Many moons ago, I bought a blockletter from my boss at teh workplace. Sold it when cutting back from expecting to ever be needing the power.
Since the move/separation I've been working toward getting back to the point where I'm not the weak link at a jam session. Part of that means not having the weakest rig at the jam. And I thought it was high time to get back that old familiar chunk/clank of the fiddy.
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Life's so busy, only got as far as unboxing and cleaning up last night. The 4x12 should be here Saturday based on tracking.
The one thing I know for sure? They got the weight right. This fucker will make your arm go numb carrying it by the strap across a parking lot, just like the old one would. Or just rip your arm right out the socket if you bounce too much as you walk. Good god, it's heavy.
Now I have a full day of work to sit and ponder hearing it fired up through the little mesa cab tonight.
ninjaraf wrote: ↑Thu Jun 05, 2025 5:47 pm
Fuck yeah!! Let us know how it compares to the OGs.
I actually never found these to be super heavy lol. But I was also gigging a Mako Mak4 rack set up that weighed 75 lbs as my first gigging rig haha.
My understanding is that if you can find the right tubes, these are almost directly comparable to the old blockletter. Granted, "finding the right tubes" these days sometimes costs almost more than I paid for my blockletter. I bought that for $300 off the boss man.
I'll probably be sticking with the stock tubes for a bit. Fingers crossed they don't suck too bad.
Going from gigging rack setups to these was probably a nice break. Compared to my Valvestate, the blockletter was a BEAST.
I love Sovtek 5881 wxt in these. Still my favorite 5150 variant and one of my all time favorite amps. The only one I didn't like was the 5150II/6505+, just some weird upper mids and lifeless feel. 6534+ is good though.
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Walt said: When the hour is nigh & the lights are low & I got a toothpick of a shwag joint in my teeth & my friends want to hear me play Into the Void or TNT or Cemetery Gates I plug my $600 guitar into my $150 amp and I am a Rawk gawd
I'll keep that tube recommendation in mind if I think about swapping.
Fired it up briefly through the Mesa cab last night. Good fuck, I'd forgotten how fat that low-end sounds with a 5150 style amp. Only spent about a half-hour dialing and jamming, but I'd say it's got all the fiddy tells. Everything from the noise floor without a gate in the loop to the absolute dogshit "clean" channel to the thunderous low-end and the clanky highs with the presence up hit just like I remember the old block letter.
To say I'm pumped for the 4x12 to arrive is an understatement. If it sounds that good through the 1x12, it's gonna be an absolute monster with a big cab. And from what I've heard, the new Sheffield 1230+ speakers are supposed to tame some of the overall fizz these sometimes suffer at lower volumes, and really chunk up at higher volumes. Though the Mesa cab didn't do too bad with any of that, it's still just one speaker.
And god fuckin' damn my loose string Drop C# guitar with 10-46 strings rumbles like an absolute monster on those palm mutes.
Hope to get some clips recorded. Had a bud over last night who's living vicariously through my gear purchases this year. He's got a muscle degenerative thing and can't play much anymore, but gets a kick out of being there for the experience and the loud on new gear days. Didn't wanna mess with recording fuckery while he was there to experience the chuggity chugs.
Crunch channel bright on Gain 5.5 Low 6 Mids 2.5 treble 5 presence between 8.5 to 9.5 depending on speakers, resonance 7-9 or to taste depending on volume levels but I ran mine pretty high as well. Killer crunch
Mike Oxhuge wrote: ↑Fri Jun 06, 2025 10:36 pm
Crunch channel bright on Gain 5.5 Low 6 Mids 2.5 treble 5 presence between 8.5 to 9.5 depending on speakers, resonance 7-9 or to taste depending on volume levels but I ran mine pretty high as well. Killer crunch
Thank you sir! Will give it a shot tonight running through Greenbacks. Mids seem really low!
