Just Bought Brad Whitfords one off 100 Watt Fender Prosonic

It was used on the Aerosmith 9 lives album and several tours. Bruce Zinky did this one as a one off for Brad and it is the ONLY 100 watt Prosonic Bruce and Fender ever built! I just snagged it last night and it's being shipped tomorrow man I can't wait to get my hands on this one! I talked to Bruce Zinky today about the amp and he remembered it and started ratteling off all the custom changes he made for Brad from memory. That was incredable as this amp was done in 96!!
I currently own two standard Prosonics a head and a combo both in black and these amps are all I use. I have owned several more over the years so I know these amps well. This one though is my dream amp and it has me STOKED that I now own it with all it's history and the fact that is a true custom one off!!
Here is the BEAST!!

Note the little blue "property of Aerosmith" sticker on the back

Brad with the pile of ebay amps the Prosonic is on the lower right

Here are the other two "normal"Prosonics I have

Wow, congrats!

Well thats something to be proud of.
Nice piece of equipment and with a history too.
Certainly beats my... erm... nothing.

Nice. Is that reverb tank standard, only I've never seen the back of a Prosonic head?

Sweetness brother!!!!:rockon: :dude:

markb said:

Nice. Is that reverb tank standard, only I've never seen the back of a Prosonic head?

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Nope the heads do not normaly have reverb. This one was a true one off amp that Bruce Zinky custom built just for Brad and Aerosmith so it's a little shall we say "different". The combos only have reverb so my guess is that Bruce used a combo chassis to build this head. There is MUCH that is non normal about this head.
Like the lack of the rectifier switch on the rear. This head is AB SS rec only instead of being the triple rec like the normal Prosonics are. As I said this is the only factory Prsonic head with Reverb the only 100 watt Prosonic ever built ect. Bruce Zinky and I talked yesterday at length about this head and he told me how it came about and wwent through all of the changes. I am looking forward to getting my hands on this one as it is being shipped today.
NONE of this was disclosed in the ebay auction and I just found out what I bought yesterday when Greg Brads guitar tec emailed me about the missing rec switch. I though I was buying a Normal Prosonic with verb that had some musical history and I had no idea what this really was when I bid on it!! Bruce Zinky confirmed what this amp was and that it indeed was THE mythical 100 watt Prosonic over the phone when I called him at Zinky Electronics yesterday!!! As a result nobody had a CLUE what this amp really was in the ebay auction (including ME ) so I flat STOLE this amp!!
I have both a "normal" Prosonic head and a combo both in black.
Here are my "normal" Prosonics

Will you sell me pinky now???:dude: :master:


I so want pinky:beer:

very cool amp! :bravo:

ww

Congrats, that is a great amp! :bravo:

mrmudcat said:

Will you sell me pinky now???:dude: :master:


I so want pinky:beer:

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Man I wish I knew that you wanted an X :thwap: . I just sold the Black 91 X I had a few weeks ago!! I'm afraid Pinky is a KEEPER though!!

Whitfield = Whitford. Sorry wanted to clarify for search engines.

Great snag. Congrats.

Ascension said:

Man I wish I knew that you wanted an X :thwap: . I just sold the Black 91 X I had a few weeks ago!! I'm afraid Pinky is a KEEPER though!!

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Oh crap I am looking for an x for sure although I snagged an x220 in white /black hardware .kahler pro for $175..from a local dude:dude: If ever pinky is outcasted please let me know....I do have a few guitars I might trade or cash!(although that is easy between 1-2 k or more??? IMHO)

Tone2TheBone said:

Whitfield = Whitford. Sorry wanted to clarify for search engines.

Great snag. Congrats.

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Yep blame allergies medication and brain fade thanks for the clarification bro!

mrmudcat said:

Oh crap I am looking for an x for sure although I snagged an x220 in white /black hardware .kahler pro for $175..from a local dude:dude: If ever pinky is outcasted please let me know....I do have a few guitars I might trade or cash!(although that is easy between 1-2 k or more??? IMHO)

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If it had a Kahler Pro it was more than likely a V220 not an X. The X is smaller bodied and pointier that the V220. Here is my Saphire Blue Flame 89 V220R for a comparison
1989 V220R

1990 X220C

Yes it was a v220............ typo on my part :thwap: Ive got 2 x v220 and 0 x220 :whatever:

Wellit arrived on Friday and i spent the last few day seriusly abusing my ears :rockon: :AOK: .
Ok tones are :master: :master: :master: :AOK:
Here are some clips from Saturday night with a pick up Church gig I did
Cleans
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=809752&songID=6617049
Crunched
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=809752&songID=6615759
Home studio solo clip to a jam track
http://www.box.net/shared/80qal8ug4k
Solo demo
http://www.box.net/shared/m6pbbva0co

Hi! This is my first posting here, I found this Forum on my search for information on the Prosonic. A little introduction of myself - I'm a 29 year old guitarplayer from the south of Germany, playing in a instrumental jam/rockband called www.thegreatrelease.com
I'm playing with a very nice G&L ASAT, some Effects and the '97 Prosonic combo equipped with an ext. cab 2*12 loaded witch Cel. V30.

