The Excelsior Lounge

[drdos]

So I thought I would start the club. My amp is still on the truck. I should have it this coming Wed. Anyway, just thought I would ask a few questions of those who already have this amp, or are getting it before me.

1. Are there GT labeled tubes inside,and are you already thinking of changing them?
2. Is this amp Cathode Biasing? I searched the web and from what I've read that is what has been assumed.
3. Are you thinking of Gigging this amp?
4. Does it take pedals well?
Thanks

[Bouillion Cube]

Mine came in last week. Mass St Music had them in stock. Liking it.

[drdos]

Good to hear.... So Chicken or Beef??

[jchowe]

Mine came in earlier this week and has a defective 6v6 tube in it ( rings like a church bell!) :-( I ordered all new JJs to replace all of the tubes (did not come with GTs but rather generic Chinese tubes). I also have no idea about if it is cathode biasing...

[steve v]

I pulled the preamp tubes just to check them out - they just say made in china. Messed around with a JJ 12AX7 as well as a Sovtek 7571. The JJ had more gain the the stock tubes, the 7571 sounded good in v1, couldn't tell too much of a difference no matter which tube I put in v2. The power tubes appear to be Sino 6v6s. I'm in no rush to change them at this point, but I'm sure I will.

No problems with my compression and overdrive pedals :)

[drdos]

Originally Posted by steve v

I pulled the preamp tubes just to check them out - they just say made in china. Messed around with a JJ 12AX7 as well as a Sovtek 7571. The JJ had more gain the the stock tubes, the 7571 sounded good in v1, couldn't tell too much of a difference no matter which tube I put in v2. The power tubes appear to be Sino 6v6s. I'm in no rush to change them at this point, but I'm sure I will.

No problems with my compression and overdrive pedals :)

Good to know guys thanks for the info. The Sino tubes have given me grief in both my AC4TV, and the BH5H I changed them out in both amps(noise issues), but then again I'm sure you could get some decent one's... I've got some Tung Sol and JJ 12ax7's I'll try as well as a matched EH 6V6 set.

[ASC67]

We need youtube demo's

[CanadianCowboy]

Mine is on the FX truck in Ohio should be in Phoenix the end of the week... Ready to mod... Will likely get JJ's for the power I have some Different ECC83 to try... Let you know... I will be gigging with this amp in small venues ( May 5th gig)... And using it for a Harp amp for bigger gigs...

[Teleholder]

Here's a clip. This isn't me, just one I found on youtube.
Man, I really want one of these...

[steve v]

Here's another one by the same guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQMlk...feature=relmfu

As he noted, the amp is very loud with a lot of clean headroom. I just picked up a Weber Minimass attenuator. The breakup on this thing sounds amazing (to me), even at a more reasonable volume (thumbs up to the Minimass, btw)

[tele salivas]

Originally Posted by CanadianCowboy

Mine is on the FX truck in Ohio should be in Phoenix the end of the week... Ready to mod... Will likely get JJ's for the power I have some Different ECC83 to try... Let you know... I will be gigging with this amp in small venues ( May 5th gig)... And using it for a Harp amp for bigger gigs...

Mine gets here Thurs, must be on the same truck! Haven't been this excited about a peice of gear in a long while. I think I am developing a thing for "no tone" amps that have speaker sizes outside of 12".

[tele salivas]

Hey Teleholder, I think this guy may like his amp...

[ruger9]

Originally Posted by steve v

As he noted, the amp is very loud with a lot of clean headroom.

Interesting. On the Gretsch forum, an owner said the exact opposite.

[steve v]

Originally Posted by ruger9

Interesting. On the Gretsch forum, an owner said the exact opposite.

Perhaps a matter of perspective ? My 40 watt Hot Rod Deluxe does not seem significantly louder. I did notice that my v1 12AX7 was not that gainy, more similar to a 7571. I need to turn the amp up to about 3/4 to get it to break up and it seems quite loud to me

[tele salivas]

Originally Posted by steve v

Perhaps a matter of perspective ? My 40 watt Hot Rod Deluxe does not seem significantly louder. I did notice that my v1 12AX7 was not that gainy, more similar to a 7571. I need to turn the amp up to about 3/4 to get it to break up and it seems quite loud to me

My Princeton Reverb, with a little more efficient speaker, and everything else being stock, is pretty damn loud. 15 watts into an 8ohm speaker. Going to see what happens playing side by side with Excelsior (13 watts?) when it comes tommorrow.

[drdos]

Finally mine comes today. Can't wait to plug every guitar I own into it.

[Teleholder]

Originally Posted by tele salivas

My Princeton Reverb, with a little more efficient speaker, and everything else being stock, is pretty damn loud. 15 watts into an 8ohm speaker. Going to see what happens playing side by side with Excelsior (13 watts?) when it comes tommorrow.

I've got a Princeton Reverb too. I'm hoping the Excelsior won't be sort of redundant. Seems like these two amps could be very similar sounding.

[Extra Crispy]

Originally Posted by drdos

Finally mine comes today. Can't wait to plug every guitar I own into it.

I have to wait until Friday. But I will be plugging Tele, Strat, and P90s into it within the first 1/2 hr. Gettin gassiously excited :)

[drdos]

Originally Posted by Extra Crispy

I have to wait until Friday. But I will be plugging Tele, Strat, and P90s into it within the first 1/2 hr. Gettin gassiously excited :)

Yeah I've got a 72 Custom Tele, Jaguar Special HH and an LP to try out today...Wanting to leave work right now....

[drdos]

OK, so I was able to play on it for about 2hrs last night. First impressions this amp looks and feels like an amp that costs twice the price. The cab is think and solid. Tolex seems pretty rugged. The amp seems to have more metal then plastic parts which is always a plus. The Grill cloth is sweet and does not look cheap. Upon turning on the amp (Dark Switch enabled) it is very quiet. Just a slight hum. This amp has a lot of head room for 13watts. The clean sound from the dark channel is chimmey with a lot of punch(Almost Vox Like). Switching to the bright channel gives a slight hiss possible enhanced by my Tele's single coil bridge pickup but even with the vol on the amp turned down all the way there is a hiss coming from the amp. The sound on this channel is Very bright. Not sure that I'll use this channel with my Tele but my LP will probably love it. Using pedals in front of this amp was Sweet! Every effect I used sounded very good. No distorted sounds coming from my Delay, and Chorus. My overdrive pedals sounded pure with no added coloring from the amp. All in All this amp is a winner for small gigs and home use.