Blackface Cleans with Headroom - Morgan SW50 or Carr Impala

gordiji

I concurr. Zero problems ordering from Ceriatone although with the £ low vs the $ this adds £'s for a uk buyer. Also they can make adjustments to the purchase price to ease the import & vat burden. My Yeti is a work of art, 4 yrs old , no issues. After it was built and the notification of shipping was sent to me i had in mind about a fortnight or something. It took 3 days !
I'll have a Ceriatone D style sooner or later.

bbill335

ICBM said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

You could pick up an older silverface twin and get it fully overhauled for less money and pick up a bit of vintage mojo to go with it. 

You may even get an older blackface. The reissue is sweet too, but I think I'd have to get the more attractive silverface and give it to an amp tech. Probably come in less than a Carr and look significantly cooler, which is really what it's all about  

Having serviced a lot of silverface Twins, I would take the reissue - really. The originals are starting to have a lot of problems now which can be expensive to fix, and it's hard to find one in really good condition either - they were almost all bought by working musicians and used hard. You can get a TRRI second hand for the same or less than a SF even in poor condition, and it won't need work.

The BF reissue also has a better-made cabinet and is lighter than a SF, and although the internal wiring between the PCB and the valve sockets isn't the best quality, that's really the only thing that's not better.

I've only tried one trri and it was noisy as hell. I've tried a few drris and 68cdr and been underwhelmed with the sound and build quality for the money. Never had a go on a 70s one.

ICBM

bbill335 said:

I've only tried one trri and it was noisy as hell. I've tried a few drris and 68cdr and been underwhelmed with the sound and build quality for the money. Never had a go on a 70s one.

The difference is that a noisy reissue will most likely be simply a valve problem, whereas a noisy SF will probably be an eyelet board conductivity issue or at best drifting plate resistors or leaking caps. One can be fixed easily in minutes, the other can take hours and still not be completely solved, if it's the board.

richcol

Thanks for all the feedback. Plenty of food for thought. Definitely need to try as many of these out as possible but good to have the first hand information here. 

hubobulous

Consider a Suhr Bella too

phase3

I think Nile Rodgers used a bassman ( early days) then peavey classic 50's and devilles . A pal of mine worked on the same gig as him and said he just ran a deville with everything ( apart from vol) wide open.  Just a thought.... and a lot cheaper the boutique amps. Also... Michael Landau ... uses devilles and/or super reverbs ( most of the time)

richcol

A used Carr Slant 6V could also be an option. Anybody have experience of this amp and the Carr Impala to compare (and any opinions on the Morgan SW50 too)? The cleans on the Slant 6V seem to have high praise all round.

Lebarque

It maybe why you're suggesting it, but there was/is a Slant in the classifieds. Apols if I'm starting the obvious.

Lebarque

I can only comment on the Impala, but I seem to remember @Wazmeister praising the cleans of a Slant. 

richcol

@Lebarque - thanks for your info on Impala. So does the amp maintain that clean headroom at levels loud enough for gigging? Some other blogs I've read say that the Impala clean isn't Fender Twin "glass-like" clean due to the Impala being based on the Fender Bassman. I'm not familiar with the Bassman sounds so wondering what your experiences are?

guitarpolo

Definitely look into the Slant 6V for sale on the forum. It used to mine, and if you want high-headroom cleans, plus a nice od channel, with separate reverb it's a great option. 

Lebarque

@richcol  Whilst the Impala is maybe not the loudest 40 watt amp I've ever heard, it's got plenty enough grunt and clean headroom for gigging, with its efficient Elsinore 12 inch speaker. It's also got that 'big amp' feel which many 1x12's don't have.

It took me a while to bond with it, since I thought it was a bit bassy and woofy at first. However I soon came to appreciate the warmth and roundness it gives my strat, whilst still retaining that Blackface clean chime and character. No, it's not as glassy as a Twin, but IMO that's a good thing when using single coils, since the strat/Twin combination can get a bit surfy and spiky if you're not careful.

My advice would be to get down to Coda (or equivalent) and try one. I've been guilty in the past of conducting hours of internet research and review-reading, only to dismiss an amp within 30 seconds of plugging it in because it wasn't for me. Big waste of time. Other people's opinions can be useful, but mean nothing when you plug in yourself.  

richcol

@Lebarque ;Thank you kindly for the info and yes you're right, I need to try the Impala out. And hopefully a Slant at the same time.

Wazmeister

richcol said:

@Lebarque - thanks for your info on Impala. So does the amp maintain that clean headroom at levels loud enough for gigging? Some other blogs I've read say that the Impala clean isn't Fender Twin "glass-like" clean due to the Impala being based on the Fender Bassman. I'm not familiar with the Bassman sounds so wondering what your experiences are?

Im not sure the Slant is what you're looking for here, if you want your amp totally clean...

The Slant has magnificent BF cleans, which can break up and work towards that. In Fender terms think Dleuxe Reverb; I might be wrong but it seems like you need Super/Twin Fender tones,

In that case, Id head for a Rambler in the Carr range, or a Dr Z EZG or a Magnatone Twilighter (best clean cleans Ive evr heard). As ever, ymmv.

richcol

@Wazmeister - appreciate the advice on the Slant. That's very useful.

Majorscale

Wazmeister and I have been on similar amp journeys. I owned a Rambler for a while and absolutely loved the clean sound, but sold it as I just didn't like it as a pedal platform, overdrives sounded too harsh, fx seemed cold...all a bit odd really. If I could have justified it then I would have kept it just for the clean and always played it minus all fx.

Owned a Dr Z Maz 18. Very loud, very clean, pedals sounded OK through it, just a bit soulless.

I currently own and gig a Magnatone Twilighter and as Waz says, it sounds beautiful for cleans and as a clean pedal platform it really excels. It is very loud by nature however there have been a few gigs where I've had it entering hairy cleans stage so if that worries you I would look up the Magnatone range for something with a bigger wattage.

Of course you also can't go wrong with a Fender Twin Reverb. Played one recently at a big gig as it was supplied by the backline company. Lovely big thing with enough clean headroom for any purpose (I was in a 7000 seater auditorium!)

richcol

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richcol

@Majorscale. Thanks - is the the 22w 112 Twilight version? I'm only asking from the ££ point of view. 

Majorscale

Yes, I have the 22w 1x12 Twilighter.