Post by myles on Apr 23, 2006 10:53:44 GMT -7
I just finished replying to an email from a new Carmen Ghia owner with a few questions. I thought I'd copy and post it here as it made me think of some of the reasons I love my own Carmen Ghia.
Hey Myles,
Bob here again. Hope you and your family had a pleasant Easter weekend.
I want to say thanks for your help with my Rt 66.
I finally got new KT-66's put in although GT kind of messed up the order. I originally ordered a rating of 3 and they sent me a 10! I ordered through Guitar Center by the way.
GT would have sent what you would have ordered. Guitar Center though ... it depends on the store. At times they need to pay a bit more attention and you may want to let somebody in their upper management know so they can learn to put a bit more attention into their processes. They cannot improve if folks don't get problems to the management.
No problem though as they (GT) quickly sent me the correct pair.
GT strives for great customer service and has a sterling reputaion. I suppose that is why GT is called upon to clean up some of the messes that are created by others who exhibit less attention to customer requests in details.
The amp sounds great now, although I had to have some cold solder joints repaired...bummer. I fired they amp up and....nothing. The rectifier tube lite up but none of the others did. But, all is well now.
Was the mp purchased new? I have not seen many cold solder joints on Z amps.
Unfortunately, I have decided to sell the amp. I think that this is just not the amp for me. However, all is not lost on the Dr Z front as a replacement, I just got a Carman Ghia. (matched to a 12" Celestion Alnico Blue in a Mesa open back cabinet).
As you may know, the Carmen Ghia is my favorite amp ... of any amp I own. Although the amp is happy with any speaker I have ever tried it with, including a 4x12 closed back Marshall cab, the open back Vox Blue is one of the very best setups in my personal opinion.
I am really digging this amp! Looks to be a keeper so far. I know you are a big fan of this particular amp and I agree. A GREAT amp. I got it through American Guitar Boutique in St Paul, Mn. These guys were great, much props to them. Especially Dan Knight. You may want to check into them and maybe give them a mention in your website. Very helpful, great customer service, quick delivery. A cool bunch to deal with.
I only put dealers or products on my website where I have had continued long term involvement. There are a lot of great folks and products out there and many different opinions. I also do not have enough time or server space to include as many folks as I would like to. But .... I am always updating and adding new people and products.
Anyway, my question. I had one of the EL84 go bad after about an hour and a half of playing. Started ringing (sounded like a retainer clip was rattling against the tube) and then mucho distortion. I figured maybe damaged in shipping, no biggie, **** happens.
It the amp was bought new from a Z dealer GT would have handled the warranty on the tubes for you.
Replace with a matched pair of GT EL84 #6 and sounding fantastic. Well, to make a long story short. I want to go ahead and change the stock V1 & V2 tubes (and keep the originals as spares). I was going to use the NOS GE 12ax7(balanced) from the PI spot from the Rt 66 for the V1in the Ghia (the stock is a JJECC83) and maybe get a NOS JAN Philips 5751 (balanced) from KCA for the PI (the stock is a Sovteck). Would this work OK?
The GE 12AX7 is a good tone generator in the Carmen Ghia but in the end tubes are very much personal preference. I grenerally do not like Telefunken tubes in the first gain stage of most amps as they are too bright for my tastes. But ... in my own Carmen Ghia this is what I have. In many of my clients Carmen Ghias I use the GT-7025 which is a tube of the same construction and design as the original Telefunken. This is what I would use personally but again .... this is all personal preference.
The Sovtek 5751 is really not a 5751. It does not perform, measure, or trace like a 5751. Get a good one from Mike at KCA of any NOS type.
I assume using the GE PI tube in V1 would be no problem.
No problem at all. The two side of V1 are used for different functions so the balanced nature of the tube would be of no benefit. You would never need to pay extra for a balanced tube for V1 in the Ghia.
I do like the stock ghia sound so I am not neccessarily trying to make any dirtier or cleaner. Any recomendations?
My taste is a Telefunken or GT-7025 in V1. As far as my numbers on these I prefer something in the 145-160 range on my scale. If a tube comes from Mike at KCA or Doug Preston off there VTV tester than ask for 105-110 on their equipment and that is close to my scale but my scale takes plate resistance, transconductance, gain, rise time to peak output and current output into the number. Their numbers will get you into the ballpark in a manner of speaking, sort of like me telling you to get a four door sedan and you buy a Toyota Camry and I was thinking BMW M5. Four doors and same interior room for the most part.
