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Silverface
December 23rd, 2009, 01:45 PM
Some of the forum oldtimers will remember my primary gig and studio amps - a '64 Vibroverb Custom (I had an original and when the hand-wired "reissues" came out there was no doubt - I HAD to get one); a '69 Pro Reverb; '72 Deluxe Reverb; '55 wide-panel Deluxe -
- and my go-to performance amp, a Holland Little Jimi. Made in the 90's before Mike Holland partnered (and was gobbled up and spit out by Heritage), it's a beautiful piece of workmanship. Flawless, neat, hand-wiring and solder joints, tube rectifier, 12XX7 preamp tubes (more on that later) and octal power tubes - literally ANY tube that has the same pinouts as a 6L6 (or EL34, as this one has ben slightly modified to take either).
I've run it with various rectifier tubes depending on how "tight" I need the sound to be - with a 5Y3 it ventures into tweed tonal territory, while with a GZ34 it's tight enough to stand up to a 100-watt Marshall JCM800 and be clearly heard, even at 30-35 watts.
As far as power tubes, I've run it with 6L6's, 5881's (REAL ones - 60's Tung Sols - not the so-called reissue new production "5881"'s), EL37's (I keep a pair of Mullards as studio tubes), EL34/6CA7's (usually Amperex or Sylvanias), KT88's (vintage Genelex) and other 6550-types....and even 6V6's for a softer tone/touch.
Swapping out tubes is simply is matter of rebiasing, which can b done using the handy external bias point jacks (although I use an Allesandro Bias/Matching Meter). If you want to be REAL anal you obviously check the plate voltage first - which I do whenever I switch rectifiers - but really the only thing to be careful of is using a tight rectifier with 6V6's or original 5881's which don't like high plate voltages (needless to say I don't go near crappy Russian 6V6's - some of which, in the early Sovtek days, were simply Russian servo tubes similar to 5881's; god ones became 5881's, weak ones were matched up and voila - a 6V6 matched set! Yech...).
Oddly, though, it's the only amp I have ever owned that sounded good with cheap, cheesy Sovtek wafer-base 5881's (yeah, those same servo tubes that are not audio tubes at all...at least by design). I'll sometimes use those on "it doesn't really matter" cover-band jobs to save wear and tear on my good tubes.
It's a very unique amp - reverb (which I rarely use except for surf-band jobs, preferring cascading analog delays instead) with both intensity and dwell, with controls a little oddly set - the volume control is the *second* knob, with one of the reverb knobs to the left of it. This is one of the very specific design points regarding lead dress, as are the position of tube sockets, transformers, and even the reverb jacks - nothing but power and rectifier tubes are in a straight line on the chassis - other things are positioned or angled for very specific reasons, and a low noise floor results (sometimes I forget it's on, even when the volume is dimed). Tone circuitry provides bass, mid and treble controls, plus a "sweep" control. Many players were misinformed by rumor and thought (as did I until I opened it up) the sweep was part of the reverb (the going story is that it's like Fender's outboard reverb unit). The reverb design is much like the Fender outboard unit (and unlike the reverb in the combos) in that it works on the full frequency range - reverb in the combos only works on the highs, which is why a hair too much sounds tinny on Fender combos.
The third control (at least what I THOUGHT was the third "reverb" control) is labeled "sweep", and is a variable negative feedback control. Once you learn the nuances of this knob (which change depending on volume level, up to around 6 or so) you can vary between "more BF" or "more tweed" tone-wise. It's subtle, but once you "get it" it's amazing.
The model I have is the 2x10 - it originally came with two Holland-branded Eminence ceramic 10's; very good speakers with this amp, but I've switched to Weber P10Q-types - a little "looser" but I rarely need high volume/tight bass unless I'm trying lamely to play clean pedal steel with it - then I throw a pair of Californias in (and my steel playing is never squeaky-clean, so I don't think I've changed speakers in 4 or 5 years).
Now the interesting...and quirky...stuff - tone.
