JMF Spectra Amplifiers?

[Dave Axt]

I just recently acquired a nice guitar tube amp head that is marked "JMF
Spectra H120-7". Does anybody know anything about these amps? The guy I
got it from told me that it was made by Dean Markley.

It has blonde tolex, reverb tank, 2 channels, and four 6L6 output tubes. I
estimate 100 watts.

Thanks for your help.

-David Axt

[chainsaw willie!]

This my second attempt at posting this, sorry if this ends up redudnant.

I had two of these Spectra amps in 1983 or 1984. The first one became non-funcional after about 1 hour of use. I took it back and got another that same day. The second one lasted about a month before failing. It was repaired once a month for about 4 months until I took it back to Guitars Etc. The gave me a fairly large trade in on a Peavey MX. The Peavey didn't sound quite as good, but it never broke. I still have it (mostly because it has no resale value and it doesn't suck enough to merit the effort of unloading it.)

Spectra was bought by Dean Markley in the mid '80s. If your amp is labeled JMF Spectra it was made by JMF Electronics (I think of Salinas Kansas.) If your amp is labeled Dean Markley, it was also made by JMF.

Mine sounded great, but it was totally unreliable. The power tubes used to pulse bright blue with the music, just like a color organ, and really bright too like mabe a 20 watt lightbulb! I thought the matching LED indicators on the front panel and the footswitch was pretty cool. Good luck finding info on these. I think I have only seen two others in the last 15 years.

chainsaw willie!

"Dave Axt" <da...@pacifier.com> wrote in article
<3aaad1d5$1...@news.pacifier.com> :

_______________________________________________
Submitted via WebNewsReader of http://www.interbulletin.com

[Unknown]

I spent most of the 80's in Austin, Texas, and Guitar Resurrection on Guadalupe Street was a Spectra
dealer. One of the guys there once showed me a blonde tube head, switchable between 120 and 60
watts. It sounds a bit like the amp you folks are describing.

On Sun, 11 Mar 2001 22:40:36 -0800, "Julie Bircher" <jdb...@email.msn.com> said:

>JMF was purchased by Dean Markley in the mid '80s. That is, JMF Spectra was
>not made by Dean Markley, instead Dean Markley labeled amps were built by
>what was once JMF.
>I purchased one new in 1983. It sounded great! The power tubes pulsed
>bright blue with every chord like a color organ! It broke down a lot!
>After multiple repair jobs I replaced it with a Peavey MX that never sounded
>as good, but it NEVER broke!
>Anyway yours is probably a good one if it still exists 18 years later.
>Those matching LEDs on the front panel and the footswitch were pretty
>cool...
>
>Chainsaw Willie! (now without deja)
>
>Dave Axt <da...@pacifier.com> wrote in message
>news:3aaad1d5$1...@news.pacifier.com...

[David Axt]

Yes! That's the one! I just recently repair this amp and it really sounds
fantastic! The clean sound is awesome and when you crank the gain the amp
sings! The amp also has reverb, midrange controls and you can flip a switch
to use either 2 or 4 6L6GC tubes! The switch says 60 watts and 120
watts....but I kind of doubt it. This amp is quite a deal considering that
I only paid $100 for it.

-David

<Russ> wrote in message news:3accd61f...@news.vic.com...

[Unknown]

What impressed me about it was the definition. It had a very smooth overdrive without a lot of
sludge. To this day, I sometimes regret not buying it (I was young and had no sense and "thought" I
wanted solid state). Believe it or not, they only wanted $100.00 for it with a 4x12 speaker
cabinet!! I've owned a couple of the Spectra solid-state amps and they were very good as far as
solid-state goes. In fact, I liked them far better than Dean Markley amps, who bought out JMF and
then discontinued them.

[mrwiz...@gmail.com]

Yes I used one for a large portion of my playing days. Owes me nothing. Put an EV 200w 12L speaker in it for solid low ends. Been sitting for a long time, plugged it in and a capacitor smoked out. Going to replace that part. But, a little noisy these days. Probably needs all new tubes. Wow that would be about $140 or more, not counting tax and having the new tubes bias checked. I could buy a nice new practice amp for a little more (20-40w) hmm? what will I do?

[White Spirit]

On 25/09/2014 14:04, Lord Valve wrote:

> Hey, Mr. Whizzer -

> You just replied to a THIRTEEN YEAR-OLD POST.

At least it's on-topic, which makes it far more welcome than any of your
output.

[Lord Valve]

Hey, Mr. Whizzer -

You just replied to a THIRTEEN YEAR-OLD POST.

"Quick, Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for March 10, 2001;
let's travel back and see if we can find anyone who gives a shit."

"Gosh, Mr. Peabody, but that sure seems like a waste of time, not
to mention energy."

"Perhaps you're right, Sherman. Fuck it, gimme a Milk Bone."


Where do these idiots come from?


Lord Valve
Expert (fuck you)

[xjmar...@gmail.com]

I don't know to much about JMF other than a lot them are found from the 80s in Kansas Salina according to mine and I don't think they are being produced anymore and so they are a somewhat a rare find. "chainsaw willie!" seems to know what he is talking about. I found my first JMF at a pawn shop for $140. It is a Spectra 150. They are all tube amps and yes they seem to have some issues. My Distort is not working and the presence and reverb is faint. I believe it has something to do with the tubes and connections might be corroded, especially if it has been around since the 80s. Who knows what environment it has been in. Finding parts is also rare although the reverb tank is easily replaceable. Despite the issues it is a sweet amp and not ready to give it up yet.

