Guild thunderbass

[LaoWiz]

Anyone use these for guitar? I could possibly pick one of these up today for a real good price. I've benn gassin hard for a new amp but don't know if I should hold out. Been wanting a Magnatone but haven't been able to lock one down. I may go for this head, though. It's been recapped and is only 250 bucks. Any experiences?

Cheers
Richard

[insubordination]

Would buy. Guild tube heads are killer. Not sure if you are a fan, but a lot of the guitar on Converge "Axe to Fall" was done with one of these.

[FancyMike]

I've got one. It's pretty great for guitar. It kind of lacks in the power to actually bring any Thunder if you're playing bass. $250 is what I paid for mine and it's in great shape with old tubes (Raytheon 6L6s and three of the 12AX7 are Telefunken). I've seen a few on ebay that seem to go for about that same price, but they don't come up often. So it's about the going rate, but these amps are a hell of a deal at that price. I challenge anyone to find a better tube head at that price.

One bit of warning is that the faceplate isn't braced all that well where the input jacks are so you want to give a little push on the front of it when pulling cables out to keep from pulling on the face/jacks too hard.

Here's mine:


Seriously, at $250 if you can check it out and play it before buying it's a no-brainer in my opinion and I'd recommend this amp to anyone.

[LaoWiz]

Thanks guys! I ended up getting it cause it seemed like too good of a deal. And I've been yearning for something new and wanted something simple but all tube. Lately I've been playing thru a musicman 2/12 65 which has its strengths but could use some work.

I don't have a cabinet yet but plugged in the Guild thru an oval 6-8inch speaker cab that I scored at an estate sale that came with this crappy solid state amp. The Thunderbass sounds amazing thru that little thing. Hum free a such a huge warm tube tone. I love it's simplicity - volume/master volume/bass/treble. Just rocking it for 30 minutes I was able to find so many sweet spots and there's such a nice balance. Clean sounds fantastic and then I plugged in my Big Cheese clone. Fuzz heaven.

A really nice score!

[FancyMike]

Congrats!

[Chankgeez]

Nice score, LaoWiz.

Out of curiosity, which Magnatone have you been wanting?

[devnulljp]

Nice.
What a cool old amp.

[LaoWiz]

Nice score, LaoWiz.

Out of curiosity, which Magnatone have you been wanting?

Not any one in particular, just wanted to get one that had vibrato. I will probably try to get one in the future but will focus on getting a cabinet for the Thunderbass.

I make all of my own effects and I tested all my fuzzes through the Thunderbass. God, they all sound so much richer now. I have a Bee Baa that I made that used to sound ok but through this amp it sounds so sick. I guess the real test will be to run it through a normal sized cab.

Insubordination and FancyMike - I am wanting to get a 2-12 can or a 1-15 cab for this. Got any ideas of speakers that might sound good with this. I use tons of fuzz but see myself playing clean more since it sound so good.

[Chankgeez]

Not any one in particular, just wanted to get one that had vibrato.

Oh, so, you want one of the coveted and expensive ones. Now I see why you've been wanting one and not getting one.

I am wanting to get ... a 1-15 cab for this.

I think the Thunderbass'll sound great paired with a 1-15.

[FancyMike]

Mine just gets run through a basic 4x12 with g12t-75s. I don't know much about specific speakers, but I do think it'd sound really awesome through a 2x15

[LaoWiz]

Yea 2 x 15 !!!! Haven't been able to find anything for 2x15s online so I may just go with a 1x15 for now. I've only played combos in the past so now I'm looking into the right speaker rating for the amp. The guy I bought it from said its 90 watts but online some folks say its 50 watts. I guess there's several versions of this amp but no way to differentiate between models. So now I just got to decide whether to go with a 100 watt speaker or 150/200 watter. The Big Ben speaker sounds awesome but it's rated at 225 watts. Can't wait for a real cab, though. It's gonna sound amazing I think....

[FancyMike]

2x6L6 for the power tubes should be somewhere around 40-50W, no? Just about any speakers you throw at it should be able to handle it.

[insubordination]

Insubordination and FancyMike - I am wanting to get a 2-12 can or a 1-15 cab for this. Got any ideas of speakers that might sound good with this. I use tons of fuzz but see myself playing clean more since it sound so good.

Weber 65s sound great with everything to me. But in that case you'd want a 2x12. I like the idea of a 1x15 though. I have less experience with those, so I'd defer to someone who knows more.

[LaoWiz]

I found a what looks like a 2x12 bandmaster cab for 200 bucks that I may pick up. Maybe I should hold out for a 1 x 15. Don't know, gettin' real itchy to crank this sucker.....

[LaoWiz]

Just ordered an unfinished 1 x 15 cab. I figured it would be fun to do the finishing work myself. Will probably do an oil finish and get some black and tan grill cloth. This will also give me time to do some more research on 15" speakers. Weber seems to have a good lineup. Especially the ones that say loud, crunchy, huge low end! Finally, I can build a proper Rangemaster!