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My new RJS Amplification 6850 has arrived! The amp is serial number 1 of this model. The amp is based on a '68 Marshall 1987 (50 watt) Lead amp with a few circuit tweaks. Bobby at RJS is one heckuva guitarist as well as being a guitar builder and an amp builder. (If you go to the RJS page on myspace, you can hear him playing a guitar AND a 100-watt amp that he built on a few songs from his band's upcoming new CD.)
Bobby was awesome to work with and he stepped me through a lot of options for the circuit. We selected to go with a split cathode arrangement on V1 as well as dropping the bright cap and even going with a few carbon comp resistors in some spots. As for tubes, Bobby offered some suggestions and I selected a Tung-Sol and two Mullards for the preamps and a pair of Shuguang EL-34's for the power section. Bobby tested the order of the preamp tubes and felt that the Tung-Sol being in V1 was the best overall tone and gain. The Shuguangs were actually a recommendation some time ago to Bobby as being not only a sort of "best buy" in new tubes but also capturing a lot of the 6CA7 tone. In fact, in the clip on RJS' myspace page, I think that amp has the Shuguangs installed. Either way, the amp sounds great with those tubes.
The amp is a ton of fun to play. I actually got a custom-made ABY box from Matt at Tortuga Effects so I can use each of the two channels individually or jump them for a third sound. As for volume, holy smokes - this thing is LOUD! The cab is loaded with 2 UK-built Celestion Greenbacks and the cab is a larger, sealed-back Bluesbreaker-style cab which sounds really warm. Because of the Greenbacks' power handling, I'm using a Hotplate to keep the volume down... and hopefully protect my ears in the process.
Here's some eye candy for ya:
And here's the ABY box - check out how Matt matched the head:
Bobby was awesome to work with and he stepped me through a lot of options for the circuit. We selected to go with a split cathode arrangement on V1 as well as dropping the bright cap and even going with a few carbon comp resistors in some spots. As for tubes, Bobby offered some suggestions and I selected a Tung-Sol and two Mullards for the preamps and a pair of Shuguang EL-34's for the power section. Bobby tested the order of the preamp tubes and felt that the Tung-Sol being in V1 was the best overall tone and gain. The Shuguangs were actually a recommendation some time ago to Bobby as being not only a sort of "best buy" in new tubes but also capturing a lot of the 6CA7 tone. In fact, in the clip on RJS' myspace page, I think that amp has the Shuguangs installed. Either way, the amp sounds great with those tubes.
The amp is a ton of fun to play. I actually got a custom-made ABY box from Matt at Tortuga Effects so I can use each of the two channels individually or jump them for a third sound. As for volume, holy smokes - this thing is LOUD! The cab is loaded with 2 UK-built Celestion Greenbacks and the cab is a larger, sealed-back Bluesbreaker-style cab which sounds really warm. Because of the Greenbacks' power handling, I'm using a Hotplate to keep the volume down... and hopefully protect my ears in the process.
Here's some eye candy for ya:
And here's the ABY box - check out how Matt matched the head: