Mark 1 reissue

[tremoverb nick]

Folks.
A few years back I traded a crappy fender hotrod plus cash adjustment for a hardwood/wicker mark 1 reissue - I was very pleased with the deal!

The previous owner was a jazz player and used an archtop (Gibson L5). I suspect he wanted a totally clean sound from the amp and possibly fitted tubes with a view to getting a totally clean tone with minimal break-up.

I've never owned an amp with an EV so a while back I changed the speaker in the mark 1 to a black shadow EV. Am pleased with the change... not so pleased with weight lol!

I tried a set of EL34's the other day (using tweed power - safe according to the manual), and at gigging volume the amp has become horribly fizzy. I'm gonna go back to 6l6 tonight and see if that cures the fizz.

I'm keen to re-tube the whole thing.
I want tighter lows so the flabbiness goes. And more sparkle.
What tubes (preamp and power section) do you guys recommend?

 

[user 21540]

For Marks keep the bass low (2-3) and the Treble high (7-9). The Mark 1 circuit has a naturally loose low end.

 

[darkbluemurder]

The Mark I is basically a Fender Blackface amp with an added gain stage and control (labelled "Volume 1") and a Master Volume and Presence. To get a tighter overdrive tone you have to do the same thing as with a Blackface Fender amp - turn the bass pot down as mentioned before. Best to turn it off and then slowly bring it up until you feel the bass kicking in (usually at about 2 on the dial), then leave it there.

Cheers Stephan

 

[darkbluemurder]

Regards the tubes:

For the power amp I would go for 6L6GC - not 6L6GB. I have a pair of TAD STR 6L6GCs in it but JJs or Winged Cs should work equally well.

I don't have any specific recommendations on preamp tubes, other than I would use ECC83/12AX7s in all slots except for the reverb tube where I recommend a 12AT7/ECC81.

Cheers Stephan

 

[treedroppings]

Still saving for my preamp tubes, but I have changed my power tubes, along with screen resistors that blew up when my amp fell 3.5 feet, I haven't changed out tubes in 7 years, though. I've just been playing at home, though.

Did you know Chinese tube makers have re-issued an RCA blackplate 6L6GC ? I can't test it yet, but I'll let you guys know how it works out!