Dandolin and bonedaddy have mentioned this amp company in another thread (6128Ts at MF). It's located practically in my back yard, and I'd never heard of it...
So I've been perusing Electrosonic's Way Wacky Website, and realize I was actually right on the street where they live yesterday, for work. No time to stop and visit.
Maybe what I'll try to do, if they're willing, is arrange a visit to their place, take 'em a couple recalcitrant amps to work on, and take the Powerbook and a Gretsch. Maybe they'll let me record some samples of all their offerings (assuming they have one of each there) to post here.
I'm attracted to the Wiggy look of some of their custom cabinets, and the Neptune concept intrigues me. The site talks about an EF86 preamp tube I'm not familiar with - but the combination of that and the dual-output tube option on the Neptune sounds like it might yield a pretty complex-sounding amp...
But read all about it here.
Anyone had experience with just that config?
(Now, in terms of web design, I find their site a harmless and charming example of early 60s retro kitsch gone awry. But they do read like they know amps.)
Electrosonic Amplifiers
Electrosonic Amps...
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- Rated: 212 ↑
Nov 17, 2006 6:47 p.m. Proteus:
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- Rated: 53 ↑
Nov 18, 2006 6:52 a.m. Ratrod:
Cool site indeed.
Their Tweed Bassman clones seem interesting. -
- Rated: 43 ↑
Nov 18, 2006 12:30 p.m. josowski:
Go see my latest post in my Cool Cabinet thread for a picture of retro with style
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- Rated: 40 ↑
Nov 18, 2006 1:11 p.m. roadjunkie:
Proteus I had a Tophat Prince Royale which is a 4 watter el84 with a ef86 preamp. I liked it! At low volume it had a smooth clean very articulate tone. Cranked the lil' bugger sounded like it was going to blow at any god givin' moment!
Some people think the overdriven sounds of a ef86 are grainy so I guess it's something you would have to hear for yourself! Locate an AC 15 I guess the new CC models have the ef86 in it still.
An ez81 rectifer would almost be mandatory for that preamp!
Weird looking amps and not to shabby prices either! Peaked my interest for sure! Thanks!
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- Rated: 0 ↑
Nov 18, 2006 3:45 p.m. ciscokid:
I've been visiting that website off and on for more than a year now. Very nice amps. The cabinets look very well built also. If they sound half as cool as they look they should be a nice amp indeed.
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- Rated: 23 ↑
Nov 18, 2006 4:26 p.m. noggsly:
roadjunkie: said:
Proteus I had a Tophat Prince Royale which is a 4 watter el84 with a ef86 preamp. I liked it! At low volume it had a smooth clean very articulate tone. Cranked the lil' bugger sounded like it was going to blow at any god givin' moment!
That sounds like a VOX AC4 clone? I've got the JMI Jennings Domino (the home version of the AC4) and its exactly as you described. Very smooth at low volume but raucous and trashy at higher volumes. Nice! -
- Rated: 40 ↑
Nov 18, 2006 7:01 p.m. roadjunkie:
Yeah I miss that one but it had to go so that I could get my Club Royale. Brian Gerhart discontinued them this year. I guess they weren't a good moneymaker.
The 8 inch speaker would start to fart out just past 2 o'clock so I ran it thru a Celestion blue and my God that was sweet!
There's a few floating around that are the 10 inch version and I grab one whenever it pops up. -
- Rated: 31 ↑
Nov 18, 2006 7:22 p.m. do not be afraid:
so, all of their amps can be ordered with ef86 preamp and el84 poweramp tubes? very nice... and their prices are reasonable too... are their circuits at all vox-like? and how do their "british voiced" weber speakers compare to real celestions? hmm...
the "space age" aesthetics aren't quite for me, but they do look nice with some of the more toned-down color options... -
- Rated: 212 ↑
Nov 18, 2006 7:25 p.m. Proteus:
I have no idea how the amps sound - hoping they'll let me visit them and record for posterity.
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- Rated: 31 ↑
Nov 18, 2006 7:38 p.m. do not be afraid:
well, if they do, make sure you try one out with vox-style specifications (ef86, el84, "british" speaker, etcetera), if you can... for me... i've been looking for a small, simple, attactive, and high-quality, vox-style amp, at a reasonable price, and these seem like they might just be that...
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- Rated: 40 ↑
Nov 19, 2006 4:36 a.m. roadjunkie:
I hope they let you record those amps. I must have been on that site 5 or 6 times since you posted this and would love to hear some clips.
I checked the HC reviews and that lil' combo that looks like a 50's era TV intrigues me. One guy said he was sorry he didn't order the optional 12 in. I didn't see that option on the site. If true that would open up the possibilities! -
- Rated: 93 ↑
Nov 19, 2006 8:06 a.m. Pappy:
I emailed them last year about that, saying I'd like something real clean sounding, but not boxy sounding (I don't knwo anything about tubes and whatnot so I was looking for some guidance) and they replied and said they can do anything and make an amp sound exactly like I want it to.
So I guess that's cool. Not rally all that much guidance, but it sounds like there's a lot f potential there. The Thermosonic (the one that looks like a TV) was the one I was asking about. -
- Rated: 53 ↑
Nov 20, 2006 5:39 a.m. Ratrod:
I like the idea of that amp that mixes a JTM45 with a tweed twist. I'd like something like that in a 30-40 Watt head. Probably pretty pricey.
