Anouther Fender Excelsior purchased!! my first working tube amp and she arives today!

[jipp]

(Fender Excelsior)I was originally going to get a vox custom 15c in black for my first tube amp. blue is pretty, but for 200.00 more not so much tone wise especially on my budget. however, it did not work out that way. *i do love the tone, so there is one in the future while i save for a boothill tweed 5e3 .. and that is probably all the amps ill need..

since i have the battery powered/head phone amps collecting up quite nice.. its sorta my thing to collect i guess. they take up little room on my shelf,and they are not to expensive ( unless its one of them original rocket amps, not sure why that model is any better than the current one. shrugs) they are all fun and sound great with my new set of AKG 240 Head Phones really digging the voxamplugs; the vox30 sounds sweet..

so i bought one of these fender Excelsior with the 15" speaker. doing a quick search there is not a whole lot of 15" speaker options. thats ok for now. as all i plan on doing is learning to play using my first working tube amp. breaking the original speaker in, ( hoping it plays nice with my guitars ) and will use the original tubes ( hoping they are good and not bad/microphonic right off the go) while i learn how tube numbers add different tones, or if they will even work with what my amp takes. i get 6l6 what confuses me is when you get 6l6gsx&& whatever, or 12xy2636 ( arbitrary numbers, but wheni look on ebay at tubes, i have no idea what im looking at... i can say from a visual aspect, the rca solid black tubes look wicked. dunno if that means they are better than none black tubes, I just think they look cool. anyhow, i thnk this will be a good first amp to learn with.

so when Mr. UPS man brings me my new baby, ill get some pictures, with out pictures its just a made up lie i know.

with out having the instructions in my hands to read etc.

what are the things i should do as i open up the box.
should i do any looking around for loose wires, no clue how a tube goes in or how hard they have to be seated. so im hoping the chinese tubes are ok for now and i get lucky and there will be no harm done in shipping. but i just do not trust UPS they are so rough on there items.

anyhow, any input on what the first steps are to getting a new tube amp up and running would be nice... im sure this was common knowledge back in the day, but for me its not.


do i plug the amp in and let her sit for a period of time before i plug in a guitar chord/guitar? etc. i know i come off as stupid for not knowing this basic thing and having to ask. but, id rather do it right. than ruin a new amp over ignorance. ( i know how to break in a new engine/trans, go figure )

anyhow, im excited. you guys rock. and thanks fender for making a cool amp, iv loved every clip iv heard on youtube so far. i look forward to playing with pedals etc too.. but that's down the road.
chris.

 

[telex76]

Just make sure the tubes are seated good and didn't come out part way during delivery.
If it has a standby switch, wait 30 sec. to a minute before taking it off standby.
If you can control yourself you could wait 5 minutes for the tubes to get hot, but not necessary.
Nothing much else you can tell before you start playing.
Enjoy.

Oh, you want to be sure the speaker is plugged in and the connections on the speaker are secure.

 

[jipp]

thank you. cant wait. and i will get a vox soon. heh. the price was right with the 4th of july sale.. i could not refuse. so i went for it.. seems every store runs out of them before they even get a chance to advertise. hopefully the vox custom 15c aint going no where soon.

that will probably be my birthday gift to my self in oct. and maybe some guitar lessons if i can find a teacher.. im happy to say my health is tarting to improve. doctors found something they have missed in the pass besides the obv shaterd leg.

chris.

 

[t-luxe]

Just plug her in and play. No standby switch on the Excelsior.
For home use, the stock speaker is fine. It'll sweeten up quite a bit as it breaks in.
I swapped tubes right away but I always do that-I didn't hear alot of difference from the stock tubes. Changing the first pre-amp tube(V1) will have the most effect.
Enjoy!(and Happy Birthday)

 

[Synchro]

Chances are it will come out of the box flawless. You might want to gently give the tubes a push but I'd be surprised if any are loose. Switch it on, wait 30 - 45 seconds and enjoy.

 

[Fearnot]

My tube amp has a well-broken-in 15" Eminence speaker, and I'm always impressed with how warm and full it is. It's got plenty of bite too, but never harsh or shrill. I'm surprised there aren't more amps and cabs around with a 15" option.

That Excelsior looks like fun.

 

[jipp]

hi guys, i can say i really dig this amp. sounds great, still getting use to the volume on the guitar instead of reaching over to the amp to mess with the volume. but its fun.. also tube amp just shows how much i suck. hah.. anyhow, only problem with the amp is i hear a rattle sometimes. is this normal? and just part of the amps chacter? no hum or anything. anyhow, i love my new amp. lots of practicing now.. i also need to get a amp stand for it so its off the ground. and do they make a protective cover for this amp? need one of them. all i know is this thing blows my line six away. hah. i really like how full the sound is. anyhow, its a very well built amp. built like a tank.
i would recommend one of these to any noob for there first tube amp, thats for sure. then ill have to figure out the pedal thing, long road ahead of me. cheers.
chris.

