Jimi Hendrix' Gear and Mods at West Coast Organ and Amp

[Roe]

Nice to have Tarzin and Dave here. I suspect some amps have been demodded on the grounds that the mods were not associated with either hendrix or marshall. Someone who looks at an amp may say, oh this one has been badly modded - lets restore it. Even if it was reported to be a hendrix amp, they may not know when the mods were performed, since it could be after hendrix had it. The mods on the Dickinson amp (470R screen resistor, 33k slope resistor etc), for instance, could have been performed after 1968

[shakti]

Wow, I'm away for a fortnight (couldn't log in) and this turns up! Very cool! The evidence on 6550s surely does mount up.

Any chance we could see any inside photos of 10590?

[daveweyer]

Some of the mods were invisible, like when I would put a "good" transformer into an SL that physically matched the original but was capable of more power. This could have easily been the case with 10590 since it had a high power output. I wonder if they checked it with the 6550s installed running at class B or near class B, using the 12AT7 inverter.
Other mods should be simple to spot; shared cathode, possible bypass change, possible PI input cap change, possible coupling caps change, possible screen resistor value change, possible tone stack change, and possible neg PS resistor change for achieving 15ma idle current in the 6550s. A few instances may have had filter cap changes.
It would be fun to know when Tazin caught a glimpse of this amp, possibly before the tubes were removed? That would be nice.
Either way, it is a nice piece of actual photographic evidence of my 6550 penchant (volume, tone, and reliability), and a really nice view of an original West Coast sticker--I believe it is the actual phone number of early West Coast Organ and Amp too, before we moved down Melrose avenue and got more phone numbers.
Cross your fingers, I may have come across a Jimi Strat with the notch on the 12th fret; I'll find out soon if the owner will allow some photos (most don't). Supposedly the neck has not been changed.

[neikeel]

Great to see that link to the West Coast Hendrix amp.

Apart from the Dickinson amp are there many other authenticated Marshalls out there for inspection by the masses?

[Mr.Glenny]

Wow,
Nice shot Glen, friend of mine!
I read correctly? This amp was played in the woodstock concert, and also in BOG shows?
So it was the same amp?
Really really nice, now it is time for me to try to build the 3 transistors FF!
And rock'n'roll!

Hi Nik! I hope we will soon see that I want to have fun with your amplifiers !!! And then where you live the food is really too good !!!!!!

The question of replacement with el34 instead of 6550 has always seemed a sacrilege ... but the owner is a super fan of jimi and it's easy that in those years someone told him that it did not make much difference ... it was '74 ...! At that time he was a 20-year-old young man and had Jimi Hendrix's amplifier in his hands !!! Probably if it happened today he would have taken a different road .....

Do you know what would be nice to do ???? Connect Dave with him ...
"what do you think Dave ???"
maybe even Marcel would like to be contacted by who put his hands in his Amp ....
I have already tried a year ago to ask him friendship on facebook .. I unfortunately was ignored .... but maybe I know someone who is in contact with him and could explain it to ....
Otherwise I and Xplorer will steal the amplifier where it is now ... at the Swiss Museum !!!!

I hope that what I wrote is understandable to you ....

This forum makes me sleepless !!!
Stay Tuned Guys
Regards
Glen

[Tazin]

Some of the mods were invisible, like when I would put a "good" transformer into an SL that physically matched the original but was capable of more power. This could have easily been the case with 10590 since it had a high power output. I wonder if they checked it with the 6550s installed running at class B or near class B, using the 12AT7 inverter.
Other mods should be simple to spot; shared cathode, possible bypass change, possible PI input cap change, possible coupling caps change, possible screen resistor value change, possible tone stack change, and possible neg PS resistor change for achieving 15ma idle current in the 6550s. A few instances may have had filter cap changes.
It would be fun to know when Tazin caught a glimpse of this amp, possibly before the tubes were removed? That would be nice.
Either way, it is a nice piece of actual photographic evidence of my 6550 penchant (volume, tone, and reliability), and a really nice view of an original West Coast sticker--I believe it is the actual phone number of early West Coast Organ and Amp too, before we moved down Melrose avenue and got more phone numbers.
Cross your fingers, I may have come across a Jimi Strat with the notch on the 12th fret; I'll find out soon if the owner will allow some photos (most don't). Supposedly the neck has not been changed.

I seen the amp after the 6550's which were probably replaced in the late 70's.

[Tazin]

Great to see that link to the West Coast Hendrix amp.

Apart from the Dickinson amp are there many other authenticated Marshalls out there for inspection by the masses?

Most are in the hands of private collectors and are kept "behind closed doors" for the most part. Paul Allen usually puts one on display at the EMPM in Seattle behind a glass display.

[Tazin]

Wow,
Nice shot Glen, friend of mine!
I read correctly? This amp was played in the woodstock concert, and also in BOG shows?
So it was the same amp?
Really really nice, now it is time for me to try to build the 3 transistors FF!
And rock'n'roll!

Hi Nik! I hope we will soon see that I want to have fun with your amplifiers !!! And then where you live the food is really too good !!!!!!

The question of replacement with el34 instead of 6550 has always seemed a sacrilege ... but the owner is a super fan of jimi and it's easy that in those years someone told him that it did not make much difference ... it was '74 ...! At that time he was a 20-year-old young man and had Jimi Hendrix's amplifier in his hands !!! Probably if it happened today he would have taken a different road .....

