Phil O'Keefe Posted May 4, 2006 Author Share Posted May 4, 2006 Dan, as to the M Mod / V Mod, it's best to use one or the other in your Gilmore Jr. As to how the new product works with the V Mod, I have no idea, but since the V Mod is a tone control thing, I don't think it should pose a problem, although the crunch factor is greater with the M Mod... but again, I do not know for certain - Rich? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard Guy Posted May 5, 2006 Members Share Posted May 5, 2006 Regarding the 'V' and 'M' mods, Phil is correct, the 'M' mod changes the gain of the Gilmore Jr Kit and the 'V' mod changes the tone stack. Just for info, the 2 x EL84 Ardmore Kit features the 'V' mod stock.The 'V' and 'M' mods sound better when installed alone. The Instrument Out Box works well with Stock, V or M modded Gilmore Jrs. Since the 'M' mod povides more gain, it gives the Instrument Out Box a stronger sounding signal to push the front end of your larger wattage amp.Thanks for asking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paulskirocks Posted May 5, 2006 Members Share Posted May 5, 2006 why not wire it so you could have both mods, and be able to take either in or out of the circuit? a rotor wafer type switch? or toggles? can't wait to try out one of these... paulski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted May 10, 2006 Author Share Posted May 10, 2006 Paul, I imagine you could work something like that up, but I'd have to look at it closely to design something like that - which is beyond the scope of this Pro Review... but I will say that if you're an experienced amp builder / modder, either of these amps would serve well as a basic platform to work from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard Guy Posted May 10, 2006 Members Share Posted May 10, 2006 One of my Customers installed a bunch of toggle switches on his Gilmore Jr to switch in and out the various components from stock to 'V', 'M' and bright mod components. It provided for interesting combinations. You can see his build on my 'Builder's Pictures' area on my site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FWAxeIbanez Posted May 10, 2006 Members Share Posted May 10, 2006 Originally posted by paulskirocks why not wire it so you could have both mods, and be able to take either in or out of the circuit? a rotor wafer type switch? or toggles? can't wait to try out one of these...paulski *drool* Richard... any help with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard Guy Posted May 10, 2006 Members Share Posted May 10, 2006 Hello FWAxeIbanez, The Customer took each changed part in the 'M' and 'V' mod instructions and mounted them on a terminal strip. He then used DPST switches to either retain 'stock' or toggle in the changed values. I think I have some additional pics here somewhere that I can send you. Please email me at support@guytronix.com as I will reply with whatever I find on the matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted May 11, 2006 Members Share Posted May 11, 2006 Hey Phil, you available for checking out amps and mics on the 27th or 28th? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted May 13, 2006 Author Share Posted May 13, 2006 Okay, it's a "go" for the 27th of this month. If anyone else would like to attend and try these cool little amps out in person, please drop me an email or PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted May 23, 2006 Author Share Posted May 23, 2006 Anyone? Class? Bueller? This Saturday at my place in Riverside for the play test / recording. If you're interested, please send me a PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted May 29, 2006 Members Share Posted May 29, 2006 So we hung out yesterday at Phil's place. The Gilmore and Ardmore really cost very little, but still sound awesome. The Gilmore breaks up a little more, very useful for a lot of things, including getting some rockin' distortion at low volumes. A Gretsch through the unit yielded some instant "Won't Get Fooled Again" sort of distortion. Nice! The Ardmore was my personal favorite although quite frankly, they're both very good. It had nice glassy highs and a little more headroom. Beautiful tone. We fired up a Carr Rambler right next to them, just for fun, not so much for comparison, but just for fun. That amp is great, and everything sounds great through it. The other two are a freakin' bargain. Paulskirocks was really impressed with both of them. We were really impressed when Phil put numerous guitars through the Diamond delay and then through both amps in 'stereo'. