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That Chicago Bluesbox Amp


HANGAR18

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Posted

At the barn this year there was a small Chicago Bluesbox, immediately on the left as you walked in, in that first position.

I asked someone (Kuz maybe?) what was the wattage on that amp (I assume it was an all tube amp) and the answer I received was 18 watts. Can anyone confirm that or provide a more accurate answer?

 

Thanks.

 

Posted

I will confirm it again..... 18 watts. That CBB amp model comes in 18 & 30 watts. I had the same amp in 30 watts and Brent told me he had the 18 watt version.

Posted

Yep, 18watts is plenty loud, so much so Kuz couldn't hear himself think on Saturday ;)! But I'll have to agree there was a lot of tone in a small package!

Posted

I was there Thurs and played thru it, it is an amazing amp!!

 

Brent told me it was 18 watts I didn't believe him, it sounded like at least 30 to me?

 

he said it's running 6L6's...I have never seen an 18w amp with a pair of 6L6's? 6V6's yes

Posted

I was there Thurs and played thru it, it is an amazing amp!!

 

Brent told me it was 18 watts I didn't believe him, it sounded like at least 30 to me?

 

he said it's running 6L6's...I have never seen an 18w amp with a pair of 6L6's? 6V6's yes

Dan Butler's CBB amps allow you to run 6L6, 6v6, EL34s in most of his amps. The tubes are interchangeable because there is baising pots for each tube. He promotes that you can ran many different tubes in his amps.

Posted

I was there Thurs and played thru it, it is an amazing amp!!

 

Brent told me it was 18 watts I didn't believe him, it sounded like at least 30 to me?

 

he said it's running 6L6's...I have never seen an 18w amp with a pair of 6L6's? 6V6's yes

 

Circuit design, and the type of transformers used, will dictate the wattage. Using a 30 watt tube, like a 6L6GC, will not produce more wattage in a 12 watt Princeton Reverb because of circuit limitations and the use of a 12 watt output transformer.

Posted

ah...I just figured out how to multiquote on here...awesome :D

 

Dan Butler's CBB amps allow you to run 6L6, 6v6, EL34s in most of his amps. The tubes are interchangeable because there is baising pots for each tube. He promotes that you can ran many different tubes in his amps.

 

 

 

Circuit design, and the type of transformers used, will dictate the wattage. Using a 30 watt tube, like a 6L6GC, will not produce more wattage in a 12 watt Princeton Reverb because of circuit limitations and the use of a 12 watt output transformer.

 

 

I wonder what the circuit specs are....because that thing had more balls than any 18w amp I've ever tried!! Brent is running a V30 in it, which is a fantastic & underrated speaker IMO

 

 

Brent, can you post a photo of the control panel??? :D I don't believe it unless I see it with my own eyes!!

Posted

ah...I just figured out how to multiquote on here...awesome :D

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder what the circuit specs are....because that thing had more balls than any 18w amp I've ever tried!! Brent is running a V30 in it, which is a fantastic & underrated speaker IMO

 

 

Brent, can you post a photo of the control panel??? :D I don't believe it unless I see it with my own eyes!!

 

Amps are rated at clean signal, or RMS, so an 18 watt amp with the volume on "3" may be your 18 watts. Every amp is capable of more wattage as you turn up the volume but you would then have to factor in total harmonic distortion.

Posted

I wouldn't be surprised if he's got an overspec output transformer in there

 

is that Dan Butler the tone man? I'll just ask him he posts on some other forums

Posted

Amps are rated at clean signal, or RMS, so an 18 watt amp with the volume on "3" may be your 18 watts. Every amp is capable of more wattage as you turn up the volume but you would then have to factor in total harmonic distortion.

I called Mike last week to explain wattage vs volume (decibels) to me, and if it is possible to make an 18watt amp sound louder even when the output transformer is going to determine the overall output volume.

 

The main difference that no one mentioned is that amp was being "goosed" very heavily by overdrive pedals with the levels turned up quite high. Therefore the amp was being hit in the front end with a very loud signal, thus increasing the overall output volume (decibels) independent of the amps wattage & output. Thus the amp was louder than if no pedal was used in front of it.

Posted

I wouldn't be surprised if he's got an overspec output transformer in there

 

is that Dan Butler the tone man? I'll just ask him he posts on some other forums

Many refer to Dan Butler as the "Cesar Diaz" (SRV's amp tech) of the Mid-West. He first established himself as an amp tech & repairman to all the blues guitar stars in Chicago, and years later started making CBB amps.

 

Last I heard was he was no longer making CBB amps, not because they weren't incredible, but because nobody heard of them and guys were playing the usual suspect amps (Fender, Marshall, Mesa, ect...)

Posted

How does one identify a "high efficiency" speaker?

Speakers have lots of associated values that you can look up (or find printed somewhere on the chassis). The one you're looking for in this respect is the 'sensitivity' figure, usually expressed in dB. A 100 dB speaker will be louder, using the same input, than a 97 dB speaker.

 

http://www.diyaudio.com/wiki/Loudness_and_Speaker_Sensitivity

Posted

ah...I just figured out how to multiquote on here...awesome :D

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder what the circuit specs are....because that thing had more balls than any 18w amp I've ever tried!! Brent is running a V30 in it, which is a fantastic & underrated speaker IMO

 

 

Brent, can you post a photo of the control panel??? :D I don't believe it unless I see it with my own eyes!!

cbb5_zps663533ab.jpg

 

I have a Celstion Vintage 30 in it now

Posted

well there ya go!!

 

you said the plate voltage was very high, like 700+ volts?

 

FWIW

 

V30 sensitivity: 100 dB

greenback sensitivity: 98 dB

 

true: it was running thru that funky red pedal when I heard it...what was that thing again?

 

 

in any case, I think we can all agree it was a killer sounding little amp...as Carlos famously said: "that thing really boogies" :D

Posted

well there ya go!!

 

you said the plate voltage was very high, like 700+ volts?

 

 

I highly doubt the Kingston runs at 700v B+ as it states you can use 5881/6L6GC/6V6 and EL34 tubes. 6V6's would pretty much melt down at 700v; even if running in "Class B". Old MusicMan amp run class B at around 700v; which is high voltage/low current. The 6L6's or EL34's used in those amps are usually running around 7ma per tube.

 

Posted

I raised my eyebrows as well, but that's what he said he set them at

 

lets wait for Brent to chime in ;)

 

sooner or later we'll find the secret to this little tone monster

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