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

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Tone seaker
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Re: Jimi Hendrix' Gear and Mods at West Coast Organ and Amp

Post by Tone seaker » Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:38 pm

Look here about 16-17 seconds in and there are no notches in the frets. If you look at it on DVD where it is even clearer it is very clear the frets are not notched
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD-pJsp6XFU

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

Post by swankmotee » Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:49 pm

Ok, for some of us who didn't get the earlier post where exactly are these notches supposed to be and which fret #?

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

Post by Tone seaker » Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:14 pm

12th and 16th fret
Last edited by Tone seaker on Sat Dec 13, 2014 4:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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

Post by demonufo » Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:59 pm

Eddy Kramer was far too busy a man to follow Hendrix around all the time though, doncha think...

As for 6550's, it makes perfect sense to me, tonally. My eyes don't have to see it to believe it. Switching for my GE 6550's, I can well believe it.

A lot of things change in 40+ years. Not many things will be as they were...
So I like purple, okay!!!!!!

83.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot!

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

Post by Tone seaker » Sun Nov 23, 2014 5:18 pm

demonufo wrote:Eddy Kramer was far too busy a man to follow Hendrix around all the time though, doncha think...

As for 6550's, it makes perfect sense to me, tonally. My eyes don't have to see it to believe it. Switching for my GE 6550's, I can well believe it.

A lot of things change in 40+ years. Not many things will be as they were...
Kramer was a full time employee of Hendrix. He was busy working non stop with Hendrix. :D
Last edited by Tone seaker on Sat Dec 13, 2014 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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

Post by Tenderfoot » Sun Nov 23, 2014 5:40 pm

daveweyer wrote:Wow,
I'd love to see ten new posts every morning, especially if each one had a clip of some new sonic adventure!
This is great.

Any fuzz can be modified, and if you want to post your schematic I can suggest things to try. Silicon models may not quite have the mellowness you want.

Keep the posts coming, and tell your friends.
daveweyer thank you for being willing to point me in the right direction in getting more gain. Image

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

Post by Xplorer » Sun Nov 23, 2014 5:45 pm

Toneseaker, ok, you offered some arguments, but it doesn't really stop the research, nor prooves everything, it's still relative.
where are these 4 el34 amps ? please :) can we see them ? didn't you see some big bottles 6550 in the back of the Woodstock amps, the day the concert happend ? i posted some pictures of it.

this white strat maybe didn't feature this notch. maybe some others did. or maybe the pixel definition , even on the dvd isn't enough to show such small and delicate detail.

Eddie Kramer ... what does he know about such things and mods ? for the rest, and for recording, i have no problem hearing him but i remember that once he talked about a blonde amp whith a name which wasn't appropriate, so his memory could slip a bit sometimes, and he probably exagerate some of them. error is human, even for eddie kramer.

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

Post by swankmotee » Sun Nov 23, 2014 5:51 pm

No offense Toneseeker but no one can prove that the amps you saw were the same ones that were tweaked by Dave and I'm sure that like 99% of Marshall owners who found themselves in the possession of one loaded with 6550's changed them back to EL34's. Also the pic at Woodstock clearly shows (though grainy) big bulb glass in there and myself would've never believed it either! One thing we must all take into consideration is that there are very few examples of his gear left and little or no bonafide documentation. As far as Kramer is concerned I truly doubt he had anything to do with Hendrix's gear other than as observer IMHO as I was not there and am only citing his commentary that I've read.

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

Post by Tone seaker » Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:22 pm

Xplorer wrote:Toneseaker, ok, you offered some arguments, but it doesn't really stop the research, nor prooves everything, it's still relative.
where are these 4 el34 amps ? please :) can we see them ? didn't you see some big bottles 6550 in the back of the Woodstock amps, the day the concert happend ? i posted some pictures of it.

this white strat maybe didn't feature this notch. maybe some others did. or maybe the pixel definition , even on the dvd isn't enough to show such small and delicate detail.

Eddie Kramer ... what does he know about such things and mods ? for the rest, and for recording, i have no problem hearing him but i remember that once he talked about a blonde amp whith a name which wasn't appropriate, so his memory could slip a bit sometimes, and he probably exagerate some of them. error is human, even for eddie kramer.
The technical stuff here is amazing. The Woodstock pics were blown up of the back of the amp and very grainy. Not really for sure seeing 6550's The amps I posted pics of three of them in earlier post.

