duhvoodooman Posted August 3, 2014 Posted August 3, 2014 A couple of days ago, actually--I took delivery of a mint condition Mojave Coyote 12W amp head. I'd been looking for a used one for awhile, after reading about this uniquely designed amp in Dave Hunter's Guitar Amp Handbook. And only 12W, with built-in "power dampening", so perfect for a mostly home player like me. I finally found one through Craigslist out in Camarillo, CA. The owner was selling the head along with a 2x12 Mojave speaker cab and didn't want to separate the two, but then got an offer for the cab, so agreed to sell me the head. After the long cross-country FedEx Ground journey, it arrived Friday afternoon.The circuit design features two inputs (high and low sensitivity) which each feed into their own 12AX7 preamp tube with the two triodes wired in parallel, rather than the usual series arrangement. To quote Hunter's description of the amp, "Rather than increasing the gain, as with triodes in series, this wiring yields a higher frequency-to-noise ratio, setting the stage for a full-frequencied yet low-noise performance from the preamp." The output of the two channels feed into separate treble and bass volume controls, voiced as such with different capacitor values. Because of the EQ built into the two volume controls, there's only a single tone control, a passive treble cut. The power dampening control (this is neither an attenuator nor a VRM) and a mid cut/mid boost toggle switch complete the amp's controls. A third 12AX7 functions as a long-tailed pair phase inverter, and the output stage is two EL84's. There are two 8 ohm and one 16 ohm outputs, as well as a line out jack with a line level pot. Overall, a very simple yet very unique design.The build quality is second to none. I'm sure the relative simplicity of the circuit is a big part of it, but the photos below amply show what I mean. Such a clean & elegant layout and stunning workmanship!Best of all, it sounds freakin' awesome! Blending the two volumes gives you tremendous control over the character of the output. Keep the bass volume low to avoid muddiness with hot pickups, or goose it up for plenty of low-end thump with single coils. The power dampening control, however it actually works, is very effective and really doesn't change the output tone much until it's cranked way down. You can get everything from sparkly cleans to Plexi-like crunch out of this amp, all at very reasonable output volumes. I've only played the amp for a couple of hours at this point, so I'm quite sure I haven't nearly opened up all of its secrets yet.Photos galore:
kidsmoke Posted August 4, 2014 Posted August 4, 2014 Congrats DVM. That looks like a very original amp. What cab are you running it through? And is it Humbuckers or singles that really make it sing?
duhvoodooman Posted August 4, 2014 Author Posted August 4, 2014 What cab are you running it through? And is it Humbuckers or singles that really make it sing? Been running it through a ported 2x12 with the combination of a UK-made Celestion G12M Greenback and a Hellatone 30 (Celestion G12H30). And I haven't found a guitar yet that didn't make it sing, though I have to admit that humbuckers (either my R9 or PRS Studio) with the Treble volume at about 8 and the Bass volume at about 4 give a crunch that is to die for.
bolero Posted August 5, 2014 Posted August 5, 2014 that is a cool amp, the guys at Mojave/Plexi Palace have been at it a while & really know their stuff I have yet to see one in person though congrats!!
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