Secrets of the Valco Gretsch 6162 - The EPITOME of 1960s GARAGE GUITAR TONE!
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Here it is, folks...the sound of Led Zeppelin and countless other garage rock bands of the 1960s. In this video, we will take this unwell Chicago made Valco Gretsch amplifier and make it fire on all valves again. Though this amp had been worked on by someone relatively recently, it was still barely operational - no reverb, no tremolo, and red-plating 6973 power tubes. We will fully service the amp and demonstrate the tone, showing why this is one of the greatest garage guitar amps of all time. Is it any wonder why Jimmy Page recorded the first two Led Zeppelin records with a 6973-powered Valco Supro?
Stuff used in this video:
Hexacon Soldering Iron: amzn.to/2jTcxIP
RCA Tube Manual: amzn.to/2wLiatI
Nylon Brush: amzn.to/2wLDlvW
Electro Harmonix 6973 Tubes: amzn.to/2yvs1WE
Fluke Model 87 Multi-Meter: amzn.to/2fmMyrV
Thanks for referencing the RCA manual. I always wondered where those values that you toss around came from.
I have a 63 6162. It has been EL84 Swapped but I’m getting a vibration when some low notes are played. I’m in AL and can’t find anyone who is competent on working on this amp. I bought it for 200 bucks 6 years ago and want it to finally be running right. What do you suggest?
So remember kids: Always lube your brush before insertion. God I love this channel :D
Surely you mean "Make sure bush is lubed before a good poking"?
Nice job as always. You have so much patience with your patients.
Taking some of the magic and mystery out of old amps one at a time, in a good way. Great video.
Thanks for watching and taking time to comment!
Good lord that sounded great when you were finished! I wish I had 1/2 your talent in repair and playing!
That's super kind of you to say. Sometimes when I'm making these videos I'm wondering "man, who would want to watch this stupid crap", then I'm always surprised to see there is an audience of good people willing to give it a click. Thanks for the comment.
A lot of good nuggets in this video. Thank you, Brad!
All the best with the mammoth move to you, Mrs Guitologist and the Guitologist brood, Brad.
Well I just fell in love with that dirty tone and delay-ish reverb. I need one now hah
Wait til you actually play one. First time I did, it was like throwing a switch. Modern amps just don't feel right somehow.
love that bluesy song at end of guitar repair!
My favorite sounding amp that you've repaired so far, subscribed!
Thanks man. I have a Valco Playlist you might find interesting if you enjoy this sort of tone: ruclips.net/video/ZBcuvC4l1C4/видео.html
Man that is a sweet-sounding amp. Excellent work fixing all the various problems.
I'm glad that I jump back through your video's to find these gems where you play. You have such a great repertoire of different genres from different era's. Thanks for keeping it real.
Man what a cool sound! Good job! Great playing!
Thanks!
What a beautiful looking and sounding amp.
This My Relax channel...Love the Amp Repairs...And your cool Playing..thnks for happiness
Excellent tube service...!!! Now that Valco is a tone tank
Sounds fabulous!!!
Great stuff Brad, this was so funny too. On top of learning about the amp, your humor was so cool and it’s fun to laugh a bit right now. We just went through Hurricane IRMA, spent a week without power in 90°heat/100%humidity weather and it's nice to laugh a bit so thanks!
But......
You really have to tell me though, how do you keep a level head when responding to these, well I’m not saying what but these people that feel that they should tell you that they don’t like the way you say certain words, or they don’t like the way you do something, or they just think you did something wrong and felt it's their job to correct you. This is your f...ing site! Damn, it just pisses me off when I read that drivel. Sometimes I just want to jump in and tell them what they can do with their asshole comments. Your site isn’t the only one... Very proud of you not just jumping down their throats and telling where they can put it if they don’t like it. You have a great channel here, I’m really glad I found it. You, your attitude and your sense of humor make it all worth while.
Thanks a million, Buddy. I've grown to look forward to your thoughtful commentary. I always appreciate it. Sorry for your misfortune. Things will get better, I'm sure of it. As for the negative comments, eh, it's the internet, can't let it get to you. I know how to be a troll too if they press the issue. ;)
Oh worry 'a worry 'a worry... (;-p)
With my "new" Gretsch recently arrived, this is right down the alley of what I'm searching for in an amp, Guitologist ... :)
Thanks for cheering me up. Had a truly shitty weekend and the jack socket cleaning section made me laugh for the first time since Friday.