12361
Image

Image

Image

The governor

Image

Dickenson Monterey amp
Image
Last edited by Tone seaker on Sat Dec 13, 2014 4:14 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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

Post by Tone seaker » Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:26 pm

swankmotee wrote:No offense Toneseeker but no one can prove that the amps you saw were the same ones that were tweaked by Dave and I'm sure that like 99% of Marshall owners who found themselves in the possession of one loaded with 6550's changed them back to EL34's. Also the pic at Woodstock clearly shows (though grainy) big bulb glass in there and myself would've never believed it either! One thing we must all take into consideration is that there are very few examples of his gear left and little or no bonafide documentation. As far as Kramer is concerned I truly doubt he had anything to do with Hendrix's gear other than as observer IMHO as I was not there and am only citing his commentary that I've read.
None taken. But why would any one change out Hendrix's tubes when they could play or keep for investment the amp exactly like It was when Hendrix owned it. If any thing replace the tubes with what was in it. Why mode a Hendrix amp back to original specs unless you want to destroy the value of it :)

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

Post by Xplorer » Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:50 pm

i think that we can't really know, since it isn't impossible that tubes were changed. it's strange to see these el34 for sure but we can't really know.
our ears can tell a lot though, and since Dave confirms this and explains everything, it tells us that we simply don't know everything, there are some blanks in the history, which don't let us conclude officialy.
Also In the History of Marshall book it shows a pic of the inside back of the amp with EL34's.
Did you look at the video I posted it is super close up.
Research is great but me personaly I am very skeptical
i have a better definition of this Woodstock movie, seen on a 2 meters wide full hd screen, and i think it's still not defined enough to judge. the notchs can be hidden by string shadows, that's a possibility which can't let us conclude.

at some point, testing the various theorys or myths, or first hand infos like Dave's , is necessary.
if history says it's el34 but that it sounds kt66 / 6550 , it brings some questions on the table ...

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

Post by daveweyer » Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:58 pm

Tenderfoot,
Just take one end of the 2uf cap off of the dividing point of the 22K and the 10K resistor, and move it over to the collector of the 3904 directly. Leave everything else in place. See if that gets you enough gain.

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

Post by frenchie » Sun Nov 23, 2014 7:20 pm

Tone seaker wrote:
Xplorer wrote:Toneseaker, ok, you offered some arguments, but it doesn't really stop the research, nor prooves everything, it's still relative.
where are these 4 el34 amps ? please :) can we see them ? didn't you see some big bottles 6550 in the back of the Woodstock amps, the day the concert happend ? i posted some pictures of it.

this white strat maybe didn't feature this notch. maybe some others did. or maybe the pixel definition , even on the dvd isn't enough to show such small and delicate detail.

Eddie Kramer ... what does he know about such things and mods ? for the rest, and for recording, i have no problem hearing him but i remember that once he talked about a blonde amp whith a name which wasn't appropriate, so his memory could slip a bit sometimes, and he probably exagerate some of them. error is human, even for eddie kramer.
The technical stuff here is amazing but I don't nessarily believe it is Hendrix. The Woodstock pics were blown up of the back of the amp and very grainy. Not really for sure seeing 6550's The amps I posted pics of three of them in earlier post.

12361
Image

Image

Image

The governor

Image

Dickenson Monterey amp
Image

Also the one I looked in the back in Seattle on perminate display at the Experience music project. Any one can go there and look at it

Also In the History of Marshall book it shows a pic of the inside back of the amp with EL34's.
Did you look at the video I posted it is super close up.
Research is great but me personaly I am very skeptical

the last amp ( the dickinson amp ) is on your photo loaded with 7591 tubes .... which are .... well i guess you'll be skeptical ....of the 6L6 type ....
I'll guet the point that it still proves nothing , except your ability to shoot yourself in the foot when time comes for you to prove your point ....
Not really wanting to sound like the proverbial arrogant french prick , but can we keep things a wee bit more serious please ?
What's the point of betting the whole credibility of dave , on pics taken far after , of the most easily interchangeable part of a plexi , always whining about those old but legit blurry pics .... is it really for me to explain to an AMERICAN ( leaders in the field ) , how the fuck high end atmospheric telescopes work nowadays ? is the air in the upper atmosphere THAT clear ? i hear you ... the image taken by these telescope , maybe just bird spit and shit on the lenses , but i'll be audacious and say i have a hunch they can be trusted ! NOW how much is the gap between the outer layer of the glass of two rca 6550 in a 69 plexi , then how much is this gap between two EL34 ? Ever heard of thales theorem ? proportionality ?
Now go make a zoom on the woodstock back amp pics , take a good photoshop software , enhance the lines , put a measure reference in the zoom (height of the super lead wording on the backplate for example ) ... and get back with some actual irrefutable DATA !
damn .....

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

Post by daveweyer » Sun Nov 23, 2014 7:22 pm

Tone seaker,
Can you tell what the lettering says on the leftmost EL34?

And isn't that a Drake power transformer with the 2 1/2" stack?

Did you notice the tube hold-downs were missing?

And aren't those just Russian 5881 tubes in the Monterey amp?

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

Post by Xplorer » Sun Nov 23, 2014 7:30 pm

i'd be surprised that Jimi may have used some el34 .... "marshall" branded, as seen on the pictures of the superlead.
In which year did marshall start selling tubes branded "marshall" btw ?

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