| Author | Message | ||
     Ted Lowe (bigsky212) Username: bigsky212 Registered: 04-2008 |
Hi, I'm new here. This forum is an incredible resource for MM aficianados and I've already gleaned tons of good info. Kudos to you all. Calling this post 'urgent' is a bit of a stretch **sorry** but I couldn't think of a more appropriate place to put it. Anyway, my dilemma is following: I've settled on a 210 combo as the perfect MM for me, but I've now located three different amps **how did I get so lucky?** and I need help deciding which one would best suit my playing and tastes. They are as follows: 1) 210-130HD, with 12AX7 PI, good condition 2) 210-65, with 12AX7 PI, very good condition 3) 210-65, with ss PI, all original, near pristine I've had the chance to play through #'s 1 and 3, and they both sound great. My playing is very clean. I play country, alt country and country rock through a 52 reissue tele. I have no use for heavy distortion whatsoever, but of course I love that good clean compressed tone for leads. Assuming they all sound good and are reasonably priced, which amp would suit me best in the long term? I guess my question boils down to two things: 1) How much of a liability is the 12AX7 in terms of longevity? Is there enough to be gained in tone for a player like me to make it worth the potential risk of frying a transformer? I'm not a tech by anybody's definition. 2)Is the 65 more versatile, in a sense, because of the low power setting? I hope Steve will respond here, since he owns a 210-65 and has alluded to its 35w capability. There's a lot of collective knowledge and experience on this forum and I hope you'll all feel free to respond. Thanks y'all! | ||
| Mike Kaus (mm210) Username: mm210 Registered: 05-2006 |
Well, I'm NOT Steve(but I play one on TV) but I have both 130 and 65. I would go with the 65 for a couple of reason. (1) 130 watts is freaking loud (2) It cost's a LOT more to re-tube a 130 than a 65! Seriously, the 65 watt amp is plent and you DO have to buy quads and they aren't getting any cheaper. As far as reliability, get a GOOD 12ax7 and bias a little on the cool side and it will be fine. I get several years out of JJ E34L's and they sound great but I do bias them a little on the chilly side. I play mine mostly on the "65" watt setting unless I'm recording and don't NEED it that loud. I personally prefer the 12ax7 but, of course, in the 65 watt version. Mike. | ||
| Mike Kaus (mm210) Username: mm210 Registered: 05-2006 |
I did forget to add though that the speakers in the 65 watt version usually suck so mine have been replaced with weber cali 10's and that really sparkles things up. | ||
| Ted Lowe (bigsky212) Username: bigsky212 Registered: 04-2008 |
Thanks for your response Mike-NOT-Steve.  You brought up a great point; the cost of retubing a 130 vs. 65 hadn't even occurred to me. And yes, 130 watts has always seemed to me like an absurdly large amount of power, certainly more than I'll ever need. Your comments about the 12ax7 really helped. I was getting kind of skeptical about these after reading many posts here about problems with tubes shorting out, taking out PTs, etc. And the fact that MM essentially recalled the 12ax7 amps in '77... they must have had good reason to do so. But your approach of using a good tube and biasing it cool makes sense to me. I want as much tube tone as I can get, for sure. Fortunately, there's a local tech who's into MM's and knows a lot about them, so I can get it set up well. thanks again for your help; this is a great forum! | ||
| Mike Kaus (mm210) Username: mm210 Registered: 05-2006 |
If he's up on MM's then he should know but I SUGGEST that you bias it no higher than 22-23mA PER tube and you should be fine. A couple of mA's cooler won't hurt either. | ||
| Ted Lowe (bigsky212) Username: bigsky212 Registered: 04-2008 |
Good info Mike, thanks again. What brand do you suggest for the 12ax7? Also, where did you get your webers? | ||
| Mike Kaus (mm210) Username: mm210 Registered: 05-2006 |
I've got a JJ in mine becuase I had one in stock! It's holding up fine but a good NOS sylvania will last forever in there. I bought my webers direct from weber(tedweber.com). No complaints at all about the service or people. They're nice people. They ARE running a little behind from what I hear because of popularity and ted's been sick but I think they're back up to speed now. | ||
| Ted Lowe (bigsky212) Username: bigsky212 Registered: 04-2008 |
Good to know. Thanks for all your help Mike. And if you come across a 210-65 in perfect shape at a bargain price, let me know, ok? Yeah RIGHT!  |