What's your favorite small amp and speaker?

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Colossal
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Re: What's your favorite small amp and speaker?

Post by Colossal »

M Fowler wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2017 4:37 pm Years ago I bought a chassis from the owner of Victoria Amps and he sent me a bunch of flyers of his amps plus December 2007/VOL.9 NO.2 The Last Polka Tone Quest report with lots of info on Gibson amps of the past which I have attached a link below.

http://www.victoriaamplifier.com/wp-con ... /tq_ek.pdf
That was a good read Mark, thanks for posting the link.

In Flagrante Delicto...
"Our first petting session with a Gibson amp was, like most early explorations of the flesh, awkward and disappointing. Bill Clark, the other guitar player in the Broad Ripple super group known as the Early Times, ran his Melody Maker through a robust-looking mid-’60s Gibson Falcon that was, in truth, a completely uninspiring piece of shit."
:lol:
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Colossal
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Re: What's your favorite small amp and speaker?

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bluesoverlord wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2017 4:17 pm Dave Hunter's Two-Stroke. Yeah, it was my first build (love), but it still sounds so damn good. It is so simple with little in the way between the guitar and the speaker. After 12 other builds ranging in size and complexity (I'm on an ODS now), it still can't be beat to my ears. I'm never giving it away.

Steve
Steve,

Did you build the single or double single-ended version?
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Scumback Speakers
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Re: What's your favorite small amp and speaker?

Post by Scumback Speakers »

Colossal wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2017 4:38 am
I'd be interested in seeing that schematic. Is it one of these (see below)? Do you prefer yours with a 10 or 12" speaker?


gibson ga-8.png
GA-8.png
It's the top schematic. I used a Deluxe Reverb PT, and a Hammond 125 ESE OT for the dual 6V6 model with a 4/8/16 ohm switch with two speaker jacks when I rebuilt the old chassis.
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bluesoverlord
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Re: What's your favorite small amp and speaker?

Post by bluesoverlord »

Colossal,

I built the single. I'd like to do a double to get more of that single ended goodness, but I'm always surprised at how loud that amp is. It was my first cabinet build as well and I didn't know a thing about cabs. I made it a little bigger than the Maggie cab from Weber that fits the Two-Stroke and which I used to make another for my stepson. That one sounded really good too, but you can tell it's a smaller amp. (BTW, the Maggie had the speaker holes reversed so the OT would hit the driver....I had to reverse the baffle...that sucked...I warned them they should fix that). Anyway, the cab I made from scratch was maybe 25% bigger in all dimensions and I closed down the back more too. So, in my ignorance, I struck gold with those dimensions. The cab volume isn't as compact or convenient as the Maggie, but it's just a perfect dirty to me. It looks like a bigger amp and if you close your eyes, it sounds like one too. It's the biggest little amp around. But, that's such a subjective thing though...YMMV. And a disclaimer: I went right to bigger builds and didn't move up the power chain...e.g., Champs, Princetons and Deluxes. So, even though I have heard and played all those amps, I haven't built any to voice and tweak driver choices to fall in love with them.

So, anyway, I really need to go back and do a double and see what kind of extra (louder) goodness I can get in the same cab (even though I really don't need it for home, but it would be good at any kind of gig I'd want to play). It's cool looking too, covered with black cowboy design Tolex with white piping and white grill cloth. I called it my "Texas Rose" after my wife's granny who was a famous trick roper. I want to put a nice sewn patch of a red rose to glue to the cloth, but it always slips my mind.

Steve
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Re: What's your favorite small amp and speaker?

Post by Colossal »

Scumback Speakers wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2017 11:18 pmIt's the top schematic. I used a Deluxe Reverb PT, and a Hammond 125 ESE OT for the dual 6V6 model with a 4/8/16 ohm switch with two speaker jacks when I rebuilt the old chassis.
Thanks for the details Jim. Looks like a fun build. I have iron that would fit the bill. Sort of a hybrid of the GA-8 and the Angela Super SE...
bluesoverlord wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2017 12:23 am Colossal,

I built the single. I'd like to do a double to get more of that single ended goodness, but I'm always surprised at how loud that amp is. It was my first cabinet build as well and I didn't know a thing about cabs. I made it a little bigger than the Maggie cab from Weber that fits the Two-Stroke and which I used to make another for my stepson. That one sounded really good too, but you can tell it's a smaller amp. (BTW, the Maggie had the speaker holes reversed so the OT would hit the driver....I had to reverse the baffle...that sucked...I warned them they should fix that). Anyway, the cab I made from scratch was maybe 25% bigger in all dimensions and I closed down the back more too. So, in my ignorance, I struck gold with those dimensions. The cab volume isn't as compact or convenient as the Maggie, but it's just a perfect dirty to me. It looks like a bigger amp and if you close your eyes, it sounds like one too. It's the biggest little amp around. But, that's such a subjective thing though...YMMV. And a disclaimer: I went right to bigger builds and didn't move up the power chain...e.g., Champs, Princetons and Deluxes. So, even though I have heard and played all those amps, I haven't built any to voice and tweak driver choices to fall in love with them.

So, anyway, I really need to go back and do a double and see what kind of extra (louder) goodness I can get in the same cab (even though I really don't need it for home, but it would be good at any kind of gig I'd want to play). It's cool looking too, covered with black cowboy design Tolex with white piping and white grill cloth. I called it my "Texas Rose" after my wife's granny who was a famous trick roper. I want to put a nice sewn patch of a red rose to glue to the cloth, but it always slips my mind.

Steve
Sounds like a great amp Steve! Thanks for sharing the story.
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