Fender Tweed Super-Amp

[mrkenny]

I had a narrow panel Fender tweed 2x10 Super-Amp put together for me by my friend Pete Cage Cage Amplifiers. It has vintage Astron caps, vintage tubes: Mullard GZ34, RCA 12ay7, 12ax7's and RCA 6L6GC all 50's and blackplate's. RI Jensen P10R's. Mercury Magnetics power, output and choke. Around 32 watts. It's a killer combination with my R4 Les Paul. Really versatile Blues and Rock & Roll rig. Anybody play through this model amp? Like it?

[Splattle101]

Should be a very nice amp. NOS RCA 6L6GCs? Jeez man, where do you stash those?

I am not a fan of the RI Jensen P10Rs. I have eight of them, in an old Super Reverb that I refurbished, and a new Bassman RI. I am sorry to report that they shit themselves with monotonous regularity when driven moderately hard. The P10R is nominally a 25 Watt speaker, so four of them should provide 100 Watts power handling which should be plenty to handle either of the amps I have. But it's just not so. If I run these amps above 50% power for any length of time, one of these bloody little blue bastards will start farting.

I am looking at replacements.

[mrkenny]

Andy at vintagetubeservices.com is a great source for NOS tubes. We're all a little picky in respect to our gear, tubes happen to be my thing. There's a certain something I like about 50's RCA blackplate tubes, I hear a clarity and kind of a roundness in their tone. Coupled with a Mullard GZ34 Fender tweed amps lean a little towards the Blackface Fenders, tightens up the bottom end. I AB'd the Jensen's against the Weber equivalent and the tone just wasn't there.

[Splattle101]

I don't doubt for a second that your RCA black plates sound great. It was just that my gast was flabbered that anybody can still afford nos RCA 6L6GCs. The going price for a matched pair seems to be on the order of $400 US and up.

If you can have 'em, good for you! I'm a fan of the black plate RCAs myself. I have some of their 7025s stashed for my Super Reverb. But no 6L6s.

Re the Jensen RIs, I hope they work better for you than they have for me. Of my eight, I've had two repaired and one replaced so far, and it sounds like another one has gone after my last gig. I have no complaints about their sound, just their build.

But it sounds like you've got a killer little amp there. I do like the Tweed Super.

[mad dog]

The tweed super is a fantastic amp. I played next to a vintage one once, man what a sound! On the RI P10R thing ... The "R", 1 inch cone was all Jensen had when these amps started. Sometime around the introduction of the tweed bassman, came the 1 1/4 inch Q model. The vintage P10Rs are sweet as hell ... I don't hear that in the RIs. By contrast, the Weber 10A125 30 watt speaker (their take on the old P10Q) had the same basic tone as the old P10Rs I've heard, only significantly louder, with more headroom and definition. I had three of these in a Clark Tyger (bandmaster 3x10) and greatly appreciated them.

[mrkenny]

Originally Posted by Splattle101

I don't doubt for a second that your RCA black plates sound great. It was just that my gast was flabbered that anybody can still afford nos RCA 6L6GCs. The going price for a matched pair seems to be on the order of $400 US and up.

If you can have 'em, good for you! I'm a fan of the black plate RCAs myself. I have some of their 7025s stashed for my Super Reverb. But no 6L6s.

Re the Jensen RIs, I hope they work better for you than they have for me. Of my eight, I've had two repaired and one replaced so far, and it sounds like another one has gone after my last gig. I have no complaints about their sound, just their build.

But it sounds like you've got a killer little amp there. I do like the Tweed Super.

I got the 6L6's from vintagetubeservices for $160.00 a pair, still pricey but affordable. They are the shnizzle in you SR.