Alternatives to Fender for tweed tone?

Sportsterguy · Post by **Sportsterguy** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 11:41 am

Rumor has it.

Seriously, I don't know, but the specs of the amp fit the descrition of what he used. Also, if you look at the preamp, it is voiced very similar to some of the more popular mods for the plexi bright channel. I'll try it and see how I like it. This Supro straight up could be a way cool alternative for a 6V6 build in an 18Watt chassis.

BashCoder · Post by **BashCoder** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 12:02 pm

Not to stray too far off topic, but...

I recently had the opportunity to hear Albert Lee talk about that Supro, which was his first amp ever. I don't know the model number, but he said the combo had a single 15" speaker in it. Page and he are old friends, and Page heard Lee play a black beauty LP through that Supro and went out and bought the exact same guitar/amp rig. That became Page's sound and Lee says that Supro was used on some early Zep recordings.

Sportsterguy · Post by **Sportsterguy** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:07 pm

I've heard single 15 or single 12 inch speakers. So the mystery continues.

It could be that there was another model using a 15 inch speaker. I think that the circuitry of the S6424 should be pretty close. The S6424 is a push pull design using 6973 output tubes with a single 12 inch speaker. There are other models using 6L6’s, but these models all indicate multiple speakers. In comparing the schematics of the 1950’s Supro’s, the preamps all look very similar. There are smaller single end models using smaller speakers. But, when I listen to the first album, I hear a push\pull amp. It doesn't sound squishy enough to me to be a single ended amp. The 6973 is a noval tube that's pretty hard to find these days. The transconductance is similar to a 6V6, but the plate resistance is way higher. I don't know if there is an electrical equivalent today, but they are supposed to sound similar to 6V6's.

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:17 pm

Sportsterguy wrote:But, when I listen to the first album, I hear a push\pull amp. It doesn't sound squishy enough to me to be a single ended amp.

I know what you mean but at the same time if he was going through a MKII on most tracks that kinda throws a wrench in that because he probably had the amp set on the light crunch side instead of fully driven.

Sportsterguy · Post by **Sportsterguy** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 10:32 pm

There's definately some germanium in the mix. But I still don't think that it's one of the single ended Supro's. I've been listening to a Brian Setzer CD, "Rockabilly Riot - A Tribute to Sun Records". On the CD jacket, he states that he used a tiny Supro amp to record the CD. This amp sounds way smaller and more compressed than what Page sounded like. This was more of a tweed Champ type of sound.

daniel · Post by **daniel** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 2:54 am

brian setzer used supros for a lot of the songs on nitro burnin funny daddy too, you should check those tones out.

ampSnob · Post by **ampSnob** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 6:33 am

Supro 6424 Info:

http://www.turretboards.com/24_kit_home.htm

There's a schematic in the builders help section in the forum.

-Clay

Sportsterguy · Post by **Sportsterguy** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:33 pm

daniel wrote:brian setzer used supros for a lot of the songs on nitro burnin funny daddy too, you should check those tones out.

I'll have to check that out. I have the "Brain Setzer Orchestra - The Ultimate Collection" CD. This is really good!

NY Chief · Post by **NY Chief** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:49 pm

Billy Batz wrote:Thats great but I wasnt listing whats most important. Only what where I think the webers are weak vs a Metro type kit only for tweeds. Weber really is outstanding for speakers for these things, your gonna use whatever tubes you want anyway. The cab and chassis are very nice. The boards are accurate looking. All the switches jacks and sockets are pretty accurate and quality. OT and caps is about all Id upgrade myself. I did just about every popular tweed there is. The best one by far was the bassman which I used a MM output and sozo+ caps and weber speakers. Totaly 3D chorusy sounding. In fact that was the first amp from scratch I used sozos in. Im definitely gonna get a weber kit (-)tubes, and OT again.

I dont know that Id feel as safe with his plexi type kits. Like Andy said by the time I upgraded everything Id be at a metro price anyway

Thanks for the feedback, Dan. I've had pretty much the same thoughts about the critical components. I'll probably go your route...Weber kit - tubes and OT. You like the MM OT in there,eh? What about the PT and choke in the kit? Worth upgrading as well?

Billy Batz · Post by **Billy Batz** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:51 pm

I didnt. And I dont know that MM was the best it just worked. I dotn know od any other quality OTs for tweeds though? The weber PTs have two different secondary voltages to choose from which is nice. It gives you a 600v and 660v

Sportsterguy · Post by **Sportsterguy** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 4:30 am

Mojo has their own line of tweed transformers. I believe that they're wound by heyboer. Bruce Collins (Missions Amps) has some good stuff also. I bought a PT from him recently. Very nice quality. I believe it was wound by Heyboer to Bruce's specs. Bruce has some very nice tweed kits and if I was going to build a tweed, I would start with Bruce.

chickenbop · Post by **chickenbop** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:51 pm

sdgvintage.com has awesome tweeds.Steve(the owner)uses mercury magnetics transformers and has great prices.I bought a delux from him and it was awesome.