GAS attack. Incoming NAD.

[Matt42]

Tax season is upon us! I'll be putting a deposit down on one of my dream amps on Friday. I've been GASing after one of these amps for about a year and a half. I was fortunate enough to get to try one out at several gigs over that time and it really is heavenly.

I was set to buy one last fall, but stumbled onto a great deal on a Super Sonic Twin via a local shop from forum bro Red Label (she's playing and sounding great buddy!), so I put this amp on hold. Being a steel player who plays in a country band, I really need two amps to gig effectively; one big clean amp and one Princeton/Deluxe style amp with some sag. There are some local guys that build an amp that is exactly that. 20 Watts, 1x12, 2 6v6 tubes, T/M/B/P tone stack, level and dwell on the reverb, a PPIMV, hand made, well constructed, and it costs the same as a DRRI new. Sold.

http://www.41stamplifiers.com/the-bayonet/


It'll take 2-6 weeks for it to get built, but once it does I'll post some sound clips, and maybe a video or two.

Now I just have to figure out which new OD pedals to pair with it. I'm really liking the looks of the JRAD Lenny.

 

[skyydogg01]

Re: GAS attack. Incoming NAD.

Yeah man, you've been talking about that amp for a while now. Congrats!!

 

[Matt42]

Re: GAS attack. Incoming NAD.

Thanks man! I've been looking forward to getting one since the first time I played one a year and a half ago. I can't wait! It's like Christmas!!!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: GAS attack. Incoming NAD.

Sweet. I'm sure you'll dig it. I remember you mentioning Milkman Amps. I tried one of those, and its definitely amongst all the handmade 6v6 amps done right.

 

[Matt42]

Re: GAS attack. Incoming NAD.

Sweet. I'm sure you'll dig it. I remember you mentioning Milkman Amps. I tried one of those, and its definitely amongst all the handmade 6v6 amps done right.

Yeah, the Creamer is my #1 dream amp. Milkman makes great stuff.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: GAS attack. Incoming NAD.

That's awesome bud! I've looked at these amps before. I coworker of mine over here in Billings is a cousin to the builder, so she sent me a link to their site a few years ago and I drooled over them. If I spent more time in "clean world", I'd still have these on my radar. I've been pretty happy with the Friedman stuff as of late. Anyways... congrats and I'm glad to hear that you're still gigging the SS Twin. That was a great amp and will always be remembered fondly by me.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: GAS attack. Incoming NAD.

I approve of the Dwell control on the Reverb. The Gain/Master arrangement is counter to tweed Fender convention. I'm not sure that, even flat out, the current demands would be great enough to induce tube rectification "sag".

 

[Matt42]

Re: GAS attack. Incoming NAD.

That's awesome bud! I've looked at these amps before. I coworker of mine over here in Billings is a cousin to the builder, so she sent me a link to their site a few years ago and I drooled over them. If I spent more time in "clean world", I'd still have these on my radar. I've been pretty happy with the Friedman stuff as of late. Anyways... congrats and I'm glad to hear that you're still gigging the SS Twin. That was a great amp and will always be remembered fondly by me.

Must be Kyle's cousin, I'm pretty sure he's from Billings. They are great amps, and super light, which will be a nice change from that monster of a Twin + road case!

I'm really loving that Twin, I'm definitely glad I picked it up. I haven't really been using the burn channel much, just for a couple of songs. When I'm playing tele, I live on the Fat setting of the clean channel. I generally keep it set to the Club wattage setting (25 watts, I think), which lets me dial in some good country grit that I can hit with a light OD to fatten up. I plan on taking it in to my amp guy up here and having him redo all the solder work on the tube joints. I've had some issues with it overheating at long (4+ hour) gigs and crackling a little bit. From what I've read, that's a pretty common issue with the Super Sonic Twins and redoing the solder should eliminate it.

I approve of the Dwell control on the Reverb. The Gain/Master arrangement is counter to tweed Fender convention. I'm not sure that, even flat out, the current demands would be great enough to induce tube rectification "sag".

The Master is a Post Phase Inverter master, so it's actually after the phase inverter in the circuit. The overall effect is that you still get the sag you would in a non MV amp. I gigged with my ex-gf's '62 5F1 Champ quite a few times, and the sag is definitely pretty similar (as similar as a 5F1 could be to a 20 watt 1x12 amp, anyway). The handful of times I gigged the Bayonet, I just cranked the master to about 3-4:00 and set the gain to taste.

The Dwell control really opens up the reverb. They make a reverb head as well, which I'm thinking about picking up at some point. I've also thought about having them custom build me their larger amp, the Panzer, with a 15" speaker and some minor tweaks as a Pedal Steel amp.