CHAMP ELECTRONICS -" THE VALVE AMP
HOSPITAL"
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND
SERVICING OF A GEM VENUS G20
COMBO AMPLIFIER
This
little combo belongs to a nice guy named Tim. I was a little duped on
this one as it is actually a hybrid. It is a transistor front-end and
tubes for the splitter and output. (I don’t take on
transistor/solid-state stuff……..though I am
able…...It is so boring to work on!).
Here it is all finished apart
from the non-original, but nice, Goodman’s 12", 16 ohm driver. As
the output transformer has only an 8 ohm tap, I had to do something
with regard to this speaker.
As received.
Again, underside as received.
All
she required was a full new set of HT caps and a replacement of the
tired pair of output tubes. The new JJ EL84’s really did the
trick!
All the new HT caps in place.
I
have a friend who runs a second-hand music shop and always seems to
come-up-trumps when I need a speaker of various kinds. Here he sourced
for me this 12” Wharfdale (probably a Fane in reality?), 8 ohms
and perfect for the job!
Here is Tim’s
e-mail regarding the work done on this “little Gem combo”.
“Hi
John,
The
Gem Venus is a revelation. I still can't believe how good this thing sounds.
It's so hum-free, yet so warm and crystal clear. I've owned and recorded with
quite a few amps over the years and this is up in the top five of all time.
I've recorded some Gilmour-Esque stuff with it and it excels with a couple of
pedals in front of it. I am over the moon with this amp and reckon it to be one
of the biggest bargains of my life thus far. No doubt it will be my first
choice for recording from now on..
Once
again, thanks mate. Speak soon. Tim."