There seem to be some variables among Holland Jimis, as slight design changes were made, different speaker configurations used (1x12 is the most common, but I think I've seen one 2x12 and a 1x15), but all of them, when set up in a fairly standard way with a 5AR4 or GZ34 rectifier, good 6L6's, a 12AX7 driver and preamp tube (or a 5751 for a hair less gain) and power tubes biased at around 37ma provide similar tone - and I've been amazed at the number of players who have never found the entire range, as they never turn an amp up above "5" or so on the volume control (note - it's pretty much a "law of physics" - use the smallest amp you can for a particular venue, and crank it - with a good amp you can "drive" it via right-hand dynamics and your guitar's volume control, often negating the need for a tone-altering overdrive pedal. I've kept amps from 10-100 watts on hand for yeas, and almost always use the one I can crank up plus keep a backup on hand just in case something goes awry, a lesson learned the hard way. But, for example, a Twin Reverb turned up to "2 1/2" sounds cold, brittle, and plain awful, while a Deluxe Reverb turned up to 6 or so will pump the same volume and sound FAR better).
The Jimi at low-to-medium volume sounds very Fendery, with a slight mix of Blackface tone and the mids of a good tweed. It's one of the few amps (I used to have a part-time tech business and have played more than a thousand amps over the decades) that DOES sound decent at lower volume, with a nice, clean, fat jazz tone. Get it up to about 5 or 6 and it sounds like a cranked Fender.
Above 6 or 7, the rules of the universe no longer apply. It completely changes character, going into a Vox-like saturation - almost Dumble-like in the buttery smooth quality, but with a hair more aggressiveness (think Larry Carlton in a really bad mood! ;-) ). With one of my Velvet-Hammer equipped Teles I can literally use the second-coil switch as an overdrive control, combining it with the guitar's volume and tone controls to change the character of the saturation (mostly varying the mids). You can stab a note with your volume rolled off, bring it up and it sings forever. And you get all this WITHOUT an increase in volume - above 6 or 7 (depending on tubes/bias) it simply increases in sustain, aggressiveness and saturation but not volume. Almost like having 3 amps at your disposal.
It's a shame Holland more or less evaporated. He's thought about restarting - but bless him, Mike is a genius amp designer but not the greatest businessman (many, including me, had early amps in the shop for QC problems, and sometimes it took months to get them back). That rep has kept them from becoming high-priced collector's items, and having played not only the Jimi but a bunch of other models I just don't think you can go wrong buying one - any competent tech can handle service, even without a schematic (and there are NO schematics floating around that I'm aware of).
I've seen Jimi's for $700 on eBay, and I swear the next time I have that much cash loose and one shows up I'll grab it asap. It, my '55 Deluxe and my '69 Pro Reverb are 3 amps that if stolen would cause instant cardiac arrest!
- and my go-to performance amp, a Holland Little Jimi. Made in the 90's before Mike Holland partnered (and was gobbled up and spit out by Heritage), it's a beautiful piece of workmanship. Flawless, neat, hand-wiring and solder joints, tube rectifier, 12XX7 preamp tubes (more on that later) and octal power tubes - literally ANY tube that has the same pinouts as a 6L6 (or EL34, as this one has ben slightly modified to take either).
I've run it with various rectifier tubes depending on how "tight" I need the sound to be - with a 5Y3 it ventures into tweed tonal territory, while with a GZ34 it's tight enough to stand up to a 100-watt Marshall JCM800 and be clearly heard, even at 30-35 watts.
As far as power tubes, I've run it with 6L6's, 5881's (REAL ones - 60's Tung Sols - not the so-called reissue new production "5881"'s), EL37's (I keep a pair of Mullards as studio tubes), EL34/6CA7's (usually Amperex or Sylvanias), KT88's (vintage Genelex) and other 6550-types....and even 6V6's for a softer tone/touch.
Swapping out tubes is simply is matter of rebiasing, which can b done using the handy external bias point jacks (although I use an Allesandro Bias/Matching Meter). If you want to be REAL anal you obviously check the plate voltage first - which I do whenever I switch rectifiers - but really the only thing to be careful of is using a tight rectifier with 6V6's or original 5881's which don't like high plate voltages (needless to say I don't go near crappy Russian 6V6's - some of which, in the early Sovtek days, were simply Russian servo tubes similar to 5881's; god ones became 5881's, weak ones were matched up and voila - a 6V6 matched set! Yech...).
Oddly, though, it's the only amp I have ever owned that sounded good with cheap, cheesy Sovtek wafer-base 5881's (yeah, those same servo tubes that are not audio tubes at all...at least by design). I'll sometimes use those on "it doesn't really matter" cover-band jobs to save wear and tear on my good tubes.
