What About The S.O.B?

[Gordieman]

Yo Guys!

I'm new to the group, and just 'accquired' an S.O.B. I've heard that these are more like the 'stepson' of the the Original Boogies. Why? I think that this is wonderful little amp that can really flexible if you don't need fancy amp switching and its tone is just sweet pure 'Boogie'. Its nice and compact too. Yeah they tried to re-issue the Mark I yadda, yadda,yadda... but if you actually hear it I'm sure you'll agree that this NO stepchild, this thing REALLY Boogies!
Hit me back and lemme know what you think.
~G~

 

[stokes]

I have one of these,although I havent used it in years since I loaned it to a friend.I always liked the amps tone and simplicity.For some reason it never caught on with Boogie fans,I always liked its lead tone a lot.To me the only thing about my IIC+ that makes it better is the clean channel and the ability to switch channels.If I lost my IIC+ and had to use the SOB I wouldnt be all that heartbroken.

 

[patrickginnaty]

I wasn't a fan of the "limit" feature, but switched the presence back to being a Fender style presence control (from a MK II print), and put in
an efficient speaker... all of a sudden I liked it MUCH better. VERY Mk I.

 

[patrickginnaty]

It's easy to see how it descended from a hot rodded PR...

 

[stokes]

Yeah,the limit control is a bit useless,except when playing at bedroom volumes,but I wouldnt consider it detrimental,just useless in most cases.Otherwise it had a tone very similar to the MKI.I got mine in a trade for a Blackface Bandmaster head,so the price was right.When I first got the IIC+ I actually prefered the SOB's tone,till I did the bias control mod and was able to put some better tubes in it.

 

[Gordieman]

Whoa! good info. Pat I think you just emailed me pics of this recently. I love the tone but am curious as to how this bias control mod is done.
~G~

 

[Gordieman]

Mine also has reverb, and a heavy duty fan I can't seem to figure out how to mount in the cabinet. Any help is appreciated of course.

~G~

 

[stokes]

To do the adjustable bias mod you need to replace one of the resistors in the bias supply with a cermet pot.I dont recall the values in my SOB,it was so long ago,but looking at the schem on Schematic Heaven they show a 10k and 470ohm.I would replace the 10k with a 25k cermet pot.Dont try to use a regular volume type pot,the bias supply is dc and these pots dont tolerate dc well.If you can,use the multi-turn cermet,otherwise a plain cermet will do fine.If the value of this resistor is different in your amp use a pot 2x the value of the resistor you are replacing,gives you enough adjustment either direction.

 

[i8guitar]

Another new guy here with a S.O.B. This one is 100 watts and works great with my GT-8.