Thunderbird Club

[Chucky Stiletti]

A couple of my little amps are EL84 single sided. One more is a single sided 6v6. The Gibson BR-9 is a push-pull 6v6 amp. The loudest is the Valve Junior, which is a single EL84. I think I put a lower power preamp tube in it to make it get into power tube crunch faster, but I don't remember now. The single sided 6v6 amp started life as some kind of small Premier amp, but got rewired and rebuilt sometime before I got it. It's a creamy sounding little amp. The last one is a Kalamazoo Model Two, which has an oddball equivalent to an EL84. It's really quiet these days. I kinda wonder if the tubes are getting too tired. It sat for years and years, and was pristine when I got it. There's a chunk out of a corner now. I'm not sure what happened, but I'm not entirely happy about that. Things happen to tools that get used. It's got an entertaining tube driven tremolo along with next to no power. The Valve Junior gets used the most, but it is still the one I want to flip one of these days in order to get a five watt Vox combo.

definitely part of my fascination with tube amps (other than watching the little critters glow) is how organic they are...to alter the gain bandwidth product (GBP) in a ss amp one has to replace passive (and sometimes active) components on a PCB with an iron and this process takes time. with a tube amp you just swap tubes on the go which makes it much easier to A/B different tones as this process can go pretty fast.....very tweakable technology..

 

[dukeorock]

In other music news, this is devastating. I met Sara a couple of times and she was indeed incredibly kind and warm.

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Been a very sad morning. Dex and Sara opened many ShackShakers tours. Such a lovely person and one of the great drummers in the American Roots music scene for a very long time now. The Dex Romweber Duo is an American treasure.
She was such an eccentric, yet so kind hearted.
Once, in a venue parking lot before a gig, this conversation actually took place. Dex saw me walking around looking troubled...
(Dex) “You ok, Mark?”
(Me) “Just found out my wife wants a divorce...”
(Dex) “Oh, man..”
(Sara) “If I ever get married, I think I want to marry a pirate. Think about it; they make great money and they travel a lot, so they won’t be around to get on your nerves all the time.”

The amazing part is, I don’t think she was trying to be funny. Sweet and childlike, but formidable behind a drum kit

 

[BklynKen]

Been a very sad morning. Dex and Sara opened many ShackShakers tours. Such a lovely person and one of the great drummers in the American Roots music scene for a very long time now. The Dex Romweber Duo is an American treasure.
She was such an eccentric, yet so kind hearted.
Once, in a venue parking lot before a gig, this conversation actually took place. Dex saw me walking around looking troubled...
(Dex) “You ok, Mark?”
(Me) “Just found out my wife wants a divorce...”
(Dex) “Oh, man..”
(Sara) “If I ever get married, I think I want to marry a pirate. Think about it; they make great money and they travel a lot, so they won’t be around to get on your nerves all the time.”

The amazing part is, I don’t think she was trying to be funny. Sweet and childlike, but formidable behind a drum kit

Wow. That's exactly how I remember her, too.

 

[JJR58]

On the fretboard? I never considered fretboard markers anything other than decorative. Side markers are all I use.

Unfortunately, yes. Once i'm back in a groove, i tend not to use those as a reference.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

What do you guys think? With or with out the Abalone Inlays?

Im having a hard time deciding, I really like it each way. So Im asking for All Ya’lls input on this.
View attachment 3346311 View attachment 3346312 View attachment 3346313 View attachment 3346314

I can see why you're having a hard time. What will the finish be for the headstock and body?
Just from this pic I'd say no inlays but those are gorgeous, too, so for me it depends on the finish.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

playing a Mardi Gras party at an old (mid 1800s) logger bar in the San Lorenzo valley where Sinatra and the Rat Pack used to hang out in the 50s....very cool joint...wish I played (or even owned) an upright when gigs like this come up...what to bring...what to bring..

 

[Miles_ONeal]

A couple of my little amps are EL84 single sided. One more is a single sided 6v6. The Gibson BR-9 is a push-pull 6v6 amp. The loudest is the Valve Junior, which is a single EL84. I think I put a lower power preamp tube in it to make it get into power tube crunch faster, but I don't remember now. The single sided 6v6 amp started life as some kind of small Premier amp, but got rewired and rebuilt sometime before I got it. It's a creamy sounding little amp. The last one is a Kalamazoo Model Two, which has an oddball equivalent to an EL84. It's really quiet these days. I kinda wonder if the tubes are getting too tired. It sat for years and years, and was pristine when I got it. There's a chunk out of a corner now. I'm not sure what happened, but I'm not entirely happy about that. Things happen to tools that get used. It's got an entertaining tube driven tremolo along with next to no power. The Valve Junior gets used the most, but it is still the one I want to flip one of these days in order to get a five watt Vox combo.

The Kalamazoo Models 1 and 2 were my main jam for years! The roaring version I mentioned was built from a M2. You can get some sweet crunch from those. (A Model 2 is a Model 1 with trem.) Even though I haven't been doing a lot with amps, I still have my Kalamazoo Field Guide online.

Kalamazoo Amp Field Guide (frames)

The 6BQ5 is the American designation of the tube that's called the EL84 by the Europeans. The quietness is likely a tube, though it could be from a few other things (partially shorted OT, bad pot, resistor going south, etc.)

Gibson and Kalamazoo were very under-rated for tube amps. They never figured out how to market against the FMV triumvirate, and they'd just give up and try something else. Fender was an amp company along with being a guitar company. I viewed Gibson as a guitar company that also happened to sell amps.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

normal behavior if you don't mind replacing them every 6 months. on the other hand, they are cheap so many players don't care..

