[Darkstar860]

I was given a Milkman the Amp 100 (revision C) made in 2019. Now i hadnt gotten to really sit down to try one of these out. For the past few days ive been messing with it and WOW! Other than the stock tube that came with it being a tone sucker (Was a China made JJ/Ruby and sounded like a blanket was over my speakers), this is unreal. I put an RCA 12ax7 black plate (long) in it and it sounds great. I own the SMS CTP, i own Twin reverbs etc. This is right up there with my other Fender stuff. I would def check it out.

Features:

100/50/25watt depending on ohm
XLR out with speaker sim on/off
Ground switch
Speakon/1/4in out
Reverb and Boost
Preamp out (pedal out)

Only thing its missing that i wish it had was a middle control, luckily ive been able to find a sweet spot with treble and bass. But this is one of the most useful and portable ways of getting the tone i love.

Anyone else own one and what are your thoughts ? Also has anyone had any reliability issues with theirs ? Just curious.

Other than the manual not explaining how to take access the tube.... lol. Yes the manual says remove two black screws from the top left and slide off wood side. Well that is part of it. LOL. There are two smaller silver screws on the bottom of the unit that also need to be removed. THe directions seem to be older and lacking some info on the newer revisions. But was easy enough to find more up to date info.

[Jon S.]

Nearly every discussion of this amp I've encountered online (I've not tried one personally yet) has emphasized that the amp has many positives but lacks the sweet high end sparkle of a true Fender amp. I take it your experience is different? If yes, your tube swap may be the "secret ingredient."

[Darkstar860]

Im def not having issues getting the highs out of this amp. With the stock JJ/Ruby china made tube this thing sounded like an OK amp. With the RCA tube put in it was like WOWZA!!! Im shocked they put this crappy tube in stock. I think a lot of folks need to try one f these with a good tube in it for sure. I have mine sounding pretty damn close to my SMS setup. Im A/B ing both setups thru the same cab with e120s. As of now i really have no complaints, it would be nice if there was a mid pot, but i honestly have been able to get the tone i want without issue.

Im curious how long they have been using cheap tubes stock. This unit i have had NEVER been opened so it def was the stock tube.

[Jon S.]

FWIW, after much experimentation, I replaced the stock V1 tube in my SMS Classic Preamp with a Raytheon 5751. I like it better this way though, of course, the next guy might prefer something else entirely.

[Darkstar860]

Today i am removing the 6.8k resistor off the bass pot and installing a 10k pot to adjust the mids on this. That was my only real complaint is lack of mid pot. But as i said im able to get just about there regardless. But im gonna add the mid just so i have the option.

Yeah my SMS had russian JJs in it when i got it and it sounded fine but installed RCA and GE tubes they did make a big difference.

[Slewfoot2000]

I've primarily been using my Milkman as a headphone amp which sounds excellent.

This thread just inspired me to connect it to my cabinet with JBL's. Wow! Sounds really nice. It's doesn't quite have the openness and vibe of my actual Twn preamp when connected to the cabinet, but it's a worthy substitute. I found that the best tone came with the Master maxed out and the Volume set to around 25%.

All in all it's a great, versatile product.

[Darkstar860]

Yeah i have Master maxed and volume between 20-40% thru two JBL e120s. THe mid mod worked and its more open sounding than it was before and its very very close to my SMS CTP. Damn this thing sounds good !

[Darkstar860]

Ok i removed the 6.8k resistor off the bass pot and i added a 10k pot for mids. Works like a charm. Im shocked they didnt just do this to begin with but i guess they are after more of a Deluxe tone. But this thing sounds almost to a T like my SMS CTP. Im blown away. I have a 12ax7 RCA NOS short plate in it currently. I am def going to get a 1x12 cab for traveling with this but for shows i dont need my bigger SMS setup for, this is amazing to have and the options are great. Gotta love the Boost !

Thanks everyone for chiming in

[Jon S.]

Perhaps if you get ambitious, either try a 25K pot or a 10K zero load pot. Then the pot on 25K, or out of the circuit entirely, will act, in effect, like what some builders call a "raw" or "tweed" switch (see, for example, my FYD JG Super Reverb combo, below). If all you use the unit for is Dead, you won't use it. But if you throw in some ABB, Neil Young, Stones, original music, etc., I think you'll enjoy it.

[Darkstar860]

Why thank you for the ideas there. Interesting what your speak of Have to look into it more for sure. This is why i love this site, im not searching for days, weeks, years for a simple question to be answered and everyones been a cool cat for sure. Sharing ideas, setups, experiences.. etc. Much love.

[Chocol8]

If you lift the mid pot from ground it takes the tone stack out of the equation making the signal louder and flatter. Using a larger mid pot gets you closer to that affect. 25k can get you into tweed territory, some guys go 100k. On the bigger BF/SF Fenders, it used to be semi-common to use one of the bright switches as a ground lift switch, for one or both tone stacks.

Another similar mod is to lift the ground on the Trem intensity pot. This takes the Trem out of the circuit giving a boost in gain (or really removing a reduction in gain). The "Vibrato" channels had the extra gain stage to make up for the losses, so lifting it can give a decent amount of extra push.