 

[Synchro]

hi guys, i can say i really dig this amp. sounds great, still getting use to the volume on the guitar instead of reaching over to the amp to mess with the volume. but its fun.. also tube amp just shows how much i suck. hah.. anyhow, only problem with the amp is i hear a rattle sometimes. is this normal? and just part of the amps chacter? no hum or anything. anyhow, i love my new amp. lots of practicing now.. i also need to get a amp stand for it so its off the ground. and do they make a protective cover for this amp? need one of them. all i know is this thing blows my line six away. hah. i really like how full the sound is. anyhow, its a very well built amp. built like a tank.
i would recommend one of these to any noob for there first tube amp, thats for sure. then ill have to figure out the pedal thing, long road ahead of me. cheers.
chris.

You might try replacing the pre-amp tubes.

 

[jipp]

You might try replacing the pre-amp tubes.

ok, ill also check for lose screws with a screw driver. i think iv narrowed it down to the cage at the bottom.

surprised they do not make a cover for this yet. guess im gonna have to just go by dimensions to see if i can find something that will fit, or sorta fit. i live in desert can get dust around here. and being a open back.. id rather keep her all pretty.. i can say, i see how a amp can make you a better player.. you want to practice more cause she sounds so good. love the clean. i figure this is gonna be my clean/blues amp and the vox is gonna be my rock n roll amp.

o yeah, i figured the tubes would glow brighter than they do. maybe that old harmony 400a amp i have just needs new tubes. and a 3 prong chord. hmm.

doh, just realized you live down the road from me about 3 hours i think. my little sis went to school there university, she thought the town was boring. heh.
chris.

 

[t-luxe]

Someone on another forum said covers were available and gave this Fender part#:009 095 0000. I haven't found anyone that's actually selling them, tho.

There's some aftermarket covers on Ebay. $45.

 

[Silverface]

My building partner and I got the Excelsior (him) and Greta (me) as son as we could find 'em as shop amps and test platforms, and we're both very pleased. The Excelsior has plenty of power/headroom for small club gigs/jams - the stock speaker is actually quite a bit better than w expected once it had about 10 hours of mid-volume break in time (it was pretty harsh out of the box, as was te Greta speaker, which also improved exponentially with break in time).

We're slipping a tone control in place of the switch - that's really the only thing I think Fender kind of blew on this one. With a real tone control it'd be a decent nod to early Fender tweeds on one hand and Magnatones/Esteys and all the related private-label tube amps of the 50's. For those players that only have a small SS practice amp (or a mid-powered digital Swiss-Army-Knife modeling amp) the Excelsior is a very inexpensive way to get into the tube amp world in a *good* way.

It's also a great buy for players who have slightly too big an amp for home and small club use - if you just have a a Super Reverb, Pro Reverb, Bandmaster (or especially a Twin) or comparably-powered amp of another brand the Excelsior is a good home amp and great small club amp - you can crank it and leave it, adjusting your guitar's controls and pick attack to go from clean to overdriven. It's also light, a Godsend for us ol' pharts with blown out backs!

And even though it'll void Fender's warranty, the ease of installing a tone control (a decent tech should be able to figure something out and install it in an hour) and changing to higher-quality caps make it a real bargain.

I have a tremendously overvalued (for what it actually consists of, not as a collector's item) '55 5D3 Deluxe (with 9-pin preamp tubes) and with good tubes in the Excelsior and playing time on the speaker they are not *that* far apart in sound - the cheap (in '55) Jensen Alnico 12" does not react all that differently than the cheap (nowadays) 15" in the Excelsior, even with the Excelsior's solid-state rectifier (the 15" speaker, when broken in, is slightly "slow on the draw" - meaning it doesn't jump with sharp attack, almost like the sag of a tube rectifier. This is a *good* thing* - approaching a vintage sound sort of through the back door...).

The one thing we did find with both the Excelsior and Greta - changing tubes makes a huge difference. All new JJ's sounded very good; a NOS 5751 in the V1 socket and RCA 12AX7 and 6L6's sound incredible. Another good power tube - the Tung Sol 5881. A little less punchy than the JJ's and more of a vintage grind when cranked up. A pair of NOS Tung Sol 5881's were probably the best sounding tubes in it we've tried so far.

