Seems like I see more horror stories than happy stories from Dragon and Cobra owners. A lot of "not if it breaks, but when it breaks" kind of stuff. And it appears that most repairs they need aren't just a tube swap, but more in-depth repairs that require parts that are very hard to get. I'd really like to get a Dragon, maybe Cobra, but I don't want to end up with a very expensive paperweight. I don't mind shelling out for repairs but I don't want to buy something you can't even get parts for lol

Hey everyone, I picked up a vintage Gibson amp. It's pretty beat up. Any idea what it is? Is it worth restoring? How much is it worth as is? Thanks.

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Hello,

I've had my Princeton 68 for a couple of years. Recently I've noticed a harsh sound when I turn the volume up past 4, especially around 5. Here is a link to a short recording to demonstrate: [Edit] https://youtu.be/N2S3HXE-WdU

I know they are meant to break up quickly, but this almost sounds like there's something wrong with it, it almost sounds like harsh digital clipping to me. I don't think it's the microphone, as it sounds like this in the room also. The tubes are new, I biased the amp according to the recommended value in the service manual.

I tried swapping the preamp tubes with some other ones I have, and still the same. Although I changed the speaker to a Jensen P10R, I tried putting the stock speaker back in, but still a harsh breakup sound. I tried different bass/treble settings as well.

I know some people say these amps have a harsh breakup sound anyway, but I've owned this amp for a couple of years and I didn't have a problem with how it sounded. So I'm curious, would anyone have an opinion, based on the recording, of anything else that could be causing this issue? Any help would be appreciated.

As the title states, here soon I would like to purchase a 5-15 watt amplifier for home use. I am satisfied with my Princeton Reverb Reissue for the cleaner side of the American amp sound, however I would like another smaller combo amp to use with it in stereo. I do own a hardwired 57 deluxe style amp, however it is very loud.

I’ve been eyeing the 57 Champ Reissue from Fender, they come and go at decent prices, around $800 is the maximum I would pay given that its made in China and is far overpriced for what it is. Supro amps interested me however I’ve heard that their build quality isn’t stellar, so if I go that route I’d only consider vintage models. I’d like something similar to what I have mentioned, as I love the tweed sound.

I have a 96 Deluxe Reverb reissue I have on my bench and couldn’t for the life of me figure out the high noise floor.

I checked leakage on coupling caps and EQ section. All working correctly. All the filter caps I had changed out already. After some googling I saw how the trace from volume pot of Reverb channel to V2b is routed terribly. After cutting trace and rerouting like a vintage Fender using shielded cable the amp is dead silent. It’s a must have modification.

Also took out bright cap while working on that section. I’m really digging the amps new and greatly improved performance.

Hello all, I have a rather unique question hopefully someone can answer. I currently play a 65 DRRI with a Celestion vintage 30 in it, absolutely love it. However I am also in the market for a Mesa rectoverb 25 head. I am tight on money so I can only buy one thing at a time. But I planned on getting a tone king iron man II attenuator for both the DRRI and the rectoverb a few weeks after getting the new Mesa.

I was wondering if it is harmful to the tubes/other components of the DRRI if I run it as a cab for a few weeks until I can get the attenuator and then a dedicated cab?

Also open to cab options for rectoverb 25.. should I snag a 1x12 recto cab? The larger 1x12 cab?

Hi all!

This is a follow up to my last post where I said I couldn't get the sound of a Supro out of my head and compromised and got a vintage Gibson Falcon from 1964 that I'm not entirely happy with because it feels weirdly muddy for an amp that has a trebly reputation.

Anyways, I have an opportunity to swap the Gibson I'm unhappy with for a Tone King Falcon (ironic right) 1x10. I've been looking for the Fender sparkling cleans and could not really find that with the old Gibson. What can you all tell me about the Tone King Falcon? I hear it has a Tweed/Blackface voicing which sounds awesome and I've been looking for a smaller amp anyways since I am moving into an apartment soon and out of my parents' house.

Anyways, cheers! Thanks for y'all's input.

Hey y'all. I'm looking into making a piece of furniture to hold all my gear in my gaming space. Bottom shelf for accessories and top shelf for amps. All my solid state stuff is pretty easy but im a little woried about clearance around my 65 deluxe reverb reissue. Do i need to take any special considerations for clearance around the cab to stop from overheating the amp?

Bought a used DRRI- had it totally rebuilt to match mid 60s blackface specs - it came with a cannabis Rex speaker that I swapped out with a celestion cream back 65 watt.

TL;DR Am I crazy to continue this speaker tone search in order to connect better with my amp? Or is this a fools errand

I think it’s “meh/so-so” after about 2 years of playing. I gig out with a funk/soul band about twice a month.

It’s super clean and almost never breaks up. Doesn’t really have the sparkle as my 73 Princeton (Weber speaker ) or benson Nathan junior (celestion grew back).

