Pow_22 Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 New opinions here peeps. Ive been gassing after an all valve amp for a while. Secured a decent vintage cab off Thornybank (2x15 fender bassman) and have been looking for something equally vintage. I stumbled across a sound City 120 for sale at what i thought was a great price. I spoke to the seller who agreed to take my Hartke HA550 as part ex. The amp was on sale at £279 which i thought was a bargain anyway!. I went to view it and straight away i noticed it was the Bass version and not the Lead as i had thought (hardly any difference other than i believe the pre-amp is voiced slightly different) So straight away i was happy. I managed to get £200 for my hartke so just paid £80 for the Sound City. Got it home n plugged it in and WOW, sounds amazin with my bison and Retrovibe. The valves all glow nicely (all six of them) plus can see the glow inside from the 4 pre-amp valves. At this point im a VERY happy bass player. This morning i decided i have a brief look inside, just wanted to see the valves close up because theyre still a novelty to me haha. I opened it up and each one of the six power valves is a Mullard EL34. Now ive heard these are bloody good so i took at look on ebay and have just seen the prices of the valves alone (a quad seems to be more than the entire head was on sale at). So have i snagged the bargain of the century or am i just an overexcited valve newbie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Nice always good getting an old amp full on mullards! It is worth selling them but you wont get anywhere near those prices unless you can prove they're well matched and in good condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pow_22 Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 Fair enough. Im going to book it in for a service and to see how much life is left in the valves. Going to try and use Dave Lunt as recommended on here and he's local. Hopefully he'll be able to tell me a bit more about the amp to as im a complete valve newbie [quote name='umph' post='1178479' date='Mar 27 2011, 05:17 PM']Nice always good getting an old amp full on mullards! It is worth selling them but you wont get anywhere near those prices unless you can prove they're well matched and in good condition.[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pow_22 Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) Tried a few local amp techs with no replies yet. Out of interest how much should i be expecting to pay for a valve amp service? Assuming nothing needs doing and its just more of a MOT style effort? Also, the ohm selector swith appears to be stuck on 16ohm. As im running thru a 4ohm cab does this switch need to be set to 4ohm? [quote name='Pow_22' post='1179347' date='Mar 28 2011, 12:12 PM']Fair enough. Im going to book it in for a service and to see how much life is left in the valves. Going to try and use Dave Lunt as recommended on here and he's local. Hopefully he'll be able to tell me a bit more about the amp to as im a complete valve newbie[/quote] Edited March 28, 2011 by Pow_22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 [quote name='Pow_22' post='1179924' date='Mar 28 2011, 07:51 PM']Tried a few local amp techs with no replies yet. Out of interest how much should i be expecting to pay for a valve amp service? Assuming nothing needs doing and its just more of a MOT style effort? Also, the ohm selector swith appears to be stuck on 16ohm. As im running thru a 4ohm cab does this switch need to be set to 4ohm?[/quote] [b]YES![/b] You run a serious risk of damaging your amp (and it won't sound quite right) running a 4 ohm load on the 16 ohm tap. Valve amps aren't like SS amps, and it's important that speaker impedance matches the load that the valves have been set up to drive. People can and do get away with it, but this will stress the output valves and is certainly not extending their lifespan. The check by a tech should be to do things like make sure impedance selectors work properly, make sure it's earthed correctly and safe and possibly also replace any caps that have dried out or are failing. Electrolytic capacitors have a very finite lifespan, and after 20+ years often need replacement. You should also try to plug in a valve amp every couple of months to keep the caps formed. Leaving a valve amp sat around unused for several years will cause it to deteriorate more quickly. Congrats on your first valve amp - hope you can really enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) The Sound City selector is a plug, with a little window in it, pull it out, push it back in so the appropriate impedance shows through the window. Edit: As for cost, bill for a full amp service (I supplied valves) came to £118. I was pretty demanding, I know a lot of the time, techs working for musicians are expected to do the minimum to make it work for cost purposes, I wanted it to be pretty much as new. So new electrolytics (and uprated for more headroom without sag), new sockets and such. This local dude is known to be expensive but good, I knew other people would be cheaper, but I've seen their bodgy work and could totally do that myself. Edited March 28, 2011 by Mr. Foxen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassnut62 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 I'd be expecting at least a ton for a proper service of a valve amp. I run a 2x15 Bassman cab too (the vertically loaded one). I drive it with the matching 135 head; but it took me a while to release what this rig was truly capable of. The problem i had was the cab is poorly constructed and tended to fart when digging in! (all school boys are welcome to add jokes at this point!) After some carpentry with struts, lining of seems, glue and screws it sounds incredible and nails the deep phat and bright earthquake funky bass of doom sound that was in my head all along. I've never wanted to change my rig in nearly 15 years now. I hope you get as much bass pleasure as I have from your very tasty sounding all valve bass rig. I am jealous of those Mullards too. So yes reckon you got a great deal