Small tube amp for Stimer

BlueNote

No Stimer, but DeArmond/Gretsch Dynasonic on archtop sounds a lot like Django and other European late forties - early fifties players. That clear and stingy attack unlike Gibsons.

I have also used Gibson P-90 on ES125 and Charlie Christian on ES175. They sound just like old records with the modified Champion 600 and it's loud enough to play with good drummer and amplified double bass. Pro Jr is louder and harsher, more rock sound I guess. Champ 600 does that Charlie Christian type sound that's kind of claean and slightly distorted at the same time when playing at moderate volume. At full blast it's instant Willie Johnson/Pat Hare on Howling Wolf Memphis recordings.

And I forgot to mention that it is wise to replace stock chinese tubes with something better, doesn't cost too much but makes huge difference.

Bob Holo

Well, I just got my Fender Blues Junior... have to say... damn! It's a fine little Stimer amp. It has a few mods - Celestion V30 speaker and the tube package from Torres Engineering. (maybe some other Torres mods - I don't know - the guy just said: "The Torres mods" and when I asked for clarification he wasn't able to provide it as he had it done for him by a tech)

I've been messing with it for two days now and when I finally figured out this morning that I'd been putting the Stimer slightly off - the thing came together great. FWIW, the small case-screw on the neck side of the reissue Stimer ST48 pickup should be exactly under the bass E string. When I position it there the string to string balance is fantastic (well the G string is a little softer and has a little less bite but the high B&E are very close)

What a rig. People in the Fender forums who say these little amps aren't loud enough to gig must be playing death metal. With the drive and bass and mids and reverb all between 3 & 4 and the master and treble all the way up I'm getting a really nice late-era Django sound and can't put the Stimer past about half volume before it is so flippin loud as to be painful. I think the only reason I need to turn the treble all the way up is that the Celestion V30 speaker has a very smooth topend - it's a very clean sounding midrange focused speaker. On the positive side, the V30 is killer-loud... running about 100db SPL 1w/m which is about 3db to 6db louder than average vintage guitar speakers (though there are quite a few newer high efficiency speakers) and nearly all of that volume is midrange, so it "sounds" a lot louder than a more balanced modern speaker (any note lowered one octave requires 4x the power to create the same perceived volume... so 100db of midrange sounds a LOT louder than 100db of bass)

Ricardo

I just got a fender champion 600 today for using with my Stimer. It seems to be very good and definiately has the vintage tube tone. I was surprised by how loud it is too. Loud enough for the kind of small venues I gig at.
One problem - the second time I went back to it, i'm getting a crackling when I play a note, which I think may be the Stimers' lead, as my harmonica mike didn't do it. Are the leads that come with the Stimers known for their unreliability? I think the problem is at the Jack end and not at the pickup end.
I hope it's not the amp but i'll test it with a friends guitar tomorrow.

lmntry

ooops....double post. :oops:

lmntry

The new fender amps like the blues jr. and the champion are supposed to be pretty good....plus high marks for reliability.

congratulations on your purchase.

I thought some of you may like to see what I own and have found to be stellar amps for 40's-50's swing guitar ala Django and Charlie Christian.


1) 1940 Gibson EH-185

2) 1947 Gibson BR-6



I may actually sell these sometime soon as I sold my stimer.....but they sound soooooo good.



David

djadam

I know that people here say that the Stimer sounds overdriven through a Compact 60, but what about using a tube preamp in conjunction with a Stimer/Compact 60 or other solid state amp? Or does the problem go beyond the preamp?

badjazz

so as for the Champion 600:
per the above recommendation, I replaced the grill cloth, and it made a noticeable difference in loudness and treble. Also, I tried a number of different preamp tubes in this, and at least with a dearmond, the runaway winner was to replace the preamp 12ax7 with an electro-harmonix 12ay7. I'd expect the stimer to have similar results as the dearmond.

I never got around to doing the other mods because I was not confident that I wouldn't electrocute myself or destroy the amp altogether.