Sound City: Photo Page 8

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Photo Page 8

L200W

1.1: L200W Mark 3 Front View
1.2: L200W Mark 3 Serial Number Label
1.3: L200W Mark 3 Chassis Top View
1.4: L200W Mark 3 Chassis Interior View
2.1: L200W Mark 3 Front and Rear Views
2.2: L200W Mark 3 Interior Chassis and Transformer Views

L200 Plus

1.1: L200 Plus w/ Two B140 Cabs w/Grills
1.2: L200 Plus w/ Two B140 Cabs w/o Grills

B200 Plus

1.1: B200 Plus Chassis Front View
1.2: B200 Plus Chassis Rear View
1.3: B200 Plus Chassis Interior View
2.1: B200 Plus Front View
2.2: B200 Plus Chassis Front View
2.3: B200 Plus Chassis Top View
2.4: B200 Plus Chassis Rear View
2.5: B200 Plus Chassis Interior View
2.6: B200 Plus Left Chassis Interior Close-Up View
2.7: B200 Plus Right Chassis Interior Close-Up View
2.8: B200 Plus Rear View

1.1: Sound City L200W Mark 3 Front View
~200 watts from four KT88s or 6550s, Mark 3 (III), smooth black Tolex, silver-and-black, Marshall-like knobs (original?), silver vein, partially painted silver or gold trim, no mention of model name on front panel. Photos Home Page

1.2: Sound City L200W Mark 3 Serial Number Label Photos Home Page

1.3: Sound City L200W Mark 3 Chassis Top View Photos Home Page

1.4: Sound City L200W Mark 3 Chassis Interior View
Any Hiwatt DR201 owners out there might do a double-take with this one. Photos Home Page

2.1: Sound City L200W Mark 3 Front and Rear Views
~200 watts from four KT88s, Mark 3 (III), smooth black Tolex, some knob caps missing, silver vein,gold trim, model name appears on front panel. This model typically had the larger metal logo. Photos Home Page

2.2: Sound City L200W Mark 3 Chassis Interior and Transformer Views Photos Home Page

1.1: Sound City L200 Plus w/ Two B140 Cabs w/Grills
Approximately 200 watts from four KT88s. This Dallas Arbiter-era Mark 4 head (c1974) has received a complete recap, a noise-reduction mod, and a passive preamp mod that was based on the Hoffman Amps' "Plexi 100" schematic. The chickenhead knobs aren't stock, but everything else about the head is stock. The grill cloth is "salt-and-pepper." As part of the amp's preamp mod, only three (of five) 12AX7s remain (JJs). (I no longer own this amp, but still have the cabinets.) Photos Home Page

1.2: Sound City L200 Plus w/ Two B140 Cabs w/o Grills
Same rig as above but with grills removed showing eight WeberVST "California" 16-ohm bass speakers. Both Dallas Arbiter-era 4x12 cabs (c1972 and c1973) were fully restored. (Cab restoration photos shown on Photo Page 11.) Photos Home Page

1.1: Sound City B200 Plus Chassis Front View
~200 watts from four KT88s. The "B" designates this model as the "Bass" version. (Apologies to the owner for having listed this as an L200 Plus!) This amp is completely stock, according to the owner and dates to 1973. The preamp tubes are as follows: three Brimar ECC83 preamp tubes, 1 Mullard ECC83 tube (in the V1 position) and a Mullard ECC81 tube in the V5 position. Brimars or Mullards were the standard preamp tubes used in many Sound City amps. Photos Home Page

1.2: Sound City B200 Plus Chassis Rear View
Note the odd knob where the input voltage selector should be. Not sure what this knob does, but I assume it's some replacement mechanism for the input voltage selector. The preamp's knobs appear to be originals; however, the GT/Fender 6881 power tubes are not. The Partridge choke (in the lower left) was standard only on the 200 Plus. Note also that two of the four speaker output jacks have been removed. Photos Home Page

1.3: Sound City B200 Plus Chassis Interior View
Note the layout of the 200 Plus's chassis interior then compare it to photos of a Hiwatt DR201's chassis interior. Aside from the Hiwatt 200's far cleaner mil-spec wiring, similarities between the overall layouts of the two amps should be obvious. Photos Home Page

2.1: Sound City B200 Plus Front View
~200 watts from four KT88s. The "B" designates this model as the "Bass" version. Although it's difficult to know a specific date, SN 5270 suggests an early Mark 4 model from between approximately 1970 and 1973, and the amp's owner confirmed this by telling me the date codes he could find on components and tubes are from 1972. This is the cleanest, most original 200 Plus I've ever seen, hands down! Definitely a showroom-quality example. Everything is here and correct: the knobs, trim, black basketweave (Rexine/Tolex) covering, and silver vein. Note the small embossed plastic logo; this is the first 200 Plus I've seen that had this logo type. Photos Home Page

2.2: Sound City B200 Plus Chassis Front View
Pristine! Photos Home Page

2.3: Sound City B200 Plus Chassis Top View
Note the arrangement of the preamp tubes (which are Brimars) and their labels and the very clean Partridge transformers and choke. Photos Home Page

2.4: Sound City B200 Plus Chassis Rear View
Check out the original GEC KT88s. Nice! Also note how clean everything looks. Photos Home Page

2.5: Sound City B200 Plus Chassis Interior View
Not mil-spec wiring by any stretch, but its general layout is as close to that of a Hiwatt DR201 as you can get, short of buying DR201. Photos Home Page

2.6: Sound City B200 Plus Left Chassis Interior Close-Up View Photos Home Page

2.7: Sound City B200 Plus Right Chassis Interior Close-Up View Photos Home Page

2.8: Sound City B200 Plus Rear View
As you can tell from all these photos, there doesn't appear to be a mark anywhere on this amp, which is as close to perfect as you'll see. Photos Home Page

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