Not quite angsty sounding, but a good kind of nostalgic longing. Hard to describe the feelings it was giving me.Your playing and the tone. I dig it!
Thanks, Brian.
Probably my favorite sound in here so far. Ace.
Yeah, hard to beat this tone...with anything.
I really enjoy your videos. Real world fix it stuff. My Dad always said you can fix just about anything and I love old amps.
Your dad sounds like my kind of guy. Self-reliance is the number one virtue a person can possess, I think.
Great video, yet again!
Man, you were really rocking out there, nice!!!
kev keelan thanks, kev
Hi dude! Been watching your vids for quite awhile now. Was trained on "solid state" in tech. Cheraw, sc. Always wanted to learn tube tech, and learning from you. I work in Industrial motor control in plants around the area. My interest in electronics began at an early age from many family musicians. It took the 'net for me to get back around from industrial control to jcm800 (born 1/22/70). I digress. Keep up the great work....
When you reached around from behind with the contact cleaner to give it that extra squirt while cleaning the jacks. One of the greatest moments of that amplifiers life.
Oh Brad,that was one of the funniest services I have seen so far.Thanks man.
Congrats and good luck in your new house!
Your finger nails are gnarly mate. That being said love the channel, keep them coming
Nice vid. I can see you rocking out with gray pants, pink shirt, and a green jumper.
Just awesome sound
Great job man,like always.Hope the move goes quick and easy for you and the fam.Can't wait for the new tinker/jam cave vids,thanks Brad.
Thanks, Bob. I have plenty of ideas. Just need the time.
awesome playing, mate!
20:39, "Booze, Vicodin, Hookers, and contact cleaner", the "four-fecta" of perfect bliss, Gregory House, M.D.. I enjoyed your performance very much, thanks for a fun video!
The sound of that Tele on the Gretch... magical.
Just love your show. And the gems you find are awesome.
You do a lot of cool stuff
Exceptionally good video!! I loved the way you shared more of the "dirty work" like soldering, mounting caps, etc. Good luck with the new house!! I don't envy you having to move your guitarsinal of stuff though!
It's something I'll try to do more of if people seem to like it. Balancing act of not making the vids too long also.
That's a thing of beauty!
Another excellent vid. I was sorta surprised about the reverb tank being double boxed.
I seriously don't believe the Valco designers would have imagined these amps being around for years.
In terms of longevity, to be honest, they are usually in better functional condition than Fenders of the same age, mainly due to the types of capacitors used.
I love watching you sort out these messes, even though I look at all of that chaos and have no clue WTF is going on lol. GL on the move. Keep up the awesome videos.
Your videos are awesome bro!! I have been educated so well by you man!! Plus your vids have such a strong attentiveness to using humor to get a point across. Other people are so serious. You sir have convinced me to get back into amps and repair!
I couldn't sleep so this post came up and I am so glad! The Reverb sounds more like a delay. It gives the amp the Valco sound Jimmy Page and even Neil young used to get "that sound". So this amp is putting out about 20 watts? The Tremolo sounds strong! It is a great grunge amp. Good luck with the new house move! Welcome to autumn. I think I will go to sleep now and dream of tube amps! Thankz
20 watts can be loud as fuck with a high sensitivity speaker
back in the 30s and 40s when most stuff was tube driven with like....10 watts to play with.......they still got LOUD
back then it was all about efficiency......today power is cheap, so we can send 500w to anything we want
I didn't take any measurements, but I'd say at peak, probably around 12 watts.
Enjoyed this video
Great video, Brad! I learn all the time, thank you!!
Once again you tame the angry pixies! Master of the pixies.
That's one way of looking at it. I feel like I need a wand sometimes.
AvE reference FTW!
Micha-el Cleveland Skookum
safety squints: engaged
Your best vid so far. Great job.
Thanks, Edwin. Glad you enjoyed it.
Anyone catch the mini-sweep in there? Nice job on dialing that down to proper numbers Brad. Look forward to seeing the new workshop.
if i ever need an amp worked on id honestly send it to you, you're definitely amp savvy! Great vid and cool old amp!
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sean.
sounds awesome!!!
+Jeff Beck I agree. Love these things. I have two if you want one.
great sounding.
Love your vids keep em up
Sounds beautiful at the end :)
That 6162 really likes the Gibson doesn't it! Sounds real good!
I bet the over spray from the contact cleaner in your cup of coffee adds some real zing to the morning!! LOL. Great video, very informative!! Thanks for sharing!! LOVE the surf guitar bit at around 37:00 minutes, and again at the 43:00 minute mark! Awesome!
