You Vote: BOG EL34 vs. 6550

[texwest]

Tex this isnt something that hasnt been discussed in the past just not here. What Ive read is the largest contributor would be vintage vibes. Even off the guitar goes through all the SS circuitry just without the wet side of the effect. But with 4 effects thats certainly an issue. It all adds up

Vintage strat with 60s pickups on the low side.
Loading down by 4 effects
Daisy chaining and how that kills the input signal
Cords that pass less 'voltage'

And thats all before the amp has any active say. Believe it or not Ive thought of taking the schematics of all those effects as well as a schematic of how 3 amps daisy chained would sum, then sum it all up and make a box that recreates that effect. Without a doubt it would clean up and warm up the signal. Basically it would be a complex low pass filter.

Yes, these four things add up to a pretty big thing. None of these four things are tailoring my sound at all. And I doubt if they are in most modern guitar player's setups.

[basile865]

Somebody on here, I forget who, sent me a link to where you could buy curly cables that weren't high efficiency for like 7 bucks. I bought two and they certainly will roll the highs especially when you roll the volume back on your guitar a little. Its immediately apparent between 8 on the volume knob and 10.

[razelfrax]

Well JCS I Got my Scumbacks today and recorded a completely improvised blues jam lots of mistakes and bad playing but you asked for it lol . Unfortunately I got some phase cancellation because I took an output from the second to last pedal for the other 50 watt head and 2x12. Still has a nice tone despite my fretboard massacre lol. Got to my reverbnation website and pick the second song called Quiet blues jam .
http://www.reverbnation.com/slp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jcs]

i will listen to that clip fed thru my hifi system soon!

btw, i have a vox cry baby 'model-95-910511' made in italy for thomas organ, this is late 60s i think, anyway, it does roll the top end off just a bit but in a good way imo..

i've had other more recent wahs that were worse tone sucks.

btw, this particular wah sounds incredible!

[Billy Batz]

To follow up on the effect of the pedals in the signal chain guys Im surprised I never realized this in the past but in actuality the only effect Jimi used at that time that I think wasnt probably true bypass was the vibe. To say vintage effects are never true bypass is false. It all depends on whether or not they had an LED. With DPDT stomp switches if you wanted an LED you had to compromise the TB. But neither the Fuzz Faces, Octaves or Wahs have LEDs and so one of the poles would act the same as the third pole on 3PDT switches today. So I think that cuts it down to the vibe but thats no small thing because like I said what I know of vibes is that the SS amp stages are never off you basically are just switching in and out the wet side of the effect.

[razelfrax]

Ive built fuzzfaces and wahs and know from personal experience that while ff's are ,wahs are not true bypass and are a major component in the Jimi high end roll off . Everybodys gone true bypass crazy but I think it leads to harsher tones. Lots of info at fuzz central. Wow has this thread morphed or what lol.

[Billy Batz]

Yeah its funny the only stomp switch available I guess was a DPDT but only one fo these original Clyde McCoys seems to make use of it.
http://www.craveguitar.com/lessons/inde ... icle&id=55" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/mccoy/clyde3.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gWJbkvw45xI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[texwest]

I bought a used crybaby back around 1979 and it definitely affected the tone. So at least the wah and vibe, plus the daisy chaining, cheap cord, and old pickups are part of the equation.

[yngwie308]

I know you guys have seen at least one of these pics before for BOG rehersals, but I have some large scans for close up action:


Here we see Hendrix sitting in on the drums at RAH. These could be where clever roadies sneek in and change out his EL-34's for 6550's..

yngwie"I'm a tone chaser man"308

[basile865]

Ya know you might just be right! just kidding

Na, I'm pretty over the infamous 6550 freak-out of 2008.

I got to play a plexi through 3 differently loaded marshall 4x12's today and I'm impressed how different the amp sounds.

Up in the air currently is avatar loaded g12h's, g12h/vintage 30 mix, or load my current cab with 55hz weber g12h's.

[Roe]

chris ****** said that the 6550s and the 75w speaker were probably used in the bass rig, not the guitar rig

[basile865]

just for the record, I tried my dads 6L6 fender bandmaster into my cab and it sounded WAYYYYYYYYY WAY more BOG like than my plexi so I think jimi used bandmasters that night. just kidding

BUT the smooth overdrive I have been killing for was there and I think it was the 6L6 style tube making that happen. In which case I am a strong believer of the 6550 theory now, and I just bought tung sol 6550's and am having them installed next week! So I will let everyone know how that goes. I dont expect it to be spot on because I dont have the right speakers, but I'm hoping for a good change!

[Tone-Freak]

we must realize the tone we are chasing here has been remixed in the studio and may have sounded totaly different than it really did

[basile865]

Oh of course thats kept in mind. But those first few seconds of who knows really seem to reveal that sound. where its just him with that extra stratty - sorta woody punchy sound. That really popped with the 6L6's in comparison to the EL34's in my amp which are muddier and sorta too middy. Plus the lows are way flubbier on el34's at high volume. I think the break up characteristics and sound of the 6550s would be closer, but we'll see.

[basile865]

tubedepot.com let me in on a secret AFTER ordering. They dont have any in stock. 1-2 weeks...........