It's a very unique amp - reverb (which I rarely use except for surf-band jobs, preferring cascading analog delays instead) with both intensity and dwell, with controls a little oddly set - the volume control is the *second* knob, with one of the reverb knobs to the left of it. This is one of the very specific design points regarding lead dress, as are the position of tube sockets, transformers, and even the reverb jacks - nothing but power and rectifier tubes are in a straight line on the chassis - other things are positioned or angled for very specific reasons, and a low noise floor results (sometimes I forget it's on, even when the volume is dimed). Tone circuitry provides bass, mid and treble controls, plus a "sweep" control. Many players were misinformed by rumor and thought (as did I until I opened it up) the sweep was part of the reverb (the going story is that it's like Fender's outboard reverb unit). The reverb design is much like the Fender outboard unit (and unlike the reverb in the combos) in that it works on the full frequency range - reverb in the combos only works on the highs, which is why a hair too much sounds tinny on Fender combos.
The third control (at least what I THOUGHT was the third "reverb" control) is labeled "sweep", and is a variable negative feedback control. Once you learn the nuances of this knob (which change depending on volume level, up to around 6 or so) you can vary between "more BF" or "more tweed" tone-wise. It's subtle, but once you "get it" it's amazing.
The model I have is the 2x10 - it originally came with two Holland-branded Eminence ceramic 10's; very good speakers with this amp, but I've switched to Weber P10Q-types - a little "looser" but I rarely need high volume/tight bass unless I'm trying lamely to play clean pedal steel with it - then I throw a pair of Californias in (and my steel playing is never squeaky-clean, so I don't think I've changed speakers in 4 or 5 years).
Now the interesting...and quirky...stuff - tone.
There seem to be some variables among Holland Jimis, as slight design changes were made, different speaker configurations used (1x12 is the most common, but I think I've seen one 2x12 and a 1x15), but all of them, when set up in a fairly standard way with a 5AR4 or GZ34 rectifier, good 6L6's, a 12AX7 driver and preamp tube (or a 5751 for a hair less gain) and power tubes biased at around 37ma provide similar tone - and I've been amazed at the number of players who have never found the entire range, as they never turn an amp up above "5" or so on the volume control (note - it's pretty much a "law of physics" - use the smallest amp you can for a particular venue, and crank it - with a good amp you can "drive" it via right-hand dynamics and your guitar's volume control, often negating the need for a tone-altering overdrive pedal. I've kept amps from 10-100 watts on hand for yeas, and almost always use the one I can crank up plus keep a backup on hand just in case something goes awry, a lesson learned the hard way. But, for example, a Twin Reverb turned up to "2 1/2" sounds cold, brittle, and plain awful, while a Deluxe Reverb turned up to 6 or so will pump the same volume and sound FAR better).
The Jimi at low-to-medium volume sounds very Fendery, with a slight mix of Blackface tone and the mids of a good tweed. It's one of the few amps (I used to have a part-time tech business and have played more than a thousand amps over the decades) that DOES sound decent at lower volume, with a nice, clean, fat jazz tone. Get it up to about 5 or 6 and it sounds like a cranked Fender.
Above 6 or 7, the rules of the universe no longer apply. It completely changes character, going into a Vox-like saturation - almost Dumble-like in the buttery smooth quality, but with a hair more aggressiveness (think Larry Carlton in a really bad mood! ;-) ). With one of my Velvet-Hammer equipped Teles I can literally use the second-coil switch as an overdrive control, combining it with the guitar's volume and tone controls to change the character of the saturation (mostly varying the mids). You can stab a note with your volume rolled off, bring it up and it sings forever. And you get all this WITHOUT an increase in volume - above 6 or 7 (depending on tubes/bias) it simply increases in sustain, aggressiveness and saturation but not volume. Almost like having 3 amps at your disposal.
It's a shame Holland more or less evaporated. He's thought about restarting - but bless him, Mike is a genius amp designer but not the greatest businessman (many, including me, had early amps in the shop for QC problems, and sometimes it took months to get them back). That rep has kept them from becoming high-priced collector's items, and having played not only the Jimi but a bunch of other models I just don't think you can go wrong buying one - any competent tech can handle service, even without a schematic (and there are NO schematics floating around that I'm aware of).
I've seen Jimi's for $700 on eBay, and I swear the next time I have that much cash loose and one shows up I'll grab it asap. It, my '55 Deluxe and my '69 Pro Reverb are 3 amps that if stolen would cause instant cardiac arrest!