on that amp. Did you have to pay much for the Bassman cab? Is it the vertically loaded one? What's it loaded with too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pow_22 Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) Hi mate, i got the 135 cab off Thornybank. It is the tall vertically loaded one. Chris re-loaded it with Eminence Gammas (total of 200 watt i believe). Sound amazin with the new head. Still cant believe the price of mullards on ebat n to think ive got 6 in my amp!!!! Service will have to wait for payday i think, tho if the valves are ok i wont be wantin new ones, just a general service. Managed to do the ohm switch cheers Mr Foxen. Pulled it out n put it back in with the 4ohm showing in thr window. As the cab us 4ohm this should be right now? [quote name='Bassnut62' date='Mar 28 2011, 09:20 PM']I'd be expecting at least a ton for a proper service of a valve amp. I run a 2x15 Bassman cab too (the vertically loaded one). I drive it with the matching 135 head; but it took me a while to release what this rig was truly capable of. The problem i had was the cab is poorly constructed and tended to fart when digging in! (all school boys are welcome to add jokes at this point!) After some carpentry with struts, lining of seems, glue and screws it sounds incredible and nails the deep phat and bright earthquake funky bass of doom sound that was in my head all along. I've never wanted to change my rig in nearly 15 years now. I hope you get as much bass pleasure as I have from your very tasty sounding all valve bass rig. I am jealous of those Mullards too. So yes reckon you got a great deal on that amp. Did you have to pay much for the Bassman cab? Is it the vertically loaded one? What's it loaded with too?[/quote] Edited March 29, 2011 by Pow_22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Personally, my policy is to whip out the old tired mullards, and sell them at their silly premium, and use that to fund a nice set of replaceable valves, and a service. Because if you proper run them into the ground, they'll be worthless, and you won't be able to get any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1180149' date='Mar 28 2011, 10:04 PM']Personally, my policy is to whip out the old tired mullards, and sell them at their silly premium, and use that to fund a nice set of replaceable valves, and a service. Because if you proper run them into the ground, they'll be worthless, and you won't be able to get any more.[/quote] An interesting and good idea, & you'd be able to get the new valves biased along with the service. It would also be a good idea to move the speaker/ohm switch backwards & forwards a few times to rub away any oxidisation that could have built up over the years. I've got a Hiwatt which is a similar build & it certainly happened with mine. Remember to leave it back at 4 though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pow_22 Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 The Ohm swith is actually a plug that you pull out then put back in at the correct seeting. I too thought it was just a turn switch hence why i thought it was stuck. Suppose an ideal scenario would be for a tech to say ''right, ill do a service, new valves with biasing and as payment you let me keep the mullards'' haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pow_22 Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 Hi mate, i got the 135 cab off Thornybank. It is the tall vertically loaded one. Chris re-loaded it with Eminence Gammas (total of 200 watt i believe). Sound amazin with the new head. Still cant believe the price of mullards on ebat n to think ive got 6 in my amp!!!! Service will gave to wait for payday i think, tho if the valves are ok i wont be wantin new ones, just a general service. Managed to do the ohm switch cheers Mr Foxen. Pulled it out n put it back in with the 4ohm showing in thr window. As the cab us 4ohm this should be right now? [quote name='Bassnut62' date='Mar 28 2011, 09:20 PM']I'd be expecting at least a ton for a proper service of a valve amp. I run a 2x15 Bassman cab too (the vertically loaded one). I drive it with the matching 135 head; but it took me a while to release what this rig was truly capable of. The problem i had was the cab is poorly constructed and tended to fart when digging in! (all school boys are welcome to add jokes at this point!) After some carpentry with struts, lining of seems, glue and screws it sounds incredible and nails the deep phat and bright earthquake funky bass of doom sound that was in my head all along. I've never wanted to change my rig in nearly 15 years now. I hope you get as much bass pleasure as I have from your very tasty sounding all valve bass rig. I am jealous of those Mullards too. So yes reckon you got a great deal on that amp. Did you have to pay much for the Bassman cab? Is it the vertically loaded one? What's it loaded with too?[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 [quote name='Pow_22' post='1180406' date='Mar 29 2011, 07:54 AM']The Ohm swith is actually a plug that you pull out then put back in at the correct seeting. I too thought it was just a turn switch hence why i thought it was stuck. Suppose an ideal scenario would be for a tech to say ''right, ill do a service, new valves with biasing and as payment you let me keep the mullards'' haha[/quote] General policy seems to be to do that and still charge you. So many amps I've seen that were clearly full ofMullards have been 'recently serviced' and loaded with rubbish. One clearly hadn't even had the chassis out of the case, they'd just swapped out the valves and sent it back, charged loads for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pow_22 Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 Really!?! Will have to watch out for that then. Like i say the amp is working fine and sounds lovely, im just concious of its age and that valves dont last forever. Ive whizzed a few emails of to some of the recommended techs on this site so ill see what comes back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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