Sound City 50 R

[louis]

Hi everyone !

There is a small store near where I live and they have a Sound City 50 R
I did'nt try it yet but anyone here as experience with this amp?

There is a few video on YouTube ,some good ,some bad and some very interesting
with an awesome crunch !

I know that they are not collectable amps for now but could they be one day ?

Take care you all !.....................Louis

[guitar_tod77]

i had one not too long ago. sweet little amps. i traded a guy over on the plexi palace vintage amps forum for a traynor he had. the new owner is in LOVE with the amp. made a demo vid a few days after he got it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMp0EFYIKhI

he's using a weber mass attenuator to help overdrive it as these things are loud. i'd buy another one if i found one cheap. only reason i sold it was i never played it anymore since i got my DR103. sounded great thru a cab i loaded up with Reeves Vintage Purples and even better with my HITONE DRF cab. gets you close to that HIWATT sound. not exactly but in the neighborhood. don't know how collectible they'll ever be. everything is worth something to someone.

[OldSchoolDave]

There was one of those for sale on the Minneapolis Craigslist awhile back. It was in a loosely fitted "live-in" flight case, stenciled with "The Who" and was listed with a SC 4x12 for $1500US. The guy claimed it was from the Rock 'n' Roll Circus, but that model wasn't built until much later. And, I don't think "live-in" flight cases were developed in that era, so the whole deal smelled a bit fishy.

Like guitar_tod77 said, at the right price, it could be a cool horse to have in the stable.

No Master Volume, so be prepared !

Dave

[louis]

Well thank's !

I will try to go there and give it a try , I've also read that the EQ on those is passive
and is kind of weird when you try it at first ,like a volume for mids and a volume
for highs etc...

I'll let you guys know when ever I have a chance to go there.

Take care!....................Louis

[guitar_tod77]

... I've also read that the EQ on those is passive and is kind of weird when you try it at first ,like a volume for mids and a volume for highs etc...

yessir. however, dont be put off by this. i dont have it on my laptop, but i've got a picture of my favorite settings for my old SC 50+. i'll hit you up tomorrow when i'm back home.

[louis]

Thank's Tod !!

I appreciate !..................Louis

[Zells]

I've also read that the EQ on those is passive
and is kind of weird when you try it at first ,like a volume for mids and a volume
for highs etc...

The Mark 4 era SC amps have an active EQ that I think is a bit weird to dial in. There is no volume if all the tone controls are turned down.

The earlier SC amps have passive EQ similar to Hiwatts...or just like Hiwatts in the case of the Mark 1 amps that were built by DR / Hiwatt..

[louis]

Thank's!

Do you know if the SC 50 R passive or active .

Louis

[Zells]

Do you know if the SC 50 R passive or active .

It depends on when the amp was built. The Mark 4 SC amps were built roughly 1970-1974. The chassis should be labeled 'Mark 4' if it is one. '50 R' just means that it's a 50 watt with reverb. Show us a picture of the amp including the guts, and I can tell you for certain.

[louis]

Thank's Zelly!!

I'll let you know ! have a nice week!

Louis

[Dr.HI-TONE]

Every 50 R that I have ever seen was a Mark IV.

[guitar_tod77]

Every 50 R that I have ever seen was a Mark IV.

what he said.

"active" eq - turn all tone controls to zero and you will have no sound even with the volume set to full tilt. they each act like independent gain controls.

[Dr.HI-TONE]

Mark III's may exist, I just haven't seen one.

[Zells]

Yeah, I don't think I've seen a pre-Mark 4 SC amp with built in reverb, though it's possible they exist. The Mark 4 amps are far more common especially on this side of the Atlantic. After thinking about it, I'm 95% certain that the '50 R' louis saw is a Mark 4 with active preamp circuit. The earlier SC heads are better and more valuable, but it may be worth it is the price is low enough.

Mark 3 SC 100 amp:
http://www.soundcitysite.com/sc_webpage ... m#L100_2.1
guts
http://www.soundcitysite.com/sc_webpage ... m#L100_2.4



Mark 4 era SC 50 PLUS
http://www.soundcitysite.com/sc_webpage ... #50_plus_1
Guts
http://www.soundcitysite.com/sc_webpage ... 0_plus_5.5

The Mark 3 amps were certainly more Hiwatt-like as you can see in the guts.



And this one is a Hiwatt (Mark 1 SC)
http://www.soundcitysite.com/sc_webpage ... _hundred_1
http://www.soundcitysite.com/sc_webpage ... _hundred_2
http://www.soundcitysite.com/sc_webpage ... _hundred_4

[louis]

I just came back from the store and finaly tried the Sound city 50 R.


Nice little amp ,not too loud ,the EQ is a little weird and can get out of control very
easily ,hard to find the sweet spot .It's not the warmest tone I've heard but it has a nice British crunch .

The reverb on this is really bad and harsh , when you record an amp with a camera ,you hear the sound
compressing and you hear a little *POC sound * and this is what it sounded when I was hitting a string.
I dont know if this is what we call touch sensitive or else.

When I unplugged everything ,I realised that there was a Sensitivity switch behind that I did'nt try and I
wonder what it does.

The amp is clean and I noticed that it has two power tubes with the inscription XF3 B404 on the side of them,
are those Mullards ?
Also one Westinghouse 12AZ7A, what are these ?



Take care!..............................Louis