That's pretty sweet tone!
Woohoo! That is a very funky soldering iron!
It's a Hexacon: amzn.to/2wImrCX
Thor called. He asked for his iron back, please.
I always wait for the test drive... You could have a section for lessons and one for the band all unedited, just post them... Great stuff...
HAY: I WAS JUST GOING THREW SOME READING UP ON MY AMP (AMPEG G-212 ) AND I CAME ACROSS THIS,
The 'Folded-Line' reverberation delay line, manufactured 'by the beautiful girls of Wisconsin, U.S.A., under controlled atmospheric conditions' (quote from device's label) is mounted within the screened chassis enclosure and did not give feedback at any time during our tests, at any Volume level.
I WAS WATCHING ONE OF YOUR VIDEO'S THE OTHER DAY AND YOU WERE READING SOMETHING ABOUT ( BEING MADE BY BEAUTIFUL GIRLS ) I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD READ ANYTHING LIKE THAT ? BUT THIS MAKES THE 2ND TIME IN MY 53 YEARS I SEEN THE PHRASE USED.. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK WITH YOU'RE VIDEOS :) THUMBS UP..
You scared the SHIT out of me with that eye-popping guy while cleaning the jacks LOL
beautiful !
Hats off !
Ha, better speakers than an early Super Reverb! I'm a huge fan of all the Jensen Q series speakers. Working on my little project and another treat from you two days in a row, thanks!
The funny thing about the 1960s is, before the flood of imports, everything from the highest end, most expensive amp to almost the cheapest base models were similarly constructed with good, American made components.Today almost everything is made in China, even the expensive stuff, and the boutique builds are uber expensive, and probably rightly so considering the labor costs.
The Guitologist You're correct about the labor costs. The accurate replicas I build are mostly labor. I usually build 5E3's and 5F6A's and the research time I put into the builds was extensive. I also include that into cost. I still come at least $400-$500 under what Clark or Victoria charges but I don't have the overhead.
I just love old amps and your channel is as close to heaven on earth I could imagine. Top binge watched by far!
Mellow Othello, vi-brater tah-mater or in the immortal words of Mose Allison: "...PLEASE try to make it rhyme"...
Another award-winning video.
thanx and...
cheers
sounds amazing
nice playing skills btw
I appreciate your knowledge in electronics, fixing amps and stereos etc. I love your guitar playing as well. I worked in electronics, mostly TVs and VCRs in the past but now more recently I started restoring synths, amps, guitars, guitar electronics, and I'm a musician as well... You inspire me my friend. Keep bringing good instructionals. :)
You should jam on one of your rare Japanese guitars sometime. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you rip on one. Also sounds great as usual!
Picked up some tasty licks from the demo! Keep up the great content. Really enjoy the vidoes. Inspires me to start tinkering on the gear, which in turn makes me pick it up more often. Thanks for the inspiration brotha!
Edit: Also think is the best sounding amp I've heard yet on the channel.
One suggestion for a future video: How to find a good amp and/or guitar tech. I would love to have someone like you fixing my stuff but for the ones of us who don't live in the US that's not really an option. I know it's not your kind of video but it would be very useful. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the suggestion. Never know, I may use it.
The Guitologist hope you do xp
Who new the last video in the old workshop would be so dirty?
I'm not sure if its just your fine demo playing
but that's a great sounding reverb...
It's not just my playing. The reverb is really neat.
That thing sounds sweet!!
That amp is a Gibson P90 partner for sure ... nice tone
Great find! I’ve got a 6161 and it screams with a les paul.
I empathize that in all efforts to get the video/demo done that the problematic mic cable is opened up, twisted apart so it doesn't short, shoved in and keep going with the boot and strain relief/clamp hanging in the breeze. A "middle of the gig fix" for sure because the soldering iron is all the way over there and not heated up...been there
Good guess. In this case it's a matter of I got the cable from GC's dumpster and it still works even though the plastic end housing is broken, so I roll with it the way it is. ;)
The USA Needs to start making these tubes again... There's to many musicians to not.
Right on,make tubes great again!
There is at least one company making tubes in the US I know of, believe it or not. They specialize in very bespoke industrial applications. Located in Chicago.
With the EPA and all the nasty biproducts of tube manufacturer, it will never happen for audio application type tubes.
I love the blue one. Is that the domino?
