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Topic: amp mods back in the day? |
Chris Erbacher
From:
Sausalito, California, USA
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Posted 13 Apr 2009 7:10 pm |
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| the other day i was driving and thinking about steel and about how i am not an "off the shelf" type of guy and have to mod things to my tastes (ie. better caps in my twin and better speakers) and i was wondering about how things were back in the day...some of you cats that were around then, feel free to chime in...i'm 35 and it seems natural to me that someone would open up their old twin or bassman and replace things or change things up in there to see how it affected their sound for better or worse...did guys do that back when all that stuff was brand new? did the amps sound spectacular right off the shelf? if not, when did the practice of amp mods start? i know garcia (please keep your flame throwers in the garage for this post please) was into modding his amp in the late 60's or early 70's and i am wondering if guys used to do that before, like say early 60's... |
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Clyde Mattocks
From:
Kinston, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 13 Apr 2009 7:28 pm
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First reverb I had, a radio & TV technician friend of
mine put a Hammond unit in a Fender. It didn't have
a variable pot, just a rotary switch with three settings, not enough, about right, and way too much.
_________________
LeGrande II, Nash. 112, Fender Twin Tone Master, Session 400, Harlow Dobro, R.Q.Jones Dobro |
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Eric Philippsen
From:
Central Florida USA
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Posted 13 Apr 2009 10:47 pm
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| I was playing guitar in the late sixties & early seventies. Other than speaker replacements, modding of amps wasn't all that commonplace. I do remember having a Marshall 100W modded so that it was less bright, not liking it, and having it changed back. I remember the hubbub when Fender Silverfaces came out. Many of them did sound different but there was no way that you would change the circuitry or have it "blackfaced." Never occurred to us. Instead, you would just sell it and get something else. Blackface Twins were the ticket as were Marshalls. That being said, having an amp repaired was extremely common. I do recall that back then amps were very noisy. Right before a tune started the stage would be one loud buzz and hiss as everyone turned up. It was an annoying thing that you just put up with. |
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Bob Bowden
From:
Vancouver, BC, Canada * R.I.P.
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Posted 14 Apr 2009 6:03 am
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Eric's memories are similar to mine. If you blew a speaker, you either got it reconed or bought a new one. Modding an amp meant that you trashed the original Fender speakers and replaced them with either JBLs or EVs.
The early silverface Fenders were considered dogs that you couldn't give away. If an amp's circuit was modded, it was for reliability more than tone. Modding amps didn't seem to get popular until Randall Smith started turning Fender Princetons into compact 100w monsters. That was the birth of the Mesa Boogie.
Around here, the late sixties meant that you used one of three brands, Fender, Marshall or Acoustic. Yes, I did mention Acoustic. They might have been SS but they were big and loud and very popular for a short time. Even Fender fell for the bigger is better schtick when they released the silverface Bandmaster with it's refrigerator sized speaker cab that only held two 12"s. |
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