Do you know what would be nice to do ???? Connect Dave with him ...
"what do you think Dave ???"
maybe even Marcel would like to be contacted by who put his hands in his Amp ....
I have already tried a year ago to ask him friendship on facebook .. I unfortunately was ignored .... but maybe I know someone who is in contact with him and could explain it to ....
Otherwise I and Xplorer will steal the amplifier where it is now ... at the Swiss Museum !!!!

I hope that what I wrote is understandable to you ....

This forum makes me sleepless !!!
Stay Tuned Guys
Regards
Glen

When it comes to the owners of celebrity owned gear you have to respect their privacy. They'll share what they can only when they feel comfortable doing so. So, badgering them for additional info/pictures is NOT the way to go about it.

[Mr.Glenny]

When it comes to the owners of celebrity owned gear you have to respect their privacy. They'll share what they can only when they feel comfortable doing so. So, badgering them for additional info/pictures is NOT the way to go about it.

Tazin thanks for the advice! you are a wise man!!!
so it is better not to even contact him ...
I thought his mentality was more of a musician, not a collector ... he always brought this amplifier on stage with the his band, and now he has given it to a museum ...it's a sad thing that everything remains secret .....

[Xplorer]

Wow,
Nice shot Glen, friend of mine!
I read correctly? This amp was played in the woodstock concert, and also in BOG shows?
So it was the same amp?
Really really nice, now it is time for me to try to build the 3 transistors FF!
And rock'n'roll!

Hi Nik! I hope we will soon see that I want to have fun with your amplifiers !!! And then where you live the food is really too good !!!!!!

The question of replacement with el34 instead of 6550 has always seemed a sacrilege ... but the owner is a super fan of jimi and it's easy that in those years someone told him that it did not make much difference ... it was '74 ...! At that time he was a 20-year-old young man and had Jimi Hendrix's amplifier in his hands !!! Probably if it happened today he would have taken a different road .....

Do you know what would be nice to do ???? Connect Dave with him ...
"what do you think Dave ???"
maybe even Marcel would like to be contacted by who put his hands in his Amp ....
I have already tried a year ago to ask him friendship on facebook .. I unfortunately was ignored .... but maybe I know someone who is in contact with him and could explain it to ....
Otherwise I and Xplorer will steal the amplifier where it is now ... at the Swiss Museum !!!!

I hope that what I wrote is understandable to you ....

This forum makes me sleepless !!!
Stay Tuned Guys
Regards
Glen

When it comes to the owners of celebrity owned gear you have to respect their privacy. They'll share what they can only when they feel comfortable doing so. So, badgering them for additional info/pictures is NOT the way to go about it.

Then if it's actualy not ok - but i thought it had become public on Facebook and visitable in a museum - i could still remove the link and the folder. As you wish guys.

[Mr.Glenny]

Then if it's actualy not ok - but i thought it had become public on Facebook and visitable in a museum - i could still remove the link and the folder. As you wish guys.

it should be ok ... I got it from facebook ... but if you look closely you can notice it was an article of the univibes (italian magazine) a few years ago ....

[Xplorer]

Then if it's actualy not ok - but i thought it had become public on Facebook and visitable in a museum - i could still remove the link and the folder. As you wish guys.

it should be ok ... I got it from facebook ... but if you look closely you can notice it was an article of the univibes (italian magazine) a few years ago ....

Ah, then if it's fully public like that, i suppose that it implys the autorisation of the owner by definition.
so in Italy you were aware of this amp since long ? We had no idea !

[shakti]

Getting Dave in contact with the owner seems a very reasonable way to go about things though - if Dave agrees, that is.

Getting any additional info on this historically significant amp is most interesting, even if it's not going to be earth-shattering if Tazin has the right info. Any little hints on tweaks that may or may not have been done would help us one further inch. The only other allegedly Hendrix 69-era amp we've seen inside photos of does have some little tweaks, and it would be interesting to see if 10590 has tweaks in the same spots (shared V1 cathode, different first stage coupling cap, different V2 cathode bypass cap, bias circuit value changes probably to accomodate 6550s etc).

[daveweyer]

I wouldn't mind being in touch with the owner of the amp, might be fun. But like Tazin says, some of these guys are very private--I have found this to be true in looking for greater exposure of what West Coast did to these amps and guitars etc. For whatever reason, they prefer not to expose their gear, possibly to preserve their options for eventual sale of the gear.
But it would be fun to have one of these amps to restore exactly the way I did it for Jimi back in '69, that is if I could remember precisely what I did; I still have a few NOS parts left. The way I see it, the amp should be given to the various Jimi players to try out and record, and then have them post their recordings on the forum, and youtube. That would be so cool, but also a lot of logistical problems (like who would be willing to ship their gear around the world to unknown musicians?)
Probably wouldn't happen unless someone gave me one of the originals out of the kindness of their heart.
So approach the owner cautiously, and through a trusted friend if possible, and don't badger. Time and the interconnection between all people can bring things to pass, just these photos of the amp are like a prayer answered. I'm sure we'll see more before it's all over. Everybody think about it and it will probably happen.

[Mr.Glenny]

great Dave !!! It's okay at least to try .... with cordiality and respect i would try.. ...

If you agree tomorrow I try to get him the message that Dave Weyer of west coast would love to talk to him .... is it ok for you ???