Looking for the classic fender chime and a nice breakup around 4-5. Most gigs my DR volume is 3-4. Based on my experience with the smaller aforementioned amps I totally understand that cranked volume= good tone, but that’s just not feasible if you care about your audience or bandmates. However, Princeton feels a bit too small and too overpowered by a larger band mix.

Edit: thank you everyone for the encouragement and help in demystifying this process! After some research I settled on the Allesandro 59- hope I like it! If I don't, you'll see it on Reverb soon. Cheers!

Hi guys

I’m new to this subreddit I don’t know if here is the right place to post this but I’ve been looking everywhere in a panic and have ended up here with the hopes I could get some help:

I recently brought a Marshall Valvestate model 8080 from a seller on EBay and I plugged it in the volume was on but not all the way and I couldn’t hear anything when testing it so I turned it up a little more and I started to smell smoke and but heard some sound at least however after a little while a small skinny wisp of smoke flowed out of the amp and and I turned it off in a panic I tried playing it again on the same volume and settings I had left it on and there was no more sound so I took it apart while panicking and I am guessing it might’ve been the tube for the preamp but I was wondering if anyone could help diagnose the issue and how to fix it?

Hey all,

This might sound dumb, forgive me, lol. I've had the Supro sound stuck in my head for over a year now.

It all started in December of '23 when I went out and bought a Supro 1610RT Comet made in Port Jefferson, NY. I never loved an amplifier and the way it sounded more in my life. I can't get the sound out of my head still over a year later! I ended up having to return the Comet though, I brought it to a tech and told me these Supros have notoriously faulty reverb and tremolo circuits that will randomly die and that is exactly what happened with my Comet! I never even gigged with it, just played it in my room for a week. I returned it and ended up getting a 1964 Gibson Falcon and an modern AC15, but man, I still cannot get that Supro sound out of my head.

So here we are in 2025, and I see that last October they revealed a somewhat similar looking amp called the Montauk. Should I even think about it or are these newer Supros still unreliable hunks of garbage with direct to PCB mounted tubes that melt the board? I feel like I need this sound, but not if it's going to die in a week!

when purchasing the power tubes I mentioned above, I clearly stated to the Tube Depot that the quad would be for a, 2005 Marshall DSL 100, at that point, they should have immediately advised me not to purchase the regular JJ EL 34s BUT INSTEAD go with the JJ II.

The regular JJs (for the past few years) are not the same and cannot handle high-gain amps like mine, and looking back now, I know the Tube Depot is very aware of that, a $200 lesson and then incurring another $150 in tech fees to investigate the cause (after making them aware of 2 tubes red plating and a failed tube on the other side), and all because they chose to remain silent instead of admitting their mistake that was exposed by the tech, and then, insulting me with a 10% coupon, the ultimate slap to the face. They played me the entire time never having any intention of helping me before taking the head for inspection.

Anyway, the Tube Depot offered me 10% off another quad, and didn't want to absorb the cost of even one tube (bite it, Tube Depot), and so I purchased from the Tube Store in Canada instead, with better prices and a way better return policy on international orders, and they will verify that you won't have an issue with matching certain tubes with certain amps, unlike the Tube Depot liars

Is it possible to build a guitar tube amplifier out of those 2/300$ stereo tube amps that have all those tubes and looks like a futuristic… thing. Like could I just get a cabinet and solder some appropriate I/o for the guitar and the cob to an effect pedal somehow and make sure it’s all grounded and won’t blow up. Would that work? I want this to work! I don’t see why not? I have so many LOUD ASS speakers from old Amos and stereos like Bose and the main board to a few really loud sound systems complete with all the huge capacitors and such oh and a huge audio transformer. I know all this is really dangerous to fuck with but in sooo optimistic and I love diy stuff in music I feel like it feels better playing something that you modded. Tell me y’all thing. Am I crazy or have you guys done something like this?

I have a 205c with the 4 button footswitch. He has a 410h with mercury magnetic choke mod (not sure what that is) but he's no footswitch. I can grab a 6 button marshall switch for €92 so that's fine.

Both new they're the same or similar in price. My amp is 2007 his is from 2009. I play my combo through a 1960a cab and think I'd like to have all channels to have their own eq controls.

Is this a good swap? I was originally going to keep my combo and order a brand new jvm 410h but I'm not sure if I should trade now and just have the one jvm since the opportunity has presented itself.

Title says it all pretty much. Im in highschool in vermont so there arent many options i have found. one of the two guys that i knew of closed up shop last fall. any help would be greatly appreciated?

I recently got this and a Stratocaster off of facebook marketplace and was wondering if it's any good, I personally don't really like it bc the only way to make it louder then the guitar is to make it super loud and I cant use it. Which means normally I'm playing without it. Really just wondering if the LT25 is better or if I should save my money