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Also for fun, we fired up the Soundelux 251, The Soundelux 250, and the Lawson L251. The first thing that we noticed was that the Lawson had 6 dB lower output in cardioid when compared to the Soundelux (it was I think 3 dB lower for figure-8 and omni, if memory serves). Similar. Remarkably similar, in fact. The Soundelux had a more pronounced top end, that beautiful top end that these mics are known for. Whether that's better or worse is subjective. The mids and bottom end seemed very close in comparison. When the Lawson L251 was in cardioid, it sounded virtually identical to the Soundelux 250. Eerily similar. When the Soundelux 251 and the Lawson L251 were in figure-8, they sounded almost identical, including the top end, the main difference being that the Lawson L251 was roughly 3 dB lower in output. Clearly, each mic has their merits. The Lawson has infinitely variable polar patterns, making it rather flexible. Paulskirocks described it as being "smoother" sounding than the 251 when both were in cardioid. The Soundelux 251 has a gorgeous, more pronounced top end. The Lawson can be juiced to do this by sending it back to Gene Lawson if you so want it. I'll probably leave it just as is, but it's always good to know. The Soundelux 250 has less top end than the Soundelux 251, and can be good for many applications where accentuating the top end could be an issue. The 250 is a fixed cardioid (no other polar patterns), so that may be an issue to some, although it may be a moot point for many since it's been discontinued, according to Phil.I want to emphasize that this comparison was not even close to being scientific. Very fun overall, hanging out, blabbing, playing, listening to CDs and the above, etc. Thank you very much to Phil for hosting this and for his warm hospitality, and Paulskirocks for coming out and hanging out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members papamaverick Posted May 31, 2006 Members Share Posted May 31, 2006 Glad to hear it was fun - if I weren't on the other side of the country (in Florida) I definately would've come to hang out. I'm trying to figure out exactly how loud a 1/2 watt amp and 8 watt amp are. I live in an apartment, and even though my Deluxe Reverb is only 18 watts, it's too loud on anything past volume 2-3. If my memory (and math) serves me correctly, doubling the wattage for a given speaker/cab adds 3dB, and it takes about 10dB for the human ear to subjectively judge a volume as "2x as loud". Which pretty much means that an 8 watt amp (assuming I run it through my Deluxe speakers) would only be about 3dB less loud. Wow. And the 1/2 watt would be maybe 1/3 as loud (15dB less). Does this sound right to you guys? And Phil, which amp did you decide to keep? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard Guy Posted May 31, 2006 Members Share Posted May 31, 2006 Hello papamaverick Here is a handy 'ball-park' list that you might like. Info thanks to amptone.com 40 watts is 94% as loud as 50 watts. 30 watts is 86% as loud as 50 watts. 25 watts is 81% as loud as 50 watts. 22 watts is 78% as loud as 50 watts. 20 watts is 76% as loud as 50 watts. 18 watts is 74% as loud as 50 watts. 15 watts is 70% as loud as 50 watts. 12 watts is 65% as loud as 50 watts. 10 watts is 62% as loud as 50 watts. 9 watts is 60% as loud as 50 watts. 8 watts is 56% as loud as 50 watts. 7 watts is 55% as loud as 50 watts. 6 watts is 53% as loud as 50 watts. 5 watts is 50% as loud as 50 watts. 4 watts is 47% as loud as 50 watts. 3 watts is 43% as loud as 50 watts. 2 watts is 38% as loud as 50 watts. 1 watt is 31% as loud as 50 watts. 3/4 watt is 28% as loud as 50 watts. 1/2 watt is 25% as loud as 50 watts. 1/4 watt is 20% as loud as 50 watts. 1/10 watt is 15% as loud as 50 watts. 50mW is 13% as loud as 50 watts 20mW is 10% as loud as 50 watts. 10mW is 8% as loud as 50 watts. 5mW is 6% as loud as 50 watts. 1mW is 4% as loud as 50 watts. 0.5mW is 3% as loud as 50 watts. 0.1mW is 2% as loud as 50 watts. 50uW is 1.6% as loud as 50 watts. 10uW is 1% as loud as 50 watts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paulskirocks Posted June 4, 2006 Members Share Posted June 4, 2006 well... i'm finally back in town... we had a good time hanging out, as well as getting to sample the amps... i also lean towards the ardmore, although it is a tough decision... i suppose we should have recorded some samples, but , oh well... i just had fun, and appreciate phil for having us over and letting me noodle away on the amps and his different guitars... it was also fun listening to phil and ken talk shop while i sit and try to decipher! bottom line for the amps is the tone was great, regardless of the price... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 14, 2006 Author Share Posted June 14, 2006 I really enjoyed Ken and Paul's visit. We had a good time, and both of them seemed to be pretty impressed with the Guytronix amp kits, as am I. Unfortunately, we didn't record any clips, so that's going to fall on me to do... I have ordered a 16 Ohm Weber Blue Dog Alnico speaker and it should be here on Monday. I'm going to wait until that arrives so I have another speaker option to use, and then do some clips, take a few more pictures and (finally!) write up my conclusions.Stay tuned... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard Guy Posted August 2, 2006 Members Share Posted August 2, 2006 Hello Phil,How does that 16 ohm AlNiCo Blue Dog sound to you? What wattage did you select and did you get it doped? Did you put it in a closed back or open back cab? I prefer open back cabs for AlNiCo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members percyexpat Posted September 25, 2006 Members Share Posted September 25, 2006 i feel that this thread needs a bit of a nudge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard Guy Posted September 27, 2006 Members Share Posted September 27, 2006 Originally posted by percyexpat i feel that this thread needs a bit of a nudge. Thanks Percyexpat, I agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members percyexpat Posted September 28, 2006 Members Share Posted September 28, 2006 Originally posted by Richard Guy Thanks Percyexpat, I agree well, having bumped it, its now on the pro reviews forum, exposed in all its glory! id love to hear some sound clips though. and some discussion on the effect of different cabs on the sound. im thinking of getting the gilmore jr. to put together over christmas when im at home (my dad is is much better at these things than me!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard Guy Posted September 28, 2006 Members Share Posted September 28, 2006 Hello percyexpat,I'd be most happy supporting your build efforts. I've got some sound clips of the Gilmore Jr on my site www.guytronix.com Thanks for the bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brendan Posted October 15, 2006 Members Share Posted October 15, 2006 Hi Rich, The 2 watt Gilmore Jr. sounds VERY interesting. Are there any mods to squeeze more clean headroom out of one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard Guy Posted October 15, 2006 Members Share Posted October 15, 2006 Originally posted by Brendan Hi Rich, The 2 watt Gilmore Jr. sounds VERY interesting. Are there any mods to squeeze more clean headroom out of one? Hello Brendan,Thanks for your inquiry. The two watt Gilmore Jr was specifically created to support more clean headroom. The perceived overall volume from 1/2 watt to 2 watts is a nominal ~ 12 % so there isn't a big jump in volume going to the 2 watts but there is more overall clean available. It sounds especially sweet with the 'V' mod installed along with the two watt.The Ardmore has lots of clean and sparkle while providing more volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1esotericguy Posted October 15, 2006 Members Share Posted October 15, 2006 Hey - I'll pull this if it's not the right place to put it. Seems appropriate though:Finally got a new camera so I'm posting pics of an amp project from 8 months ago. 1st time build and it was fun. I assembled a GILMORE JR kit into a Epiphone Valve Jr Chassis and then shoved the chassis back into the combo. Replaced the speaker too. Wiring is pretty embarrassing, but it's actually quiet and sounds really rich (even though it's pretty sloppy in there). The chassis is a little tight for this kit, especially with the attenuator mod installed on board. The front panel layout is: ATTENUATOR, VOLUME, TONE, STANDBY TOGGLE, ON/OFF TOGGLE.These days I use it as a head into a Greenback in a separate cab and I'm going to get the 2 watt upgrade. BOOYAH - Enjoy pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Richard Guy Posted October 16, 2006 Members Share Posted October 16, 2006 Hey 1esotericguy,Great packaging! Dig! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted October 19, 2006 Author Share Posted October 19, 2006 Indeed - very nicely put together! I'm horrible at clips; mostly because I'm really only a marginal player... so I tend to use things in context of songs instead of solo'ed out. Here's a link to a song we used the Ardmore on a bit:http://www.myspace.com/theralphshowThe song is called "The Road That Leads To You". The baritone guitar solo was recorded using a Vox AC15 with a Weber Blue Dog and the Ardmore through a Fender EV 12F speaker, in stereo, using a Lovetone Wobulator tremolo pedal to split the signl between the two amplifiers.... I was very happy with the results.More to come... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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