OT: The Semi-Annual, Taste Optional Music Thread: Post Your Feel-Bad Hit of the Summer

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

what a great band this was, kind of out of all the lanes

For real right? Like I don't even know how to describe them to people who have never listened.

Drummer hit drum. Louder? Hit drum harder.

Need maintenance?

Boom.

I make fun sometimes but I love you crazy drummer bastards. Ya'll make it happen.

Me and my buddy (our drummer) actually about to head up to the spot and record some stuff.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Do you use all NOS stuff? I have some old bastards kicking around from a couple ancient organs my friend and I cannibalized years back but most of 'em are too far gone, particularly for trying in like V1 and V2 in the DR. Too bad too because there are a few GEs in that batch. But as far as new glass is concerned, I've had good luck so far with Mesa 12AX7s and 12AT7s. They aren't TOO pricey per unit though a slight premium from like JJs and EHX.

My amp is really sensitive to what it gets in V1 and V2. I'll stick a tube that is fine further down the line up to V2 and it'll struggle. I'm not familiar with the Selmer's circuit but I bet it's a similar situation. You aren't red plating or anything, right? I figure your dude would see that right away. I learned somewhat recently that with these combo amps you can literally vibrate a tube to death so maybe that could be it, too.

The Treble n' Bass mk. II is basically Selmer's take on a Blonde Bassman-type head, but the British tubes means it's a bit more aggressive, so that makes sense. I didn't really think about it vibrating the tubes at volume, since it's sitting on top of a huge-ass Burman cab, but I wonder...

I've got a bunch of old Tesla, USSR preamp tubes I've picked up at fleamarkets and the like, but they got swapped out a few changes back because I was worried about them holding up during live shows. I'm mostly using JJs because they're from Slovakia and thus, cheap here, but I suspect some of the resistors in the preamp circuit have gone bad, because, whatever is going on with my preamp is making the bass channel super dark and the treble channel super shrill. Have you tried the Gold Lions or the Tung-Sol reissues at all?

 

[HandshakeLine]

Drummer hit drum. Louder? Hit drum harder.

Need maintenance?

Boom.

I think you'll find this is even easier to maintain:

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

The Treble n' Bass mk. II is basically Selmer's take on a Blonde Bassman-type head, but the British tubes means it's a bit more aggressive, so that makes sense. I didn't really think about it vibrating the tubes at volume, since it's sitting on top of a huge-ass Burman cab, but I wonder...

I've got a bunch of old Tesla, USSR preamp tubes I've picked up at fleamarkets and the like, but they got swapped out a few changes back because I was worried about them holding up during live shows. I'm mostly using JJs because they're from Slovakia and thus, cheap here, but I suspect some of the resistors in the preamp circuit have gone bad, because, whatever is going on with my preamp is making the bass channel super dark and the treble channel super shrill. Have you tried the Gold Lions or the Tung-Sol reissues at all?

The power tubes and rectifier that I just put in my DR are actually Gold Lions. Very shiny! Sound great to me but obviously the question is more about wear and tear which is yet to be determined. I wanted to do the same with my whole preamp section but that would have driven the cost up to somewhat exorbitant levels on an already-expensive reglass so since I had good luck in my AC15 with Mesa I went that route with good results so far.

For some reason thought your Selmer was a combo. I doubt it's a vibration issue as that's more endemic to combo amps but hey you never know. I ADORE vintage equipement and truly feel there is more than just a little something to the idea that there is extra character there. But man can that stuff be testy sometimes haha

 

[HandshakeLine]

The power tubes and rectifier that I just put in my DR are actually Gold Lions. Very shiny! Sound great to me but obvious the question is more about wear and tear which is yet to be determined. I wanted to do the same with my whole preamp section but that would have driven the cost up to somewhat exorbitant levels on an already-expensive reglass so since I had good luck in my AC15 with Mesa I went that route with good results so far.

For some reason thought your Selmer was a combo. I doubt it's a vibration issue as that's more endemic to combo amps but hey you never know. I ADORE vintage equipement and truly feel there is more than just a little something to the idea that there is extra character there. But man can that stuff be testy sometimes haha

Yeah, I love my old Selmers but they're kind of not as robust as you'd hope a vintage amp would be-- my old Fenders were damn near bulletproof, but these bad boys use PCBs instead tagboard so, sometimes they're prone to needing someone to reflow the traces and clean up the board a bit.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Yeah, I love my old Selmers but they're kind of not as robust as you'd hope a vintage amp would be-- my old Fenders were damn near bulletproof, but these bad boys use PCBs instead tagboard so, sometimes they're prone to needing someone to reflow the traces and clean up the board a bit.

I love my 68 DRRI dearly but man... I wish I had a "real" one that had been professionally gone through and tweaked where it needed tweaked but that's like 2+ grand I don't have.

Besides it's neat to have a Bassman tone stack on a DR on that Custom channel. I use it a ton. And now that I've had the amp a while the speaker is fully broke in and really sings.

But yeah... ultimately I just don't completely trust PCB boards inside a boiling hot amp ya know?

 

[HandshakeLine]

I love my 68 DRRI dearly but man... I wish I had a "real" one that had been professionally gone through and tweaked where it needed tweaked but that's like 2+ grand I don't have.

Besides it's neat to have a Bassman tone stack on a DR on that Custom channel. I use it a ton. And now that I've had the amp a while the speaker is fully broke in and really sings.

But yeah... ultimately I just don't completely trust PCB boards inside a boiling hot amp ya know?

Deluxe Reverbs are kind of the sweet spot in amps. Loud enough for rehearsals and club shows, not stupidly loud like a 120watt Orange full stack or something.