Say What???? Lmao now that's just great comedy Brad!!
yeah that was weird maybe they didn't want maybe that was a "200" dollar wire they were worried about. Nice work man.gonna have to get some of that nylon cleaners, I got 3 patch bays and a bong.Nice interstellar overdrive at the end there really dig your style of playing as well
Great work, Nice sounding amp, I'm using a 60? Silvertone with no pedals, great speaker distortion on these amps.
Looks like some highschool kid took it into his electronics class.
You also have to remember that the tubes manufactured in latter years actually have slightly smaller pins than they would have in the 60s.. I guess that's better than not being able to get them at all
Even in YT land that amp sounds kick a$$. Begging to be taken to a bar this Saturday night.
brad, you don't have to help me not see the daylight... i haven't seen the daylight in years... I enjoy your videos though.. even the few cringe moments where i realize i make similar mistakes on my own stuff.. keep it up!!
hey brad. i recently fell in love with your channel and i want to say keep up the great work.
p.s. i hope to see you one day working on something like a sound city, hiwatt or a selmer.
Maybe one day...
I wanna hear that through a 4x12. Killer old amp!
can u put together a compilation of you playing on different amps? Like maybe just 1 hour of you jamming..that would rock
Can you use high temperature tubing on the wires to protect the tube bias leads from getting charred, a 470k yellow, mauve, yellow, silver might be better, love the sound of that amp.
Could have done that, yes, but moving the wires precluded the need. They looked bad, but weren't burned through.
This amp sounds really cool. I wish I could find a modern equivalent at a budget price.
Supro Blues King 12 sounds similar and costs as much as a blues jr
I love your vids man!!! On this one i woulda put 10 seconds of jamming at the beginning so i didnt have to skip to 37:30 to hear it. I had to watch it twice. either way... ROCK ON MANG!!!!
I've done that in some past vids and it went over well if I recall. Might edit in a short burst of something in the beginning of some future vids. Thanks for the suggestions.
good luck with the move!
42:34 a bit of Pumpkins?
That is a great tone - especially with reverb and tremolo added. I wonder, is that other big mic being used to capture the room and even the picking.
Hey great info and repair walk through on a classic amp, never heard one played through before, sounds nice! Nice playin too, very much my cup of tea, some cool licks there.
Hey man is that an old blue body Del-Rey I see hangin on your left there? looks just like one I got years ago from a friend, banged up a bit and the connections are all screwed up, but a cool looking surf guitar none the less. Took it to a local music store a couple of years ago, the guy there didn't think much of it and kinda discouraged me from puttin money into fixin it up. He told me to frame it and hang it on a wall!
First time checkin out your channel, I've subscribed ~ gonna check on the rest of your videos too. Stay cool!
I have one, actually called a Gretsch "Bass Amp" on the original white logo yours is missing. These were identical to the Valco made "Supro" amps. Mine is a 1961-62 and has a Chrome handle (original) that looks like it should be on a 1950's GE refrigerator door. The earlier models had 3 channels - 1) Bass, 2) Guitar, 3) Acordian (YEP!) with Tremolo and cheesy Reverb. An awsome amp just as it twin brother the Supro's. I've turned down $2,000 for mine fully restored. I still use mine for studio gigs for retro Blues and R&B recordings.
The 6162 wasn’t a bass amp. That was a different model.
@@TheGuitologist Sorry, you're right. Dragged it out of the studio closet and it's a Gretsch 6159/Supro 1688T Bass /Guitar Amp 35W 2x12 Jensen's. I restored it in 2001 for studio work. See attached pics. [img.gg/ww9ap0H ]
Best of luck in your new home !! p.s. My father wanted to teach me electronics but I was into guitars not the workings of amps
I appreciate that, brian. Almost time to start packing in earnest.
Used by Kinks too I think? The one they had they slashed the speaker cones inside to give it more Distortion.
Hi Brad!!!!
That's exactly what you said it was. :)
The tall 6973 sound better than the short ones IMO. EH 6973 sound ok. I like the sound of the NOS 6CZ5 instead of EH 6973. Price for NOS 6973 is pretty insane. I have one of these in my small collection, its my favorite. Another nice video, good luck with the move.
I've never A/B'd them. I would rather avoid the 6CZ5 if possible due to the lower max plate voltage rating. But they can be nice-sounding tubes too. I'm of a mind that a well-designed amp functioning properly should be able to sound great with most of the new production tubes on the market. "Better" is pretty subjective.