What Amp Do I Buy To Get Hendrix At Woodstock Tone?

[yladrd61]

They are fatter than any EL34 I have ever seen they look like GE 6550A's to me

[Roe]

looks like 6550As to me but I'm certainly not positive

[Brandon]

There is a picture of the back of Jimi's right stack from Woodstock in the liner notes of the new box set "West Coast Seattle Boy" it looks like a 4 output '69 Super Lead and it also looks like it has 6550's or KT88's in it

Yes please post that pic, I thought everyone said he had el34s in the woodstock amps

Jim SL 3.jpg

Jim SL 2.jpg

Jimi SL 1.jpg

Sorry thats the best pics I can email

Is this one of the amps?


One thing I notice about the back panel is that all of the dials and plugs are almost an exact match to the west coast Seattle boy photo, with the exception of the little one to the right of the big black dial (a mod perhaps?), and it seems to me that it's pretty hard to get a direct match on the dials and plugs, they're always different!

The big black dial even has two small round indendations on either side which you can also see in the west coast seatle boy photo.

This amp is dated january '69, right in the right time period.

It has all the same white markings "HANDLE WITH CARE". and "J H EXP"

[Xplorer]

Do you have this west coast Seattle boy picture ?
Unfortunately nothing says if these tubes were replaced or not, and by the same type of tubes.
I'm not saying that this superlead wasn't owned by jimi hendrix, it's quite evident.

[Xplorer]

some pictures ...

from what i can see, the signal is splitted in two , each going to one head. not linked heads as usual.
i'm wondering about the head placed verticaly, on the side of one cab. i'm wondering if this head is pluged to the two cabs on the left of the scene, just to let the audience look at the scene. so many plexis with "handle with care on the scene.

i can't see any octavia, but this chaine : wah, fuzz face, univibe, that's all.
i wonder if the vox wah sitting on the top of a cab, on the left of the scene, is used to work on the signal also, or if it's just a spare.

the bridge of the strat is , as usual, set stuck to the body, and this influences the sound of a strat.
curly cables a bit everywhere.
white stickers on jimi's superlead amps in the back.
a picture that shows the head cab sizes of the other amps, basse amp, other guitar's amp ...

[Xplorer]

some other

[Xplorer]

some other

[CrazyNinja8730]

Forgive me, but what is that red thing on the input jack of his wah-wah?

[Brandon]

Forgive me, but what is that red thing on the input jack of his wah-wah?

I think it's tape to hold the cable from being tugged out

[Xplorer]

To me it's definitely a plastic stuff, kind of wierd plastic jack holder. no tape. but it could be. I just don't see tape stuck that way. or maybe you're right, and it's a red tape that goes from one jack to the other, going under the wah, and it seems that under the tape there are some thick wire, holding the jacks. this way it would also fix the bottom cover plate a bit more, who knows ... i thought that it was funny so i added it, never seen it before.

[Brandon]

Alright so I did some investigating, and the pic of the amp that I posted earlier I believe was NOT used at Woodstock just by going off of the stencils. The stencils "J H EXP" and "HANDLE WITH CARE" do not match on the top of the amp.

[yladrd61]

I think you will be happy with the '69 Spec Super Lead Circuit that is right around the time they went to the split cathode arrange ment on the Hi Treble Channel which contributes to the brighter sound he got at woodstock. Those are definitely '69 amps in the pictures. Please post up pictures of you Metro when you get it. You may want to have a Pre PI Master Volume installed (I have one on my 1970, which is the same circuit as 69, except mine is shared cathode} so you can get the tone with out destroying your hearing. Some guys like attenuators but then you are always running close to flat out which is very hard on your power tubes. I would also reccomend trying to find some good NOS tubes ( especially in the preamp) if you want it to sound its best !! PS: You can also make it switchable from shared to split cathode

[Xplorer]

i totaly confirm, i've got myself a 69 superlead from metroamp, and i added a switch for shared/split cathode, and it's very nice, and simple to do. i think i prefer the shared cathode. you'll be happy with that.

what nos preamp tubes would you advise me yladr ? i think i'd need to replace my power tubes, one seems to have caught some heat, don't know what happend. i guess i should go for some wing c power tubes. or NOS power tubes ? what NOS then ?

i didn't try the mustard caps and vintage other caps and carbon comp on the strategic places where the voltage is high, to produce some distorted resistances. i should perhaps try, now that i've used my ears to this amp the way it is, stock, for some years now. what do you think ? is it worth it ?

[Tone seaker]

Forgive me, but what is that red thing on the input jack of his wah-wah?

I think it's tape to hold the cable from being tugged out

they could have it taped in because at the end of most shows the roadies drag the pedals in real quick by the cables to keep them from being stolen. You can see it on this link at the end http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgGGM1t9cQQ

[Xplorer]

and perhaps a super lead/bass mod with some switchs, it could be cool.
what does this white sticker means ? is it like a superbass or something ?