My name is Curly ....

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: My name is Curly ....

You can find the serial number on the rear left hand side....kind of tip it & look in between the chassis & the cab. Nothing like hiding things, huh??? It should read BA-???? & the number is consecutive ie. whatever number it was made....BA-001 would be the first etc etc....

BTW....they used to sell a sweet Blue Angel t-shirt; had a picture on the back like from WW II aircraft nose art of a hot little number.
:bigthumb:


***edit***

Actually, I think it's on the right hand side if looking at it from the rear..........d@mn, it sucks getting old; Can't Remember Sh!t!!!!

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Gary, does the rear have a metal bar going across it or tolexed wood spacer?

I think the earlier ones had the metal bar & the later ones had the tolexed ply.

 

[Curly]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Gary, does the rear have a metal bar going across it or tolexed wood spacer?

I think the earlier ones had the metal bar & the later ones had the tolexed ply.

Terry,
thanks for the info:

these darn things are pretty stout!
good thing it doesn't have one of those Electro Voice speakers!

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Yeah, the 4x10 was heavy as hell........but it sounded like heaven!!!! :32:

Have you played with the Simul-link setting yet???

Good stuff there:bigthumb:

 

[Curly]

Re: My name is Curly ....

You can find the serial number on the rear left hand side....kind of tip it & look in between the chassis & the cab. Nothing like hiding things, huh??? It should read BA-???? & the number is consecutive ie. whatever number it was made....BA-001 would be the first etc etc....

thanks again

found the serial # on the left side: BA-00803

found the tube chart just below it ... it's silver and black, and I couldn't see it in low light last night

I'll see if there are any left over T shirts.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: My name is Curly ....

There ya' go:beerchug:

Should kept that 4x10.....it was serial #283 or something like that. Something fairly low.

 

[Curly]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Yeah, the 4x10 was heavy as hell........but it sounded like heaven!!!! :32:

Have you played with the Simul-link setting yet???

Good stuff there:bigthumb:

I tried all the settings ... I don't quite get when the SS rectifier kicks in, or if there's a setting or what, so I'll have to go through the owner's manual.

I was trying to use my ears and listen closely last night, then switched over to my home made tweed Deluxe, and realized the BA lacked bottom. Bugs me, which is partly why I ordered new tubes and speaker. It sounded better through a cab, and I'm thinking the speaker may be worn.

Unfortunately, I usually don't give up on an amp until I get it sounding as good as possible to my ears. I have a fairly good stash of newer and NOS tubes, and I'll get this thing sounding killer.

the age is a concern though, as far as filter caps are concerned, so a shematic might be helpful if I take it to a tech.

I will say that this thing has industrial strength construction!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: My name is Curly ....

I like those amps too. I'm not positive, but I think Jay Leno's guitarist, Kevin Eubanks, uses that amp. I'm sure with the right tubes and your Mojo H30, you'll get it dialed in.

 

[Curly]

Re: My name is Curly ....

thanks for the vote of confidence, Joe

I just pulled the Mojo H30 out of the closet!

yes, Kevin Eubanks uses the same combo, and gets killer tone, IMO .. although that's not why I got one! I ain't got his chops!

I'm just a poor white blues player lookin' fer the good tone.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Gary, their site has some sample settings in the manual.....did you see those?

I tried each one & just tweaked to taste from there.

I don't recall where I left things, but I think I took their sample for blues lead but used the Simul-link where it recommended EL-84.

I also used some NOS JAN Phillips 6L6s instead of the 6V6s...Ei EL84s & I don't recall what pre's I was runnning, but I think I had JJs & Ei's combined.

I'll check around to see if I still have something with the tube line-up listed. :wink:

 

[Curly]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Terry,

I did see the suggested settings, went through those a little, and downloaded the manual.

I do have the tube line up ... I do have quite a few 6V6s I can try - Mazdas, RCAs, etc., and a few spare JJ EL 84s, although I ordered new sets of each from Bob, just to get it in good operating order.