As far as reliability of PCBs, I think it kinda depends on the amp and the board. Ampeg V4s use circuit boards for example, and they're not any more unreliable than P2P Fenders (plus they run hotter than Hades), Mesas are pretty bullet proof too.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Deluxe Reverbs are kind of the sweet spot in amps. Loud enough for rehearsals and club shows, not stupidly loud like a 120watt Orange full stack or something.

As far as reliability of PCBs, I think it kinda depends on the amp and the board. Ampeg V4s use circuit boards for example, and they're not any more unreliable than P2P Fenders (plus they run hotter than Hades), Mesas are pretty bullet proof too.

Ha... honestly I can't even fathom playing out of something much louder. Although I DO have an old Peavey Mace full stack at the studio that was gifted to me. Friggin SIX 6L6s in the power section at 180 watts. Solid state pre. I guess it's the same model that late 70s Skynard used FWIW. It's... prohibitively loud. Though fun sometimes. Actually makes a good pedal platform because of all that clean headroom.

I guess I read horror stories sometimes about like Crate and Bugera tube amps heating up their boards so much that they get warped out. But I've also read that's just from terrible design choices and AFAIK Fender has never had that issue. I admit I'm just kind of a whore for old point to point wiring.

 

[Deport Ogie]

I make fun sometimes but I love you crazy drummer bastards. Ya'll make it happen.

Me and my buddy (our drummer) actually about to head up to the spot and record some stuff.

We're a fun lot. The secret is that all drummers love what we do but also, we all secretly want to be lead guitarists.

I think you'll find this is even easier to maintain:

Piffle. Look at all them buttons and that twisty shit. No personality at all. I think you'll find that the one thing all guitar players love about stickmen is our shining personalities.

 

[Deport Ogie]

what a great band this was, kind of out of all the lanes

They kind of meander in art-rock or maybe even prog but also they go for deliberate pastiche. They come in with a style in mind, all over the plce, tongue firmly in cheek, and then knock it out of the park.

But then again, I love "In Every Dream Home A Heartache" and I have no idea what the frig that is.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

We're a fun lot. The secret is that all drummers love what we do but also, we all secretly want to be lead guitarists.



Piffle. Look at all them buttons and that twisty shit. No personality at all. I think you'll find that the one thing all guitar players love about stickmen is our shining personalities.

It's true, actually. Every drummer I've ever worked with is a huge character.

 

[Factorial]

The Treble n' Bass mk. II is basically Selmer's take on a Blonde Bassman-type head, but the British tubes means it's a bit more aggressive, so that makes sense. I didn't really think about it vibrating the tubes at volume, since it's sitting on top of a huge-ass Burman cab, but I wonder...

I've got a bunch of old Tesla, USSR preamp tubes I've picked up at fleamarkets and the like, but they got swapped out a few changes back because I was worried about them holding up during live shows. I'm mostly using JJs because they're from Slovakia and thus, cheap here, but I suspect some of the resistors in the preamp circuit have gone bad, because, whatever is going on with my preamp is making the bass channel super dark and the treble channel super shrill. Have you tried the Gold Lions or the Tung-Sol reissues at all?

Ok, guitar amps as I had never heard of that company. I have 1965 Realistic (yeah, Radio Shack) stereo integrated amp made by a Japanese manufacturer (Toshiba maybe) that's 15W and is using those USSR tubes. Sounds nice but suffers some low end hum.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Ok, guitar amps as I had never heard of that company. I have 1965 Realistic (yeah, Radio Shack) stereo integrated amp made by a Japanese manufacturer (Toshiba maybe) that's 15W and is using those USSR tubes. Sounds nice but suffers some low end hum.

Yeah Selmer are/were woodwind and guitar manufacturers (gypsy jazz-style mostly) from France and England who got into making instrument amps in the late 1950s to capitalize on the postwar demand for guitars and live music. They're like WEM/Watkins or Elpico-- midlevel instrumental amps for bands that couldn't afford to get Voxes or Marshalls. In terms of tone, they're somewhere like halfway between a Vox and a Fender-- not as hifi as Marshalls, not as aggressive as Voxes, but definitely weird and unique sounding.

Billy Childish is probably the most prolific user of them, but you can hear them all over early Pink Floyd as well as the White Stripes' Elephant (where Jack used them instead of his fragile Silvertone amps) and assorted Jack White stuff. Good amps, rare in the States though.

Also Realistic kind of rules. Lots of their stuff was straight up copies of higher end stuff (with cheaper but replaceable components) and they even put out synths made and designed by Bob Moog.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Also Realistic kind of rules. Lots of their stuff was straight up copies of higher end stuff (with cheaper but replaceable components) and they even put out synths made and designed by Bob Moog.

Hell yeah the MG-1. Looks and sounds a lot like a Rogue. Affordable Moog bass for the time.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

The new "My Sweet Lord" video. Not entirely sure how I feel about it. But it's a song off of one of my favorite albums ever so hey that counts for something.

 

[Deport Ogie]

That's Easter Eggy AF.

I love George. Solo, Wilbury's, all of it. Not just musically though, the man had the best one liners.

Interviewer: "What's your favorite kind of girl?"
Lennon: "My wife."
Interviewer: "How about you?"
Harrison: "John's wife."

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

He was my favorite Beatle, for sure.

 

[dogthateats]

 

[Blowfish]

 

[Ugene Magic]

I just got done watching this, entirely....Enjoy..

 

[Factorial]

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Game. Blouses.

 

[Deport Ogie]

 

[Trade]

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]