Vampower: Not all vintage British amps were good
boardjunkie
"Vamp" amps that he was using at the time. I remember hearing the
name, but didn't know anything about the product.
http://www.chambonino.com/work/vampower/vamp2.html
Nice story from someone who spent some time working at the "factory".
http://www.chambonino.com/work/vampower/vamp1.html
Just look at that.....if I didn't know they were made in the UK I
would *swear* that was of Japanese origin. Those PCB's just scream 60s
Japan construction techniques. 100 ohm screen resistors on EL34s?
Pass....A series bias adjust for each tube with a super cheap trimpot?
Recipe for disaster.
Total turd of an amp. Bolan could've used any amp he wanted....and he
chose these? Whatever....
White Spirit
> http://www.chambonino.com/work/vampower/vamp1.html
I have never heard of those amplifiers. As I don't listen to T-Rex, is
there a video on YouTube where he is using one of those amps?
There is a growing market for obscure vintage British amplifiers. Now
that people have cottoned on to the fact that Sound City became Hi-Watt,
they are starting to appreciate in value. They used to be bargain.
JJTj
<board...@techie.com> wrote:
>Just found this page after watching a T-Rex video and researching the
>"Vamp" amps that he was using at the time. I remember hearing the
>name, but didn't know anything about the product.
>http://www.chambonino.com/work/vampower/vamp2.html
Vamp was a nice design poorly built. If not for T-Rex, they would
just of been a foot note in the UK amp history books. When they
worked, they were good. When they failed, they were about as
much fun to fix as old Sound City. LOTS of both amps were
stripped later for those ultra-awesome Partridge tranz, which
unlike Hiwatt (who used the same tranz) the amps got to the
point of no longer worth fixing. Hiwatts always were, and
were built far better then both other brands combined.
>Nice story from someone who spent some time working at the "factory".
>
>http://www.chambonino.com/work/vampower/vamp1.html
Great link, btw. ON TOPIC too.
>Just look at that.....if I didn't know they were made in the UK I
>would *swear* that was of Japanese origin. Those PCB's just scream 60s
>Japan construction techniques. 100 ohm screen resistors on EL34s?
>Pass....A series bias adjust for each tube with a super cheap trimpot?
>Recipe for disaster.
I laugh when people want old Sound City amps thinking they are
getting a bargain Hiwatt. Except for the tranz, the schematics
are very UNLIKE each other. SC had some interesting designs,
in fact they had active tone controls using tubes that sounded
real REAL good. They had a SMF amp that used EL34's to DRIVE
EL34's in the output stage. A tube dist circuit that was kool, and
other neat n swiftly design thoughts. My schematic was one of the
few available, and I posted it online many times. I have a SMF
stack. NOT one of the normal 'Sound Shity' (as the joke goes).
>Total turd of an amp. Bolan could've used any amp he wanted....and he
>chose these? Whatever....
You have to understand, back then, there were quite a few
'rouge' amp companies, many of them building whatever era
of VOX..hehehe.. Custom Sound being one of the biggies,
who built Vox for years, and many other 'off brands'. Often
certain stores wanted a custom line of amps, 'WHITE' being
one (made by Orange), NARB and others made by Marshall
another, it was just like here in the US where we have GE
brand washers n dryers, and 'Hotpoint' (made by GE) to
combat another brand. Certain stores ONLY carried the
brands, so other stores could not compete with HP
model ###..because that 'model #' was only made for
that store. The same was true for old UK amps.
Also, bands back then (and even now) would NOT refuse
free gear. T-Rex was the big thing there, and it got
Vamp amps out in front of the public. In the US, it was
Acoustic and Ampeg who would 'rent out' (often 4 free)
gear to bands for the public exposure. Ampeg had a
whole shit load of amps tolexed in white, and 'rented'
them out to the Stones n the Faces. I've worked on
a few of those 'white' covered Ampegs. Stones would
tour, use them, end tour, return them, Faces tour,
they used the same amps. Zappa, and the Doors traded
the SAME Acoustic amps tour after tour, and in the end
(no pun intended) Zappa bought them all for chump change.
