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Thread: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

  1. #1
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    Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    I rehoused a little practice amp into a head/speaker cab. It belonged to my (deceased) nephew, so I wanted to do something different. The original cab was destroyed when it had the good sense to jump out of his truck during a short cut down a mountain. A little maintenance, and a chip upgrade to the amp, and it was good to go. The speaker is a Weber Thames, really full range.


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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    That's a cool looking amp. Love the French flag paint job.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    I tried to find a grill cloth with the Army of Tennessee flag on it but it seems that's not possible anymore!

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Moore View Post
    I tried to find a grill cloth with the Army of Tennessee flag on it but it seems that's not possible anymore!
    Touche. Ha ha
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    Quote Originally Posted by ch willie View Post
    That's a cool looking amp. Love the French flag paint job.

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    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    What chips did you swap? I'm curious as I've been on a pedal building kick lately. So I've been building clones, socketing the IC's, transistors and clipping diodes so I can experiment. It's been a fun break from normal guitar stuff.

    Show a front pic dude! As for the grill cloth, I've hear of places that custom print whatever artwork you want! Don't know about the price, but doubt it'd be too terribly expensive for a 1X12 or whatever that thing is.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    yes, full frontal pics, woooh.

    what did it look like before?

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    Forum Member CoyotesGator's Avatar
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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    Very cool!

    I hate to make you take it back apart but, we're gonna need gut shots!
    What happend?
    Who let the magic smoke out?

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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    The amp is a "Silver Stripe" Bandit, manufactured in the 90's. It was a 1-12 combo with the Sheffield speaker, the cabinet now has a Weber Thames.
    Other than the brand, everything will look the same under the hood. I have been using the Burr Brown, (now TI), OPA2134A op amps. They are very quiet, and (I think), a little less gain than the 4558's or or the 4560's. The guys on the Steel Guitar Forum were bragging about them, and I think they're right!
    Thought I had posted a front view, (guess I was lucky to get any pic at all to load)!

  10. #10
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    should make your own badge for it

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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    TJ at Weber promised to send me photos of what they have, I do need something on the front.
    I have some badges in the works for the amps I've built, but I just made a different box for this one.

  12. #12
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    I did an in depth shootout on chips in one of the DOD FX10 BiFet clones I've been building. I thought it'd be a great circuit to do some critical listening with, as it's an awesome clean boost. I then did the same test in a couple different OD pedals to see how the chips responded while distorting. Here's my conclusions:

    OPA2134: HiFi, neutral with an very even frequency response across the guitar's range. Does not compress much, and when it does it's very light and smooth.

    TLO72 or 82: very nice warmth to the sound, even frequency response. I liked the sound and "feel", more compression than the OPA, but it's subtle and smooth like a good AC30. It really does remind me of a great tube amp's response to dynamics. "Organic" is the best adjective.

    4558: Meh, it's ok.

    AD712: I honestly didn't like this chip. It has a sterile and boxy tone. IDK how to explain it, but I HATED the way it compresses. It was linear up to a certain point and clamped down really hard and fast. Not like how a DynaComp pumps and breathes, which would've been way better IMO.

    So, that's what I found when I was trying different OpAmps in a couple different pedals. My overall favorite is the TLO72 or 82. As with anything else tone related, it all depends on the player and what other gear you're using.

    IDK if you've ever heard or tried it, but I've had some great results "stacking" chips, sometimes it made no difference. I know there's other chips out there, but these are what I tried.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    I have done some of the Monte Allums mods on pedals with the dual stack adapters. (Since I did the whole mod, I didn't try one vs two), but he also uses the 2134's for noise reduction.
    I replaced all 5 chips in this amp (4560's), and think I should have left the reverb driver/recovery chip as is. I think the 2134 lowered the gain a little!
    Monte has an article on (his opinion) of the different IC's.
    http://www.monteallums.com/pedal_mod...ml#chipdescrip

  14. #14
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    I've done a couple of his mods, I only used about half of the SD1 mod and combined it with some of the Machine Head Pedals mod. I left out the increased gain part as I actually lower the gain in the SD1, I put a 500K pot in place of the 1M "drive" control. That pedal sounds a little squirrelly to me with the gain cranked. Again, to each their own!

    I've read his articles, they're pretty interesting. I read as much as I can, there's ALWAYS something to be learned! 👍

    I just "roll my own" stacked chips, it's not too hard. Just take your time, allowing sufficient time for the IC to cool. Skip around the legs like lug nuts on a changed tire. Both of those are to not melt the chip. Lastly, make sure the prongs are clean and use the bare minimum of solder. If you have any "bird turds" it might not seat fully in the socket.

    Thanks again for sharing!!! Best of luck to you, have a good one amigo!
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

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    Re: Not a Fender, or a tube amp!

    I forgot to mention that I did replace the TL072 chips in an old Fender hybrid with 4555's I think. I reinstalled the TL072's. Seems the best thing I did to that (Champ 25) amp was to remove some of the clipping diode circuitry on the gain channel. (And install a Mojo G12H30 clone).
    Thank you also for your info!

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