Amp upgrade

Nick Waugh · From: United Kingdom

Hi All

I currently have a Milkman mini that has done me fine most of the time, but I am struggling with my current band power wise - The guitarist uses a Vox Ac30 and the bass player has a 15 inch cab. It's a big brash sound, and needs to be. I need something bigger to match the sound. The obvious choice would be the Milkman 85w. But the only UK dealer has none in stock and has not sold any, so I won't get a chance to try it out. Also, it's a lot of money after having paid out already for the mini version. With import tax and shipping on top, US products are way more expensive for us Brits

Any suggestions welcome - I am willing to consider separate head and speaker.

Brett Lanier · From: Madison, TN

You could have a local amp tech convert the ext speaker output to a line out. Then run that to a cab with a powered speaker.

I used to do that with a Deluxe. The cab had a JBL 15" and a SPLIT power amp.

This could be an option for a power amp. https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=282246

You could also get a line out by using a THD hotplate or something like it, but that's another piece of gear.

Michael Butler · From: California, USA

depending upon what speaker you have in the amp, you could swap it out for one that provides more volume for you. if yours is a 12", 30 watt, go for a 12" 75 watt.

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Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

Silver face Twin Reverb.
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Georg Sørtun · From: Mandal, Agder, Norway

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Sounds like you're into old-school Fender-style tube amps, so I'll stay in that realm. I don't know what they go for 'across the pond', but around here, I agree with Paul that a late-60s to early/mid-70s Twin Reverb (85-100 watts RMS) gets the job done for a good price. Loud and clean, but still pretty sweet if you have the luxury of being able to turn it up past 3-4. Since you're looking for louder, that should work. I see silverface Twin Reverbs in the $500-1000 US range, depending on condition, pretty often. Unless it's been gone through carefully (e.g., often the cheaper ones), expect to spend something to get it up to snuff.

Now, I use a stock '66 blackface Twin Reverb these days, but they're not exactly cheap, although around here they can sometimes be had for reasonable do-re-mi. Get a nice one, and it's not only a great amp, but also an investment if you take care of it.

Or a Showman/Dual-Showman (no reverb, both blackface or early silverface) or Dual-Showman Reverb (silverface) is basically the same thing in a head-only cabinet. My main steel rig for some time was a '69 Dual Showman Reverb head into a single 15" JBL K-130 or a 2-12" JBL-D120 cab. I find that these can be had reasonably here. For example, I recently snagged a pretty pristine '68 drip-panel Showman with the original cab with a single 15" JBL on its original tone ring for $750. Big and heavy, but great for steel or surf guitar.

You may find you can get what you need out of a higher-efficiency speaker with your 40WRMS Milkman Mini. For me, it depends on how much clean headroom I need. I sometimes use a '57 4x10" tweed Bassman or other 40-50 watt clean-Fender type of amp, and it's fine up to a point. But if I really need some serious clean headroom on a louder stage, it doesn't really get there. For me, anyway.

Tim Marcus · From: San Francisco, CA

My thought is to try a Badcat Unleash and another speaker cabinet. No need to modify the Milkman because you can take the ext output and run it into the Unleash. You should be able to find one in the UK and they are not terribly expensive.

The powered speaker option is not a bad idea either. You can find a DI box that will take the speaker output from the Mini and dump it down to line level.

Or even an external speaker cab. Sometimes more power isn't the answer - more coverage is. The mini is in a pretty small cabinet and will seem much bigger with a second speaker
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Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Nick - Thinking of amps easily available there -

Why not try an AC30 yourself? With the right speakers and tubes they have a ton of headroom. The "30" is deceiving, as they actually put out 38 watts (is set up correctly) and because of the design have nearly the headroom of a Twin Reverb. With high-sensitivity/clean speakers it could be just the thing.

There are also several Marshall Combos in the 50-watt range that wold work - again, with the right speaker(s).

Hiwatts are another good clean amp line.

There are quite a few ways to go. But be careful about vintage amps - a vintage Twin, for example, nearly always needs the filter and bias capacitors replaced, some tubes replaced, the amp rebiased and a general checkup.

Filter caps have a service life of around 15 years - any amp older than that (and/or that hasn't been serviced in that long) needs to have $150-400 budgeted in addition to the purchase price fo basic service, which should be performed before the amp is used. Otherwise you could have a major failure with no warning.
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Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Yeah, it is a challenge to keep a nice old Twin Reverb clean when gigging it. But I schlep everything myself, it rides in my Honda Element with a decent cover, and I'm not touring with a band. That would require a road case.

I need to get one of the heavy-duty Tuki covers with the cover for the bottom, for the Twin. I got those 22 years ago for my blackface Deluxe and Vibrolux - they don't look any different than when I got them, after gigging 5-6 nights a week for 6 years in the 90s and early 2000s, and periodically after that. I traded away that Deluxe several years back - the only big blemish on it was that the output transformer blew and was replaced with a period-correct one. Even with that fully disclosed, it still brought very close to the Excellent book value. The Vibrolux looks like the day I got it. It has the usual darkening of the grill cloth, but looks good for a 52-year old vintage Fender.

I believe that what goes for "Excellent" in the real vintage world these days is somewhat dependent on age and what it is. "Mint" means perfect, Excellent is a bit more relativistic, and does not imply perfection. Yes, big tears, gouges and stains, significant changed parts like transformers and so on, and other major issues do degrade. But things like needed small electronic component repairs - caps, resistors, and other things done well and with appropriate parts - do not degrade from Excellent. Replaced speakers only degrade to the extent of what it would cost to put in period-correct ones. My opinion.

What still amazes me is that one can get a nice blackface Twin Reverb for under 2 grand if you're patient. And I think about it like this - if I get one that isn't perfect - let's say it has replaced speakers but otherwise excellent - I believe these will still retain their value and increase along with the perfect ones. In fact, I generally take out the original speakers with wiring harness, store them to preserve them, and put in modern speakers for my use. I may do that with this Twin at some point, but the original C12Ns sound so good I hate to mess with them. I just need to be careful not to blow them.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I bought an early silver face twin reverb in approx. 1967. I ordered it with the optional JBL speakers and I still have it, it is all original.
I treat it with the utmost care. Very Happy

Erv

Tim Marcus · From: San Francisco, CA

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