Amp for Blues / Blues Rock - What should I go for?

[jpfamps]

The 5E3 Deluxe is a great amp, and again there are plenty of builders making either clones, or hot rodded versions of this amp (I can think of 5 off the top of my head in UK alone).

Any chance of listing them? This is probably academic as I have no room for more amps, but I've always found it's really easy to find cloners of the british-style amps in the UK, but fender clones seem to be a lot harder to come by here... :)

EDIT: actually after making this post and totting up the ones i can think of I'm maybe at close to 4 or 5 myself... it's entirely possible I already know of all the ones you're thinking of :oops:

Lazy J
Wienbrock
Flynn Amps
Seeley Amps
Gartone Amps

[jpfamps]

jpfamps, when I said early Rory Gallagher I really meant mid-period, from about '73 - the Irish Tour album (well worth checking out for anyone that isn't familiar with Rory, as is Calling Card which was released a couple of years later) is a good example. He changed from the AC30/Rangemaster combo around this time. I've seen a pic of his amp on the Irish Tour & it's a 4 x 10 'Twin Amp'. Do you know if this is a Bassman circuit?
It's a 6L6 JTM45 that I was looking at. I don't see the point in getting another EL34 amp. & I actually thought that KT66s were the same as 6L6s!

It's a 4x10 Tweed Bassman he's using. This is a very similar circuit to the JTM45.

The original Bassmans came with 5881 output valves, which has a slightly lower power dissipation rating to a 6L6-GC, but is a similar valve.

The KT66 is certainly not the same as a 6L6!

[dave_mc]

Lazy J
Wienbrock
Flynn Amps
Seeley Amps
Gartone Amps

ah thanks, i hadn't heard of the last couple. :)

there's also that rosewell dude, but i have no idea if he's any good or not (just saw an ad in guitarist, or one of the other mags, once).

[Pete24v]

if your anywhere near Leicester your welcome to come try my MJW's. I have a 36w Roadstar 6V6 combo and an 18w EL84 head.

[jpfamps]

Lazy J
Wienbrock
Flynn Amps
Seeley Amps
Gartone Amps

ah thanks, i hadn't heard of the last couple. :)

there's also that rosewell dude, but i have no idea if he's any good or not (just saw an ad in guitarist, or one of the other mags, once).

Not seen Rosewell before.

Bottom line, there are a good choice of small builders making Tweed-style amps in the UK.

[dave_mc]

yeah, that's true.

now that I think of it, it might have been the lack of blackface-style options available which I was thinking about :oops:

[jpfamps]

yeah, that's true.

now that I think of it, it might have been the lack of blackface-style options available which I was thinking about :oops:

Gartone do Blackface-style amps.

There are pleny of SF amps out there at reasonable money (or indeed BF amps) that there probably isn't much demand for them.

Tweed amps aren't just expensive, they are also getting hard to find.

[dave_mc]

yeah that might be it. plus since a lot of them have the reverb/tremolo channels i'm guessing that makes them a lot more expensive, which presumably keeps demand down a bit too.

[jpfamps]

yeah that might be it. plus since a lot of them have the reverb/tremolo channels i'm guessing that makes them a lot more expensive, which presumably keeps demand down a bit too.

Yes, the reverb will add quite a lot in parts cost.

The BF tremolo uses an optocoupler comprising of a neon bulb and an LDR which contains cadmium sulphide and is thus not RoHS compliant, so you can't really use this in a production amplifier.

The Fender BF RIs now have a link to a PCB which substitutes for the optocoupler (although they still have the space on the board for the optocoupler).

Perhaps they still use the optocoupler in the US, although California have implemented their own RoHS regime.

Alternatively, you could have the optocoupler retro fitted, which is entirely permissible.

[dave_mc]

ah yeah that could be part of the reason too. Thanks for the info :)