Lookee What I Got (amp porn alert)

[Alexo]

So I ran into the father-in-law of my old keyboard player the other day. He has a bunch of cool gear from his youth: an early 70's Thinline, a 60's Jazzmaster, a mid-60's B15 which I had the pleasure of restoring, and one giant 200 watt Sound City head. He always talked about getting the Sound City fixed up, as it had issues even back in the 80's when he was using it - humms, weird noises, etc..

Welp, he's retired now, and in his words, he isn't going to play Shea Stadium anytime soon. So the guy, bless his heart, just GAVE me the old Sound City. Didn't make sense for him to pay for a restoration if he wasn't going to use it.

Honestly I don't know what in the heck I'm going to do with this thing - the head weighs at least as much as a 2x12 combo, and I sure don't have a 200W cab to plug it into! But like the rest of us, I could not say no..

I figured I'd just do a recap, put in a 3-prong cord, etc., but the caps in this thing are simply monstrous, and with 600+ volts on the plates, I am frankly a little terrified to power it up. Although it sure is chock full of mojo parts.

Some days, it really does pay to get out of bed!

[Alexo]

Few more pics.. I hate to think of the unfortunate end that came to the spiders that decided to call this thing a home.

[Structo]

What a beast!

Man those were the days of the big amps.
My tinnitus is acting up just looking at that thing.

Maybe fix her up and sell it on ebay?

[dynaman]

Small fortune in mustards and tubes, ya got there!

[gearhead]

My tinnitus is acting up just looking at that thing.

What, you can make it go away? Please say yes, lol.

Yeah, that is a beast. Just put the cab in a different room, point the other way, and run a long amp chord. Rope it off so no unsuspecting household pets get their fur blown off.

[xtian]

You read your Douglas Adams? The rock band Disaster Area that was so loud they played from a concrete bunker miles away? Yeah, they all played Sound City amps.

You could make a pretty vicious rail gun with those caps...

[Drumslinger]

That's quite the little amp you have there Alexo. A couple of stacks and your set...

[Bob-I]

Rope it off so no unsuspecting household pets get their fur blown off.

In the 70's I was checking out a Marshall head, had it sitting upside down on the floor so I sat on the floor in front of it with a guitar. I hit a big power chord and felt cat claws dig into my back. Apparently my GF's cat didn't like Marshall tones and let me know it.

That Sound Shitty looks amazing.

[M Fowler]

Love these old amps and don't care it's overgrown

[Alexo]

Thanks for letting me show 'er off, guys.


My immediate plans for the amp involve having a beer or two and staring at it late into the night. After a few days or weeks of that, I'm not certain. One day when no one's home, I may plug all of my speaker cabinets into it and move some furniture.



...and my cat already knows to go hide under the bed whenever he hears the "bzzt-click" of a guitar plugging in.

[selloutrr]

These make KILLER!!! bass amps. Please don't harvest the parts, these amps are getting rare and with a little TLC you are get around $1000.


you are also reduce your tinitus!

[jelle]

I worked on one recently (and another one a couple of years ago). Replaced the silver filter cap of the preamp as well as the bias caps. The other ones still worked well and looked healthy.

New chinese powertubes and biased them per pair. Really loud amp. Dig it!

Beware of the B+ voltage and the current involved. Death is permanent. Drain those caps before working on it. This is no joke.

The powerstage is really cool. Ca 450V on the screens and about 650V on the plates.

Have fun!

jelle

[KellyBass]

These make KILLER!!! bass amps.

Selloutrr is absolutely correct!! These SC heads are incredible for bass! bax stack?...I'm not sure, but they have a very unique take on bass. I tried one that was in a backline years ago and I've still got that tone stuck in my head...

I think Dee Murray (RIP) from Elton John's band used in miked in the studio. His tone was immaculate.

[xtian]

...and my cat already knows to go hide under the bed whenever he hears the "bzzt-click" of a guitar plugging in.

Truth! They learn quick. Mine run as soon as I pull a guitar off the wall.

[selloutrr]

if it comes down to you wanting to part it out. PM me I'll buy it complete as is.

To get this amp back to its former glory you are probably looking at
~$600+, electrolytic caps, a couple mustard caps, misc resistors (all resistors in the power, and bias sections for sure!), NOS tubes