Just got a S.O.B.

[James]

Like the title says, I just got one.

It's a combo from 1984. It even has STR-415's, so it sounds great.

Also, just a few questions..


1. When I got it, the chassis seemed loose, but I can't tighten the screws anymore. I heard about some Mesa's having shock mounts or something...Did these amps have them? I just want to make sure the chassis doesn't fall out or something.

2. Did these amps come stock with eminence speakers? This speaker doesn't have a label, but because of the '67' code, it's probably an eminence.

3. I know some people mod these amps to get them to sound more like a Mark I, what are these mods exactly? It sounds great as it is, but I'm just curious.


Thanks.

 

[mark1406]

Dear James

I bought an SOB Boogie some years ago which had been modded and was in a poor state.

I found that the amp didn't ever sound "right", this turned out to be the cathode bypass caps in the pre-amp stages having gone short circuit.

The amp worked okay after that, but never had the sort of flexiblity that I had in my original Mark 1 (78 or 79 I think.)

I experimented with changing the PI driver stage to a Mark 1 reissue type. To my ears this improved the sound of the amp immensely, though I did post this on Ampage and some other SOB owners preferred the SOB PI driver. Each to their own.

I also should mention that I found the bass response of the amp a bit loose, going to the Mark 1/Fender Blackface type of PI also mean't incorporating a feedback loop which tightened up the bass response.

Good luck with your new purchase.

Yours Sincerely

Mark Abbott