A Ghia can go from the cleanest tones on the planet (although with very clean headroom), to crunch to hard rock tones with the twist of one single knob (volume). Due to it's design which incorporates the conjunctive tone filter rather than a tone sucking set of resistive pots which put various frequecies slightly out of phase in relationship to one another, the Carmen Ghia exhibits the most accurate string to string balance of any amp I have ever heard (and others have also commented on this many times over). The low end is more focused than you will find on many other amps if not all other amps. Again, part of the unique design that is not used by anybody else. The low end is more defined, focused and tighter than any of my other amps, Z or non-Z.
Basically .... you do not have to do anything to make the amp cleaner or dirtier as you mention above. It is one of the few amps that already does this with the twist it's volume knob. As far as the single tone knob .... all that thing does is allow the amp to be used with virtually ANY guitar from weaker vintage single coils to boomy bass laden overwound mega metal humbuckers.
Your email came at a time where I had just finished some work with John March and Carl Verheyen. In each case there were a number of amps used and in each case when I am done I always fire up the Ghia to compare things and get back my point of reference. As a side note, Carl Verheyen has the Ghia on his list of his next amp to come into the fold of his 50+ amps. His plexi Marshalls have already been replaced by a Z SRZ-65 as one more bit of info after we worked hard together for over a year trying to find a "Marshall" replacement. When you look at all the available "Marshall clones" you would have thought it would have been a piece if cake. The quest was anything but easy. As a second side note, the Carmen Ghia has more focused and tighter low end then either the Marshall or the SRZ-65 but has it's own sonic signature.
If I could have only one amp for the rest of my life it would be the Ghia. If I could have two amps it would be the Ghia and my 4x10 bassman for my clean tones and rhythm guitar where I needed more clean headroom but did not want the clinically clean tone of a Fender BF Twin. I love the AlNiCO 10s and the cathode follower tone circuit of the 4x10 bassman for many things.
Also, the rectifier is a GE, I assume this is a pretty good one. Although, I noticed that you use a JAN philips WGT in your ghia. Any benefit to changing?
No need to change the rectifier. Yours is a great one.
Sorry for the long arse e-mail and again much thanks for your help and input. You are quite the resource for myself and no doubt countless other guitarists.
You do not have to apologize for the length of your email. You have already paid the price by having to read my replies!
Thanks again.
Bob
You are more than welcome
Myles
Hey Myles,
Bob here again. Hope you and your family had a pleasant Easter weekend.
I want to say thanks for your help with my Rt 66.
I finally got new KT-66's put in although GT kind of messed up the order. I originally ordered a rating of 3 and they sent me a 10! I ordered through Guitar Center by the way.
GT would have sent what you would have ordered. Guitar Center though ... it depends on the store. At times they need to pay a bit more attention and you may want to let somebody in their upper management know so they can learn to put a bit more attention into their processes. They cannot improve if folks don't get problems to the management.
No problem though as they (GT) quickly sent me the correct pair.
GT strives for great customer service and has a sterling reputaion. I suppose that is why GT is called upon to clean up some of the messes that are created by others who exhibit less attention to customer requests in details.
The amp sounds great now, although I had to have some cold solder joints repaired...bummer. I fired they amp up and....nothing. The rectifier tube lite up but none of the others did. But, all is well now.
Was the mp purchased new? I have not seen many cold solder joints on Z amps.
Unfortunately, I have decided to sell the amp. I think that this is just not the amp for me. However, all is not lost on the Dr Z front as a replacement, I just got a Carman Ghia. (matched to a 12" Celestion Alnico Blue in a Mesa open back cabinet).
As you may know, the Carmen Ghia is my favorite amp ... of any amp I own. Although the amp is happy with any speaker I have ever tried it with, including a 4x12 closed back Marshall cab, the open back Vox Blue is one of the very best setups in my personal opinion.
I am really digging this amp! Looks to be a keeper so far. I know you are a big fan of this particular amp and I agree. A GREAT amp. I got it through American Guitar Boutique in St Paul, Mn. These guys were great, much props to them. Especially Dan Knight. You may want to check into them and maybe give them a mention in your website. Very helpful, great customer service, quick delivery. A cool bunch to deal with.
I only put dealers or products on my website where I have had continued long term involvement. There are a lot of great folks and products out there and many different opinions. I also do not have enough time or server space to include as many folks as I would like to. But .... I am always updating and adding new people and products.