In the DVD 'Born to Boogie', T-Rex is shown playing thru
*H*U*G*E* Vamp amps (many empty cabs) that were
'told' to be 24-12" cabs. Orange made a huge cab
like that too, and like the Vamp, only a very few
were ever made. Fewer were ever lifted..
BTW..when H|H gave T-Rex a shit load of amps, he used
them too. Talk about 2-sides of a coin! Vamp was tube
and H|H then was 741 IC designs. Yet those old H|H
amps sounded quite good, and were used by alot of
bands..even EVH ran most of his signal thru a old H|H
MOSFET power amp. Tube to sand to mosfets.
JJTj
You come to the end And the light there is dimmer
And chances are slimmer Of findin' your way
You find that you stay out Of trouble and danger
'Cause everything's stranger Than it used to be
You're a scary old place out there world
But I couldn't be happy without you
And I swear all my thoughts are about you
The most beautiful world in the world
Well the light can be bright there
And everything's right there
The end of the night there might
be a big band
Or a heavenly choir
Or it might be the fire
But no matter what happens
I bet it's OK
You're a scary old place out there world
But I couldn't be happy without you
And I swear all my thoughts are about you
The most beautiful world in the world..
AH...AH..AH AH ..AHHHHHAAA!
Your mountains when you're mad
Your rivers when your sad
And those deep blue seas
I love you for your snow
Your deserts down below
I love the way you wear your trees
The most beautiful world in the world
And though there are times when I doubt you
I just couldn't stay here without you
So when you get older, And
over your shoulder
You look back to see if it's real
Tell her she's beautiful
Roll the world over
..And give her a kiss...
.....................and a feel
So long, folks!
Goodbye, Harry.
See you next album, Richard.
GOODBYE!
RichL
news:eoq6969v77a6bjdoc...@4ax.com...
I had one of the Sound City amps in the early 70s. Even then it was cheap,
compared with the alternatives. Worth every penny, too :-) In other
words, it sucked. No bottom end.
JJTj
On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:15:51 -0400, "RichL" <rple...@yahoo.com>
wrote:
>I had one of the Sound City amps in the early 70s. Even then it was cheap,
>compared with the alternatives. Worth every penny, too :-) In other
>words, it sucked. No bottom end.
Well, M'Lady and I decided to stay home.
Yes, S/City amps were cheap. But the companies
that shipped in those days shipped the cabs and
speakers and chassis separate. Not a finished
product, so duty was way WAY cheaper. Some of
those UK tube amps that arrived here paid none.
But also, a Marshall Major 8-12 stack, all the
goodies, metal handles, GL 88's could be sold
at $3k, with covers. Dealer cost, about 2k.
Now I can sell the HANDLES off a cab at $400/pr.
a S/City SMF 8-12 stack with the same handles
(even 2 more for the head) and all the tech goodies
offered, was sold for $1.8k. D/C 1.2k.
S/City bass amps were alot like the guitar but
a eq tweak or too. Don't remember many people
using them. Also, folks like S/City used much
cheaper Celestion/Fane speakers then say,
Hiwatt/Mashall. Sometimes dealers installed
their own stock. They made what was called
a 'Concord' 2-12 combo, that came with great
speakers, 100wt or so with slider controls
that was wonderful, and gets good $ today.
Also, 'back then', there were set dealers in
set areas. Dealer A can't sell Marshall/Fender
/Gibson etc within so many miles of dealer B.
Can't sell Marshall..?..sell S/City. in the same
$ range, unlike Hiwatt..a step up. Hiwatt heads
were all the same, save for power output.
Called 'AP' for "..all purpose.." <### wattage>.
Many years ago, PV saw that playing the protected
dealer game was going down hill, just as the # of dealers
tanked. Gibson, Marshall, Fender later grew up too.
Today with the Internet, it's all moot.
About the best folks to see about Sound City is:
http://www.soundcitysite.com/sc_webpages/sc_home.htm
If they don't know, I don't know who does. I send
them copies of all my S/C paperwork.
JJTj
Had to come home to fix a old friends amp, haven't seen
one of these in a while. A PV Dual 212. With JBLs.