The one problem - trying to find a matching knob for the tone control! He may just go with old-style brown radio knobs...or brown chicken-heads.

I'd buy one myself if I didn't have a whole stable of amps in that general power/size range.

 

[tap4154]

Someone on another forum said covers were available and gave this Fender part#:009 095 0000. I haven't found anyone that's actually selling them, tho.

There's some aftermarket covers on Ebay. $45.

Custom Amp Covers has them. I have 3 of their covers, and I like 'em. Not real thick, but better than the stock Fender covers. It's heavy felt-backed vinyl.

(link removed)

They made one for my Super 210 from my specs, and it fits perfectly, so if anyone has a Super 210 or Super 112, they have the cover. The Champ cover I ordered was made from someone else's specs, and doesn't fit quite as well, but it's fine. The PJ cover is perfect.

 

[t-luxe]

The one problem - trying to find a matching knob for the tone control! He may just go with old-style brown radio knobs...or brown chicken-heads.

LP speed knobs work great. Chicken heads would be a good choice as well--easier to read at a distance.

 

[jipp]

ill look into the tone control later on. looks like ill have to try some new tubes soon. will hold off on the speaker for a while till it breaks in. do you think the 19.99 music stand musicansfriends sell would be ok for this amp? i do not like it on the floor. i have a bad leg and never know when it may give out on me. so, the less things to fall over the better. i have one other question. are patch cables just smaller versions of guitar cables? i know the speaker cables are different then guitar, etc.
chris.

 

[jipp]

just came along this in latest PG online magazine. figure its a good read for all us noobs. breaks down some of the basic problems tubes amps may have so you can fix them,

(link removed)

id like to think the info is accurate being from a magazine i know a lot of guitar players read.

cheers. i cant stop playing with my new fender.. love the clean tone.. also one thing i forgot to mention on like some other amps iv tried. this amp loves every guitar i own. odd i know.. luck of the draw i guess.
chris.

 

[jipp]

LP speed knobs work great. Chicken heads would be a good choice as well--easier to read at a distance.

i have some skull/cross bone speed knobs heh, i could go all johny rebel.. or would that be james dean. shrugs. its quite odd it looks like fender left just enough room there for a tone knob.. i wonder if it was a last minute cut for price..

chris.

 

[Wyzsard]

ill look into the tone control later on. looks like ill have to try some new tubes soon. will hold off on the speaker for a while till it breaks in. do you think the 19.99 music stand musicansfriends sell would be ok for this amp? i do not like it on the floor. i have a bad leg and never know when it may give out on me. so, the less things to fall over the better. i have one other question. are patch cables just smaller versions of guitar cables? i know the speaker cables are different then guitar, etc.
chris.

With it's open back, wide open actually, I'd suggest a 12 buck mover's dolly from Harbor Freight to get the amp off the floor. You'll love how easy it is to move around. With a tilted stand, you'd need to install a panel on the back of the amp so the amp would rest on the stand's frame.

And yes, patch cables are the same as guitar cables. Both are made with instrument cable.

 

[jipp]

is that the square one withe carpet and four wheels? i figured the patch cables were, but wanted to double check. i know im new at this so i have no pride to try to hide behind. laughs. i think ill get one of them slip on covers from the studio slip company, they make it for this amp. i just need one to throw over.. it gets so dust here.. i do live in the desert tho, go figure. heh.. speaking of which i woke up dis morning to the biggest spider iv seen in a while it was as big as my hand, i think a male blond tarantula... i let it go on its merry way down the side walk.
chris.

p.s
i figure my next amp will be a vox for rock n roll tone, as i dig this fender for its jazzy clean tone, means im gonna hae to get a semi hollow body now.. sigh.. anyhow, surfing ebay i came across this, i think its a mini vox top boost 30 thing.. if i did not already spend my hobby money for this month id probably get it to try out.

here is the ebay link.. and no i do not know who is selling it, or even the brand name.. probably china tho. i just realized it aint much bigger than that spider i saw dis morning. i guess its competing against the micro tiny orange hybrid, i guess small amps are in.. my hand is bigger than that head. pathfinder 15r probably better for my needs.. cheaper too.

(link removed)

 

[Wyzsard]

Yes, the one with carpet. If you have a HF near you, go and pick one out that sets level and all.

I bought two of them. They work great.

 

[McLefty83]

check these out

QUOTE=t-luxe;4298603]LP speed knobs work great. Chicken heads would be a good choice as well--easier to read at a distance.[/QUOTE]

check these out! my friend and fellow picker, kirt makes these in colors similar the tolex. they may match a little better.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/126680456/octopus-guitar-amplifier-and-effects?ref=shop_home_active


take care.