Just got that '65 today!

Very nice! Is it in working order?

Oh yeah totally! >

It's completely original minus the logo on the grille. RCA tubes and all.

Cool! Now that's something I would love to play! Specially with that 15".

noooooooooooooo!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh. I'm so jealous! life's not FAIR.. AAAAAGH

okay I'm fine now. Really happy for ya and I expect to hear a demo of it with the dynobrain and your boss delay!

alpep probably still has his Tavo.

Wow only two knobs, and both on the back near the floor. Talk about no frills.

I used to see a lot of those - probably due to our proximity to Chicago.

the beautiful thing about this build is that much like the normal channel of blonde bassman, its mostly the powertubes and output transformer shaping its response. at least in the 65' models with the solid state rectifier. probably why the Setzer loves the ones he's been recording with in recent albums (13, songs from lonely ave)

Verry Niice

a Thunderbolt, 1624T, and the Gretsch 6151T or 6153 Princess seem like the Valco circuits for me!

I've got a little Univox U-45 or something like that out in the garage. Several friends who have played through it call it my "little Supro". I wouldn't know the difference. It's a little 1X12" at probably 10 watts.

My Victoria Regal II is supposed to be derived from a Valco circuit. The 15" speaker has quite a different tone: very "woody" indeed. Not like a Fender at all.

Is the Thunderbolt a fixed bias amp?

A few days ago my two year old son came running through the house with a tube in his hands. I found out he had taken it out of my Thunderbolt/Coronado

the beautiful thing about this build is that much like the normal channel of blonde bassman, its mostly the powertubes and output transformer shaping its response. at least in the 65' models with the solid state rectifier. probably why the Setzer loves the ones he's been recording with in recent albums (13, songs from lonely ave)

-- WIREDTURTLE here SINCE2002

The phase inverter is entirely different and makes up probably 90% of the response of the amp. If Brian Setzer has recently fallen in love with one it's more likely because it's completely the opposite of a blonde bassman. He uses those live to keep up with a 17 piece big band. The Thunder Bolt is more like 20-something watts of mostly breakup. Great for blues or rock with more of an edge to it. He's likely using them in the studio for big aggressive tones at lower studio volumes? Also the imbalance in the phase inverter gets a lot more even order harmonics whereas most push pull amps (like the bassman) cancel out most of the even order harmonics. So in a nutshell it sort of (kinda sorta) acts like a champ amp on steroids.

I am loving this amp. Great drive straight up. But it gets extra points when you put the classic Brain Seltzer Nocturne OR a Klon in front of it. My oh my! I've been reading about the 1/2 12AX7 to full mod but I'm not sure if I want to try that now.

Paul, that is pristine!

My first good amp (which I didnt realize at the time) was a Harmony 415. Id love to find another someday. I bought it new and traded it for a solid state Vox Berkley. I guess the Vox had the look. LOL

I got my info on how the Supro's response was from the power section from something Billy Zoom had posted a while back..

I cant believe the original price

Just saw this. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/msg/2782145389.html

$1,100?!?!? Wowzers! Includes rip in the front, so I guess the price is fair! LOL!

Johnny

Setzer, thats rad. One of my favorite amps. Plug and turn it up. I wish someone would build these again, and with that cool tolex

It's a nice one for sure!

New metal logo added today from BananaGuitars:

Hi everybody. Two weeks ago I picked up both an absolutely mint, no rust, tears, mold, dirt, I mean mint like it's been in storage, Thunderbolt. Although not part of the topic, with it came a Silvertone 1484 in the same condition. I've only been playing guitar for less then a year and although this is a hell of a find and I should probably keep it, I'm afraid my oil bill takes precedence. It's for sale, in fact they both are. If anyone is interested let me know how to proceed. I'm new to forums in general and am not sure what I can and cannot post. I don't want to anger the community with my first post.

Welcom Bob, there a 'Gretsch Garagle Sale' section. You can post them there.

I have a Valco-made National Airline 9010. Same amp as the 6159 Super Bass.

If I ever found another for the right price, I'd send it to a tech, rip out the accordion and bass channels and run it through a single 15. Love love love the tremolo and overall sound of that thing.

I've got a Gretsch 6150T (same as Supro 16T) and recently picked up an Airline 9023A (same as 1624T). Love those amps. I have an old Jen-made "Playboy" booster that sounds great in front of the Airline.

How much for the Supro???