50 Caliber + WITH EL84s! - NEWBIE HELP!

[Tonestack]

Hello all, I hope this is the right place, I think this thing is a 1991 or older.
It is a 50 Caliber + with EL84s and it sounds SWEET, but i just got it and the tubes are all kinds of different ones and i want a good set.
I want to get em from Bob ant Eurotubes but I do not know what to get, he told me 50 Calibers were EL84 and 5 12AX7s BUT 50 Caliber + was 2 6L6 and 4 12AX7 and 1 12AT7

This amp says 50 Caliber + on the front.
It does not have a pull out knob for channel switching.
I have the serial number if that helps.

You have a FrankenBoogie! Only the earliest .50 Calibers were shipped with EL84s. I purchased my original Studio .22 in 1986, and it had the graphic EQ. If your amp has toggle switches it is an original Caliber. The +s had rocker switches.

 

[Tonestack]

To add to the confusion a bit, I have a 22+ - but no graphic. I guess the lead master is the difference there. But that makes me wonder if the Plus in the 50 series is the addition of the graphic.

The two major differences between the +s and the original series is the "Lead Master" control and rocker versus toggle switches. IMHO, the + amps have cheaper build quality.

 

[Tonestack]

what sounds can you get from a caliber ? i know two people who use them. One of them uses his caliber + only for clean sounds, and the other is totally unhappy with his amp. For clean these amps sound ok. but the distortion channel sucks for a tight high gain overdrive. The manual says that the caliber was somewhat designed like a little brother of the mark III but it doesn't get even close in high gain sounds. What do you think ?

Without the EQ (V-shape setting), this amp sucks for high gain sounds. However, the contour mode on the F-series is derived from the V-shape EQ setting on the Caliber series.

 

[Tonestack]

That sounds like a true gem. Old Caliber amps were all Class A, with 4 EL84 tubes, like mine. I do not have a master volume, do you?

That was pure marketing hype! The EL84 caliber amps operate at 390VDC and are biased at -15VDC; hence, they actually run in 7189 (a heavy duty, industrial version of the 6BQ5/EL84) class AB mode. That is why the F-30 no longer sports the Class A badge. Class A means that the power tubes dissipate maximum plate current at idle and conduct current for 360 degrees.

 

[goatlord00]

Hey,new here.Something I have seen but have not read about on this forum is the deep switch.[pull switch on the bass control].I played one once and have been searching for one of them ever since.This has been 13 or so years ago.It also had the 5 band graphic eq that seemed to make all the differance in the tone.[massive metal tone that is]and this almost singing tone that Ive only ever heard a mesaboogie produce.If anyone knows or has a line on one please let me know.It is the only amp I have ever played that affected my playing in a positive way and probably the only amp I would ever need.