Ascension, you have a great tone with this nice amp. :bravo: What speakers are you using? Do you have any suggestions on the tubes to use in the preamp?
I switched one JJ ECC832 (which is a 12DW7) to reduce the gain (it still delivers enough!). Exept of the JJ, I have the original Fender stock tubes (pre and poweramp) and the stock celestion speakers.
Another problem is the drive channel appears very aggressive in combination with the ASAT, therefore the Treble-Pot normaly stays on 9 o'clock.
Do you have any idea on improving the tone of the Amp?

Here it is: http://www.loaditup.de/230307.html

What about the rectifier settings in a 100W-Prosonic? Does it increase the output power? Can you switch between Class A and A/B?

Thanks so far, greets from Europe
Uli

Welcome to the Fret Uli!

I listened to your band, the music is great.

Gutmann said:

Hi! This is my first posting here, I found this Forum on my search for information on the Prosonic. A little introduction of myself - I'm a 29 year old guitarplayer from the south of Germany, playing in a instrumental jam/rockband called www.thegreatrelease.com
I'm playing with a very nice G&L ASAT, some Effects and the '97 Prosonic combo equipped with an ext. cab 2*12 loaded witch Cel. V30.

Ascension, you have a great tone with this nice amp. :bravo: What speakers are you using? Do you have any suggestions on the tubes to use in the preamp?
I switched one JJ ECC832 (which is a 12DW7) to reduce the gain (it still delivers enough!). Exept of the JJ, I have the original Fender stock tubes (pre and poweramp) and the stock celestion speakers.
Another problem is the drive channel appears very aggressive in combination with the ASAT, therefore the Treble-Pot normaly stays on 9 o'clock.
Do you have any idea on improving the tone of the Amp?

Here it is: http://www.loaditup.de/230307.html

What about the rectifier settings in a 100W-Prosonic? Does it increase the output power? Can you switch between Class A and A/B?

Thanks so far, greets from Europe
Uli

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Bro sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I got knocked off here for a while after doing maintenance on my PC and it would not let me login so I finally had to reset my password. I just found your post today.
The 100 watter is SS rec only. where the rec tube sits in a normal Prosonic in this one is a 6L6. I however have two normal Prosonics a head and a combo.
The drive channel is very much over the top in these amps. I use a NOS Mullard CV 4024 to kill some of the scorching gain and open the amps up on all three. I pick them up from Doug over at http://www.dougstubes.com/. I tried the JJ ECC 832 but the Mullards are a LOT better sounding to my ear. the JJ was kinda dead sounding in V-2. I have 80's production NOS Chinese Shunghangs in V-1 on most of mine with the stock Sovetecs in the rest except the verb drivers which also get the Mullards for preamp tubes.
The 100 watter is totally unique and sounds much different than any normal Prosonic.
Hit me back bro or email me I will be happy to share what I can on the Prosonics. I have owned several and play them exclusively right now.

Ascension said:

Bro sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I got knocked off here for a while after doing maintenance on my PC and it would not let me login so I finally had to reset my password. I just found your post today.

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That's no problem, ascension.
I changed the ECC832 to a JJ ECC81 - this one delivers a little more Gain then the ECC832 and sounds warmer. Maximum gain is enough, a good compressed leadsound but not over the top.
I prefer to play the Amp n Class A with all EQs set to "2" and volume on 5 (12 o'clock)
- this allows to play the clean channel slightly overdriven and to clean it up via the volume-pot on the guitar. But the volume is far beyond the usual practicing-volume - never play this amp without earprotection

The next thing to do is a tubefitting-job - I need to find someone to help me selecting from different tubes and to experiment with the bias.
Sometimes, I find the amp sounding kind of sterile, especially with my Tele.
I thought of changing the stock speakers as well - but haven't found 10" to replace, yet. Maybe Naylors would be great - but no way to check those here in Germany..
You are using ext. cabs for the Amp - which speakers do you use?

The Amp is great, I didn't find any amp sounding better for me - I compared it to Diezels (the guy who sold the Amp had a few because he is selecting the Tubes for Peter Diezel) and my bandmates Engl Savage 120 - the Prosonic was the right thing for me.

