Gunny47
New member
Okay guys, just had my birthday, and worked my ass of the whole summer. Now it's time to reward myself with all the money I got. Of course, the main goal here is to save up for a nice amp, but who says I can blow off a little bit of cash to tie me over until I get some cash for Christmas? I saved up a lot of money, and am really close to getting the Fender '57 Tweed Twin-Amp. Yes, Im back to the tweed after playing more Fenders and fender clones, I decided to go back to my original decision, an amp that I wanted for well over a year, of the Fender '57 Tweed Twin.
Anyway, Im going to order a 10th Aniversary Edition Fulltone Fulldrive II MOSFET today. My OCD is great at being a Marshall or Vox in a box, a treble booster, a solo booster or just adding some crunch to my tone, but it doesnt have that warmth or smoothness of a Tube Screamer type pedal. And the Fulldrive has some other switches that make it great for lead tone. More of an American box than a British box. Played it a few times, really love it, never baught it, I got the Deja Vibe instead, but now I got some extra cash and could use a pedal, so Im going for the 10th aniversary edition before its gone.
Also going to get an attenuator w/ cables for my Gibson GA5. Everyone knows these Class A, 5 watt monsters arent made for bedrooms, but I play clean most of the time anyway, and haven't been really bothered by not getting that full-on power tube crunch all the time. Of course, when my parents are out, I crank that sucker right in my room all the way. Ive cranked the thing a lot. Band practices, friends houses, my house occasionally and this guitar class place. Now I dialed in a really good setting using the amps volume and the OCD. The OCD volume is at 10 oclock, drive at 1 oclock, tone at 2 oclock - 5 oclock and the amp volume is at 1130-12ish. This setting is only a tiny bit too loud, so the attenuator will come in handy. I would like to fool around with it too to maybe get the amp cranked to the max w/o any pedals for a more transparent american tone with the attenuator.
As for the attenuator itself, I'm going to get the Micro Mass. Its the cheapest one and has the tone controls (you can attenuate the highs/mids and the lows/mids) to adjust the tone. I find that with pedals and stuff, cranking the drive on the OCD while keeping the volume on the pedal and the amp, it doesnt sound the best, mostly because it lacks a lot of highs, even with the tone knob maxed on the pedal. Micro Mass is 15 watts, which will be gplenty for a 5 watt amp. I will get all the apropriated cables too, being that this amp has an RCA connection to the speaker, instead of the standard 1/4" connection.
After cranking the Gibson amp a lot and using it for a long time, I am in need of new tubes. I am currently looking at a NOS Tesla EL84 (Not JJ) which is $27 and got good reviews from people at some sites, and a Tung Sol Reissue 12AX7 ($16 or so) after reading the 12AX7 review at The Tube Store. Any other suggestions on tubes?
I also need to fix the amp up a little bit. The light bulb inside blew out, and I smashed the switch on a door when carrying it to a very small gig. The switch is now crooked and Im afraid it is just going to snap off one day. Does anyone know where I should bring this amp? Guitar Center doesnt do amp repairs. Im looking for a place that will do a good job, fix everything I need, replace the tubes that I will provide them, and has to be in the NYC or surrounding area. Does anyone know what model light bulb this Gibson GA5 amp has? Thanks a lot.
Anyway, Im going to order a 10th Aniversary Edition Fulltone Fulldrive II MOSFET today. My OCD is great at being a Marshall or Vox in a box, a treble booster, a solo booster or just adding some crunch to my tone, but it doesnt have that warmth or smoothness of a Tube Screamer type pedal. And the Fulldrive has some other switches that make it great for lead tone. More of an American box than a British box. Played it a few times, really love it, never baught it, I got the Deja Vibe instead, but now I got some extra cash and could use a pedal, so Im going for the 10th aniversary edition before its gone.
Also going to get an attenuator w/ cables for my Gibson GA5. Everyone knows these Class A, 5 watt monsters arent made for bedrooms, but I play clean most of the time anyway, and haven't been really bothered by not getting that full-on power tube crunch all the time. Of course, when my parents are out, I crank that sucker right in my room all the way. Ive cranked the thing a lot. Band practices, friends houses, my house occasionally and this guitar class place. Now I dialed in a really good setting using the amps volume and the OCD. The OCD volume is at 10 oclock, drive at 1 oclock, tone at 2 oclock - 5 oclock and the amp volume is at 1130-12ish. This setting is only a tiny bit too loud, so the attenuator will come in handy. I would like to fool around with it too to maybe get the amp cranked to the max w/o any pedals for a more transparent american tone with the attenuator.
As for the attenuator itself, I'm going to get the Micro Mass. Its the cheapest one and has the tone controls (you can attenuate the highs/mids and the lows/mids) to adjust the tone. I find that with pedals and stuff, cranking the drive on the OCD while keeping the volume on the pedal and the amp, it doesnt sound the best, mostly because it lacks a lot of highs, even with the tone knob maxed on the pedal. Micro Mass is 15 watts, which will be gplenty for a 5 watt amp. I will get all the apropriated cables too, being that this amp has an RCA connection to the speaker, instead of the standard 1/4" connection.
After cranking the Gibson amp a lot and using it for a long time, I am in need of new tubes. I am currently looking at a NOS Tesla EL84 (Not JJ) which is $27 and got good reviews from people at some sites, and a Tung Sol Reissue 12AX7 ($16 or so) after reading the 12AX7 review at The Tube Store. Any other suggestions on tubes?
I also need to fix the amp up a little bit. The light bulb inside blew out, and I smashed the switch on a door when carrying it to a very small gig. The switch is now crooked and Im afraid it is just going to snap off one day. Does anyone know where I should bring this amp? Guitar Center doesnt do amp repairs. Im looking for a place that will do a good job, fix everything I need, replace the tubes that I will provide them, and has to be in the NYC or surrounding area. Does anyone know what model light bulb this Gibson GA5 amp has? Thanks a lot.
