schundog Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 When somebody posted recently about the Yamaha SS amp he had recently picked up, I knew I had seen the model SOMEWHERE. Today, I figured out where; two different pawn shops in Decatur, IL, had different models of them. The first was vastly overpriced, and, as the model started with a "B," I assume was a Bass Head. The second one was a combo, and I asked to plug it in. Ground plug had been snipped off. I plugged in a MIM Tele, and played it a bit. Nice, if sterile, cleans, VERY nice reverb, and I really didn't get much of a chance to crank it up, as there were people trying to talk nearby. $139. I didn't bite. As I was picking out the Tele on the other side of the shelves from the amp, I nodded to an old Black man who was closely inspecting a MIA Peavey Predator. He had on one of those 70's narrow furry hats with the feather in the side, and a polyester long overcoat. He nodded wisely and knowingly at me as I picked out the Tele to play. I asked the guy behind the counter for an instrument cable, and tried the amp out. As I finished, the guy with the Predator asked me politely to use the instrument cable, and "which amp were you using over there?" I told him the Yamaha. He seemed surprised, but plugged it in, and started playing some raw, imperfect, yet perfect, Blues licks on that Black Peavey with the white pickguard, sans pick, just using his fingers. I listened for a bit, then left, glad I hadn't made a bigger fool of myself than I could have. Oh yeah, the amp....
Redsand Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 ......stay tuned for a sneak peak of next week's installment of "Pawn Shop Confessionals". Keep working those literary chops Schun......your writing style reminds me of a local Detroit sports writer turned novelist named Mitch Albom.........and he's sold millions of books!
fxdx99 Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 Cool story once again. Keep an eye out for this model below, which came in a 2x10, 1x12, and 1x15 combo. Below is the G50-112ii ("2nd generation"). Quite a few still out there. Sold the one below a few years ago for (think) $150 along with a '66 PR and another amp to fund... something. Probably the Allen. Lotsa folks like the cleans, but to me they weren't as nice as a good BF sound. The drive sound was pretty dang good, tho.
Keith7940236 Posted February 26, 2014 Posted February 26, 2014 That is the amp that I just picked up! See my recent posting.
schundog Posted February 27, 2014 Author Posted February 27, 2014 ......stay tuned for a sneak peak of next week's installment of "Pawn Shop Confessionals". Keep working those literary chops Schun......your writing style reminds me of a local Detroit sports writer turned novelist named Mitch Albom.........and he's sold millions of books PFFT! Hardly, Matt, but thanks for the compliment! He's a great writer. I read "Have a Little Faith" recently, where he talks about having his Rabbi from childhood ask him to perform his eulogy once he's gone, and how he gets to know the old man as an adult. The side story is about a former drug dealer turned minister in inner-city Detroit. Heartwarming, quick read. That is the amp that I just picked up! See my recent posting. I know Keith! That, along with Randy's posts about these amps being what he used in the old days is what got me thinking about it. Believe it or not, I ran across ANOTHER one today, a 4-10 speaker model. The Wayne's World look alike employee asked me if I had any questions about it. I wanted to try it out, so he got me a cable, and steered me away from a double humbucker Squier. "They make some great guitars, but that's not one of them," he said. I picked up a Laguna super-Strat type, started the inevitable task of bringing it up to pitch, only to find it was missing it's high E string. I then picked up an Epiphone Flying V, got it going, and tried the amp out. Pretty cool. I knocked him down a little bit on the price, and got it out the door for $125. Just what I (don't ) need, but I don't think I'll get hurt too badly when it moves on down the road. That is, if I can manage to get it back UP the stairs from the basement! I just have too much fun playing with crap like this for my own good. It barely fit in the backseat of my Chevy Malibu. I'll get the pics up next.
Guest HRB853370 Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 They definitely tried to clone the Fender look on those amps you pictured!
schundog Posted February 27, 2014 Author Posted February 27, 2014 Look how huge it looks compared to my Mustang III, which isn't a small amp. I'll fool with it more when I have some time, but it's definitely loud!
Keith7940236 Posted February 28, 2014 Posted February 28, 2014 Nice Score! They really are a heck of a deal!! I've got a G100 Head that I'm going to be re-tolexing soon.
schundog Posted March 1, 2014 Author Posted March 1, 2014 I spent the evening tonight cranking up this 4X10 combo with my H-150, with and without my Line 6 HD300 Processor. It's a cool change from the 1X12 combo I'm used to playing through. Very loud, very full sounding. I used a bunch of amp models, delay models, reverb models.... Good Clean (and Dirty) Fun!! I'm not saying it will be a permanent fixture, but I think I'll get my money's worth out of it and THEN some, in smile-inducing fun, before it eventually moves on down the road.
mark555 Posted March 23, 2014 Posted March 23, 2014 could you gig with these amps? I know Yamaha make superb quality instruments and what they make is excellent. I take it that these amps are transistor amps, or are they tubes?
Keith7940236 Posted March 23, 2014 Posted March 23, 2014 These are transistor amps, but they are plenty loud. The downside, they are heavy!
Gitfiddler Posted March 23, 2014 Posted March 23, 2014 Dave's Guitar Shop has a clean G100 2x12 with an asking price of $250, for anyone interested. I bet he'd either come down a bit...or reduce shipping if you really want one of these clean machines. http://davesguitar.com/products/yamaha/g100-212-combo-80s/ Yamaha G100-212II Combo, 80′s Updating... Solid state 2-12 combo, EC Condition: Used Item Code: ISI1358 $250.00 Call or e-mail for availability Updating cart... Images Click any thumbnail to enlarge
bobmeyrick Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 could you gig with these amps? Mike Stern has used them for quite a while. He also uses Fender Twins (presumably when touring as they can be hired pretty much anywhere!)
Houston535 Posted March 25, 2014 Posted March 25, 2014 My first amp was a JX 30. Not much for gain sounds but decent cleans. It's upstairs in the pile. I'll have to dig it out sometime.
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