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Very loud, but it has a Lo/Hi output switch that drops it to 25 watts, which is still pretty loud, and you can pull two tubes to drop it even further to ~12.5 watts. Weak reverb, although that might be just mine. Heavy, I hauled it up a flight of stairs and dread the day I have to do it again. I got mine for $250 a few months back, which I thought was a steal. Over the weekend I picked up a Teisco Checkmate 10 solid state amp for $12, sold as "not tested" which told me it wasn't working, but I needed a project. Get it home, all it does is hum when the power is turned on. Oh, and the power switch is the tone control, which does change the tone of the hum. Unplug, pop it open, and it's 120 volts straight to the circuit with ~10 caps, ~10 resistors, one transistor, and a transformer that's mounted on the speaker. And a two-prong power cord. This is going to be fun with a high possibility of electrocution.
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Apr 17, 2014 04:12
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Pulled out my Red Knob Fender "The Twin" over the weekend only to find there is no reverb. Reverb was already pretty weak the last time I used it, but is nonexistent now. Slap the tank and you get the "crash" of the springs clear as day, so the return side is working. Swapped tubes on the driver side and all I found out was the one spare 12AT7 I have is dead. Borrowed one from another amp, no change in reverb. So now I need to find the time to tear it down and see if there's an obvious culprit. I might break down and take it to someone else, but I really don't want to lug it down the stairs. Most likely I'll just shove it back into the corner for a few more years.
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Aug 9, 2017 03:42
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~2 weeks back I picked up a Vox Student V-5 amp from 1965 with a 70's LP copy for $100. It is an odd-ball, made in the US by Thomas Organ, rare but probably not very valuable in comparison to other Vox amps from the '60s. Depending on what specs you read, it's from 1-5 watts into a 7" Vox labeled speaker. Uses the same tube setup that was a staple of 1930's AM radio sets, and is very similar to some Danelectro and Harmony amps from the same time period. One knob that serves as the power switch and volume control which was scratchy as hell. Amp was not working, just loudly humming.  Got around to looking at it last weekend, and the first thing I saw was that the leads from the output transformer were broken off the connection tabs and soldered directly to the speaker leads, and very poorly at that. Fixed all that and soldered in new speaker wires, and the thing fired right up, albeit still with some hum present, but way less than before. Also, the included guitar cable has a broken connector, which made it hum even louder. This week I got a chance to go poking around, and there's one definitely suspicious cap, but by shifting it away from the tube socket about 90% of the hum went away. For my purposes, I might just leave it as is, but I did spend the money to get new caps to recap the whole thing. Of course, that's only 5 capacitors, much easier job that redoing my Twin or Bandmaster. Also blew out the switch with contact cleaner, and it's nice and quiet. The amp itself is not very loud. At full volume, it might annoy the neighbors if you're in an apartment. Tone wise, it is very bright, almost too bright with a Strat, yet my Telecaster sounds great. Single coils don't really push it hard enough to break up, but humbuckers do after about 8 on the volume. Throw in a boost pedal(EH LPB-1) and it starts to get really dirty, but still kind of bright. First amp where I actually would use the tone controls on the guitar. Could probably be tamed a little by moving to an 8" speaker, but I don't want to cut ii up to make it fit. Now to decide if I want to just leave it as is for a while or change the caps when I get the new ones. Leaning towards leaving it alone, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
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Jan 12, 2018 21:13
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Sockington posted:Put the speaker on a jack instead of wires. You can unplug the stock speaker and jam it through a more modern 1x12 or whatever when wanted. Not a bad idea. jwh posted:The good news is that at least that amp has a power transformer, unlike the 'all american five' circuits. Yeah, was one of the first things I checked when I saw it. I have another project amp in storage without one, and I've been putting it off for that reason. Teisco Checkmate 10 Solid State, which probably isn't worth much effort. That one also only hums, and has a big can capacitor that looks like it'll be a giant pain in the rear end to replace. Does have plenty of room for an isolation transformer, though. The caps have been swapped in the Vox, and now it has a different kind of hum/buzz but it still works. Not quite as harsh, either. Odd thing to me is that when the amp volume is all the way up, the hum goes completely away if I roll back the tone controls on the guitar. Drop the amp volume, hum comes back. I know I've heard of that before, but can't for the life of me remember what causes it or the fix.
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Jan 21, 2018 05:26
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TsL0DO-c1E
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May 3, 2018 03:54
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Finally got around to fixing my Vox "Student" amp. It's a ~5 watt tube amp, based on the All American 5 circuit, BUT with an actual power transformer so it can't electrocute you as easily. Made by Thomas Organ in the US for one year, 1965. It had a loud hum and was pickup radio when I got it. Changing caps got rid of ~80% of the hum, but it had a steady hum that didn't change with the volume. Poked at it a bunch, figured it was a ground problem, but couldn't figure out where it was. Realized later it was the volume control/power switch since besides the steady hum, the amp was basically off/kind of loud/louder but not that much. Ordered a replacement, which arrived and sat on my desk for a few months. Finally tore it apart, put in the new switch, and finally have an amp with no hum and usable volume controls. It gets surprisingly loud and stays clean up to ~6. Breaks up after that, but the speaker is farty so it doesn't sound that great. Time to add an external jack and hook it to a decent cab.
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Feb 19, 2020 03:17
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It's a nice little amp, and they're ridiculously affordable for a 60's Vox. And another project has been completed, this one probably not worth the effort.  Solid State Checkmate 10 amp. Oddly, these are usually branded as Teisco. More odd is where this one was made.  Made in USA, Teiscos were all Japanese. Also odd it's a Checkmate 10, when it only pulls 8 watts and puts out less than 3 since the speaker is marked 3W. Also not a 10" speaker. Had a horrible buzzsaw 120Hz hum. Replaced the old can capacitor with three new individual caps and it fires right up, quiet as can be. Still has the 2 prong plug, I'll get to that once I decide if I want to keep or sell.
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Feb 23, 2020 05:36
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It cost about $16 to fix my issues with my Fender Greta Original 4" speaker  Replacement 4" from Amazon that was $8.48 plus shipping & tax  Massive improvement. Tamed the ice-picky treble and nowhere near as farty when pushed harder. It's still a 4" speaker, so there's no avoiding it totally, but it can go quite a bit louder and dirtier than before.
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Jul 25, 2020 00:54
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Dang It Bhabhi! posted:The magnet is like 10 times larger lol. loving awesome, dude! They probably saved $1 per amp going with that little one. And in other oddball amps...  I can now say I own a Moog. Obviously made for their Theremins, but also a super clean guitar amp which takes pedals extremely well.
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Jul 25, 2020 17:07
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Picked this up last weekend, finally got a power supply of the right voltage/amperage/plug and thankfully it works. Clearance at the pawnshop, originally priced at $390, I'm in it for $175 including power supply.  Now to find that box of old tubes and see what's junk.
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Jun 11, 2021 23:49
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syntaxfunction posted:Has anyone properly heard the new Orange Super Crush 100? The idea of a refined CR120 is tasty as gently caress. I was planning on getting a Rockerverb at some point but if the demos are close enough to reality I may never really need one if I get the SC100. Agufish has a pretty decent demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5U7f1-7rSc Also, CAT!!
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Sep 23, 2021 23:55
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Dotted should just be wires run on the backside of the board, no?
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Oct 22, 2021 23:33
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| # ¿ May 16, 2024 16:28 |
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Armacham posted:
I think Derek Trucks still uses those. Big, heavy, and LOUD, so very loud. Not to mention there's a version that'll put out ~135 watts with a few tweaks.
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Jan 13, 2024 00:34
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