Description

2006 Chicago Blues Box Buddy Guy Signature 60-Watt 4x10" Combo Amplifier Limited Edition #40 of 50 w/ Cover

Name: 2006 Chicago Blues Box Buddy Guy Signature 60-Watt 4x10" Combo Amplifier Limited Edition #40 of 50 w/ Cover
Brand: Chicago Blues Box
SKU: USCBBBG40
Price: 2799.99 USD
Availability: InStock

In designing the 4×10″/60-watt combo Buddy Guy Signature amp, Chicago Blues Box (CBB) main man Dan Butler performed a thorough reverse-engineering of Guy’s “alpha” amp, a 1959 Fender Bassman, documenting every transformer, resistor, capacitor, and tube, and constantly compared tones between the ’59 and the CBB prototype. He also sent one prototype on tour with Guy for six months. Aesthetically, the Buddy Guy Signature tosses a nostalgic nod to the tweed Bassman. Its finger-jointed pine cabinet is covered in tweed and sprayed in a tinted lacquer that gives it an aged vibe, which is further enhanced by its cane grill. The cabinet has an overall very solid feel.

Rather than trying to duplicate the circuitry of Guy’s ’59 Bassman, the team at CBB decided to replicate its tones by using custom-made components and their own circuit to match some of the characteristics of the 47-year-old amp. In the process, Butler spared no expense and cut no corners. One example is the Buddy Guy’s pots, which are custom-made and hand-assembled by CTS to match the actual drifting values in the originals! After measuring the impedance of the pots in Guy’s Bassman (which were original), he sent measurements to an engineer at CTS who was familiar with the company’s assembly process in 1959. After several attempts, CTS was able to re-create the values and build pots with a separate carbon wafer tabbed over the structural mounting wafer.

Also, its output transformer is hand-wound and paper-interleaved. Butler says newer production transformers use a straight wind on plastic bobbins, and are built using plastic tape for insulators. Paper, being thinner and known to provide better magnetic coupling between layers, provides more efficient coupling, less signal loss, and therefore, he says, better tone. The amp’s controls include Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, and Presence and with inputs for Normal and Bright channels. Bias controls allow for individual tube biasing. It uses two TAD 6L6 tubes, with three 12AX7s in the preamp section. The sound is then pushed through four 10″ Jensen P10R reissue Alnico-magnet speakers. Hand-assembled pots, high-end transformers and alnico speakers aside, CBB engineered this amp to be not only tonally superior in a world of Bassman wannabes, but built it to be rugged – it does indeed have a very solid feel, especially when you consider that the cabinet is pine, which is a relatively lightweight wood.

This amp is in excellent condition with the only visible playwear being a slight dent/crease in the badge/nameplate on the rear of the amp. Otherwise, this combo will blow you away. It is the best sounding '59 Bassman clone we've ever heard!

Reviews (0)