Please understand from the beginning that I have nothing against the NAMM show. It is a wonderful trade show and I would like to go one day to look around and try out great gear!
Trouble is that the exposure of my amps to the NAMM crowd could generate requests from dealers which at this time I cannot… deal with.
It’s official! The latest amp project I’ve been working on–a single-ended 7-watt switchable EL84 and 6V6 tube–has a name now, thanks to Matt LaPlaca, a Gabriel Sound Garage Facebook fan: The STINGER! I chose that name because it describes its character the best. . . and it fits into the Gabriel Sound Garage beehive family just perfectly!
MercyMe Gold Disc
It is a special thing to have the amps I build with a guitar player in a major band but it is really special to have all guitar players of the same major band using them! You know that people out there appreciate your amps when my good friends and guitar players Mike Scheuchzer and Barry Graul of MercyMe, surprised me one day with a package at my door with this superb Gold Commemorative Disc presented to myself! HUGE THANKS Mike, Barry and MercyMe folks!
A dramatic amp mod as well as the simplest in the Epiphone Valve Junior Head Tube Guitar Amplifier is known as the “JP1 Mod”. The name derived from the jumper labeled JP1 on the board.
It basically morphs the tone of the guitar amp from one with no definition, dark, to an instant edgy and more present tone. To my ears things came to life using the Fender Telecaster compared to the raw un-modded amp I had.
The patient is in the house. Before taking the scalpel and start the surgery, I thought of shooting a quick reference video for the newly receive out of the box Epiphone Valve Junior head. We will use this to compare the tone for each mod as we go along in our face lift journey.
I was particularly stunned on how dark this guitar amp sounds! In the video I have a Fender Telecaster (Mexican) that sounds crystal clear through my Gabriel V18 or V33 guitar amps. Bright, beautiful upper mids, etc. The overdrive was nevertheless EL-84-ish but without any definition or character or identity. i guess that’s what should be expected from a $150.00 (shipped) head, right?
The speaker cabinet has an AlNiCo Blue Celestion speaker , and has an open back. But even with this speaker the amp is simply too dark.
But the amp has potential. And we’ll discover that as we will start modding it. Stay tuned!
Going further with our guitar tube amp building! Here I will show you the simple trick I use to wire the front controls. Nothing complicated. You will see the way I solder the ground buss I use for all preamp connections that are kept separate from the power amp and power supply stage ground connections.
Please make sure you give the videos a 5-start rating, and comment, ask questions, etc. I am glad to answer. Thank you and enjoy the guitar amplifier cooking show!
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