Greets Uli

Bro I'm glad you saw my post :AOK: as you seemed to have gone to a lot of trouble to find info on these amps.
I have ownd a Prosonic in some form for several years now so I know these amps quite well.
First this is what I currently have in the amps themselves and I have a couple of other cabs that are not shown.

I rairly use the 10's in the combo by them selves. I normally will run that rig on my 2/12 late 80's Fender cab right now with pair of Genze Benz eminences out of a G-Flex cab and wired for 16ohms.
I'm thinking of going over to the 1/12 with a Vin30. I talked to Bruce Zinky a few weeks ago when i bought the Whitford head and that is what he wanted in the Prosonic. Zinky actually had several 1/12 red combos built with Vin30's when he first designed these amps but Fender insisted they be sold as the 2/10.
I have cabs with GT-12-75's Vin 30's and the GenzBenz 2/12 that I use with these amps.
Here is the combo on my 2/12 Fender cab and at that time it was loaded with the 75's played in an outdoor show.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=439224&songID=5312459

I own my Prosonic for 6 months, it took me another 6 months to find one.
With the band, I normally play the semi open back cab with 2 V30 (http://www.loaditup.de/230307.html - I already posted it) a nice custom made cab (fitting to the prosonic) by a small german factory.
Some Samples? Here we go:
http://www.loaditup.de/files/230249.m4a - clean+OCD
http://www.loaditup.de/files/230258.m4a - clean+OCD
http://www.loaditup.de/files/230270.m4a - channel 2
http://www.loaditup.de/files/230271.m4a - channel 2 again
http://www.loaditup.de/files/230272.m4a - clean channel, Asat vs. ES335

The V30 is mixed to the right side, on the left is the stock celestion.
The .m4a work with a quicktime plugin, here you can get a few of them as mp3:
http://guitaramptones.net/

I do like to use a standard 1960 with g12t75 parallel to the 2x12 cab (on a 30W Amp :rockon: )

It is very interesting, that Zinky wanted to use a V30 in the Amp, this is something Fender didn't accept till later with the supersonic:whatever:
I often read about a few modifications Zinky recommends to do on the Prosonic (another OT, remove caps from tube sockets) - ever tried something like that?

Greets Uli

Gutmann said:

I own my Prosonic for 6 months, it took me another 6 months to find one.
It is very interesting, that Zinky wanted to use a V30 in the Amp, this is something Fender didn't accept till later with the supersonic:whatever:
I often read about a few modifications Zinky recommends to do on the Prosonic (another OT, remove caps from tube sockets) - ever tried something like that?

Greets Uli

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So far I have not tried any mods other than tube swaps. I have done a good bit of experimenting with tubes in these amps. Using the NOS Mullard CV4024's really will soften and open the crunch channel up. They have a LOT more life than the JJ's in that slot. I however have found these amps seem to love JJ ECC83's in the PI slot for some reason and I also like the JJ rec tubes a LOT. The JJ 6L6's are also one of the few 6L6's that will live for any length of time in the brutal class A mode. The REAL (not the New Sensor Svetlana)Svetlana Winged C and the new GT6L6CTP are also good choices in these amps. I have JJ's in my combo RCA NOS black plates in the Black head and GT6L6CHP's in the red 100 watter.
Be aware that the bias changes when you switch between the A/B tube rec mode and the A/B SS rec modes. The Class A mode is a TRUE class A opp and is cathode bias so it des not need to be set. You need to decide which A/B mode you will use mostly and set your bias to that mode.

Hi Ascension

Sorry, it took me a while to reply your last post.
I have a few new achievements on tube swap experiments. Now I use the 12AT7 from V4 in V2 - this tube changes the sound of the drive channel a little darker and reduces the gain just a little bit (just right when I turn gain1 and 2 to max) and I put the JJ ecc832 in V4 wich cuts the reverb a lot. Maybe too less for classic fender clean but perfekt for jazzy clean and it sounds good when reverb is on in the drive channel.

Another great deal I did with speakers - I found a pair of ruby 10" Alnico speakers - I think manufactured by eminence:

http://www.zshare.net/image/16497587a7114a8a/
http://www.zshare.net/image/164974158d672e34/

They produce a way "rounder" sound then the stock celestions and there is a lot less beaming.

One mod that didn't wok so far is the trial witch a Soldano Hot Mod tube - it doesn't work with the amp, maybe because of the non-master circuit. I don't know...

Do you know, what the several preamp tubes do? V2 influences the gain, V4 seems to drive the reverb circuit but i don't know for sure. What are the others doing?

Greets Uli