Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

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Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

Hmmm... west Michigan. That has got to be nearby me. Maybe I'll have to go see it:nana: :firedevil
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

I had a RD 85 212 back in the day. They were ok amps but they weren't all that.
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

Hey, the seller mentioned it's heavy as hell. Wait a second, let me think about this here... not 1, not 2, but "4" EV speakers, solid oak wood cabinets, it's really heavy?!? Naaaahhhhhh (a single EV speaker only weighs about 40lbs by itself :D) ;)
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

Robert S. said:
I had a RD 85 212 back in the day. They were ok amps but they weren't all that.
Click to expand...
+1 I had a RD-65 head. It sounded O.K.? I got it home and played it for a while.Then I decided it needed a Lil' sweeting.:33: So I pulled the V1 NOS tube from my Twin only to discover...THERE WAS NO PLACE TO PUT IT!:arg:
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

Sorry Jeff Seal. Here it is... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7392573547&rd=1&ss pagename=STRK:MESE:IT&rd=1-

I think it looks quite different than other Music Man Amps. This one is made with oak cabinets and amp shell instead of tolex over pine. Breath taking to say the least!
 
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Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

Meh...ugly and heavy. The color has that whole naugahyde/rec room feel to it.

I see the Music Man amps come up now and again and have pondered picking one up just to get the low-down in the hub-bub about them.
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

Robert S. said:
I had a RD 85 212 back in the day. They were ok amps but they weren't all that.
Click to expand...

I've owned two Musicman amps...sterile sounding solid state preamp. No balls. The EL-34 output stage was supposed to make up for the solid state preamp and help them sound ballsy like a Marshall but doesn't.

I'd pass.

Decent clean tones...mediocre rock tones.

Lew
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

DLT said:
Sorry Jeff Seal. Here it is... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7392573547&rd=1&ss pagename=STRK:MESE:IT&rd=1-

I think it looks quite different than other Music Man Amps. This one is made with oak cabinets and amp shell instead of tolex over pine. Breath taking to say the least!
Click to expand...


Any halfway competent cab maker can make those cabs. If you dig the look, get any other MM amp and have the work done for you locally.
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

and why would anybody pay 2K for this thing? It's a 70's SS preamp pawnshop special with some home built cabs...

I did my time with these amps; big, ugly, and they don't sound very good (unless you really can't live another day without the built-in phaser). Ugh.
Pull the 6CA7's and pass it on...
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

I agree with Lew. MM amps sounded like Fenders with shot tubes. One of my old singer/rhythm players owned that exact same head the HD-150. It had it's own sound, and actually sounded good with his tele, but I still think it was kinda dead sounding, compared to a Fender.

I will say that I love the phaser circuit that was built into some of them. I really wish I knew of a pedal that could capture that exact sound.
 
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Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

ive played a music man. i cant see the one in these links, but i can talk about them. i really liked the cleans from the MM amp i played at gc. it was a 112 combo, looked well worn it said it ws from the 70's. od channel sucked. sounded like a homemade distortion pedal. i thought the cleans were really good, but nothing worth buying. i remember it had a deep switch on it that made the cleans sound real good.
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

ES350 said:
and why would anybody pay 2K for this thing? It's a 70's SS preamp pawnshop special with some home built cabs...

I did my time with these amps; big, ugly, and they don't sound very good (unless you really can't live another day without the built-in phaser). Ugh.
Pull the 6CA7's and pass it on...
Click to expand...

Obviously someone here did not read the person's description on the amp! :smack:
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

I played a few MM amps back in the 90's at the store I worked at. We had a 65 watter that sat there forever. Finally sold it cheap but the 4x12 was still there. That cab became mine (that was '93 or '94) thanks to the boss giving it to me for my birthday. I had good numbers going so that helped. Still using that cab today with the same original speakers. It's seen a 5150 cranked through it and my Marshall nearly cranked through it. Not one hickup. I just recently discovered it has alnico speakers in it (they're not marked) through some research and the cab is rated at 130 watts. Nowhere near as heavy as a Marshall cab. Lighter than many 2x12's I've lifted.
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

DLT said:
Obviously someone here did not read the person's description on the amp! :smack:
Click to expand...


Obviously, someone here just got smoke blown up their bum. ;)
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

ErikH said:
I played a few MM amps back in the 90's at the store I worked at. We had a 65 watter that sat there forever. Finally sold it cheap but the 4x12 was still there. That cab became mine (that was '93 or '94) thanks to the boss giving it to me for my birthday. I had good numbers going so that helped. Still using that cab today with the same original speakers. It's seen a 5150 cranked through it and my Marshall nearly cranked through it. Not one hickup. I just recently discovered it has alnico speakers in it (they're not marked) through some research and the cab is rated at 130 watts. Nowhere near as heavy as a Marshall cab. Lighter than many 2x12's I've lifted.
Click to expand...

ErikH,
Those old Musicman cabs and speakers were A#1! Cabinets were made of ponderosa pine and the speakers were some of the best factory speakers out there at the time!

I really like Music Man amps. They are built like a tank, point to point soldering, excellent transformers and excellent components etc. They last! I guess that is why you see many of them around to this day.
The Music Man amp on ebay is beautiful in my opinion. I love the oak! If one has ever heard an HD-150 with EV speakers, it is louder than a Marshall 100W. They sound better than a Marshall at lower volume too!
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

..well, well.....seems we have some pretty strong opinions on these!

Fwiw.... I've played many of these and I've found most to be lack luster, but then again I've played through some that really were killer! It would seem that when MM switched from the LM308 IC's to the 1458 (predecessor of the 4558) their tone changed substantially (I don't remember which one was noticably better). I personally, would have no problem gigging with whichever one sounded better!.... of course, i wouldn't pay this amount for the one in the auction...

Jeff Seal
 
Re: Music Man Amp - The Holy Grail

I have a 112RD-100-EVM, and I use it for the one thing that it does well- loud and clean. For the other stuff, I switch to Boogie.
 
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