Although pricey, Mercury Magnetics has the best warranty, something like 10 years I think.

Might be worth the extra $$.

Ah yes of course, a manual....I knew I forgot something...

Maybe I shouldn't have raced home after working 12 hours midnight shift to fire up a new amp!

It's all good though, thanks for the help!

I'm a little confused what you're saying here....

Again...not sure what you mean by no overdrive


Hmmm....not sure how else to explain it. Those were my settings, and that's how it sounded..... 

My switches on the back were not on pedal. After doing that, the Overdrive worked.

It sounds alot better now, thanks!

I still need to make adjustments and break it in, but so far so good!


One question:

My back panel does not have the OD adjustment so how do I tell which internal trimmer to adjust?

Chris,
I'm sorry but I was referring to the way the heater wires and the lead dressings are right now.
You mentioned there's "non-Dumblesque" lead dress issues. What problems might occur because of these issues? Or is it more a cosmetic purist issue kind of thing.

BTW, I fired it up earlier and played for a little while.

I was playing a G&L Legacy with stock p'ups through a Avatar 2x12 with Eminence Red Fangs.

The internal trimmers are set at: 10 - 8 - 10

I started at 12 o'clock and went to 9 o'clock with the Treble, Mid, Bass
I adjusted back and forth with the Volume and Master
When I adjusted the Drive or Level, I could not tell ANY change in tone.

My first impressions:
1) very "middy"
2) Very tight
3) Extremely clean
4) NO OVERDRIVE

What issues might I run into with the lead dressing or heater wire like this?
Change in tone?
Noise?

After looking at Niks pics I can see the differnce now. Alot cleaner lead dressing on his.
As far as the heater wire, are you saying that Nik does the so called "fender" style heater wiring?
I think I may be more concerned with the lead dressing then anything.

This is my last night on at work so I can't wait to fire it up when I get home in the morning.

Well, here she is!
Didn't have time to do anything because I had to go to work!
But I'm going to try and fire it up as soon as I can.

From what I see, it looks like a fantastic job.

Gregg,
Yeah I'm not planning on trying that any time soon...lol...don't want to screw up a good thing!

Awesome review Gregg!
I'm sure I'll be trying different tubes at some point so I'll be referring back to this.
I just picked up an original 67 Bassman with a set of USA 6L6GC's in it. Not sure exactly what they are or how to identify them but it would be interesting to try them in my BM possibly.

Are you using the EVM12L in a thiele type cab?

The BM shipped today, will be arriving this Friday!

Nice pedal selection!
That Wilson Haze Vibe/Fuzz pedal should  be awesome. I have the regular Haze Vibe ordered, should be here anytime.   

I wish my playing was as good as the gear I have... 
I love gear though, I have fun, and I can't help it....that's my only defense...

Speaking of speakers....I have several I plan to try.
EVM12L in a Thiele cab.
2x12 Avatar w/Red Fangs
Eminence V12 or G12
Eminence RWB
Celestion G12T-75 (in my Randall RM50c)

Wow, it was hard staying with that thread, but great info, thanks.

I asked about this and he said he does this already with the phase inverter so the amp should be good to go. He's also going to try the TAD's with the Tung-Sols and then let me know the tone difference between them and the G.T.'s and EH's.
This guy seems to know his stuff so I'll trust him to give me what's best for the amp. When I get it, I'll do what's best for my amp....lol

Here's the response on my questions about the tubes in question:

"The GE Clear Top Tubes were one of the best 6L6 of their time, noted for their sparkle and great frequency response.  All current production tubes are made either in China or Russia or somewhere in the former USSR – there are no tubes made in the USA anymore.  The Groove Tubes, just like the TAD’s, are selected from the best of the best (Chinese or Russian,) then repackaged with their name and given a rating when matched.  I don’t know of anything higher quality than what I picked for you.  I use Electro Harmonix and Tung-Sol 12AX7’s in all my builds, except when the customer requests NOS tubes and is willing to pay a lot of money for them.  The only ordinary tubes on the market are junk Chinese and JJ tubes.  They are cheap and sound like it.  All the tubes we use here are very high quality for current production tubes and I only select the best of these.  I already had the Tung-Sol tubes, but I had to order the TAD’s.  I ran out of them and didn’t re-order since everybody has been raving about the tube brands I do install, but they will be here tomorrow, along with the relays and I’ll try them out.

There really isn’t anything custom about tubes these days.  Builders have about 4 or 5 brands to choose from, all made overseas, however some of those brands have proven themselves to be better than others which are the tubes we use here."

So, I'm going to have him put in the TAD's and Tung-Sols and see what happens.

It's really hard having someone else pick and choose tone becasue everyone has different ideas as to what sounds best. I think this is a good place to start though.

I'm also going to ask him about the matched triodes on the phase inverter.
I have a question though:
After the triodes are matched, the phase inverter needs to be balanced? Is this correct?

Thanks for all the help!