I remember these in MS. A slightly tweaked 2-12
combo, 4- 6l6 thing that went against the 'Twin'
of the day. Many of which sucked. The Dual didn't,
except for the cab..to thin f-b, and a very open
back with metal grill..that rattled. My customer
long ago replaced the cab/grill, now it just needs
a check up, new tubes, and a kiss goodbye before
he goes off on tour. Compared to the 'TWIN' of
the day, the Dual kicked flocking arse, and PV
made alot of them. Find one and buy it.
Last one I saw with stock speakers was $300
Last Lab 5 I saw was $450...both 8+
'now' there are 'amp designers' out there today
making Champs selling for $1.5k. They get a
few boiks, some part suppliers, and think they
are Jim Fender. Or Leo Reeves. Orville Burman?
I said..Hey Hey baby
let me ride in yer car machine..
I said..Hey Hey baby
let me ride in yer car machine..
I said you got a good carburetor..
But hey, you running bad gasoline..
I said look it baby
you can't drive no more at night
you got a crack in ya cylinder head
..and a short is in ya lights
I said..Hey Hey baby
let me ride in yer car machine..
I said you got a good carburetor..
Hey, you running bad gasoline..
I said..face it baby..
you know it's time to go.
I won't write you no letter gal..
IF you drive real slow.
I said..Hey Hey baby
let me ride in yer car machine..
I said you got a good carburetor..
Hey, you running bad gasoline..
You know, I hate to see it, baby..
..that evening sun go down.
Ain't it awesome lonesome..
..yeah, you going around..
I said..Hey Hey baby
let me ride in yer car machine..
I said you got a good carburetor..
Hey, you running bad gasoline..
nm...@wt.net
> On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:15:51 -0400, "RichL" <rpleav...@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
> >I had one of the Sound City amps in the early 70s. Even then it was cheap,
> >compared with the alternatives. Worth every penny, too :-) In other
> >words, it sucked. No bottom end.
>
> Well, M'Lady and I decided to stay home.
>
> Yes, S/City amps were cheap. But the companies
> that shipped in those days shipped the cabs and
> speakers and chassis separate. Not a finished
> product, so duty was way WAY cheaper. Some of
> those UK tube amps that arrived here paid none.
>
I had a Sound City 50 way back in the day.. Bought it
from a friend pretty cheap as I recall..
I thought it was cheap back then.. I didn't consider it
a "good" amp like a Fedner or Marchall..
It had kind of a cheezy cheap look to it..
Maybe they were slightly better than I thought at the
time though.. Even then, I wasn't overly impressed
though.
JJTj
>
>I had a Sound City 50 way back in the day.. Bought it
>from a friend pretty cheap as I recall..
>I thought it was cheap back then.. I didn't consider it
>a "good" amp like a Fedner or Marchall..
>It had kind of a cheezy cheap look to it..
>Maybe they were slightly better than I thought at the
>time though.. Even then, I wasn't overly impressed
>though.
That is how amps are sold at certain
price points. Cheap knobs, lousy
cabs, crap speakers. It is written:
"..produce it, it doesn't suck for the money.."
In the UK, by the time it got to the USA, it
cost more then a Fender sold at Stop & Shop.
..in Maine..I saw the display..
Yet think, and I'm going off topic here, how
should it cost less to build CV 18" sub woofer
cabs in China, ship them here, and sell
them for less then folks here BUILDING the
cabs could earn the money to buy them..?
Wood, metal, box, you name it..
..not a 'lite' meal...
"..Cause if my eyes don't deceive me
There's something going wrong around here.."
nm...@wt.net
> On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:07:31 -0700 (PDT), n...@wt.net wrote:
>
> >I had a Sound City 50 way back in the day.. Bought it
> >from a friend pretty cheap as I recall..
> >I thought it was cheap back then.. I didn't consider it
> >a "good" amp like a Fedner or Marchall..
> >It had kind of a cheezy cheap look to it..
> >Maybe they were slightly better than I thought at the
> >time though.. Even then, I wasn't overly impressed
> >though.
>
> That is how amps are sold at certain
> price points. Cheap knobs, lousy
> cabs, crap speakers. It is written:
Mine was a 50 watt head.. Seems I was using a
single 12 in a medium size cab if I remember right.
I remember with that amp, I used to preamp it with
the record monitor output of a tape recorder.. :/
So I could get some sing, but still fairly clean..
