Bassman that I converted to the same 5F8a circuit and I have 6550 power tubes in it and a circa 90’s 100 VHT output transformer
I would say my amp has more character
But it is not as loud because the stock Fender power transformer can only supply 400 volts to the plates of the power tubes.

The output power is not dependent only on the plate voltage. It's dependent on the relationship to plate voltage and load impedance, and just changing the output transformer without considering the necessary impedance reflected to the plates, could (easily) result in a volume loss.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Testing this out amp for possible purchase.
Wondering if anyone has any experience with these amps .
It is a 200HW .-
The sellers says it’s a Marshall Major clone ,
But the circuit looks like a Marshall /Tweed Fender type circuit .
I emailed the builder and am hoping for a response soon ,
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks , View attachment 4985673

Are you sure that this amp didn't belong to Spinal Tap at one point? I notice all the controls all go up to #11.

 

[Matt Dean]

Are you sure that this amp didn't belong to Spinal Tap at one point? I notice all the controls all go up to #11.

You’re right… now I want one too!

 

[Dan Arciniega]

You’re right… now I want one too!

$1,500.00 deposit and the build takes 6-8 weeks.

 

[Dan Arciniega]

More testing today
Both cabinets have EV15L speakers

 

[Muehed]

I own this same amp as well as other Rola amps. My Bass 200 uses KT88s. and as far as I know, they all did. Derek used KT88s in a ton of his amps. All 3 of my high watt Rolas use KT88s. Makes me wonder if it has been modified.
Not the same Rola as the speaker company. Used to be Union Jack. The pic attached is my Rola collection.

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

Union Jack = ROLA

SEA-TAC, Washington

This amp had the JJ KT-88's changed out with a setup by Bill Webb @ Austin Vintage Guitars with an NOS Ruby Tube matched quad of SED/Svetlana square hole 6550's.

I grabbed it from Jeff @ The Bass Shop Seattle (old Bass Northwest). It came out of a lawyers home studio with two 4x10 matching cabinets

I thought it sounded pretty good. .

 

[Esteban Meenie]

They're solid enough to be the centerpiece of Mike McCready's live rig, so if dude got a good deal on it ($2,700 new), then I hope he gets to open it all the way up to 11, like on the regular. They're very beautifully built - custom transformers, mil-spec and audiophile grade parts, etc.