Goodsell Owners' Club

[GEN DAWG]

New clip. This one shows how well the Valpreaux takes pedals. I put my Jetter Red Square (also from Atlanta) and a Catalinbread DLS in front of the amp. Both make the amp sound like a big-ass Marshall 4x12. But that's just my opinion. It is also correct, but it IS just an opinion . . . .

[goldtopper]

I so envy you folks. Ever since hearing Brad Avery with Third Day years ago using a Goodsell, it's been my dream amp. Every time I get close, a disaster seems to happen and the $ disappears. Came close last week, and bam, my sweet Labrador Lena came down with cancer. Might be a while I guess!
Best sounding amps ever!

[GEN DAWG]

Hang in there, Goldtopper. And my best wishes to your pup. Sometimes you can find a Super 17 used for fairly cheap. Plus the new Black Line models are a great value. Which one are you interested in?

[goldtopper]

Originally Posted by GEN DAWG

Hang in there, Goldtopper. And my best wishes to your pup. Sometimes you can find a Super 17 used for fairly cheap. Plus the new Black Line models are a great value. Which one are you interested in?

Super 17 would be my first choice, but the Black Lines look great from what I've seen. Either way, considering the components and quality control that goes into these amps I think they are a great buy from all standpoints. The sound floors me, especially since I'm an EL84 lover.
Thanks for the wishes for Lena. She had a mast cell tumor removed on Friday. The Vet described it as "very aggressive" and had to take quite a bit of surrounding tissue from her leg above the hock. If it spread to organs or pops up again, I'll just hurt for her. She's 7 and frisky as a pup.

[GEN DAWG]

Originally Posted by goldtopper

Super 17 would be my first choice, but the Black Lines look great from what I've seen.

To be clear, there is a Black Line version of the S17 (you probably know that). I have not played that amp, but I have played several other S17's, and I've played all the other Black Line models (Unibox, Dominatrix, Valpreaux). All of the Black Line amps sound great, indistinguishable (to my ears) from the prior versions of those amps. I can't see why the black S17 wouldn't suit your needs.

And I have been through it with ailing dogs, my friend (cataracts, torn ACL, tumors). It's no fun at all. Best of luck.

[goldtopper]

$1499 for a S17. Unbelieveable!

[dickiebyrd]

Originally Posted by GEN DAWG

To be clear, there is a Black Line version of the S17 (you probably know that). I have not played that amp, but I have played several other S17's, and I've played all the other Black Line models (Unibox, Dominatrix, Valpreaux). All of the Black Line amps sound great, indistinguishable (to my ears) from the prior versions of those amps. I can't see why the black S17 wouldn't suit your needs.

And I have been through it with ailing dogs, my friend (cataracts, torn ACL, tumors). It's no fun at all. Best of luck.

Dawg, if you get much better at this, you may have to quit your day job... the clip you sent today was awesome, and I love the Jetter, though I'm told he doesn't like me for reasons unknown.

My black Lab Wilson, who was the inspiration for the Black Dog series and featured in some previous ads, has had 3 cancer surgeries in the same location (rib cage, outside of the diaphragmatic barrier) in the last year. It grew back insanely fast and large, but it's been 3 months now and so far no sign of return. He's 10, happy and active, and if the tumor comes back we will operate again and kick the can down the road another 6 months...

[dickiebyrd]

Originally Posted by GEN DAWG

To be clear, there is a Black Line version of the S17 (you probably know that). I have not played that amp, but I have played several other S17's, and I've played all the other Black Line models (Unibox, Dominatrix, Valpreaux). All of the Black Line amps sound great, indistinguishable (to my ears) from the prior versions of those amps. I can't see why the black S17 wouldn't suit your needs.

And I have been through it with ailing dogs, my friend (cataracts, torn ACL, tumors). It's no fun at all. Best of luck.

Do you need to evaluate a Black 17, just for the beautiful symmetry of completing the whole set?

[GEN DAWG]

Originally Posted by dickiebyrd

Do you need to evaluate a Black 17, just for the beautiful symmetry of completing the whole set?

Uhhh....yeah! With baseball season starting, I'm happy to hit for the cycle.

[GEN DAWG]

Two new clips. Sort of the same idea as last weekend, but different.

