![]() I was thinking a 1230-55 with pre-rola treatment would be great in this amp, but I'm also thinking something like a 12F125 or 12F150. I'm a big Ted Weber guy - have been for years (RIP Ted). I'm leaving the Greenback in there for now but I'll probably try to find something better eventually. The Greenback added some low-end so that's a big plus. The downside is that the Greenback is new and tight, so it did sorta lose a little of that vintage sound, but only slightly. On one hand, I like the lo-fi vintage ratty sound from the CTS, but the Greenback adds more complexity/dimension/detail. I hit it with some compressed air to dust it off, then put it in a box and installed the Greenback reissue. It looks pretty good, no real issues there except for a small ding/dent near the outside edge of the cone, but it isn't ripped through so I think it's fine. Next I removed the ceramic CTS 12" speaker so I could get a look at the cone. ![]() BINGO, got that sparkly lively punchy sound back. 0047 uf cap, and then I didn't have a 500 pf so I used a 390 pf mica cap (+/- 5%) so maybe that was the problem? The amp lost a significant amount of sparkle, and even though the tone knob became slightly more useful, I could not get the amp to sound as good as it did before the mod, so I switched it back. ![]() Well, first I tried the popular "Harvard tone stack mod" and I gotta say - I didn't like it. I also bought a used Celestion Greenback off Craigslist (8 ohm, 25 watt, reissue) for $65. I ordered a matched pair of NOS Svetlana 6AQ5A's from a local source (lips are sealed, sorry, but PM me if you're in Chicago and want to know a great source for NOS tubes). The tone knob is a little weird/useless and seems to be mostly just a bass freq rolloff knob? But I really like the sound of this amp. The only mods that were done - all the electrolytic capacitors have been replaced and C1 was removed and jumpered. The 6AQ5A's are RCA (faint logo still there) but I can't tell what brand the 12AX7 is, although it says USA on it. '72 Musicmaster with original ceramic CTS 12" speaker and original tubes. The amp was shipped to me in Chicago from Colorado and was well packed and arrived without issue. Nothing real ground-breaking but here goes. I just wanted to share some info and give back to this fine community. Having said this, there are a lot worse guitars out there, and as well as being historically important, the 1820 bass can certainly provide the goods when required.I recently bought a 1972 Musicmaster Bass Amp from a gentleman that frequents these forums (pchilson I think his user name is). Over the course of the 70s, the Japanese output improved dramatically, and in many ways these early 70s models are a low point for the brand. These new Epiphones were based on existing Matsumoku guitars, sharing body shapes, and hardware, but the Epiphone line was somewhat upgraded, with inlaid logos and a 2x2 peghead configuration. The Matsumoku factory had been producing guitars for export for some time, but the 1820 bass (alongside a number of guitar models and the 5120 electric acoustic bass) were the first Epiphone models to be made there. ![]() By the end of the 1960s, a decision had been made to move Epiphone guitar production from the USA (at the Kalamazoo plant where Gibson guitars were made), to Matsumoto in Japan, creating a line of guitars and basses significantly less expensive than the USA-built models (actually less than half the price). ![]()
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