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- Rated: 10 ↑
Nov 20, 2006 9:40 a.m. smiert spionam:
I had a Thermosonic for a while -- a groovy little black one. Looked like the robots from Silent Running. It was set up with an EL34. It didn't work out for me, since it seemed to have too much of a hard edge, and was boxy -- but think that was mostly because of the design of that particular amp. My tastes run much more toward soft floppy tweed breakup, so it just wasn't right for me. I sold it to someone that found it a much better fit.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy another -- the builder was a good guy and reasonable to work with. -
- Rated: 43 ↑
Nov 21, 2006 7:59 p.m. josowski:
What are you guys referring to when you say "BOXY"?
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- Rated: 31 ↑
Nov 21, 2006 10:41 p.m. do not be afraid:
well, usually when somebody uses the word "boxy" to descibe an amp, to my ears, it ends up sounding something like a vox, or is a vox. i don't really have a clue what they mean by it, though... i get it when talking about 3d objects, and they're "box-like", but, music? nope, don't have a clue... not that i ever do...
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- Rated: 14 ↑
Nov 22, 2006 2:48 a.m. Grant53:
Good question, suddenly I wonder what I mean, too.To me, it's a way of saying that the overtones and harmonics are not bright, as if the speaker's in a closed box and the sound can't get out, just the noise.Think Black Sabbath.
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- Rated: 93 ↑
Nov 22, 2006 3:01 a.m. Pappy:
Grant's pretty much there. It sounds like a small amp, but not like a small amp that has the speaker where ti should be so it pushes all the sound out in a wide range, but a little further back with a concentrated beam of sound.
That reviewer on HC was talking about how he wanted a 12 in it because he's sure it would have sounded less boxy with a more open sound. -
- Rated: 10 ↑
Nov 24, 2006 11:56 a.m. smiert spionam:
To me, it means midrangey and maybe tight -- both of which do indeed suggest Vox-ocity. It's the opposite of "open," which to me suggests a fuller bottom end, and a wider soundstage, which is a more classic Fender sound. The way I'm phrasing this, "open" sounds inherently superior to "boxy", but it really isn't the case. Sometimes Fenders that sound really expansive and musical playing by yourself are too floppy in the the bottom end, or they don't fill up the midrange enough to cut through and/or sit well with other instruments.
Voxy isn't the only version of boxy, of course -- to my ears, Vox means dense upper mids.
Just one opinion, of course....
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- Rated: 40 ↑
Nov 24, 2006 11:07 p.m. roadjunkie:
I always understood it as a small non-resonant cab. Nothing really to do with Vox. I find the Blues Jr boxy because particle board just doesn't have any resonance to it. If you were to put it in a good plywood cab the amp really opens up. While my Gibson GA-5 is a nice amp it's boxy and dead in comparison to the prince royale that I had! The PR almost sounded like it had a built in reverb which it didn't!
IMOHO I always thought Vox got a bad rap for this. Most people that said this to me were running a TS thru and just compounding the mids. Straight in or a good clean boost is all that is needed! -
- Rated: 10 ↑
Dec 31, 2007 4:59 p.m. kovachian:
Yea I'm resurrecting a thread from the dead - sue me!
I just thought I'd mention that I recently placed an order for a Thermosonic custom. At this current point in time, Josh (the builder) is backed up until June but I'll survive, good things come to those who wait. I've been eyeballing those retro-futuristic designs and unique curcuits for some time now, so I decided to just go all out and get the small amp of my dreams with absolutely no regard for price.
For anyone who's curious; I'm goin with a 6SL7 pre, 7591 power, 5Y3 rectifier, 3 band eq, attenuator, Aerosonic speaker with a beam blocker, angled legs and AutoAir Flare Red/Gold under a gloss finish.
Happy New Years to you all and be careful out there!
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- Rated: 10 ↑
Jan 3, 2008 3:25 p.m. kovachian:
No interest here huh? S'alrite, that just keeps the prices low!
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- Rated: 74 ↑
Jan 3, 2008 4:09 p.m. bonedaddy:
Oh, I'm plenty interested. I've been keeping an eye on them for a while now. Just haven't decided to buy one. Now that one of our own is in on it, I'll have a chance to get an unbiased (pun intended) amp review
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- Rated: 40 ↑
Jan 3, 2008 9:39 p.m. Pseudo Man:
the prices are low for sure. but they're built from Weber kits right? That means the low cost comes from the cheap components guitarfarm's always on about... i assume. I'm not saying they're bad, but it helps to see where the low cost is coming from.
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- Rated: 10 ↑
Jan 3, 2008 10:07 p.m. kovachian:
Pseudo Man said: the prices are low for sure. but they're built from Weber kits right? That means the low cost comes from the cheap components guitarfarm's always on about... i assume. I'm not saying they're bad, but it helps to see where the low cost is coming from.
I think you ought to read this page, as well as this one in order to get an idea of what goes into these amps. They do in fact assemble Weber kits as one of their services, but they also use pricier components for other projects, depending entirely on what the customer wants. As for the low cost, there's a whole myriad of possible reasons for that. Low overhead from few to no employees, no advertising other than a webpage, low cost of living in the area (Indiana is CHEAP), a proletariat belief in affordability, etc etc. I can't speak for the company so if my answer doesn't suffice then I'd suggest asking Electrosonic.Anyways, I just recently received my build order. My amp certainly won't be the cheapest of their offerings but it's still a smashing BARGAIN compared to builders who charge $1000+ for a stinkin' Champ clone.
