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

[daveweyer]

It's great if the first amp has 1x12" or 1x10". Just take the signal from across the speaker terminals to go to the second amp. Essentially this means putting a pot across the speaker terminals, the ends of the pot go to the speaker terminals, the wiper and the ground end of the pot go to the second amp input.
Now all this works best if the first amp can be played loud, that's where you'll get your crunch. The second amp should be run loud enough to shake the speaker in the first amp.
At least that's the sweet spot.
It sounds like some of the members are already reamping on a regular basis with good results.

It looks like the owner of Jimi's Guild re-amping amp has joined the forum to talk about the history of it. That should be interesting to Jimi history lovers.

[Xplorer]

oh, i see ... and the second amp has some effect on the first amp's speaker, due to the acoustic and air vibrations in the room ... ok , very cool ! i see your microhponic metaphore about it.

And welcome, Jimi's Guild amp owner ! i actualy hadn't seen your post before, will read.

[Xplorer]

very cool story amp collector ! you had such treasure undr the eyes, not knowing about it ha ha, that's very cool.
i heard another Hendrix amp story like that, but for a marshall, a different story.
i'm trading my superlead or 45/100 for your amp if you want

[amp23Collect]

Xplorer : 23 is my lucky number and I do have a modest collection of old tube amplifiers, all bought for sake of tone , none save the Guild are of much monetary value, most are kind of ugly and beat up like the Guild, including one I call the not-Marshall which is a 3-5 watt tube amp extracted from an old Webcor tape recorder and built into a small solid state Marshall carcass, it is great for re-amping ...if you have never heard overdriven 12ab5 power tubes, check it out, my tech friend was even able to fit the magic eye tube in it. We some times use it to drive the Beast, a modified Traynor YGL-3 with a 160 watt [surplus Risson] O.T running 6550's

[Xplorer]

my flat is at the 23 Nicolo street he he ...

i didn't know about these 12ab5 tubes.
By the way, thanks so much for sharing with David some pictures of this jewel from your collection !!
it was very exciting !

How i figure this reamping stuff ... my imagination ( since i didn't hear my amps reamped in some good conditions, but it worked anyway ) leads me to this killer guitar tone in the background :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... ZccQE#t=39

[neikeel]

Xplorer : 23 is my lucky number and I do have a modest collection of old tube amplifiers, all bought for sake of tone , none save the Guild are of much monetary value, most are kind of ugly and beat up like the Guild, including one I call the not-Marshall which is a 3-5 watt tube amp extracted from an old Webcor tape recorder and built into a small solid state Marshall carcass, it is great for re-amping ...if you have never heard overdriven 12ab5 power tubes, check it out, my tech friend was even able to fit the magic eye tube in it. We some times use it to drive the Beast, a modified Traynor YGL-3 with a 160 watt [surplus Risson] O.T running 6550's

Would love to see it and hear Dave'e comments!

[Xplorer]

.... And maybe hear this Guild in some clips perhaps ?

[daveweyer]

Well, where to start............
The 12AB5 was essentially a 6V6 in a nine pin miniature arrangement, and was designed for use in automobile radios which had 12 volt systems. Except for a couple watts of plate dissipation, the 12AB5 is given identical electrical characteristics at 250 plate volts as the 6V6.
So yes, overloaded 12AB5s will sound fantastic, well worth sticking them in an amp to check out.
It's a wonderful kind of amp to use as the first amp in a re-amping system.
Some of the old tape recorders had these nice little tube output stages, 12AB5s, 6V6s, 6BQ5s, 6AQ5s, 6EH5s, and of course 50L6s, which can sound splendid. They all make good candidates for first amps.

My hope is to get a clip of Jimi's Guild Quantum amp playing some of his licks, maybe with his own Wah Wah. Possibly even used as a re-amp on a Marshall back end.
I'd also like to post some more detailed pictures of the amp, mainly to show the difference between the Quantum amp and the regular Thunderbass amp, which Tone Seeker thought was a piece of shit and couldn't even sell for $150.00.
Gotta admit the Guild was kind of cheaply made, not the quality of the Marshall, but with (oddly) more advanced electrical engineering than the Marshall.
I may be able to point out the upgrades done by West Coast Organ and Amp back in 1968, for all the history buffs.

Anyway, with a new forum member who actually owns one of Jimi's amps, it should liven up the discussion.

