New Amp: 1965 Epiphone Futura RVT

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Nick
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New Amp: 1965 Epiphone Futura RVT

Post by Nick »

Store photo:
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Traded my ovation viper and my hilgen challenger for it.

30wattish 4x10 monster. It's lighter than my Twin but like twice as big. I fucking love this thing.
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paul_
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Post by paul_ »

JUDAS!

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Gabriel
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Post by Gabriel »

That looks awesome. Any idea of the year it's from and what valves it runs?
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Post by Bacchus »

I like that an awful, awful lot.
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Nick
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Post by Nick »

Gabriel wrote:That looks awesome. Any idea of the year it's from and what valves it runs?
0a2, 6eu7 (4),12ax7, 12au7,6L6 (2)

It was sold to me as a 1965. There are a couple different versions of this amp made between 1962 and 1967. It is also the Epiphone version of a Gibson Invader amp, which only differed in that it had a 3 band eq instead of 2, and had a 12" and 10" speaker, instead of the 4 10" speakers.
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Nick
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Post by Nick »

Alongside my other 4x10 combo:
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Handy footswich holder in the back:
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Tubes and speakers (back cover removed)
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Knobs!
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Sloan
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Post by Sloan »

That is in amazing condition.

I have an Epiphone amp from the same era, but it looks like it was found in a river bed or something. I got it in a package deal and figured I could gut it and build something in there. 4x10 combo.
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Post by Benmurray85 »

oh my fuck! BOTH thos amps would get it
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71Smallbox
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Post by 71Smallbox »

Wow, that thing is super clean! Nice SCORE!
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Post by Dillon »

Nice find, reminds me a lot of a Super Reverb but way cooler. Wonder what the 12ax7 and 12au7 are for? Effects? I'm pretty sure the 0a2 is for the tremolo anyway...
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Post by 71Smallbox »

Dillon wrote:Nice find, reminds me a lot of a Super Reverb but way cooler. Wonder what the 12ax7 and 12au7 are for? Effects? I'm pretty sure the 0a2 is for the tremolo anyway...
0a2 is a voltage regulater tube
6eu7 is the rectifier tube(super reverb used a 5AR4)
12ax7 are the preamp tubes, maybe one does both tremelo and reverb since those only need a half of one.
12au7 is probably the phase inverter for the 2 channels
6L6 obviously the power tubes
Its a pretty cool contrast to what Fender was doing, I bet it sounds ace.
Last edited by 71Smallbox on Wed Jul 17, 2013 7:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dillon
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Post by Dillon »

Well if that's the case then that makes sense, but my impression from Nick's post was that there were 4x 6eu7s (preamp tubes), and then one 12ax7 and one 12au7, for something else.
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Post by 71Smallbox »

Dillon wrote:Well if that's the case then that makes sense, but my impression from Nick's post was that there were 4x 6eu7s (preamp tubes), and then one 12ax7 and one 12au7, for something else.
Actually I think you're right. The 6eu7 is like half of a 12ax7 tube, so 4 of them would be like 2 12ax7's. I thought it was a rectifier tube but I am mistaken, there's another 6series tube I am mixing it up with.
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Nick
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Post by Nick »

It's very bright compared to my Twin. If I'm using the bridge pickup I need the bass on at least "8" and the treble no higher than "4". I suspect part of that has to do with the 4x10" speakers. My favorite feature of this amp is how the reverb reacts-it's insanely lush but unlike my twin my clean guitar signal doesn't get lost in it. It also acts like an overdrive when cranked... It's perfect for sounds like Jesus and Mary Chain, Pixies, Dick Dale, etc etc. I'm probably the happiest I've been with an amp purchase so far.
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Post by Ro S »

how much it cost ya?
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Nick
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Post by Nick »

The store had it priced at $499. I traded for it though.
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Post by Sloan »

Also, these are essentially Gibson amps. They share the same schematics with like the Gibson GA amps as far as I know.
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Post by h8mtv »

I have just the chassis loaded from one of these. Apparently the amp works but the cab was in such poor condition and the speakers were so degraded a customer of mine yanked it from the cab and threw it in the mail to me. Made in Kalamazoo.