Kustomized J66

capnjuan

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Dunno JP: nice logo ... the upholstery is a little much but ... Pedal-friendly?? are there amps that don't care for pedals :? J
 

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capnjuan said:
Dunno JP: nice logo ... the upholstery is a little much but ... Pedal-friendly?? are there amps that don't care for pedals :? J
I guess the sarcasm in my tongue-in-cheek question was a little too subtle. My comment was referring to the pillowy, vinyl nature of said J66.

Answer: Bad choice of Kustom-esque puffery.
 

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I've seen that one before - maybe 6-10 months ago? Once you've seen it, it's hard to forget it.
 

capnjuan

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jp said:
capnjuan said:
Dunno JP: nice logo ... the upholstery is a little much but ... Pedal-friendly?? are there amps that don't care for pedals :? J
I guess the sarcasm in my tongue-in-cheek question was a little too subtle.
Hi JP; I guess I was pulling my punch too :lol: The amp looks like a craftsman's sample for custom seat covers for a '57 chevy!
 

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Speaking as an owner of an original Guild 66-J (since 1968), let me just
say that this is NOT anything like a Fender Deluxe. A decidedly low gain,
very clean sounding, amp.

Not much left to this piece that is original...never seen so much orange inside...

Apparently as with mine, even a cap job didn't restore the tremolo...mine is present,
but very subtle.

Might have been a nice amp before, now GAAAAACK! :roll: :shock:
 

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Interesting, I should probably add a thought to this thread.

A friend has recently acquired a Vox AC15 in mahogany, the ultimate living room amp perhaps. I have always lusted after one of these, but it clearly is not in my future.

After several nice weekend days with my venerable 66-J and my Classic Player Jaguar Special, I have decided that I shall commission a similar finished wood cab for the old girl.
I don't play out any more, its a pain bringing her up from the basement, and the atmosphere there can't be that great, she will become my living room amp.

Having the wife contact a local cabinetmaker who had done some work at church, will talk to him about it first. I want to replicate the same cab the 66-J is in now, sans the tolex or whatever that motled grey finish is. What I am not sure of is whether using a furniture grade wood will change the tone, which is NOT what I am going for. I imagine the old Guild must have used pine or some such thing for cabinets, anyone know?
 

capnjuan

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Bill Ashton said:
... I want to replicate the same cab the 66-J is in now ... What I am not sure of is whether using a furniture grade wood will change the tone, which is NOT what I am going for. I imagine the old Guild must have used pine or some such thing for cabinets, anyone know?
Hi Bill; don't know what your cab is made of but whether it's particleboard or plywood and because it's older, it probably would be more sound-absorbent than harder/denser/newer cabinet-grade cherry, mahogany, walnut ... whatever ... would be. Even with a semi-open back, you might get a little clearer, sharper tone ... maybe more punch too. If that were the case, you could get some relief by lining the sides and bottom with speaker damping material ... that fiberglass-like wadding ... but I think harder/stiffer would translate into 'brighter' but not sure of to what degree. ??? J
 

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Ripped screaming from the Maggie/Valco email list:

leonc said:
So a few weeks ago, my buddy Mike Moody (www.MagicAmps.com) came by with a prototype pine cab for his ZII series amps. I was knocked out by how good it sounded--for blues/r&r (still dig birch ply more for cleaner stuff like funk/r&b/jazz/some country) but for dirtier tones, this pine cab was it! Anyway, I dug it so much I built a pine cab to the very same specifications for my own ZII-V amp.


You might pm leonc for his opinion.
 

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Bill Ashton said:
Speaking as an owner of an original Guild 66-J (since 1968), let me just
say that this is NOT anything like a Fender Deluxe. A decidedly low gain,
very clean sounding, amp.

Not much left to this piece that is original...never seen so much orange inside...

Apparently as with mine, even a cap job didn't restore the tremolo...mine is present,
but very subtle.

Might have been a nice amp before, now GAAAAACK! :roll: :shock:

I've got one, too. A recent purchase, which is now in the shop for caps and a 3-prong cord.

I agree, there does not appear to be much left that's actually original.

(My tremelo still works well, after it has a chance to warm up.)

For those who may wonder, here's what it should look like:

66J-2.jpg


Dave
 

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Any chance for tigerskin tolex while it's in the shop?

<rubs hands together gleefully>
 

dapmdave

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Nope. No tolex. Just doing enough to make it safe and sound.

And as original as possible for as long as possible.

Dave
 

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Ahhh, nice one! Mine seems to have a rougher covering, somewhat motled grey in appearance not as blues as yours, and a silver or grey fretcloth, though the pattern is the same as yours. My handle is similar to an old Fender Deluxe...presently there is a brown replica on it, as the orignal black one, while still intact, did not instill my confidence. The Guild block logo is the same.

And, as the Cap'n knows, mine has real mojo with some Rocket Eighty-Eight or similar stars on the fretcloth.

...oh, and thanks DeFault, good idea, will do that when the time gets closer...
 

dapmdave

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Well, to be honest, my camera kind of popped the colors up a bit. The amp looks good, but really not so different from Grot's.

Regarding the handle, it's curious that my 66-J has a handle like Grot's Thunder 1. I don't see anything on the top of the amp to suggest that there was ever any other handle mounted there. Kind of looks like an old suitcase handle.

Dave
 

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The handle on my Hilgen looks a lot like yours and I've seen similar ones on Ampegs. Common supplier, maybe?
 

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There were obviously changes and revisions as the different amp series went on. the OP's 66-J looks to be covered in the same materials a ggjaguar's 66-J or 98RT, while mine is like his U-101. Note the black piping insert about 2/3 up the side and the slat and pepper covering. Also, you can see that two different handles were used.

http://www.ggjaguar.com/guild.htm

The "wheat" fretcloth is different, but seems to be the same pattern as the grey in my 66-J.
 

capnjuan

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dapmdave said:
... Regarding the handle, it's curious that my 66-J has a handle like Grot's Thunder 1. I don't see anything on the top of the amp to suggest that there was ever any other handle mounted there. Kind of looks like an old suitcase handle.
Hi Dave; your handle is probably original. Not sure when they started using them but they ended with the Thunder series; on the version 1:

thunder2.jpg




Not on the version 2:

T1RVT1967a.jpg
 

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Default said:
The handle on my Hilgen looks a lot like yours and I've seen similar ones on Ampegs. Common supplier, maybe?

I'm thinkin' Samsonite.

Dave
 
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