The Electra Forums

I agree that the X650JB is VASTLY underrated - I like mine better than the active X640N I bought. I play the basses through a Yorkville (Traynor) BLOC80B - a pretty nice s/s compact combo.

adding to the thread - update on the bass. I don't recall what I said and didn't, but I still have it. I redid all of my earlier repairs, this time I reglued the fretboard, did some minor fills, and completely refretted the bass with some Jumbos. It plays like a million bucks now, and you'd likely never know it had anything done to it. I just did a better job this time. I hate refretting. I do a pretty good job but it takes me a lot longer than guys that do them more often.

I wound up selling my bass amp though - one of those 200w fender SS bassman combos. It was OK. I still have the bass, a reminder of the fun I had meeting everyone at that particular Electra fest in St. Louis. Maybe I can go this year (couldn't go last year). We shall see. Only problem is, I am starting a new job. But actually, that is a VERY GOOD THING, not a PROBLEM. Just I may not have earned any time off if I need it for a "fest" and not sure where it will be this year.

_________________
Thorny

I built some amp cabinets to match the speakers. Still impressed with the Jet City amps.

very nice! Yep, I like those too. Great looking with those matching cabs. Quality work!

_________________
Thorny

I'm using a Marshal JVM205c. Very versatile, does a lot of things well and has that Marshall tone that I dig. Although the Orange and especially Red OD channels don't quite sound so marshall-esque. I dig them though.

And it's a combo, so it's easy to gig with.

_________________
"GREAT Googiley moogilie Jack...jumpin jehosephat, hot dang and all".
- jdwhealton

You mean this one..?



It was beat up and ugly, but you have to admit they are pretty versatile and rugged little Basses, especially for what they go for these days (well under $200). Cheers, Mike.

_________________
Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

Took this pic last night of my Peavey Heritage VTX 212 with the replacement Eminence 100 watt speakers:



The date on the camera needs to be changed ........

_________________
RCSBlues

Hey, I just worked on several PVs from that same era in the shop. They really sound *surprisingly* good. I don't mean that as a slam either. I am a confessed amp snob really, and have worked with a lot of them. Those hybrid era PVs (VTS, Duece, Mace, Classic 100 series) amps are good. Nice classic rock tones and they are still going strong from the 70s and early 80s. Warning, some of the chips are getting darned hard to find, PV does not have them any longer. So you might look for replacements, because that is what I ran into on the 3 I recently worked on. One of the troublesome ICs getting difficult to find was the one used for a phaser. The other was used I think is in the reverb circuit or channel switching - don't recall now. And about half ICs in the amp are really common replacements, the other half getting very hard to find. Peavey used to have all of them just a few years ago, so this is a recent occurrence.

Also, I picked up a Jet City 20H for modding - it is pretty nice (even before modding). Great amp - unbelievable for the money. I put a depth control on it, and modded the preamp slightly to be a tiny bit more marshall-like. Not sure if I am going to leave it that way or tweak it some more. It was nice to begin with, just a bit darker. The depth mod is nice, and not hard to do. You put a little pot on the back panel and some caps to dial in the bottom end - which is best when it is at moderate volumes to give the bottom end some fatness. Alright guys, stop chuckling and get your mind out of the gutter That is the best change I made and one of the easiest. Great little amps.

_________________
Thorny

Except the VTX weighs in at 94 pounds - so it only gets used when the gig calls for it.

_________________
RCSBlues

That is why God allowed the invention of the "faultless caster" for beasts like that and the twin reverb with EVs or Altecs.

_________________
Thorny

My 2 Jet City 20's both have the depth mod - last knob on the right in the picture above. I also added a choke on one of them. For the money they're pretty hard to beat. I just picked up another Ampro cab with the olkd Jensen P12 speaker in it so I can run from The JCA20H either a single cab @ 16 ohms or both Ampro cabs using the pair of 8 ohm taps. Love those old Jensen speakers and the Cabs have a nice retro look to them.

Just picked up a JMF Spectra 60-T for low money. I picked it up as a possible flip due to the price but I think I might keep it. It is a nice sounding amp. This company was purchased by Dean Markley and these later became the CD and signature series amps from what I can find. The cleans are Fenderish and the lead channel is vintage Marshall sounding. I am really surprised by this amp.

Hi guys,

When it comes to amps, you know a lot more about these than I do so I thought I'd ask..
I just picked up a Crate FW65/112 3 channel with f/s and wanted your opinion on this. It's solid state
but I couldn't really afford a tube-head + cab. Anyone tried one, your thoughts please..

Cheers
D-IV addict

Havent tried one of those. I was using a Yamaha B212 untill the caps finally went out ( been using it since I bought it new in 78' or 79') and it is all solid state. Closest thing to it that was in my budget was a Fender Front Man with 2, 12" speakers. It has the kick the Yamaha had but its a little brighter. Got a deal on a Boss Fender Bassman pedal and that smoothes it out to about what I had. I'm pretty happy with the tone I get from both amps (maybe its cause I dont know any better LOL) I seem to be able to get the sound I'm looking for and if not I just add a pedal. To date I have a Joe Sach distortion and delay, Boss Fender Bassman, Steve Via Morley volume, Fulton deluxe Wah and Dean Markly tuner. Just added a Pedal Power supply to get rid of the batterys (its great). The Fender amp has an effect loop to cut down on noise.

_________________
SlmGuy

Thought I'd chime in here. The last 15 years I've been big in buying, building, modifying and re-purposing, restoring and repairing mostly vintage tube amps. I work on modern amps also but some I have to back off of being simply to deep and micro for me---the last being an Ampeg SVT. I'm at home on old vintage Fenders, Silvertones, Gibsons or anything with old style point to point, turret board or eyelet board. When I say re-purpose I mean taking old reel to reel, hi-fi and PA amps and converting them to guitar amps. I was never a electronics guy until I started getting into tube amps in about 1999 and learned as I went along in amp building mostly driven by the quest for better guitar tone. Here is a list of my present amps:

1-Two Silvertone 1482's. One heavily modified and one completely stock.
2-Allen Accomplice 1-12 combo.
3-1974 Fender Pro Head modified to Blackface specs.
4-Pignose G-40V combo modified for 12" speaker.
5-Dukane PA Head converted to Fender 5F6A Bassman Circuit.
6-Peavey Pacer 1-12 combo converted from Solid State to Blackface Deluxe Reverb AB763 Circuit.
7-Revere Reel to Reel Converted to Vintage Fender Tweed Deluxe circuit.
8-Mesa Boogie Rocket 440, 4-10 combo.
9-DIY Fender Champ Combo with 10" speaker.
10-Bogen CHB-20A PA head converted to guitar.
11-Revere Reel to Reel single EL84 amp converted to guitar amp.
12-General Electric PA-20 Hi-fI amp converted to guitar amp.
13-Crate SS Practice amp
14-One home made 1-10 guitar cab with Eminence Ragun Cajun.

Well as you see I'm blessed with a multitude of amps I've acquired over the years and have sold a few too. So if you need help with your old tube amp, I might be able to help. Here is some pixs of the amp I'm currently using. It is the Peavey Pacer that was converted to A Fender Blackface AB763 Circuit. Platefire