amp family photo, aka fishing for compliments

[Alex W]

I had to do some straightening up around the house and in doing so got most of my amps into one room for a family photo. Top, L to R: SFVC w/ 10" speaker, hot rod Champ clone head by muchxs, SFVC, Vintage 47 Ric 12, PRRI. Emery Sound Microbaby head is sitting on top of PRRI. Bottom, L to R: 5E7 Bandmaster clone by Bob Burriss, 5E3 Deluxe in brown + wheat by muchxs, Vibroverb reissue, Vibroverb reissue.

Of all these amps, the two that I currently use and enjoy the most are the hot rod Champ head by muchxs and the Vintage 47. Both of these are wonderful amps and very good for home use. The Champ head into a Celestion Blue is an amazing combination. The Bandmaster is glorious but it's a loud beast for sure.

high res photo here: http://oi48.tinypic.com/34i1hkl.jpg

[ESQUIRE JR]

Very nice!

[keithb7]

That is a great collection and worthy of lots of compliments! The hot rod champ clone head has my interest. Any sound clips?

[JamonHamon]

yeah tell us about your Hot Rod Champ....

[don71]

Oh Yea! Looking good.

Alex, I'm sure you're like'n that

[jh45gun]

Nice collection

[Alex W]

Originally Posted by JamonHamon

yeah tell us about your Hot Rod Champ....

Originally Posted by keithb7

That is a great collection and worthy of lots of compliments! The hot rod champ clone head has my interest. Any sound clips?

Thanks everyone.

No sound clips yet. I've never uploaded a video to YouTube but I keep saying I am going to get around to it. It's just a really great amp, with a bigger sound than a regular Champ. Not just louder, but somehow it sounds more like one of its bigger brothers, like a Princeton Reverb or something. It's got a pull boost on the bass knob. (I've switched out the original skirted knobs that muchxs installed on it for white barrel knobs because they are easier to grasp for the pull boost.) In regular mode it has a wonderfully musical clean sound, with rich throaty lows and sparkling highs, and all sorts of great harmonics. It's one of those amps that continually surprises as you play it, like it's a conversation between you and the amp. In boost mode, it's more like a gain boost as much as a volume boost, although I can't say anything about the circuit. Maybe muchxs can comment on that. But it's very much a loud, raunchy rock 'n' roll sound, while still having a lot of tonal complexity. If a fella had only one amp, this little guy with a Celestion Blue in a combo would be a great way to go. I love it.

The Vintage 47 amp is very nice too. It's a 12 watt, 1x12 amp somewhat like a Deluxe but it isn't as loud and it's a very simple amp with just volume and tone controls. The whole lineup of amps from Vintage 47 seem to be based on Valco/Supro amp models but I don't know much about the historical amps. They are very reasonably priced IMO and very nicely made, in case anyone has been eyeballing them and thinking about ordering one. They are sort of primitive sounding and the primary distinction is that they have octal preamp tubes rather than 9 pin preamp tubes like a 12AX7. Honestly though, I have been on an extended honeymoon with the hot rod Champ head and am not in a position to give the Vintage 47 the review it deserves yet.

[Satchmo]

Nice!!!

I'm looking forward to your review on the Vintage 47. That one caught my eye as soon as I looked at your photo. I've been ogling the Vintage 47 web site for months. If those amps sound as nice as they look, I'll be hard pressed to avoid getting one soon. They aren't cheap but they look like they should cost two or three times more than they do.

[mattio]

Very nice - that 5E3 from muchxs looks great - there´s just something about brown tolex fenders The Vintage 47 looks way cool also.

[tjalla]

Hawt freakin' dang!! Awesome thread title, and completely appropriate

[JamonHamon]

Originally Posted by Alex W

I had to do some straightening up around the house and in doing so got most of my amps into one room for a family photo. Top, L to R: SFVC w/ 10" speaker, hot rod Champ clone head by muchxs, SFVC, Vintage 47 Ric 12, PRRI. Emery Sound Microbaby head is sitting on top of PRRI. Bottom, L to R: 5E7 Bandmaster clone by Bob Burriss, 5E3 Deluxe in brown + wheat by muchxs, Vibroverb reissue, Vibroverb reissue.

