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

Bill Simmons · Post by **Bill Simmons** » 23 Jan 2009 7:56 am

Is this a good sounding amp for the steel???

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 23 Jan 2009 8:29 am

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 · Post by **Bill Simmons** » 23 Jan 2009 9:13 am

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 · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 23 Jan 2009 10:07 am

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).

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 23 Jan 2009 1:27 pm

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.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 23 Jan 2009 1:30 pm

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.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 23 Jan 2009 1:32 pm

Sorry 'bout the double post!

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 23 Jan 2009 1:33 pm

Sorry 'bout the triple post...

Chuck Martin · Post by **Chuck Martin** » 24 Jan 2009 6:47 am

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.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 24 Jan 2009 9:48 am

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.

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 24 Jan 2009 6:04 pm

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 · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 24 Jan 2009 7:24 pm

Jerry, that's GOT to be the most publicized Hardee's in the U.S!

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 25 Jan 2009 8:07 am

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.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 25 Jan 2009 8:21 am

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.

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 25 Jan 2009 8:23 am

Here a 212 Musicman for 240.00!!

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/ele/978605626.html

Brian Rung · Post by **Brian Rung** » 25 Jan 2009 8:47 am

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...

Darrell Owens · Post by **Darrell Owens** » 25 Jan 2009 11:23 pm

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

J Fletcher · Post by **J Fletcher** » 26 Jan 2009 11:13 am

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

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 26 Jan 2009 3:02 pm

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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