I also have quite a few preamp tubes, both newer and NOS.

I just pulled some tubes .. the V1 was a JAN Phillips 5751 - not the right tube, despite the SRV connection. The 6V6s are EHs - also not my faves. I just might replace the whole lot and start fresh.

thanks again for your help

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: My name is Curly ....

I take it you bought JJs all around from Bob?

I've said it before that I'm not a huge JJ fan, but especially for this amp...with all the damned tubes ...they are probably a perfect starting point. And my Fuchs has JJ 6V6s & they sound GREAT in there, so....go figure!

Awesome....I think once you get it tweaked up a bit, you're gonna like it alot :bigthumb:

Oh and it LOVES single coils :bigok:

 

[Bludave]

Re: My name is Curly ....

and here's my tax return:

Mesa Blue Angel, 1 x 12 combo

I've had my eyes out for one of these for a while. Actually, I went and looked at a head when they first came out, after I read the rave review on Guitar Player those many years ago.

I might tweak the tubes just a bit, but other than that, she's ready to go. Other than the early Boogies, this is one of the few "simple" amps Mesa has made.

Goog luck with it Curly. This is a great amp. I never played thru one of the 1 speaker models, but I did play thru a 4 10" model a long time ago. I never really warmed up to boogies....... too many knobe for me:?: But the Blu Angel was a pretty sweet amp. Have fun with it.

 

[Curly]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Terry,
having used the JJ 6V6s a bit in my Victoria Double D Cup .. oops, I mean Double Deluxe, I recently switched back to the Phillips JAN tubes that came with it. The JJs are stout, and may work well in my Deluxe Reverb RI, where the voltage was always a problem, but they aren't as sweet as a regular 6V6 in other amps.

their EL 84s are fine, though, IMO.

the preamp tubes are stamped Mesa, except for V1 ... I have better tubes here, even used ones. The 12AX7s actually look like Chinese, which would be OK, but I'm trying to trouble shoot, and want to start fresh.

thanks again.
G

 

[Curly]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Dave,
I hear ya!

I looked at the Lonestar Special at the LA Amp Show. It should be the logical heir to the Blue Angel, but it has double rows of knobs, and despite having pretty good tone, it must take a while to learn all the settings.

the downside of that is that most of us who've studied amps believe that the less crap in a circuit, the better, tonewise.

I think Dr Z may be one of the few who has the courage to make an amp these days with just 2 knobs!

 

[Bludave]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Yup.... I agree. I just pickep up a used Shiva combo. For the most part the amp has volume, treble, bass, presence and gain in channel 2. My kind of amp...... still learning how to dial it in, but so far the amp rocks.

 

[Guitar Toad]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Curly. Now I want one of those Blue Angels. You guys make 'em sound really sweet.

 

[Curly]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Hey, a little update and thanks to PUCK for giving me some good tips.

I spent a little time going through the Blue Angel yesterday .. switched a lot of the tubes. The rectifier and V1 were not the spec tubes, and I just replaced others that either didn't sound good or I thought were causing some unwanted distortion.
I also switched in a Mojo BV30, their version of a G12H.

then I took PUCK's advice, went through the manual, and used their suggested settings to start with. the tone controls are interactive, and different than the Fenders I'm used to, so after I did that, it sounded WAY better.

I have a Celestion G12H and new tubes on the way, so it's going to sound even better, but for now, I'm pretty happy...

I knew I could get this little puppy dialed in a lot better than it was!

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: My name is Curly ....

Glad I could help Curly-mon :bigthumb:

Once you get it retubed & maybe clean all the jacks & pots, you'll probably hear a big difference.

Oh, another tip: if you pull the chassis, there is a foam rubber gasket running around the front opening. If you tear it up, you'll see daylight thru the crack/thru the cab.

Very minor, but it bothered me when I redid the front grille cloth on the 4x10 :smack:

 

[Hoss]

Re: My name is Curly ....

nice one Curly!!!

NEW STUFF ROCKS!!!