Of all these amps, the two that I currently use and enjoy the most are the hot rod Champ head by muchxs and the Vintage 47. Both of these are wonderful amps and very good for home use. The Champ head into a Celestion Blue is an amazing combination. The Bandmaster is glorious but it's a loud beast for sure.

high res photo here: http://oi48.tinypic.com/34i1hkl.jpg

What speaker do you use in your PRRI and you said that you really like your Weber 10A125 what amp do you use the !0A125 in ???? and is it really your favorite speaker

I put a 10A125 in my PRRI and holy smokes to my suprise it turned it into a very loud Tweed sounding amp but it lost its Blckface charm that we love Princton Reverbs for, so I put a 10" Eminence Redfang and its very good

but I really really liked the weber 10A125 in it too

[Captain Bb]

Originally Posted by Alex W

[garytelecastor]

Sweet Collection Alex, thanks for giving us a view.
I too, was drawn to the 47 right away.
It's got a very humble look to it, but I bet it just
drips tone.

[Inuitdream]

Nice looking collection! Damn!

[uriah1]

oh yea !

[Alex W]

Originally Posted by Captain Bb

Originally Posted by JamonHamon

What speaker do you use in your PRRI and you said that you really like your Weber 10A125 what amp do you use the !0A125 in ???? and is it really your favorite speaker

I put a 10A125 in my PRRI and holy smokes to my suprise it turned it into a very loud Tweed sounding amp but it lost its Blckface charm that we love Princton Reverbs for, so I put a 10" Eminence Redfang and its very good

but I really really liked the weber 10A125 in it too

I still have a Weber 10A125 in it. I agree that it makes it sound more tweedy but I really like it. I suspect that at higher volume levels I would prefer different speakers.

Hard to say what's my favorite speaker. I just ordered some Tungsten-Weber T10Q speakers for the 5E7 clone. The set up in it now is too bright for my tastes, although if anyone ever wanted to get a Rickenbacker sound from a Tele it has the right recipe.

[telex76]

Nice bunch.

[Alex W]

And now for the 'upskirt' photos...





Speakers top row, L to R: Weber Silver Ten, Weber Sig 8, Weber Sig 12 (stock in Vintage 47 amp), Weber 10A125 in PRRI.

Speaker bottom row, L to R:
Bandmaster: Eminence Ragin Cajun, Ramrod, and alnico Legend
Lopo cab with Celestion Blue
VVRI in back: Weber 10F150 and 10A125
5E3: vintage 12" alnico speaker salvaged by muchxs on one of his quests
VVRI far right, stock speakers


Bendix rectifier tube in PRRI. Takes a good long time to warm up.


inputs on Vintage 47. Small transformer. Amp has no indicator light.


Weber speakers in VVRI


vintage alnico speaker in 5E3, Dr. Z Brake Lite (which is pretty good BTW)


Celestion Blue


For all my other fancy schmancy amps I love the SFVC and use it all the time.





Weber Silver Ten speaker. At first I didn't like the sound of this speaker. Then it got broken in, or so I thought, and I loved it. Then it broke in even more and now I really really like it, but I miss a certain sound it had during the break in process. The cabinet was made by muchxs. The donor SFVC for this project was a ratty looking thing off eBay. When it arrived it turned out to have a nice old Mullard 12AX7 preamp tube in it.


10A125 in PRRI. Originally this speaker was meant to go into the VVRI above to make a pair. I thought I'd try it in the PRRI first just as an experiment. I loved the sound of it and so it stayed, and the VVRI got one alnico and one ceramic speaker.

[E5RSY]

I love your brown folding table. That is da bomb!!!

Original or reissue???

[Alex W]

Originally Posted by E5RSY

I love your brown folding table. That is da bomb!!!

Original or reissue???

It's from a Weber kit.