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tonight i re-did one of the Bogen CHB50 to Marshall 2204 conversions i did a couple of yrs ago.
This one had been sitting under my bench for a while and somebody came over and wanted to demo some lo-buck rock heads----- he took another CHB50/2204 that i did with EL34's that had been used by a local band for a year or so until they traded it back in on a Plexi clone i built.
This one sounded kind of dull and over-gainy so i went in and saw what i had done back then and how i could "save" it.
I made several small component value changes echoing my now-favorite 2204 mods and put in a new pair of Sovtek 5881's----- put a hot older China 12ax7 in V1, GE 12ax7 in V2, and an EH 12ax7 in the PI.
The 1st treb peaking circuit (470k w/470pF bypass cap) is now single 47k resistor---- the 2nd Treb Peak is a series 390k (no bypass cap) and a 470k to ground----- i restored the rest of the preamp to stock specs, i had some values in there that weren't working all that well.
It's working now !!! A local punk band was in the studio across the hall (mastering their stuff) and one of the guitarists came over while i was testing this "2204" out----he really liked the tone and said he'll be coming to get one of these "when he gets the $$$ up" (it's only $300 for this one)--- that's what i hear a lot-
- but i've sold a lot of these conversions and lo-buck new builds locally to guys like this so maybe he's serious. No biggie either way.
The head he used to record with is a Fender 5e5 head clone i built (30 watt version of a 5e3 tweed deluxe---- 6L6GCx2, Vol and Tone pots--- trannies from a 60's Knight PA head--- 5U4GB rec)--- it is owned by the studio--- he used a Big Muff, DS-1, and his Strat----the recordings sounded pretty good---- the other guitarist in the band used a JCM 900 and Gibson SG---i could easily tell the Strat guitar lines (with the amp i built) and they sounded fine.
It's interesting to go back into an amp i built a few yrs ago and see how i'd do the build different now---i'm not building true PTP 2204 clones out of Bogens anymore----turret boards and Marshall-sized chassis and head cabs are the way to go---- the Bogen based heads can get a pretty good tone going and they record well but they don't have the tone of amps i've built lately----- Building Amp is Fun !!!....................gldtp99
This one had been sitting under my bench for a while and somebody came over and wanted to demo some lo-buck rock heads----- he took another CHB50/2204 that i did with EL34's that had been used by a local band for a year or so until they traded it back in on a Plexi clone i built.
This one sounded kind of dull and over-gainy so i went in and saw what i had done back then and how i could "save" it.
I made several small component value changes echoing my now-favorite 2204 mods and put in a new pair of Sovtek 5881's----- put a hot older China 12ax7 in V1, GE 12ax7 in V2, and an EH 12ax7 in the PI.
The 1st treb peaking circuit (470k w/470pF bypass cap) is now single 47k resistor---- the 2nd Treb Peak is a series 390k (no bypass cap) and a 470k to ground----- i restored the rest of the preamp to stock specs, i had some values in there that weren't working all that well.
It's working now !!! A local punk band was in the studio across the hall (mastering their stuff) and one of the guitarists came over while i was testing this "2204" out----he really liked the tone and said he'll be coming to get one of these "when he gets the $$$ up" (it's only $300 for this one)--- that's what i hear a lot-
- but i've sold a lot of these conversions and lo-buck new builds locally to guys like this so maybe he's serious. No biggie either way.The head he used to record with is a Fender 5e5 head clone i built (30 watt version of a 5e3 tweed deluxe---- 6L6GCx2, Vol and Tone pots--- trannies from a 60's Knight PA head--- 5U4GB rec)--- it is owned by the studio--- he used a Big Muff, DS-1, and his Strat----the recordings sounded pretty good---- the other guitarist in the band used a JCM 900 and Gibson SG---i could easily tell the Strat guitar lines (with the amp i built) and they sounded fine.
It's interesting to go back into an amp i built a few yrs ago and see how i'd do the build different now---i'm not building true PTP 2204 clones out of Bogens anymore----turret boards and Marshall-sized chassis and head cabs are the way to go---- the Bogen based heads can get a pretty good tone going and they record well but they don't have the tone of amps i've built lately----- Building Amp is Fun !!!....................gldtp99