[amp23Collect]

I will take some photos of the "not-marshall" when I have a chance...the Webcor was the mono Reagent model, common on fleabay, bought mine in a flea market [$5] to rob the tubes [mullard 12ax7} but decided to plug in a guitar first,too cool to gut but got tired of the reel motor spinning so had amp extracted....not that I have anything against Marshalls, it was just that I had the DOA Marshall and the size was right, hence the name " not-Marshall" left the 10 inch Celestion but have a speaker interrupt jack to use other speakers. The Beast is so Heavy I can hardly move it around and the huge tranny I got from Bob makes it hard to carry by the handle as the weight is so uneven...driven by the not marshall, the beast cranked is a monstrous crunchy roar...ear plugs required.

[Xplorer]

it's pure exciting stuff, you guys are the guitar amp Mad max techs, recycling amps to do beasts. makes me think of mad max cool cars that's why, with secrets Inside ...
the story is rich and nice to hear. the guild ... used by jimi and modded by Dave, used by you, and this not marshall recycled amp, reamping ... i like this story. all this is still alive

it really deserves to be heard in clips ! and yes, good idea, also with Jimi's Wah, reamping ... oh yeah !

[Tone seaker]

Watched Woodstock last night and there are lots of close ups of the white strat. Dont see any fret notches. I just dont believe they were there. No evidence

[daveweyer]

Tone, I respectfully disagree of course.
I would suggest that two persons who are known to be honorable in their dealings, and would also have no reason to lie, represent very powerful evidence with their testimony that the fret notches were indeed there on Jimi's Strats, especially in light of the incontrovertible fact that both those people worked for Jimi on his equipment during the time when these guitars were used.
I would also suggest that if this controversy were brought before a tribunal, the evidence FOR the grooves being in the frets would be considered far weightier than the evidence against the frets being notched, for the simple reason that the pictorial evidence against the fact is so weak. A grainy film from nearly fifty years ago just doesn't have the resolution to disprove the testimony.
Therefore I would suggest that there IS evidence to verify the notches being cut into the fret or frets as the case may be, and there is NO evidence to demonstrate they were not.
There is also the small matter of other folks who were around at the time remembering the notches.

But, Woodstock is surely a joy to watch, I'm with you there.

[Tone seaker]

Tone, I respectfully disagree of course.
I would suggest that two persons who are known to be honorable in their dealings, and would also have no reason to lie, represent very powerful evidence with their testimony that the fret notches were indeed there on Jimi's Strats, especially in light of the incontrovertible fact that both those people worked for Jimi on his equipment during the time when these guitars were used.
I would also suggest that if this controversy were brought before a tribunal, the evidence FOR the grooves being in the frets would be considered far weightier than the evidence against the frets being notched, for the simple reason that the pictorial evidence against the fact is so weak. A grainy film from nearly fifty years ago just doesn't have the resolution to disprove the testimony.
Therefore I would suggest that there IS evidence to verify the notches being cut into the fret or frets as the case may be, and there is NO evidence to demonstrate they were not.
There is also the small matter of other folks who were around at the time remembering the notches.

But, Woodstock is surely a joy to watch, I'm with you there.

I suggest you watch the Woodstock DVD all the way thru. It is very much high deff. Dont watch the you tube stuff. You can see super clear close ups on the DVD and there is no fret notching. I think that evidence way out weighs some friend saying he did it. I have also personaly examined the white strat at the Experience music project in Seattle from 1-2 feet away and specifically looked at the frets and saw no notches.

[Tek465b]

Woodstock is the best show to me.
My all time favorite

[daveweyer]

Tone, you know I respect your right to disagree as far as you need to.
I'll only add that I also have inspected the white Strat, worked on the white Strat, replaced parts on the white Strat, including frets, and can tell you with complete certainty that we put the notches there. Because you can't see them now doesn't prove one thing except the frets or neck has been replaced. And replacing necks was no big deal, we did it all the time. In later years Jimi moved away from the Foxy Lady type stuff and didn't need the notches anymore, the last guitars we did never had the notches.

So anyone who can't believe what Neal or I say about Jimi's gear is free to hold their opinion, but I know differently because I was there, and so were another half dozen people who verify what happened. That's positive proof. Any negative proof will have to be provided by photographic evidence which can show enough detail to reveal the tiny notches in the frets, or to reveal that they are not there, AND be one of the guitars we put the notches on. So far I haven't seen that evidence, it's just not that detailed or specific.
We don't have to agree on everything about Jimi to enjoy the legacy though.