Grateful Dead Music Forum

So....I have greatly appreciated all the advice I've absorbed from the great many Jerry Tone addicts and aficionados on this board. It has really helped me get to where I am very happy with how I sound. But of course, it never ends !

I currently play

1. Troy Post Wolf (OBEL, Waldo Buffer, Middle Splittable DiMarzio SDII)
2. A lot of pedals (most importantly, Earth Drive and Caitlenbread Topanga for Reverb, though I love the on on the SMS too, just like more control).
3. Sarno SMS Classic JG
4. McIntosh MC50
5. At least one, sometimes more JBL k-120s

My dilemma is

1. I am worried that the MC50, which I have never had serviced (I have owned in for about 2 years), will at some point crap out. I also would like to have the right jack(s) and Power switch added. All fine, but what do I use when this thing dies or I am having the mods done ? I play weekly in a band and hope to start gigging again fairly soon. I do not have a decent alternative to this rig, other than a 15W Champ X2 Head that I can use through the JBLs. My other amps are Vox, Marshall clone. The Champ doesn't sound that good with the JBLs for Jerry tone and it lacks the power I think I need.

2. It would be nice to have a more portable combo or at least head/cab for practicing.

For power amp alternatives, I recently bought and tried a Quilter Micro Block. It is very thin sounding and the highs are too harsh, even with tweaking and using the Earth Drive. I used it both with and without the SMS. It is better with, but not by much.

Should I just buy a used Blues Junior (or something else) and drop one of my 3 JBL K-120s into it ? Can I use that as a reasonable substitute ? The nice thing about that is portability and full redundancy with my other rig.

Or should I spring for another MC50 (not that easy to find and have gotten closer to 750+ from my recent searches).

Or do I buy a Quilter 101 Block or something else ? Someone mentioned to me recently that they love the SAE 2200 as a vintage SS power amp alternative to McIntosh's and that they sound amazingly articulate and warm, but I feel this is a $300 risk and there is a good chance I will be re-selling or having to have it repaired even if it works.

I have seen a Carvin DCM200L around once in a while on eBay. That seems from reviews on this sight to be a better option that the Quilter 101. Do you agree ? What about MOS Valves I've heard mentioned ?

I have wavered over and over between all the above or maybe just buying a Mesa Boogie head, but it is honestly a lot of money. I am trying to save for a high-end custom build guitar.

Thanks for any and all ideas on this timeless dilemma.

Milkman is making a solid state/tube amp called "The Amp" that is closely based off a Twin and wouldn't be that far off from a MC50/pre amp type set up. In fact the maker has said that it's not too far off from Jerry's set up when asked about it. I also really liked the sound of the Quilter 101 Mini Reverb.

I'm not too sure I would be that worried about the MC50 crapping out. Those things is serviced will last forever.

Alobar wrote: ↑Mon Jul 30, 2018 8:12 am Milkman is making a solid state/tube amp called "The Amp" that is closely based off a Twin and wouldn't be that far off from a MC50/pre amp type set up. In fact the maker has said that it's not too far off from Jerry's set up when asked about it. I also really liked the sound of the Quilter 101 Mini Reverb.

I'm not too sure I would be that worried about the MC50 crapping out. Those things is serviced will last forever.

Thanks for the response. I actually asked a question on Milkman's Instagram post about The Amp when they announced it, as it relates to Jerry tone and they responded that "it’s not too far off from his McIntosh setup." So that might be a really good option, though still more than I want to spend for something that is not necessarily tried and true among the faithful yet.

But it should be easy enough to bring my guitar and a JBL cab to a local store and ask to give it a whirl. So that might be a great option. I will give an update if I do any research on that route.

Also, as a general comment, Milkman amps are so sweet and the quality and tone from The Amp are very impressive. I just came across this review on Premier Guitar's FB page this morning. Here it is:

https://www.facebook.com/premierguitar/ ... 618853917/

Also, I just sent Tim at Milkman a very detailed email with questions about it. I did not see or read anywhere that the sound was based off of a Twin. Where did you see that, if you recall ?