Generally true, but a couple of the modern variants are over-engineered, so they hold up much mo better. I'd have to dig my notes out, but I think it was JJ, EH, and/or a Sovtek variety. Of course, I was buying from Lord Valve. I'd tell him what I needed, and he'd give me just that based on his testing, which was about the most rigorous around.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

The Kalamazoo Models 1 and 2 were my main jam for years! The roaring version I mentioned was built from a M2. You can get some sweet crunch from those. (A Model 2 is a Model 1 with trem.) Even though I haven't been doing a lot with amps, I still have my Kalamazoo Field Guide online.

Kalamazoo Amp Field Guide (frames)

The 6BQ5 is the American designation of the tube that's called the EL84 by the Europeans. The quietness is likely a tube, though it could be from a few other things (partially shorted OT, bad pot, resistor going south, etc.)

Gibson and Kalamazoo were very under-rated for tube amps. They never figured out how to market against the FMV triumvirate, and they'd just give up and try something else. Fender was an amp company along with being a guitar company. I viewed Gibson as a guitar company that also happened to sell amps.

Gibsons although more novel in design, were unreliable, Fenders were bulletproof..

 

[Miles_ONeal]

In other music news, this is devastating. I met Sara a couple of times and she was indeed incredibly kind and warm.

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Well, crap. Sorry to hear that.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

playing a Mardi Gras party at an old (mid 1800s) logger bar in the San Lorenzo valley where Sinatra and the Rat Pack used to hang out in the 50s....very cool joint...wish I played (or even owned) an upright when gigs like this come up...what to bring...what to bring..

Your Bird, of course. Rest it on the stand, sit down, and play it as an upright! Which of course you are completely prepared to do.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Generally true, but a couple of the modern variants are over-engineered, so they hold up much mo better. I'd have to dig my notes out, but I think it was JJ, EH, and/or a Sovtek variety. Of course, I was buying from Lord Valve. I'd tell him what I needed, and he'd give me just that based on his testing, which was about the most rigorous around.

totally agree. IMO, Philips was anything but conservative when publishing plate dissipation of 6 Watts on that tube..

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

Your Bird, of course. Rest it on the stand, sit down, and play it as an upright! Which of course you are completely prepared to do.

I like it!!

 

[Miles_ONeal]

definitely part of my fascination with tube amps (other than watching the little critters glow) is how organic they are...to alter the gain bandwidth product (GBP) in a ss amp one has to replace passive (and sometimes active) components on a PCB with an iron and this process takes time. with a tube amp you just swap tubes on the go which makes it much easier to A/B different tones as this process can go pretty fast.....very tweakable technology..

The annoying thing to me was that most of the transistors (that I cared about) were available in socketable packages, but almost nobody used sockets. So dumb.

 

[Gaolee]

In other music news, this is devastating. I met Sara a couple of times and she was indeed incredibly kind and warm.

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Too soon.

 

[GonePlaid]

playing a Mardi Gras party at an old (mid 1800s) logger bar in the San Lorenzo valley where Sinatra and the Rat Pack used to hang out in the 50s....very cool joint...wish I played (or even owned) an upright when gigs like this come up...what to bring...what to bring..

A 'Bird.

 

[Chucky Stiletti]

The Kalamazoo Models 1 and 2 were my main jam for years! The roaring version I mentioned was built from a M2. You can get some sweet crunch from those. (A Model 2 is a Model 1 with trem.) Even though I haven't been doing a lot with amps, I still have my Kalamazoo Field Guide online.

Kalamazoo Amp Field Guide (frames)

The 6BQ5 is the American designation of the tube that's called the EL84 by the Europeans. The quietness is likely a tube, though it could be from a few other things (partially shorted OT, bad pot, resistor going south, etc.)

Gibson and Kalamazoo were very under-rated for tube amps. They never figured out how to market against the FMV triumvirate, and they'd just give up and try something else. Fender was an amp company along with being a guitar company. I viewed Gibson as a guitar company that also happened to sell amps.

interestingly my Ashdown Little Bastard 30 is based on EL-84s....have never seen a bass amp use this output tube..

 

[fasterpussycat]

Marshall makes a 4 or 5 watt tube guitar amp. I haven't heard one, but I'm intrigued. Aside from huge ACC bass stacks, I'm partial to little, tiny tube guitar amps. I have a Valve Junior combo that I want to sell one of these days because I'm intrigued by the little amp Vox makes. I just put new tubes in the Gibson BR-9, and it went from being a clean sounding amp to being a ferociously crunchy amp. Beats me what that's all about, but there you have it. Replacing mismatched vintage and tired 6v6 tubes with new, matched JJ tubes didn't do what I expected, but I'm not complaining.

It's a little 3 knob, 9V battery powered thing about the size of a large pedal.

We had a really valuable session and things are finally beginningnto coalesce into a coherent whole.

Now we have the queen, a diva and scary old auntie -- is that the full set?

 

[fasterpussycat]

View attachment 3346170

That's it right there.

 

[Gaolee]

The Kalamazoo Models 1 and 2 were my main jam for years! The roaring version I mentioned was built from a M2. You can get some sweet crunch from those. (A Model 2 is a Model 1 with trem.) Even though I haven't been doing a lot with amps, I still have my Kalamazoo Field Guide online.

Kalamazoo Amp Field Guide (frames)

The 6BQ5 is the American designation of the tube that's called the EL84 by the Europeans. The quietness is likely a tube, though it could be from a few other things (partially shorted OT, bad pot, resistor going south, etc.)

Gibson and Kalamazoo were very under-rated for tube amps. They never figured out how to market against the FMV triumvirate, and they'd just give up and try something else. Fender was an amp company along with being a guitar company. I viewed Gibson as a guitar company that also happened to sell amps.

Your website is great. Thanks for the link. I'll probably end up printing out the schematic for in case I need to do any work on it. Actually I do need to do some - it still has the old two prong zip-cord power cord.