66-J & Model 100

JayHardtke

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Hi All,

I was able to acquire these amps recently for what I thought were very reasonable prices. My intuition was that if I liked my Guild guitars as much as I do, and Guild’s reputation for quality being what it is, the amps could be great. I am not disappointed. My first impressions are that I like them both very much, noting that I like cleaner sounding amps. I like the 66-J very much, it's very clean, but am disappointed that the tremolo is not working on either. Both seem like they could use a trip to a tech, so I will have them serviced soon. The 66-J has a nice big sound and clean tone but does get a bit of a very nice growl when pushed. It has the original 2 prong cord, and what I assume are the original tubes, plus foot switch, so I assume it is all original. The dealer had the cover but unfortunately could not find it.

The 100 also sounds great and I hear the difference in the 12 inch Jensen and 15 inch Utah. To my ears the 100 is in a way more full but a bit darker and less clear. I like the 66-J better at this point in time, but can check back once I have had them both serviced and hopefully will have the tremolo working. I would enjoy hearing others input in the meantime. Cheers!

 

AcornHouse

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Nice, Jay! I love my 99j for warm, clean, jazz tones. Do you have a footswitch? A simple generic on-off will work. Your tremolo(s) may simply be switched off.
 

JayHardtke

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Hi, the 66-J came with the original footswitch. I have tried both channels, etc. and no tremolo in either amp. Perhaps the switch doesn't function, I will try another, but in the case it doesn't work, hope it can be repaired.

 

sailingshoes72

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Very cool amps, Jay! And unusual to find both at the same time. Do you have any idea of the dates of manufacture? I like the wooden foot switch/door stop with the Guild brand.

Bill
 
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JayHardtke

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The speaker code in the 66-J dates it to the 20th week of '62. Nothing visible on the Utah in the 100 but both have same covering, knobs, etc., so assume they are both from the same approximate time.
 

59Panhead

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Unfortunately, there seems to be more than one schematic for the 66-J, including the one that I made for mine (as it matched nothing on the Internet). The same may apply for your 100. But, it your amps are like the schematics available, the fix for the Tremolo may be as simple as replacing the cathode bypass capacitor on the Tremolo oscillator tube. Your footswitch more than likely only grounds the oscillator signal, preventing the Tremolo warble. I'm thinking the Tremolo should work all the time, if no footswitch were connected. But, that can only be determined by whomever traces the circuit while troubleshooting.

Another issue may be a weak oscillator tube. One of my old Sano amps had a weak Tremolo when I first powered it up after repairs, using the original tubes that were in it. I put all new tubes in, and went on a wild goose chase, trying to find where I was losing my oscillation. Turned out to be a weak, brand new tube. Swapped it with one of the other tubes in the amp, and I had killer Tremolo. Of course, part of the troubleshooting on the wild goose chase was to replace all caps related to the oscillator circuit. Sometimes, the obvious is not so obvious.

Anyway, a couple options to try, tube replacement being the easiest.

Jack
 

JayHardtke

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Tubes in the 66J replaced, but no dice on the tremolo. :(

But, putting a Fulltone TTE in front of it and goosing the guitar volume a bit and it really has a wonderful breakup and pretty mean tone, using the DeArmond bridge pu of a '61 X500. Really nice rock & roll.
 
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