[Harp-L] 6EU7's and how to work with them

[SONNYTONE@xxxxxxx]

Thank you Matt for acknowledging how powerful the Cruncher actually is.  
Charlie Musselwhite just bought a road case so he will never be without his. 
He  doesn't care about the cost of bringing on the plane, he said he was 
tired of  the crappy backline amps he was given when he flies and overseas. On 
the other  note of Gibson's and their love of using 6EU7's, here is the way 
to get your amp  so that you can use the 5 possible 9 pin tubes instead, as 
the 6EU7 has a gain  of 100 and is NOT user friendly. I just had my great 
tech Tom Stankiewicz go  through a great Sano amp I have that had 6EU7's, and 
he converted the socket to  accept the 12AX7, 5751, 12AT7, 12AY7, 12AU7...   
How it is done? Each  preamp tube has a wiring pattern of wires, one is for 
voltage and the rest for  the job of the tube. Tom rewired each preamp tube 
with the wiring pattern for a  nine pin 12AX7.... You need a top notch tech 
to do this, but now I have the  ability to drop the gain, bridge the 
channels. I like to have one channel really  low with a 12AU7, and one channel a 
little hotter, maybe 12AY7 or 12AT7, all  depending on how it sounds. Or, if 
just one preamp tube without bridging works  better, just use it. This should 
be a golden tip for all you Gibson owners as I  have owned every Gibson 
made in my vintage amp hayday..I did not know of this  back then.. The GA40, 
all the Gibsons, can get THAT close to having some good  projection, but they 
always feed back before getting to that point. It makes  sense now that we 
know this is due to the high gain 6EU7 that was always used.  So hopefully 
this tip will have you Gibson owners getting more out of your amps.  Ask your 
tech if they know how to do it first, Tom is not taking any other  repairs 
now, he built my Sonny Jr 1 and 2, he is the NASA engineer. He also  serviced 
my NINTH Danelectro Commando which is FOR SALE, it now works  flawlessly, 
as it had a basic service when I bought it, but I don't trust them  and Tom 
spent 10 hours literally chasing resistors. These amplifiers were not  made 
to be serviced. Mine is the extremely rare Silvertone Model 88. I put  
vintage 1950's NOS 4 Sylvania power tubes, new preamps and whatever tubes needed  
to be changed, so it is as good as new, no one will ever have an amp 
serviced  like this as Tom is the most meticulous tech I have ever come across. He 
is in  charge of the 10 spacesuits for NASA, and has been jetted to Houston 
on several  occasions when serious problems with men in space needed work 
done on the suits,  and he is The man that takes care of that. The Commando 
has all original  speakers, tested of course, is a strong 9/10 cosmetically, 
the flimsy baffle  boards are like new, and I am Also including a pair of 
baffle boards from a  previous Commando that I made a stronger baffles for.. 
One has the grill cloth  but is different than the stock amp, but who else 
could offer a spare mint pair  of baffles. No one will ever get their hands on 
this Little Walter known to have  played amp in this condition so the price 
is $2800.. Find another one in this  condition and have the insurance that 
it is fully like new. Due the crazy way  that Dano wired the tubes, there is 
a hum when it is first comes on, Tom said  just flip it off and then back 
and the hum goes away. This is Dano's design  flaw, these amps were not made 
to be serviced. 
    Back during WW2, the women took up the roles of all  types of male 
jobs, and wiring the amps that would be in the Montgomery Wards  catalogs for 
sales was part of it well into the 50's. Instead of just wrapping  the wire 
once around the lug, they would do it twice, with super solder, a  nightmare 
for a tech. Very tight spaces, parts under parts. I promised Tom this  was my 
last, and it will be. I even have a CD of all Dano products from the  50's, 
guitars and a picture of the Commando, which sold for $380 back in 1956,  
which my amp is. All speakers match, I have the original worn handle, still 
in  one piece but was not safe, it will be included as I put a new handle on 
it.  This is how much I have into this amp and I will not take anything 
less. I will  ship overseas but just claim full price. I will be in San Jose 
5/20 - 24th  showcasing my Avenger and Cruncher at the Crowne Plaza Silicon 
room as Dave  Barrett is holding his Masterclass in the Hilton, the adjacent 
hotel to the  Crowne. So come on over, I will have 15 killer mics plus one 
blackie that is the  strongest I have ever owned, one that Chuck Gurney had 
saved for me. Right now I  need the money to pay for this trip so for $450 in a 
mint deep red with gold  flake Turner shell with V/C, it is a bargain as I 
know what some guys are  charging. That wraps my end up here. I hope the 
information on the 6EU7's  was useful, if anyone has their tech do it, please 
email me once you are able to  tame it down. Just for the record, here are 
the tube gains, starting with the  lowest.
12AU7 = 20
12AY7 = 40
12AT7 = 70
5751 = 70 but is much more aggressive than the 12AT7, the perfect tube for  
bridging the AT - AX gap.
12AX7 = 100 gain.
 
Pretty much all I know. I hope this helps. My manuals give all this  
information, I am leaving this earth at some point as we all are, and this is my  
way of giving back to all my supporters. If you buy an amp from me you get 
all  the information that will filter into any other amplifier and whatever I 
know,  you will know. That is my give back. Thank you all. I just had to 
get this all  out.. Respectfully, Sonny Jr.