Blankenship Fat Boy Jr. SMOKES!!!

[datguytim]

Just picked this sucker up today & WOW! 9 watts, single ended Class A, rectifier tube, 10" Jensen Special Design speaker, and ONE KNOB!!!! (ala tweed Champ). The amp sounds like a cranked Marshall with my R9 LP on 9 (the knob goes to 12), doesn't kill you ears, but definitley cuts! Roy makes some amazing amps, and at a bargain compared to some of these 'boutique' companies that shall remain nameless, which have no tone except the one you don't want! Check 'em out!

[studiodunn]

I played one at GO-GO and it was a total rock beast.

Nice score.

[digital jams]

Love what I have heard from his amps, check out Chris Nix's new cd as he has a gunned one on many of the tracks.

The Power Triplets.

[jkr]

Yeh, Blankenship amps really deliver the goods.

[StevoDOD]

and he moved!!! At the time, he tried to turn me on to homemade amps, which I had no interest in then- boy have I changed!

What is his contact info?

Steve

[jackaroo]

Roy is awesome.

JD

[Frankenstrat2]

I have never forgotten Roy's appearance at the Tampa ToneFest a few years back. He brought a modded silver-face bassman to prove that low $$ silver-face amps didn't have to sound bad if they were tweaked a bit.
The thing was a fire-breather!

[Dana Olsen]

Originally Posted by BleedingEdge

I can't find this model on his web site.

Is there similar love for the regular Fatboy?

The Fatboy is a great amp. I have a lot of hours adn a couple gigs on a friend's Fatboy Supreme w/ reverb, and it's a great amp. I'd love to have one. Roy does my amp repair too, and he did great things for my Blonde Bassman head - it's sounds like a million bucks.

I'm a huge fan of Blankenship. The Variplex also is an awesome head, but I kind of like the Fatboy Supreme. I like all his amps.

I don't think the website has been updated for a while, and Roy's is creating new designs all the time.

Thanks, Dana O.

[studiodunn]

Originally Posted by Frankenstrat2

I have never forgotten Roy's appearance at the Tampa ToneFest a few years back. He brought a modded silver-face bassman to prove that low $$ silver-face amps didn't have to sound bad if they were tweaked a bit.
The thing was a fire-breather!

I have a 76 bassman that he modded and it is a fender like no other.
It has some serious wreckish type of characteristics in a fender flavor.

[HandOfTheHost]

Originally Posted by studiodunn

I have a 76 bassman that he modded and it is a fender like no other.
It has some serious wreckish type of characteristics in a fender flavor.

I too have a SF Bassman tweaked by the man when he was here in durty south, and it's still number one for me. It took him only a few minutes to change out some coupling caps and bypass the tonestack of the normal channel, giving that channel more gain. Great guy, and I'd love to someday purchase one of his original creations.:BEER

[FloridaSam]

Originally Posted by Frankenstrat2

I have never forgotten Roy's appearance at the Tampa ToneFest a few years back. He brought a modded silver-face bassman to prove that low $$ silver-face amps didn't have to sound bad if they were tweaked a bit.
The thing was a fire-breather!

I was there, I witnessed it too. AMAZING, that Fender blew away amps in the mid 4 figures, I won't mention names to avoid embarassment.


The Tweed Bandmaster he brought last year was no slouch either. There were a LOT of tweed there, from 1949 up to brand new clones. His was my favorite. I am saving my pennies for a Blankenship, I know I'll be happy.

[SRVTWO]

Roy You ROCK!!!!!!!!!!

[Dana Olsen]

Originally Posted by FloridaSam

I was there, I witnessed it too. AMAZING, that Fender blew away amps in the mid 4 figures, I won't mention names to avoid embarassment.


The Tweed Bandmaster he brought last year was no slouch either. There were a LOT of tweed there, from 1949 up to brand new clones. His was my favorite. I am saving my pennies for a Blankenship, I know I'll be happy.

I think that may be what Roy calls the FatBoy Supreme w/ SourCream - it comes w/ 1x15" (Roy's fave) 2x12" or 3x10's - which may be the one you saw.

The FB Supreme w/ Sourcream has an interesting feature - it has two volume knobs. The second gives a percentage of the first volume, and a footswtich switches between them. You set Vol1 for your loudest lead sound, and when yout hit the footswitch you dial in a percentage of that lead sound with Vol2, so it's not true channel switching, it's volume knob switching. No relays, no added or bypassed gain stages. No Master vol.

It works really well and feels pretty 'normal'. I don't know how close to a 5E3 Tweed amp the Fatboy is, but it does sound Tweedy.

Great amps, Dana O.

[laseneca]

I swapped the Sovtek 5ar4 for a JAN Phillips mislabel from KCA. The apparent volume almost doubled and the top end shimmered. Then I swapped the GE 6v6 Roy sent with a Brimar and found a bit more meat or fat as the case may be, although the GE is nice. Then I pulled the EH 12ax7 and replaced it with an RCA blackplate. Lost the top spike (good), and gained some creamy highs. Finally, for grins, I pulled the 5ar4 and replaced it with a Bendix 5y3. The volume dropped considerably and the top end was recessed, but the breaking point (distortion) was much lower. I replaced the 5ar4 for the time being, that is until I use it for a gig and see where I need the break to be. The amp sounds full and lush, belying its modest power and speaker. The strings sound as if they are round instead of flat, if that makes sense. It is a beautiful amp for blues at reasonable volumes. Now if that sound could be had on a larger scale, but I'm afraid it is partly a product of the single-ended nature of the beast as well as Roy's obvious genius. Still, there could be a FatBoy in this fat man's future.

[todd richman]

Thinking about getting a Fat Boy with 12" Celestion G12H-30. Looking for more thoughts on the amp.