Intro and an Obscure Amp?

[TelecasterTech]

Intrusctions - multiple posts.

[TelecasterTech]

Instructions - last post.

[TelecasterTech]

Hello everyone,

Well, yet another day of searching, and I have found partial if not the complete tube compliment for the Ray Butts Echosonic EA-1 amplifier, eventually also the Rickenbacker M-30 Ek-O-Sound amp.

Please see the attachment for a photo of an original tube chart. It is difficult to read but it looks like this:


REAR BOTTOM: 12AX7 - 12AX7 - 12AU7 - 12AU7 - 5V4

FRONT BOTTOM: 12AX7 - 12AT7 - 12AU7 - 6L6 - 6L6

Right front side of chassis: 5AR4


Can anyone confirm this with a known good source?

Thank you once again!

Frank

[TelecasterTech]

The speaker originally used in the Ray Butts Echosonic EA-1 was a 12inch University model UC-121 Series 100, with a black basket and silver magnet - I also saw this speaker mounted in a prototype black Gretsch amp (like a 6163 model). I've seen some people have a University speaker that has a sage green basket with a gold magnet.

The speaker label on the magnet says that it's rated for 30 Watts and 8 and 16 Ohm (I've never heard of a dual impedance speaker until now..). This speaker is not very deep so it fit in the cabinet nicely.

I notice that these speakers have the JBL-like silver dust cap, and they also have a metal dust screen on the back in the centre of the magnet, again à la JBL.

Note: These speakers were made in White Plains, NY. Les Paul just died yesterday in White Plains, NY. Les Paul pioneered Sound-On-Sound, the very technology Ray Butts put into his Echosonic........ N I C E.

I think the Rickenbacker M-30 Ek-O-Sounds used a Jensen speaker, as did most Rickys at that period.

Deke Dickerson's Echosonic in a Ric cabinet (with Ric knobs) dumpster-found has a JBL silver-dome D-123 but I am not so sure that was in the cabinet when it was found.


Cheers,
Frank

[TelecasterTech]

Hello once again!

As some of you may know, Roy Orbison's original Echosonic was recently found on Randy Butts's basement (Ray's old house I think), and it is ALL ORIGINAL UNMODIFIED. There's a tube chart photo on a webpage about CAAS, this is what it reads:

REAR BOTTOM: 12AY7 - 12AD7 - 6C4 - 12AU7A - 5V4GA

FRONT BOTTOM: 12AY7 - 12AU7A - 12AU7A - 6L6GB - 6L6GB

Right front side of chassis: 12AU7A


Now that I look at Scotty's chart again, I think this is a more accurate transcription:

REAR BOTTOM: 12AU7 - 12AX7 - 12AU7 - 12AD7 - 5V4

FRONT BOTTOM: 12AX7 - 12AT7 - 12AD7 - 6L6 - 6L6GB

Right front side of chassis: 6AR5

That last one, the 6AR5, seems to be a new version of a 6K6, which is the reverb driver tube in Fender's best offboard Reverbs (the ones with the other types of tubes don't sound as good), so perhaps this is the tube that drives part of the tape echo. Not sure exactly how it works in there, but perhaps it is used for the amount of repeats that get sent back to the amp.

It is interesting to note that Roy's newer version has a 6C4 in it. What I'd give to see pictures of these chassis....

Cheers!

Frank

[grazioso]

i have been reading this thread with great interest and just to add: some earlier lansing 15" and 12" speakers i once had were also 8-16 ohms it doesn't mean anything. i think they just labeled them that way but the output transformer sees them as 8 ohm. i haven't seen one that was labeled like this and it truly was 16ohms. the university speakers you mentioned - man! if it was me i'd avoid those at all cost - i had early black tolex ampeg with one and it was pretty bad speaker. i had it re_coned later on and it helped a bit....so to replace university with modern speaker i would just look for any good full range speaker - generaly considered useless for guitar by todays standards . some modern eminence OEMs with silver caps sound very close to that era full range speakers - same hissy sound.

[doctorwho]

Thanks for keeping us updated, Roy. BTW, I never did make it to the library!

[admin]

Frank: This has been a most interesting journey so far. Perhaps Tracy Sands will be of some help here. He checks in every once and a while but he has a lot of experience with early Rickenbacker amplifiers.

[longhouse]

I had no idea there were a Scotty Moore + Rickenbacker connection however tenuous it may be.

The Echo-Sonic is legendary.

[TelecasterTech]

FINALLY!!

Does anybody know how difficult this is to come by?!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

[TelecasterTech]

Hello everyone,

Wel, I finally found a COMPLETE EK-O-SOUND!!!!

It appreared on ebay, and no one won went over the reserve. I kept emailing the guy who was selling it for the owner (original owner was Rick Waters, he is 90 this year). There apparently even was people 'representing Deke Dickerson' that wanted this amp, which surprises me. I say this because recently, Deke sold his '56 prototype Standel amp because he thought he would qualify for an episode fo 'hoarders'. Why would he turn around and try to buy a 2nd Ek-O-Sound?? Perhaps he only has Echosonics, and needs some spare parts...

Eventually, we settled on a price, and yes it was more than the eBay price. Plus the cost of the wire transfer, plus shipping, plus border fees, taxes, customs, duty, and I even tiped the delivery guy, and I had to take an afternoon off of work just so that I could get UPS to delivery this (what a hassle they are but their fone service/paging the driver service is terrific!!).

So it does seem that the amp was retolexed long ago with Fender stuff, looks maybe 20-25 years old (that's only as far back as 1990 so it may be earlier because it is worn). The grill cloth was also changed, as was the handle but the handle mounts are original. Casters were added a long time ago but I doubt they are from the factory.

The tape board is complete, I cannot find even one missing part. But it sure is corroded, and I'm wondering if there is anything broken. There is a large capacitor underneath for the motor assembly which has a disconnected terminal - easy fix but is it usable........

So far, one of the cap cans has black stuff coming out of the underside so it cannot be that good anymore. I replaced that one large 2-wire cable going from the power switch to the Amphenol socket because it was dry and crumbling. Since I had to redo the power plug connections for the same reason, I used a 5 inch peice of the power cable to replace the other crumbling one.

So I still don't know what the initials written inside stand for (DL) but the PAT 2804499 stamped on the back bottom edge is very nice and serves as proof that this is a Ray Butts Echosonic technology inside.

I'll be posting photos of every INCH of this amp for everyone, enjoy.

Frank
Canada

[TelecasterTech]

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[TelecasterTech]

A Big THANK YOU to Gary Clauson (doctorwho on this forum) from page 1 of this thread.

He was the first one who I found mentionned Patent # 2,804,499 , the patent for the 1955 Ray Butts EchoSonic model EA-1.

Upon examining my Rickenbacker Ek-O-Sound model M-30, I found this (see photo) on the bottom edge of the back panel.


Here's to Ray (and his son Randy Butts is remaking these - http://www.echosonicamp.com - CHECK IT OUT!!!!),

Frank from Canada