[Lord Valve]

On Tuesday, February 11, 2020 at 6:44:53 PM UTC-7, xjmar...@gmail.com wrote:
> I don't know to much about JMF other than a lot them are found from the 80s in Kansas Salina according to mine and I don't think they are being produced anymore and so they are a somewhat a rare find. "chainsaw willie!" seems to know what he is talking about. I found my first JMF at a pawn shop for $140. It is a Spectra 150. They are all tube amps and yes they seem to have some issues. My Distort is not working and the presence and reverb is faint. I believe it has something to do with the tubes and connections might be corroded, especially if it has been around since the 80s. Who knows what environment it has been in. Finding parts is also rare although the reverb tank is easily replaceable. Despite the issues it is a sweet amp and not ready to give it up yet.

*Another* rocket scientist replies to a NINETEEN year-old
post.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...<fart>


Lord Valve, ThD
Expert (fuck you)


T R U M P 2 0 2 0 - M A G A - 1 7 7 6 / 1 8 6 1

W W G 1 W G A

[xjmar...@gmail.com]

Is there a problem???

[Lord Valve]

On Wednesday, February 12, 2020 at 9:55:48 AM UTC-7, xjmar...@gmail.com wrote:
> Is there a problem???

Why, no, not at all. This is Usenet, the bilge of
the Good Ship Internet, where you can spit on the
mat and call the cat a bastard, and every man is
free to be a clueless fucktard who replies to 20
year-old posts that no-one could possibly give two
thirds of a dead rat's ass about.

Don't let me rain on your parade, junior. Carry on
wanking.

[xjmar...@gmail.com]

Oh, I'm sorry. Apparently I thought I was Finding valuable information about a specific subject. Apparently, this conversation is about a bunch of dumbass kids who play fortnite all day and have a miserable life and reply to conversations with immature worthless crap. Your right its starts with preschool douches who dont give a damn and there for bored with them selves and start this kind of crap. Dont bother replying.
I won't be back.

[Lord Valve]

On Wednesday, February 12, 2020 at 11:10:13 AM UTC-7, xjmar...@gmail.com wrote:
> Oh, I'm sorry. Apparently I thought I was Finding valuable information about a specific subject. Apparently, this conversation is about a bunch of dumbass kids who play fortnite all day and have a miserable life and reply to conversations with immature worthless crap. Your right its starts with preschool douches who dont give a damn and there for bored with them selves and start this kind of crap. Dont bother replying.
> I won't be back.

Door, ass, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzeReq2-3go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-PWTsc0lC8

[Defiant]

I addition to those....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqbk9cDX0l0

[Seth B]

On Monday, February 17, 2020 at 10:38:24 PM UTC-7, Defiant wrote:
> On Wed, 12 Feb 2020 11:19:56 -0800, Lord Valve wrote:
>

> > On Wednesday, February 12, 2020 at 11:10:13 AM UTC-7, xjmar wrote:
> >> Oh, I'm sorry. Apparently I thought I was Finding valuable information about a specific subject. Apparently, this conversation is about a bunch of dumbass kids who play fortnite all day and have a miserable life and reply to conversations with immature worthless crap. Your right its starts with preschool douches who dont give a damn and there for bored with them selves and start this kind of crap. Dont bother replying.
> >> I won't be back.
> >
> > Door, ass, etc.
> >
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzeReq2-3go
> >
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-PWTsc0lC8
> I addition to those....
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqbk9cDX0l0

JMF originally mostly built MOSFET amps under the Spectra brand name, and made in Salina Kansas. Later on with Dean Markley they started making hybrid amps with op amp preamps and tube phase inverters and tube output sections, and in about their last two years of production a few mostly full tube amps were produced like the 60-T, 20-T and a 112 T and a 120 CD or something. The reverb and the effects loops were still op amp driven. The settings on Lead channel on the 60-T affected the Normal channel much like a Mesa MkI or MkII. Shortly after Spectra came out with these tube amps, (2-1/2 years) Spectra was gone forever. As flaky as these amps were, I have heard that the 1 year warranty returns broke the company much like it did with the great Bobby Crooks' old classic Standel (Standard Electronics) company. These were nice amps for the early 1980s, "IF" you got one that worked! QC was definitely an issue. The circuit design itself was solid and sounded great. The parts? Not so much. Finding parts? If you know your way around audio amplifiers and can work with some 1970s solid state stuff and tube amps, it's not an issue at all. It's a 20 year old post but people like me are still finding it looking for information on and insights into what ever happened to Spectra? Make all the snarky smartass comments you want, Lord Valve. There is not a lot of information on Spectra out there, so have a s*** sandwich. Aspen Pittman felt strongly enough about Spectra to have mentioned them in one or two of his books, but only in passing.

[Willie Whittaker is a Putin Cock Sucker <BiteMe@Bitch.org>]

On 12/12/21 8:32 PM, Seth B wrote:
> On Monday, February 17, 2020 at 10:38:24 PM UTC-7, Defiant wrote:

>> On Wed, 12 Feb 2020 11:19:56 -0800, Lord Valve wrote: Lord Valve. There is not a lot of information on Spectra out there, so have a s*** sandwich. Aspen Pittman felt strongly enough about Spectra to have mentioned them in one or two of his books, but only in passing.
>


Large Vagina died of #TrumpVirus

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