Sonoma Wire Works - Support Forums

by **camaro24gold** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 1:27 pm

I still have a '69 Fender Deluxe Reverb (which is the same specs as the '68 Blackface. CBS didn't screw up the Deluxe like they did the rest of the line when they bought Fender.) Great all around workhorse amp and wouldn't part with it at all as hand wired tube amps are through the roof with cost anymore. Bought the amp for $40.00.
When I worked in the shop and we started to see Fender, Marshall and the likes building tube amps with the power tubes mounted on pc boards we went "whoaaa....this can not be a good thing." The heat from these tubes is going to be a problem in the long run with weakening the pc boards over time. Many were trying to mount the tubes on the horizontal to try and minimize this but regardless...there was no way they were going to be as tuff as the old hand wired ones.
Back in the mid seventies I had a Fender Brownface BandMaster head and we were getting set up for a gig. Somebody did me the favor to drop the head from ten feet high onto a tiled floor and one of the power tubes popped out and rolled across the floor. Popped the tube back in and played the gig with no problems.
Love the old hand wired amps

by **jamienelson** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 3:11 pm

The thing I remember from gigging with a big amp was carrying the heavy monster around. I ended up downsizing from a 2x12" 140 Watt Ampeg Combo to a 12" 60 Watt Crate Combo. Just another thing to think about as we get older. :cool:

Jamie

by **ShredRex** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:21 pm

LOL true.......

2x12 is as small as I can handle, the half stack definitely is a no go for that reason.

by **scott** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 6:06 pm

ShredRex wrote:2x12 is as small as I can handle,

Don't tell me a man of your means doesn't have a guitar tech and a roadie to do all these things for you! I do ... she's called my wife :lol:

by **Wedgebill** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 8:14 pm

I had an amp called a Redmere Soloist built by the M&M people for a lot of years, one of the first amps to mimic others, it copied Fender Twin Reverb, Marshall stack and about five others, sounded very cool and was very loud, big as 2 back doors cut in half and stuck together in a square. I have had a slipped disc and discectomy to prove it too.... :lol:

The amp I have now is a 50 watt Craaft Solton, German effort that looks like it came free with a pack of cornflakes.....haha

Uncle Bill :cool:

by **scott** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 8:50 pm

Wedgebill wrote:I had an amp called a Redmere Soloist built by the M&M people .....

Wedgebill wrote:The amp I have now is a 50 watt Craaft Solton, German effort that looks like it came free with a pack of cornflakes.....

Cornflakes? ... M&Ms? Do you get your amps from ASDA? :lol:

by **strat** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 9:13 pm

My first amp was coal fired..

by **gatorjj** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:52 am

scott wrote:
ShredRex wrote:2x12 is as small as I can handle,

Don't tell me a man of your means doesn't have a guitar tech and a roadie to do all these things for you! I do ... she's called my wife

Now that I think about it I used to jokingly ask my future wife to carry my old (and very very heavy) Gibson tube amp at gigs and she would one-hand the beast all over for me like it was no big deal. I think that was when I first became smitten, or scared to death to cross her! :lol:

by **ShredRex** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 3:38 pm

I am sure my wife could do it.........would is another.......lol

by **jamienelson** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:59 pm

Shred,
Are you gonna be micing the amp and running it through a PA system for gigs?

by **ShredRex** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 6:57 pm

not sure.........tough to say if when I will see any live action.......I would think it would be mic'd.

by **ShredRex** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 1:35 pm

Well yesterday I went I heard a Spider III for the first time.....and all I say was WOW. The Ozzy presets were simply killer! Bang for the buck wise it is one hell of an amp and very versatile. I think more than any previous version of the Spider. I had the first one a few years back and it was good........I had the second one and just hated it. So maybe the third time's a charm?

Does anyone in here own one....what I am curious about most is the recording side of things. It says on the webpage I can line it into whatever for recording using the Headphones/Direct out. Does it work worth a #$%^ tho?

Can I bypass gearbox completely and go right into RW via the GP? Can one of you guys shed some light on this for me? What I want is to get the tone I hear while I am playing my amp into my recordings....running direct. Is this even possible?

If this works recording wise....I am all set to grab one!

Pootertunes · by **pooterpatty** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 3:31 pm

There's little possibility that your direct-recorded sound will be EXACTLY like what you hear coming through the amp's speakers. The type of speakers the Spider III uses, your computer's speakers, as well as the room you're playing the Spider in all affect the sound. I'd go back to wherever you did the demo of the Spider with an actual pair of headphones (good ones!) and see what the sound is like through that headphone out. Of course it will be different once you get it into the computer, depending on what type of monitors you use for your computer, but that's a good starting point anyway.

My experience is that when you record like that (basically bypassing the amp's speakers) you tend to get a sound that's harsh, digital, and inorganic. However, I could be wrong and you might get great sound that way.

My Riffworld · by **GuitarSlinger** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:13 pm

ShredRex wrote:Well yesterday I went I heard a Spider III for the first time.....and all I say was WOW. The Ozzy presets were simply killer! Bang for the buck wise it is one hell of an amp and very versatile. I think more than any previous version of the Spider. I had the first one a few years back and it was good........I had the second one and just hated it. So maybe the third time's a charm?

Does anyone in here own one....what I am curious about most is the recording side of things. It says on the webpage I can line it into whatever for recording using the Headphones/Direct out. Does it work worth a #$%^ tho?

Can I bypass gearbox completely and go right into RW via the GP? Can one of you guys shed some light on this for me? What I want is to get the tone I hear while I am playing my amp into my recordings....running direct. Is this even possible?

If this works recording wise....I am all set to grab one!

The Spider amps use a custom designed Celestion speaker that doesn't color the sound too much. I havn't actually played one, but from what I've read the direct out sound is good, but the Spider lacks alot of functions that are found on a Pod or Guitarport. A good way to test out the direct sound is to bring a nice pair of headphones to the shop.

The line out on the Spider will be too hot for the GP input. Line level/headphone jacks are much hotter than a guitar input.

by **ShredRex** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:03 am

I had lined my Behringer in by using the headphones and it worked ok....but it still was still a little low on the signal side. Plus the emaulation did not translate well for the amp to the outs.....I am going to take your advice, and take some phones with me to test it out further before I commit to a purchae.

That and between spending money on Van Halen tickets and a new monitor... I am a little cash strapped.

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