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Topic: Vintage Ampeg-built tube reverb unit |
Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 26 Sep 2015 7:10 am |
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ON HOLD - SALE PENDING.
I have seen two of these before, both with the name "Manny's" on the front. Manny's was a music store in NYC, so it was normal that they'd have Ampeg build something with their name on it. I did a little research and found that Gracin's was another music store on Long Island. It has the funky screw-heads that Ampeg used, and one of the Manny's units had Ampeg-branded tubes, so I'm positive who made it. Strangely, though, this unit isn't mentioned under any name - including Ampeg - in the Ampeg book. The pots date to 1968.
It hooks up like most outboard reverb units: guitar -> cable -> unit -> cable -> amp. However, the volume control adds an enormous boost (unity gain is at about 9:00 on the knob) and it does so with a bit of compression but no clipping. The reverb is lush but not excessively springy, and it doesn't interfere with the clean signal. The unit is a superb preamp, making up for low-output pickups and sending amps into overdrive. It uses one 12AX7 and one 6CG7, both mounted directly on the board; it's a PCB, but solidly built.
I had it serviced recently just to make sure everything was in top shape, and a grounded power cord was added (photos were taken with the original 2-prong cord). The hard-wired footswitch is included.
Asking $350 including Paypal fees and shipping within the US. Not looking for trades.
Last edited by Noah Miller on 27 Sep 2015 3:24 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Leroy Golden
From:
Muskegon, Michigan, USA
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Posted 26 Sep 2015 8:46 am
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| Bought lots of stuff at "Manny's" back in the day, wow brings back memories! |
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Chris Boyd
From:
Leonia,N.J./Charlestown,R.I.
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David Weisenthal
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 26 Sep 2015 7:08 pm
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I love those big tube reverb boxes.
Yeah Manny's was still a cool place in the early 80's. I bought my 1967 es330 next door at a place called "we buy guitars" in 1982 i think. Still got it.
here's a cool pic of the store.
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Derby SD10, Peavey Session 400 |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 26 Sep 2015 8:00 pm
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| Yeah, I could use this. Email/PM incoming. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 7 Oct 2015 2:13 pm
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It got here today - it's killer and definitely Ampeg. This type of 12AX7 => 6CG7 preamp circuit was a big part of the Ampeg sound - when you push the preamp, that "East Coast" sound that I remember from a lot of the NY/NJ/New England bands just comes rumbling out - we used a lot of Ampegs in the 60s and 70s. I'm still partial to that sound, and have 4 old Ampegs, but I got this to have something that would give me that great Ampeg reverb that I could use with something in a little more pedal-steel-friendly (i.e., LOUD AND CLEAN) package than my beloved Geminis and Super Echo Twin.
I'm originally from Boston and didn't get into NYC or LI a lot growing up, but I used to get to Manny's and Gracin's periodically when living in CT in the 80s, and I liked Gracin's. Family-owned and nice folks, in a NYC/LI kind of way. Definitely Rock and Roll. This is a cool piece to have. |
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