NAD - 2000 Top Hat Ambassador 35 (6V6)

[fdesalvo]

SOLD!

Hello, all!

After building and playing through my own amps for the past several years, I broke down and pulled the trigger on one of Brian Gerhard's creations, a 2000 Ambassador 35 head in 6V6 trim with reverb sans loop.

Unfortunately, there is a dearth of information about this particular model on the web. Can anyone share any additional insight, experiences, or otherwise regarding these particular amps? I'm really eager to experience the marriage of a cathode biased 6V6 output circuit and blackface-inspired preamp.

Foul weather in the NE is delaying shipment, so all I can do is ponder, speculate, and entertain myself here until it arrives (The very same things that cause me to buy things I don't really need!). Thanks for reading.

 

[riffmeister]

Congrats! I owned a 2x6L6 50W Ambassador for a while. That particular amp had more midrange content than a BF Fender and got really nice mild crunch tones at reasonable volumes thanks to the great MV. Really nice reverb section, too.

When the snow clears I predict you will be a happy camper!

 

[fdesalvo]

Congrats! I owned a 2x6L6 50W Ambassador for a while. That particular amp had more midrange content than a BF Fender and got really nice mild crunch tones at reasonable volumes thanks to the great MV. Really nice reverb section, too.

When the snow clears I predict you will be a happy camper!

Thanks, RM!

THIS is what I needed to hear! I've been dying to have my cake and eat it, too. What do you know about the differences in tone available from the Hi and Low inputs? I read somewhere (here in the archives I bet) that these may be two different "channels" as opposed to one input being attenuated.

Thanks for the response!

Edit:

I just spoke with Gerhard - very nice guy. He let me ask all of my questions without rushing me off of the phone. Here's what he had to say about this particular amp:

It's a Blackface-inspired preamp with an early Dumble TS that keeps traditional Fender mid scoop up until about 3 on the dial. The preamp doesn't develop much drive, so the Master isn't as useful as it is on other models. The head has a tube-driven reverb circuit with the tank mounted vertically against the inside of the front panel.

The power amp is a 4x6V6 Class A circuit used to allow the reverb to work its magic; a 2x6V6 Class A back end wouldn't have the clean power to deliver lush reverb. The amp stays clean up until about halfway up, then it goes further to distinguish itself from the traditional BF Fender OD tone. He recommends all Tung-Sol glass biased around 30mA. The last time I bought 6V6s, I used NOS Brimars and had a great experience. Very creamy breakup.

I ordered a new head cab, as well. The shell on the one I bought is beat and has been repaired. Hopefully have updates soon.

 

[riffmeister]

Brian is certainly correct in saying the Ambassador doesn't saturate to the same degree as his other amps, the Ambassador is definitely more of a clean-to-mild-breakup kind of amp. I spoke with Brian when I got my amp (this was probably a dozen years ago now) and I also recall him saying the tone stack is based on an early Dumble design. However, with my amp, the fixed bias 2x6L6 version, the amp was not nearly as mid-scooped as the typical BF Fender. The amp was a 2x12 combo with two Celestion G12H speakers. I do recall liking the reverb quite a lot on that amp, nice to have two-knob control.

 

[fdesalvo]

Sounds like heaven! I want my mids back.

 

[fdesalvo]

Sold!

 

[bertramladner]

“Sold!”
did you sell the amp?