The big activity of the day was based around a new amp from the folks at http://www.65amps.com/ - The London Pro. This is one of two new amps that will see their debut at The L.A. Ampshow this weekend 10/2 and 10/3. There is another model not shown here that a number of folks played at the 65 Amps open house a few weeks ago.....There has been a lot of playing going on with this amp so I took some cell shots and posted a bit if informal info on facebook:
The first shot ! BUT ... two more photos are being uploaded at 3:50pst that were taken in a little better light so they may be a little better.
Over at 65 Amps and playing around with one of the new amps. I can't really say much other than the amp is really sweet, agressive, crunchy, blusey and at the moment Dan is getting amazing chimey articulate tones out of a Les Paul that are normally the domain of single coils. This is a different amp than what some of you played at the open house earlier this year.
A bad cell phone shot. Low light in the shop as it is hot so we have things turned down light wise. Shot is uploading now, sorry for the bad quality but it just might be the very first shot of one of the new amps in the Working Pro line.
Update - I was able to get a bit of pricing info from Dan at 65 Amps. Head: $1850, 1x12 Combo: $2295, 2x12 Combo: $2395. This is about $1000 less than the original London which is where the line name of "Working Pro" may have come from. I really can't see the difference in the new line. Still hand wired, Sozo caps and all the cool stuff and is pure 65.
This was the actual first shot, low light and fuzz and all.
Below is some of the dialogue from Facebook when the news hit the net....
Kevin Miller, Greg Broadbooks and Jan Christian Gjems like this..
Steve Kirk Is this the high gain model everyone's been talking about?
Myles Rose Steve - nope... a different amp. The high gain amp was played by a lot of folks at a 65 Amps open house a few months ago. The high gain amp will be at the L.A. Ampshow and the press conference as will this other amp, the London Pro, a new... model which was not at the open house. This amp is something of half of the original London (the color channel side) with three foot switchable channels, two sides, no trem but a lot of new or different functionality. It shares the cool aspects of the London (one of my personal favorite amps as a lot of folks know) with more stuff on tap. It has two volume and two tone controls, the color control of the original London and the Master Voltage which was not in the original London. Pretty impressive piece of work.
Dan Boul Actually this amp has the EF86 and 12AX7 channels from the original London, but now you can combine them into a high-gain 3rd option. When you do this the Volume and Tone knobs of each respective channel becomes the Gain and Tone knob for each tube . .. the combinations are endless and there's our Master Voltage control as well . . .very functional. :-)
3 peopleSteve Kirk, Kevin Miller and Charles J. Rivera like this
Myles Rose Dan - thanks a ton for the updated info. I just took two more photos when you were in your office and could not stop me :-) You know me ... "never ask the question if you cannot accept NO as being a possible answer".
Kevin Miller You REALLY have my attention now... this model may supplant the Lil' Elvis and Tupelo on the top of my wish-list...
Myles Rose - Kevin, Sorry to burst your bubble but that is like saying you will never eat fish again since you discovered chicken. The amp is amazing for sure. Hell, I am finding it hard not to get in line for one myself. But Lil' Elvis cuts through l...ike nothing I have seen (go listen to Mike Francschini / Fandango / ZZ Top Tribute band do the ZZ Top stuff on his Elvis) or listen to Peter Stroud (Sheryl Crow / Sarah McLachlan) with his stereo Lil' Elvis / Tupelo rig. Hard call but this London Pro is going to be hard to ignore in my own case. Blues ... 65-69 Acid Rock .... the stuff I grew up with on two channels. I will leave channel #3 for guests that are 1/2 my age :)
Bottom line .... There is going to be a long waiting line for this amp.
The classic crosser. Found today in the group of tubes I was testing for Joe for a special Soho request. The two sides of each triode cross and interact with each other. Not a good thing. This was typical behavior of most GT 12AX7M tubes as a side note.Joe Bourdet dubbed this trait on the curver tracer "classic crosser". Those tubes are marked "cc" and Joe's description has stuck ever since he coined the phrase.
This above is a nice trace.
Above three shots - Joe at 65 Amps had a special requirement for a JJ803S with specific requirements for a Soho amp. 65 Amps does this sort of thing for their customers and dealers. Maybe the only folks out there that do. Come to think if it, the don't charge extra for custom tolex colors either.
In any case, Joe had a requirement so I gave him a selection.
This is the final result of the JJ 803S special selection for the Soho customer requirement. I can't tell you what the numbers mean as it is proprietary to 65 Amps. I will say that the numbers represent plate current, mutual conductance or transconductance, plate resistance, true gain in circuit, rise time and compression. Joe informed me that the tube I told him to use made his day in the Soho. Always nice to hear.
A bit of BBQ lunch and then back to the shop. Lots going on this week. Two new amps make their public debut, the 6th Annual L.A. Ampshow ( http://www.ampshow.com/ ), friends in from Norway and all over the USA lots of music on the schedule and lots of music that is never on any schedule.
From yesterday because I cannot shake the image or thought of the record heat:
OK ... this above takes the proverbial cake! Andy Bales never ceases to amaze me but pushing a cart of water that weighs 3/4 of a ton in 115 degree heat and the guy smiles? I am at a loss for words!
Anytime it is over 85 degrees in Downtown Los Angeles the crew from http://www.urm.org/ (Union rescue Mission) are on the streets of skid row passing out cold water bottles. If you want to help check out their website. Their donation page even accepts paypal! Not to toot my own horn but I was officially the first one to donate via paypal. I sort of had to as I had complained for months that they did not have a paypal path of donation. :)
This weekend is the ampshow as I mentioned before. You never know who will be there.
Directly above - No Carl Verheyen this year. He is off touring Europe with Supertramp. He has been their guitarist since 1985.
Wishing everybody a great week. I am heading out in a while for ....
or
or
.... and to Brian Mendes - my dinner friend is the girl you saw at the shop earlier today. If you are really a good guy I might even let her suggest a nice restaurant for you.
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