Anyway, my question. I had one of the EL84 go bad after about an hour and a half of playing. Started ringing (sounded like a retainer clip was rattling against the tube) and then mucho distortion. I figured maybe damaged in shipping, no biggie, **** happens.
It the amp was bought new from a Z dealer GT would have handled the warranty on the tubes for you.
Replace with a matched pair of GT EL84 #6 and sounding fantastic. Well, to make a long story short. I want to go ahead and change the stock V1 & V2 tubes (and keep the originals as spares). I was going to use the NOS GE 12ax7(balanced) from the PI spot from the Rt 66 for the V1in the Ghia (the stock is a JJECC83) and maybe get a NOS JAN Philips 5751 (balanced) from KCA for the PI (the stock is a Sovteck). Would this work OK?
The GE 12AX7 is a good tone generator in the Carmen Ghia but in the end tubes are very much personal preference. I grenerally do not like Telefunken tubes in the first gain stage of most amps as they are too bright for my tastes. But ... in my own Carmen Ghia this is what I have. In many of my clients Carmen Ghias I use the GT-7025 which is a tube of the same construction and design as the original Telefunken. This is what I would use personally but again .... this is all personal preference.
The Sovtek 5751 is really not a 5751. It does not perform, measure, or trace like a 5751. Get a good one from Mike at KCA of any NOS type.
I assume using the GE PI tube in V1 would be no problem.
No problem at all. The two side of V1 are used for different functions so the balanced nature of the tube would be of no benefit. You would never need to pay extra for a balanced tube for V1 in the Ghia.
I do like the stock ghia sound so I am not neccessarily trying to make any dirtier or cleaner. Any recomendations?
My taste is a Telefunken or GT-7025 in V1. As far as my numbers on these I prefer something in the 145-160 range on my scale. If a tube comes from Mike at KCA or Doug Preston off there VTV tester than ask for 105-110 on their equipment and that is close to my scale but my scale takes plate resistance, transconductance, gain, rise time to peak output and current output into the number. Their numbers will get you into the ballpark in a manner of speaking, sort of like me telling you to get a four door sedan and you buy a Toyota Camry and I was thinking BMW M5. Four doors and same interior room for the most part.
A Ghia can go from the cleanest tones on the planet (although with very clean headroom), to crunch to hard rock tones with the twist of one single knob (volume). Due to it's design which incorporates the conjunctive tone filter rather than a tone sucking set of resistive pots which put various frequecies slightly out of phase in relationship to one another, the Carmen Ghia exhibits the most accurate string to string balance of any amp I have ever heard (and others have also commented on this many times over). The low end is more focused than you will find on many other amps if not all other amps. Again, part of the unique design that is not used by anybody else. The low end is more defined, focused and tighter than any of my other amps, Z or non-Z.
Basically .... you do not have to do anything to make the amp cleaner or dirtier as you mention above. It is one of the few amps that already does this with the twist it's volume knob. As far as the single tone knob .... all that thing does is allow the amp to be used with virtually ANY guitar from weaker vintage single coils to boomy bass laden overwound mega metal humbuckers.
Your email came at a time where I had just finished some work with John March and Carl Verheyen. In each case there were a number of amps used and in each case when I am done I always fire up the Ghia to compare things and get back my point of reference. As a side note, Carl Verheyen has the Ghia on his list of his next amp to come into the fold of his 50+ amps. His plexi Marshalls have already been replaced by a Z SRZ-65 as one more bit of info after we worked hard together for over a year trying to find a "Marshall" replacement. When you look at all the available "Marshall clones" you would have thought it would have been a piece if cake. The quest was anything but easy. As a second side note, the Carmen Ghia has more focused and tighter low end then either the Marshall or the SRZ-65 but has it's own sonic signature.
If I could have only one amp for the rest of my life it would be the Ghia. If I could have two amps it would be the Ghia and my 4x10 bassman for my clean tones and rhythm guitar where I needed more clean headroom but did not want the clinically clean tone of a Fender BF Twin. I love the AlNiCO 10s and the cathode follower tone circuit of the 4x10 bassman for many things.
Also, the rectifier is a GE, I assume this is a pretty good one. Although, I noticed that you use a JAN philips WGT in your ghia. Any benefit to changing?
No need to change the rectifier. Yours is a great one.
Sorry for the long arse e-mail and again much thanks for your help and input. You are quite the resource for myself and no doubt countless other guitarists.
You do not have to apologize for the length of your email. You have already paid the price by having to read my replies!
Thanks again.
Bob
You are more than welcome
Myles