Music Man - 100 watt tube amp with 15" Electro Voice

Steel guitar amplifiers, effects, etc.

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Bill Simmons
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Music Man - 100 watt tube amp with 15" Electro Voice

Post by Bill Simmons »

Is this a good sounding amp for the steel???
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Tony Prior
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Post by Tony Prior »

100 watts? Are you sure it is not a model 115-65 ?

These amps are known to be 65 watts and 130 watts, great amps, heavy ,loud and clean.

Recently I had a 212HD-130, this had 2x12's and 130 watts, it was too loud ! I had to run it in the low power mode (65 watts) to use it on stage, I could not get the volume knob past like 2 !

The one thing I did have to do was replace the speakers , the stock speakers were just to mid strong. If the 115-65 has a nicely voiced 15" speaker I think it would be a great amp.

I believe I saw pro player @ forum member, Randy Beavers using one of the 115-65's at a Steel show once.

These old 70's MM amps are great, I would buy the 115-65 in a NY minute, the 212HD-130 was just way too loud, I sold it.

Here is a link to the MM amps http://home.swbell.net/mellis99/mmprices.htm
Bill Simmons
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Music Man Amp

Post by Bill Simmons »

Thanks Tony for the input...the Music Man is the 115 RP with the 15" ELV speaker and 100 Watts. It is in prestine condition.

I have the little 65 watt - 12 inch speaker guitar amp for years and it is a loud, killer tube amp. Thanks again Tony...check this out...

http://www.musicmanamps.com/
Donny Hinson
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Post by Donny Hinson »

They make a decent-sounding steel amp, very similar to the Fender Twin Reverb series (since that was their main competition when they were designed and sold).
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Mike Neer
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Post by Mike Neer »

I have a 112 RP--I like it OK for steel. A little on the bright, although it has very deep lows. I have the EVM 12L speaker. I imagine the 115 RP would be better.
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Jerry Hayes
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Post by Jerry Hayes »

I have a MusicMan HD-212 One Fifty which is a hybrid like the rest of 'em. They have a tube power section and a solid state preamp so the only tubes you'll see in the back of 'em are four 6L6's. I love mine! It's the same size as a twin reverb and has an onboard phase shifter instead of tremolo like a twin has. It's a 150w beast that'll blow a twin right off the stage. I can get a better "Mooney" sound with this amp than any I've ever owned!........JH in Va.
Last edited by Jerry Hayes on 23 Jan 2009 1:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!
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Jerry Hayes
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Post by Jerry Hayes »

Sorry 'bout the double post!
Last edited by Jerry Hayes on 23 Jan 2009 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jerry Hayes
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Post by Jerry Hayes »

Sorry 'bout the triple post...
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Chuck Martin
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Post by Chuck Martin »

I'm also a fan of the Music Man 212-HD. It really is an ideal amp for playing both pedal steel and electric guitar. The power of this amp and the tone variations using the master volume make it very flexible. I bought mine new in 1981 and its still going strong.


Image
Last edited by Chuck Martin on 24 Jan 2009 1:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jerry Hayes
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Post by Jerry Hayes »

When playing steel only in mine, I like to use both outputs in my volume pedal and run a cord to both channels of the amp, it fattens it up a bit....JH in Va. Here's a shot of it behind my steel at a gig....JH in Va.
Image
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!
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Ken Fox
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Post by Ken Fox »

Bill, this is info I found at:

http://pacair.com/mmamps/Misc__Info/Mod ... chart.html



They indicate that it is a 2-6L6GC amp rated at 100 watts. That is not possible as a 6L6GC maximum plate dissipation is 30 watts per tube, or 60 watts max for both in a class AB/push pull arrangement! Things were greatly overstated in those days.

Still it should be a very nice amp for you!!!
Stephen Gambrell
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Post by Stephen Gambrell »

Jerry, that's GOT to be the most publicized Hardee's in the U.S! :D :D :D :D
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Jerry Hayes
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Post by Jerry Hayes »

That's true Stephen, the packed houses can attest to that, and it's a fun place to play.....

As for MusicMan amps, the Guitar Center in Virginia Beach has an old MM 2-12 amp on sale for $699. The thing is all beat to crap and they're still asking that much for it. They have it listed as a "vintage" MusicMan amp.........JH in Va.
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!
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Ben Jones
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Post by Ben Jones »

i LOVE my musicman 2x10 combo for steel (i run it with an extension 2x12 cab also). unfortunately its too heavy to lug around.
I am considering separating the head from the combo but am not sure even then it would be light enough for me to carry. Since one can still find the heads at a reasonable price Im not so sure it would be econmically sound move to separate the combo ....i dunno.
:?:
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Ken Fox
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Post by Ken Fox »

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Brian Rung
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Post by Brian Rung »

My first steel amp was a loaner 212HD with JBL's in a road case...it was good for guitar, and great for steel, just waaaay too heavy.

That was when I was in my early 20's, I had the 212HD with JBL's, a double 10 60's Blanton (almost as heavy as the amp!), and a mid 70's boat anchor telecaster...that's a heavy rig, no I wasn't paid by the pound...

I returned the 212HD and started using a session 400 after a few months, nothing against the amp, it has more headroom than you'll ever need, I just couldn't lug it around anymore...

Just thinking about that rig makes me love my MSA S10 Semi-classic and Nashville 112 even more...
Aspiring Hawaiian.
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Darrell Owens
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Post by Darrell Owens »

Bill,

YES! Buy that amp. It is worth the $$ for the EV speaker. I owned one exactly like that, and I let a friend talk me out of it. He still uses it - and loves it. Those amps are clean and have a very FAT tone.

Darrell
Zum Steel, Little Walter Amp, Benado Steel Dream
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J Fletcher
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Post by J Fletcher »

About twenty years ago, I put a MusicMan 100 watt amp on the bench to see how much power it was getting out of two 6L6's. As I recall, to my surprise it was getting 100 watts, or very close to it. Plate voltage was very high in those amps. Around 750 volts as I recall. Had a hi/lo power switch that dropped the plate voltage to around 400 volts.
Don't know how to explain it, but the output section is unlike anything else I know of. Power tubes are driven by their cathodes, by a transistor, not their grids, and idle current is very low...Jerry
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Ken Fox
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Post by Ken Fox »

You are right about the strange way they drive the tubes and the high voltages on the plates.

Peavey did the same with the Heritage amp, but used a much stronger transistor for the cathode drive. Seen lots of failures on the transistors at the cathode, due to folks letting the tubes get to work out.


JJ/Telsa tubes are about the only thing that will handle those amps for new production tubes.

I see more and more of these amps now days as not many folks want to work on them!!!



Next time I get one in for service I will scope it out!

Very interesting!!!
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