Who is Bob Gjika?

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Mark
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Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by Mark »

I saw this on Facebook, I've never heard of the guy and to be frank I've heard a lot of guys say they were K.F.'s best friend so naturally I'm a little suspicious.

I should point out no "amp secrets" are revealed.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mM6mA04sVxQ
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Mark Abbott
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martin manning
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by martin manning »

Mark
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by Mark »

Thanks for the link Martin. I'm not a whole lot wiser, that kind of class A amp would be murder to move around.
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by martin manning »

Clearly he has his own thing going there. Being on Dave Hunter's list lends some credibility, though. The list is pretty cool, not necessarily a who's-who of boutique builders, but a nice reference.
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Plexified
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by Plexified »

Yeah, Bob is a Memphis heavy hitter early 70's guitar luthier who has mad electronic skills. He met up with Ken in the 80's and they bonded around the craft for sure. Bob is famous for Joe Stumps early tones and Shawn Lane and a lot of Memphis cats. They talked a lot about amps and Bob was a class A format guy and did some work with Ken and artists as their times merged. He is pretty much spot on in his commentary. He talks about how early he was talking with Ken with the chassis's being sold without head boxes. I've never spoke much on the specifics of Kens history as I was going to do a full blown documentary and was all geared up before he passed. I put the brakes on my project cause I was hurt too and time needed to take place. It stopped completely when I got a phone call , a message actually from Kens sister trying to hail a new 'trainwreck' built by John. And I was shocked . I'm gonna do it in the future because guys like Darko Milosek ,Ken Dubman, Derek Fedowa , Fred Saddik and others gave so much it takes time to do right. But yeah, Bob is another like George Allessandro that did their own thing to spectacular results with mutual friendships and care that will never be denied. Many were involved in this journey and they all are owed their due. Its coming. I bought an RV to tour the roads leading to the amps , the players and the folks involved and the enthusiasm was and still is awesome. Many documentaries on the table, its a huge orchestration and man o man what a journey. David

edit... Oh forget to mention, Steve from Angela instruments probably has more to add here, just a thought if you wanted to ring him up, great guy. Funny thing is I edited my most recent post to include the 6v6 plexi mod Ken was doing which is in the Trainwreck pages , and I always kept the info back about the extra filament transformer due to the film , and he is totally right. Ken offered the first power scaling set up with the variac used to drop global voltage without the filaments being effected as he always used very expensive tubes. I edited the post BEFORE I even read you post and watched Bob. There ya go!
Mark
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by Mark »

Thanks for your reply.

The thing is with the filament transformer and the variac method is there is no guarantee the bias will track the rail voltage. The lower rail does tend to sound darker, I experimented with a Zener on my Rocket clone amp. It was interesting. Come to think of it, the Rocket doesn't have a cab yet either, shear coincidence of course.
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Plexified
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by Plexified »

Yeah , no doubt Mark, the bias needs to be monitored for sure. And where the cabinet is concerned , the Vox 2x12 was in favor as an extension cab. Here you can use a version of it and set up the back to be similar to what Ken used. He liked a 6 inch bottom panel , you could add a small top panel to simulate the Vox combo and ultimately use a whole back baffle to be closed back. A whole lot of variety there. Even a Dumble panel if you wanted to simulate his take. But remember , this is the most versatile combination. Using the various backs, you can use a Blue and a Jensen. My experience with a Weber blue pup alnico and a P10R alnico was stellar. And I am a die hard Marshall Basketweave G12 Dude. So it goes a long way. I like the Weber Silver Bell alnico best overall. However the blend of the two different speakers allows you to mic two different speakers from front to back , with different baffle configurations and you could even split the baffle and go one solid like a super reverb and one floating like a bassman. So its HUGE variety here if you want it. I did it and reporting back , Marshall guy LOVES this set up and it has afforded me a renewed appreciation on how I , ME , BY CHOICE dictate what the room hears and what the mic hears to go down to tape. SO , that is one hellova good piece of advice right their. And, I have learned ALOT from you Mark , and I could not think of a better way to give back to a strang slinging brother. Lastly since we are on recording , don't ever underestimate using a piezo mic glued on a cabinet. Front baffle , rear baffle , whatever, hell it will even drive the Roland GR 55 as a feed for the midi pickup ha ha. Variety in the mix rules and you can't get enough of this stuff. Fischer used a very long cord on his Vox extension cab with blues. He talked about in the TW pages. In that 'communication' with the amp it filtered junk , or maybe just added a slight delay , what ever it was going for tone. Glen K uses long cords on the input for effect too. So , onto a recording we make . and feel it man , Nothing better than making music!
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by Mark »

Thanks for your compliment Plexified. I can't imagine what you've learnt from me. I usually tinker and ask questions. I did write to Ken Fischer once to get on the list to buy an amp, I figured I'd get the money together during the wait, unfortunately I didn't hear back from Ken. Another time I wrote to him to talk the amps he built. He replied this time and that was very cool.

Funny you mentioned the AC-30 cab, I measured up the 18 watt amp cab and the AC-30 cab, as I'm an AC-30 fan and Dan Boul (65 Amps) had experimented with both I had my 18 watter cab made to AC-30 dimensions. I like it, sounds good and I don't have the flabby bass issue others complained about.
Mind you the output transformer does limit the bass response to some degree.

The baffle is interesting as I've found it to have a bearing on the sound of the amp. It's not a night and day change, but the rear baffle does vibrate quite a bit.
Yours Sincerely

Mark Abbott
dbeasley
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by dbeasley »

Bob Gjika also goes into great length about how you can tap on capacitors to demo how they will sound, that PCB built amps will never sound good in a studio, and that hookup wire in an amp needs to break in before it sounds good.


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Mark
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by Mark »

Is there a link for that comment. It does sound out there.
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Mark Abbott
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by JazzGuitarGimp »

Kinda smacks of HiFi supremacy...... :-) or perhaps I should say superstition...
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dbeasley
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by dbeasley »

Mark wrote:Is there a link for that comment. It does sound out there.
Mark, he states it in one of his videos, along with many other questionable content. Lol

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Mark
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Re: Who is Bob Gjika?

Post by Mark »

Yeah it's questionable stuff alright.
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Mark Abbott
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