I can't remember what I did with it.. Been a long
time. I can't remember if I sold it, pawned it, or
lost it.. It's gone in the fog... I remember at one
point I had some stuff stolen.. Maybe that was
when I lost it.. I had one of the original big muffs
that was lost in that deal.. Kind of an ugly distortion,
but those are supposedly worth some bucks now..
But I'd probably use it if I still had it..
But I'm not whining too much. My present amps are
mo better..Super Reverb and a Traynor YBA-1A
as my pseudo plexi clone.. Either one of those
would eat that Sound City for lunch and spit out the
seeds as far as general mojo.. :/
I think that Sound City was the first geetar amp I
stumbled into after I started playing in the late 70's.
Lord Valve
The Sound City amps that said "Mark IV Custom Built" on the escutcheon
looked suspiciously like Hiwatts inside, right down to the
perfectly-dressed wiring with military-style bundle lacing.
Some of 'em sounded pretty good.
Lord Valve
Expert (please obsess)
JJTj
>The Sound City amps that said "Mark IV Custom Built" on the escutcheon
>looked suspiciously like Hiwatts inside, right down to the
>perfectly-dressed wiring with military-style bundle lacing.
Well, Reeves taught them well, but S/C couldn't keep
the price point for long, n later units were not so good.
IMMSMW, S/c was made by many 'factories', Dallas/A
had a hand in alot of them. It's like Plush. Sometimes ya
get a real good unit that looks like it was MIL, and later
ya see the insides of the same model, n think the builder
was being spanked while wiring it up.
>Some of 'em sounded pretty good.
Also, IMHO, amps in the UK were built much better
then the same era amp in the USA. Cabs were
thicker, speakers were often better. NO builder
in the US has ever <ever> done such a good
job as the Reeves/Joyce Hiwatts. Compare
old Marshalls that have lasted so long. Today's
will never survive so long, whatever brand.
Hiwatt was 'made' in the USA for a short time,
you can tell straight away. Gold painted front
and back panels. Those amps sucked eggs..
Today's Hiwatt is a damn good amp, very well
wired, and you can buy a 'AP405'. I've
seem the re-issue, exactly the same amp.
At one time, a company in Japan owned all
the rights except for da UK to 'HIWATT'.
I think they still do. But Court records show
the JP n UK folks counter-sued the dog fuck
out of each other to the rights to the name,
then decided to work together to sell Hiwatt.
Music Ground's off shoot builds them and
do it better then we thought they would.
Another group of US/UK folks with ties to
the real old factory tried to gain control
of Hiwatt. For some reason, no one could
get the $500k needed to win the war.
Hi Dave...
Whomever owns the right to the name 'Sound City'
recently tried to market under the brand, not a bad
amp, but seem to have dis-a-pear'd from the planet.
Remember Burman ? A great (!) built amp, and
would make a great brand name amp today.
BUT:
WHY is FMIC not building/selling Sunn ?????
EVERYTIME I mention the 'S' word to anyone at FMIC,
it is responded by a quick almost e-mailed statement like:
FMIC has no interest in the 'S' word.
..and they could do it in their 'ssssssleep...'
Anyone else here going to NAMM..?
JJT
I'm so tired of working every day...
Now the weekend's come I'm gonna throw ALL my troubles away
If you've got the cab fare, m'lady, you'll do alright.
I want to see the bright lights tonight
Meet me at the station now, n don't be late
I need to spend some money and it just won't wait
Take me to the dance and hold me tight
I want to see the bright lights tonight
There's crazy people running all over town
There's a silver band just marching up and down
And the big boys are all spoiling for a fight
I want to see the bright lights tonight
Meet me at the station don't be late
I need to spend some money and it just won't wait
Take me to the dance and hold me tight
I want to see the bright lights tonight
A couple of drunken nights rolling on the floor
Is just the kind of mess I'm looking for.
I'm gonna dream 'till Monday comes in sight
I want to see the bright lights tonight
Meet me at the station now, and don't be late !!!!!
I need to spend some money and it just won't wait
Take me to the dance and hold me tight
I want to see the bright lights tonight
Take me to the dance and hold me tight
I want to see the bright lights tonight