Hmmmm I don't recall where I heard the twin comparison. Let me know what Milkman says. That premier guitar review is not that flattering for The Amp IMO. Kinda shocking that he felt the need to completely dime the treble with the Les Paul. It still sounded muffled to me, but obvi that's just a quick and dirty demo and not recorded that well etc.

Tim invited me down to plug in my Wolf and my JBL at his shop. Will keep you posted. I'm optimistic. The Amp is based on his Half and Half 300W clean amp for lap steel guitars, so it should be very similar to a Twin Reverb. This thing could potentially cover a lot of bases for me for sure.

Ahhhh the half and half. Well right on Mike. That's cool. Have a good visit down there and please take some pics and give us a tone report. Hope it works out for you!

You won't find too many complaints for the under $250 MosValve MV962 rack 80 watt power amp to replace the MC50. Gratefulredhead here and I get some very good Jerry tone out of it. Convenient, reliable, effective, relatively cheap.

I used a carvin dcm and it was pretty good with a sms jg ,and e120s,and i retired it because it was over heating i now use a quilter tone block 201 it's better than the carvin i bypass the eq and go into the effects return sounds great and is very light weight you have to try a amp and don't pay too much attention to what the maker says about new products,quilter really talked up his gain clipping and I think the eq section on the tb 201 is a let down but the power amp is awesome for what we are doing with a sms or fyd or a other preamp just run into the effects loop and use the power amp only and adjust volume with the adjustable watts dial you can buy them used alot of people buy it for a amp, preamp combo but get a weak tone ,and are not happy ,add the sms and it gets good jerry tone very acceptable in my opinion

MikeInMarin wrote: ↑Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:46 pm Tim invited me down to plug in my Wolf and my JBL at his shop. Will keep you posted. I'm optimistic. The Amp is based on his Half and Half 300W clean amp for lap steel guitars, so it should be very similar to a Twin Reverb. This thing could potentially cover a lot of bases for me for sure.

Did you ever get the chance to give this thing a spin? Anyone else have firsthand experience with it now that it's been released?

I would echo the MosValve suggestion, I have one I use as a backup. If you're really looking for a portable rehearsal amp the Milkman or a Blues Jr would be good ways to go. No shit to set up with a small combo amp. For me, at rehearsal, there's no need to get too exact about your tone. Something pleasing to the ears that's loud enough to practice with bandmates would work for me.

HeadSpace wrote: ↑Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:43 am

MikeInMarin wrote: ↑Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:46 pm Tim invited me down to plug in my Wolf and my JBL at his shop. Will keep you posted. I'm optimistic. The Amp is based on his Half and Half 300W clean amp for lap steel guitars, so it should be very similar to a Twin Reverb. This thing could potentially cover a lot of bases for me for sure.

Did you ever get the chance to give this thing a spin? Anyone else have firsthand experience with it now that it's been released?

No, I have not gotten a chance to go. I had planned on it right away and didn't get around to going. So busy with my new band and stuff. I will try and go soon and report back.

That'd be very cool. Thanks!

Milkman's The Amp looks good on paper but, to me at least, the on-line clips for it don't sound convincing. I haven't yet personally tried one, though, so still willing to be convinced otherwise.

I tried two Quilter combos that, like the Tone Block 201, have the Gain, Tri-Q Contour, Voicing, Hi-Cut, and Master controls. Didn't care for them.

This being said, according to Quilter's Facebook page, in two days (10/23), they're announcing a new amp. If it's along the lines of a Tone Block 200-series with the Fenderish Treble Mids Bass tone controls/voicing like on their 101R, I'm very interested.

Myself, besides owning an MC50 that I run a FYD preamp into, I also have a DCM200L that I run an SMS preamp into. I hope to avoid some of the heat this topic has generated previously by emphasizing up front that the latter requires compromises. The question for you will be whether, for a backup rig, those compromises would be acceptable to you. Others can opine for ourselves but only you can decide for yourself.

In a different thread discussing the DCM200L, I described how I personally adjust my preamp settings a bit differently from the classic Jerry settings to get the DCM200L closer to the MC50; and also how, if you're chasing Jerry tone with it, you must not push in the EQ expander button.