The first is the same guitar as in the last video (Rist). The first time through the lick (Faces, "Stay With Me") is the DLS, second time through is the Jetter boost channel. Same amp as in the video (Valpreaux)
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11574235

The second clip uses a Logan Custom Esquire-style guitar, loaded with a Rumplestiltskin Black Ropes pickup. First time through the lick (The Black Crowes, "Sting Me") is the DLS, the second time through is, again, the Jetter boost channel. I actually ran this through my Port City Wave 1x12 cab, which has a Jensen Neo Tornado in it. A little different sound from the speaker in the Valpreaux. Not sure it's better, but different.
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11574232

[GEN DAWG]

I got "To Love Somebody" in my head this week and decided to track it with a Goodsell Super 17 (the new Black Line version) that I've been playing recently. Rhythm track is my ES330, straight into the amp (using a little of the 17's trem and reverb). Lead is a pawn shop (fake) Strat, with a little delay, then into the amp (again, using the on-board reverb). My take is that this amp just positively kills on clean tones; I'm gonna go out there and say they're the best I've heard (if they aren't, I'm not sure what beats it). And it has some really usable dirtier tones, too, as you'll hear on the lead.

[alerich]

Here's mine. Clairmont Super Seventeen serial number #0003. Richard told me it formerly belonged to Vince Gill. I just retubed it and it sounds *schweet*.

[GEN DAWG]

Oh my!! #3!! Lucky man.

[snottyboy]

Congratulations on #3! Give us a review on it. What speaker is in there?

Dawg, I agree...your playing and clips are getting really good. Keep them coming!

[GEN DAWG]

Originally Posted by snottyboy

Dawg, I agree...your playing and clips are getting really good. Keep them coming!

Thanks for the kind words. I think I also got lucky with mic placement.

[alerich]

It has a Celestion Greenback in it. I really like this speaker. Well broken in and suits this amp and my ears to a T. I just picked this up earlier this week so I am in the very early honeymoon stage with it. The tubes were probably long overdue to be replaced and may well have been the tubes Richard installed when he built ti based on the date codes. I had a British Mullard GZ34 and a pair of old GE 6BQ5 tubes (dated 1958 and 1959) stashed away and those went in. For preamp tubes I am using a personal clean amp favorite of mine the Sovtek 12AX7 LPS.

All of my recording stuff is in my man cave. I have been playing the amp all week in my living room with this high vaulted ceiling and man... it sounds so good. I'll record a little of it when I have a chance. My sound samples never seem to measure up and this would be a challenge to capture the spirit of this amp. Those old organ transformers have magic in them.

[GEN DAWG]

Looking forward to hearing those clips. You are right, it's awfully hard to fully capture the magic in these boxes. My best success (to the extent I've had any) was to use a close mic and some kind of room mic, with the room sound panned hard to one side. That seems to bring out a little more of the 3-dimensional quality you get from these amps. Good luck and congrats again.

[alerich]

Thanks for the recording tips. It may be a few weeks before I can put together some worthy samples but I plan to record some soon. One of my old GE 6BQ5 tubes has developed a low frequency microphonic issue when hanging upside down. Sounds fine when I lay the amp on its side. I will sandbag those for special occasions.

Installed a fresh set of EH pre and power tubes today. So far I like the EH EL84 tubes but I have found that I prefer the Sovtek LPS in the preamp/PI. Subtle but noticeably better high end chime to my ears. One things that really impresses me about this little amp is how "closed back" it sounds for an open back combo. Plenty of bass. I am running a Boss CS-3 compressor on which I did the Monte Allums Opto Plus mod, a Hermida Reverb pedal for just a spritz of reverb and an old analog Electra chorus pedal that I have had since the early 80s. Best chorus pedal I have ever heard. This tone is almost intoxicating.

[GEN DAWG]

Hey, I have that same old chorus pedal! I do remember it sounding good. I'll have to get it back out.

[Stylemaster]

Just picked up a Blackline Valpreaux 21 at the NY Amp Show. Love at first note. Will make a full report soon. One thing I can tell you right away is that Richard is one hell of a great guy, brilliant designer and builder and a shrewd marketer and business man as well. Obviously I have a great deal of respect for him.

I visit his room every year at the Amp Show, carefully hovering around listening to and playing his amps, all the while listening to him weave his magical tales about how he comes up with the concepts for his designs, and I just hold back and take it all in. This time he totally won me over; I could't resist the Valpreaux and I'm thrilled!