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New Music Man tube amp

todd4ta

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 8, 2004
Messages
571
Location
Indiana
Well....new to me

I got this a couple of weeks ago and forgot to share.

MM_HD-one-thirty_front_01.jpg


When they turn up, the prices on these are still pretty reasonable. They sound great and 130W of good old fashioned tubes can really knock it out. This is officially the backup to my '67 Dual Showman amp, but I'll be using it every chance I get (I knew there was a way to get a Music Man onstage in my surf band)
 
Incidentally, Todd, I've been enjoying your band's CD for a few weeks now. I really do like it. I didn't realize I liked surf music until I gave your band a listen. Good job! Tell those turkeys to turn the bass up in the mix next time, though!

Everyone check out The Madeira!
 
I almost bought a beatup HD130 here in Jakarta a few months ago, but the fact that I got zapped when I plugged an instrument in put me off a little, given the backyard electrical modifications that were apparent on the rear of the chassis. My guitarist back in Australia uses a MM amp and it's a great sound, better than Fender or Marshall tube amps in my opinion.
 
I have a guitar playing mate who bought a Music Man combo brand new in the seventies. That combo still serves him well on a regular basis. There is just no substitute for quality!
 
todd4ta said:
Well....new to me

I got this a couple of weeks ago and forgot to share.

MM_HD-one-thirty_front_01.jpg


When they turn up, the prices on these are still pretty reasonable. They sound great and 130W of good old fashioned tubes can really knock it out.
If it's anything like mine, it has a crazy solid state preamp feeding the 4-tube power section. The pre seems to be a fuzzbox circuit with extra gain. It's not a pleasant fuzz to my ear. Sounds something like a neon buzz that just happens to mimic the pitch of the notes being played.

I'm thinking that if I want cool, bassy, compressive power tube saturation without the geetarwanker effect [from the pre], then I ought to mod the head to provide a 'Power Amp In' jack and feed a decent pre [Aguilar, etc] directly into the power stage. I never turn the gain [marked 'Volume'] past '3' on the control on the head. The fuzz begins at the beginning [to coin a fraze]. That means the 'Master' knob is always dimed.
 
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I still have one of those that I bought brand new way back when. I gigged with it for many years and it still works great. I always thought of it as being a very clean sounding amp untill pushed too hard. Mine's mated to an even older Kustom rolled 2x15 cab with EVMs in it.

An extremely subjective analysis on my part says that it is about as loud as the SWR SM-400/Eden 4x10 that replaced it. The more modern rig has a much tighter/deeper/punchier low end, but a handful of tubes and some old 15s yields a very pleasant tone to my ears.

It sounds real nice with my old Sabre which is just right somehow I guess
 
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