birthday shopping (new amp!)

[the guy who invented fire]

I picked up a 1972 Sound City 50 Plus head. All Sound City's were hand wired and they all have PARTRIDGE transformers. It's laid out pretty much like a Plexi Marshall...4 inputs, 2 volumes, bass, middle, treble. It has no control for the presence, but big deal! It runs 2 EL-34, 3 12ax7's and 1 12at7. There is a switch in the back labeled "sensitivty" that makes this thing crunch a little sooner but, let me tell you this, THIS MOTHER IS LOUD! I will be getting a Weber Mini mass asap! Anybody that tells you that these amps are not well built is dead wrong! Killer transformers, handwired, high quality caps, resisters, pots, etc...this really is a fine amp, and can be had for less that 1/4 of what a Marshall from the same year would go for! Jeff Seal told me that he would take a Sound City over a Marshall Super Lead or a HiWatt, and now I know why! Mine happens to be very, VERY clean and I am the 3rd owner! The real kicker is the guy I bought it from put NOS Mullard power tubes and NOS Amperex pre amp tubes in it and they have very few hours on them!!! Anybody that wants that late 60's/early 70's Marshall vibe but doesn't want to pay big bucks would do themselves a huge favor to hold out and find a Sound City! Im running this thing into a Fane loaded 4x12 cab and it just kills...After a few more days I will post a better review. But so far, I will tell you this...I will be buying every Sound City amps can put my hands on! It's just SO touch sensitive, it has a good clean tone, and the crunch is to die for and, you can control the whole thing just with the guitars volume control! You have to crank it to get it to crunch, but as soon as I get a mini mass I will be able to control the overall volume and still get crunch...I am amazed by how good this amp sounds.

 

[JeffB]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

Awesome man! I'm glad ya got what you were lookin for!

Thats the great things about those old amps. They din' need all the bells and whistles..you could do everything ya needed with the guitars controls and a few pedals, and they sound fabulous. My 1987X (when it's working, hee hee) is the same way.

And Happy B-day!

 

[Stevo]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

Sweet! It sounds like you really did some research and made things happen. I'd like to hear one of those bad boys. Enjoy the amp bro.. sounds great.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

Hehe not over a Hiwatt here
Had one and it died..twice
But the sound is good, alike to a Hiwatt.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

Thanks guys...I have heard a few stories about them not being too solid, but the guy I got it from had owned it since 1978 and has never had a problem with it...except for a replaced midrange pot it is all original. I had a HiWatt 50 watter for a while and this amp crunches lots more that the HiWatt. I dig it, I really think that I might have found my amp!

 

[Wattage]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

Man that is great to hear!!! I like the sound of a Fane loaded cab too. My old laney bottom was full of Fanes and I loved that thing!!!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

For a long time, I liked 6L6's the most, but man, EL-34's just have that crunchy bark that sounds good with singles and humbuckers. I've never owned a Sound City, but have played a friends a few times. He also had the best old Sabbath era Laney head that had the chrome Laney badge in the upper left corner and gray grillcloth. That was another vintage EL-34 amp that was really cool. How much was it?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

Man that is great to hear!!! I like the sound of a Fane loaded cab too. My old laney bottom was full of Fanes and I loved that thing!!!

Im telling you Scott...lots of people are trashing the SC amps, saying that they are not well built...I don't belive it! Time will tell for sure, but this thing is killer, tone to die for, and the Fanes really set it off...I like greenbacks or vintage 30's as much as the next guy, but these Fanes have a punch that is hard to beat!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

For a long time, I liked 6L6's the most, but man, EL-34's just have that crunchy bark that sounds good with singles and humbuckers. I've never owned a Sound City, but have played a friends a few times. He also had the best old Sabbath era Laney head that had the chrome Laney badge in the upper left corner and gray grillcloth. That was another vintage EL-34 amp that was really cool. How much was it?

I would LOVE to have a Laney Supergroup, but for now the SC will do me just fine! It's a 72 model, and has NOS amperex preamp tubes, and NOS mullard EL34's, and it looks almost new! I got it for $500.00...some people have already told me that I paid too much, but for tone like this you could spend 4 or 5 times as much and get less amp for your money! Really...find another hand wired all tube amp with partridge transformers and see how much that puppy runs you! I think the best part is that I bought the cab for $45.00 a few years ago, so I have a total of $545.00 in the whole rig!

 

[Jeff Seal]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

Congrats, on the amp find......

Jeff Seal

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

Drudging up ye olde threade, I know, but I'm curious…

Christian, what ever happened with your Sound City? Still playing it?

- Keith

 

[Rich_S]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

There's a 120-watt Sound City head in my local music store right now. I don't think anybody in town really knows what it is. I wish I had the bucks for it just because its a big loud head (exactly the opposite of what I'm playing these days). It's also a fond memory of hte "some day..." wishing I did back when I first started playing (circa 1974). One of my local boyhood music-store hang-outs carried Sound City stuff. Also, at my very first rock concert ever, Pete Cetera played bass thought a Sound City full stack with two heads.

P.S. Four-and-a-half years and this is STILL in the wrong room?!!

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

Drudging up ye olde threade, I know, but I'm curious…
Christian, what ever happened with your Sound City? Still playing it?
- Keith

HA!

When I've got somewhere I can! I know it's only 50 watts but through a 4x12 cab loaded with Fanes it's one loud mutha!

Truth is I've since moved on to smaller amps and really prefer 2 20ish watts in stereo than one 50 watter...I get more dynamics and a wider range of the tones I want to hear out of 2 smaller amps but the SC is still here and still kicking @ss!

 

[Pink Unicorn Horsey]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

I've since moved on to smaller amps

I figured that was the case, since you haven't mentioned the SC all that much (at least not in recent memory). Do you use a Mini-Mass with it at all?

- Keith

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: birthday shopping (new amp!)

I figured that was the case, since you haven't mentioned the SC all that much (at least not in recent memory). Do you use a Mini-Mass with it at all?
- Keith

I actually sold my mini mass a while back but I did use it with a few times...worked well.

I'd still use the SC more if I had 2...not for volume but Im just so hung up on running stereo now!