Music Man 210 Sixty-Five

Can anyone help trace the production year of my amp? It is an Music Man 65watt with tremolo and reverb on one of the channels. two channels altogether. chassis no 2275-65 Ex and serial no BN10010 I always thought it might be from 83 or so, but someone told me they stoped making theese amps in 79..? Pleas email me if someone hav an amp with similar serialno and now the year of their amp! atle.oien <at> gmail <dot> com

Fantastic. I use it as a head for a 4X12 cabinaet, and it sounds awesome!

Never let me down!

Great working horse!

This is a 1979 model without the 12ax7, but with a solidstate inverter.
It has 2x10 eminence speakers (they are dated 1979, thus i guess the amp is built in '79) with rectangular magnets.

Two channels with 2 inputs in each channel, 2-way eq in chan 1 and 3-way in chan 2 which also holds reverb and tremolo aswell as a bright and a deep switch.

I've using a '94 Gibson Nighthawk with 3 pickups (HSH config) and it's quite high output which gives the Musicman a really sweet tone.
For a 65w amp (my local dealer said it rated 78w last time i serviced it) this plays loud and you can play really loud with a clean sound. The amp also makes very little noise compared to other amps i've used.

There are two ways to get distortion, one is to boost the chan volume up (and master down) which gives a pretty decent preamp distortion which is solidstate, but I think it's kinda sweet and gives distortion at low lvls aswell.

If you crank the master to full and lower the chan volume you get a fullblown output tube distortion which is REALLY good, it sounds awesome, but you'll scare your neighbours :)

I'm using this amp for blues/rock and it sounds really good for that use.
People like Johnny Winter and Eric Clapton used this kind of amp for their rough blues tone.

If you are into something harder than Led Zeppelin this isn't the amp, but for everything else it's a killer!

It's a 29 years old amp, nothing is broke, all knobs are still firm although the print is not that easy to see.
I've changed the grill cloth since it had a few holes due to rough use, but the amp is otherwise in a really good shape. I guess it will last me for atleast 29 more years.

I'd give it an 11 if possible.

MM amps have been discontiniued for ages, but you'll find schematics and help on the net.

Its a killer amp, really good sounding and build quality is better than anything else I've seen.

Never gonna change it!!

I bought this amp new in 1975 for use when my blues group played clubs and smaller venues. for outdoor and large halls, I was already using a 130 HD stack so I already knew the quality of the Musicman line. back then, I was a professional [touring and recording] and loved the fact that using a musicman was like starting a tone picture with a blank canvass. everthing that came out of those 2 10" speakers (I upgraded to JBLs after purchase) was put there on purpose with my own two hands.
this model (with the wattage spelled out, i.e., "sixty-five") has 2x E34L JJ tubes that replaced the original sylvania 6ca7s, and an amperex 12ax7 phase inverter tube.
when I bought the amp ne we were all playing som loudly that getting good OP tube distortion wasn't a problem but these days with more sedate volumes one needs a pedal to achieve distortion and brown tone coloration. just the cost of doing business these days, I guess.

I now play a variety of what would be considered "vintage instruments" --at the time they were just off the shelf guitars (I guess that makes me older than dirt). I use primarily for blues: a gibson ES335, a guild S-100 Polara (think "SG") and an old Les Paul Jr with a bridge p90. the amp loves these guitars and provides a very neutral canvass for exploiting each instrument's tone. for jazz I use a gibson L5 wes montgomery and a guild T100 D the incredible clean headroom (primarily due to a B+ running at 725 vdc) of the musicman allow the incredible tone of these hollow body axes to shine.

to get modern OP tube-type distortion (as opposed to the buzzy preamp sort which can be had at any volume using the master volume control) one must play extremely loud: master vol at 8-9 and the gain set to 7 or higher. otherwise, this amp stays clean for a very long time as the volume is increased. for me (now mostly playing jazz) this is a good thing.

in operation the amp is very quiet--much quieter than you'd expect for a thirty-year-old tube amp. but then, I have always been very good about amp maintenance.

I have depended on the amp since 1975 and it has never let me down. I have never had to break out the backup twin during a gig; never. I service my amps regualrly and the only thing I've had to do is replace the electrolytic caps (after 25 years!) and occasionally retube the beast (the jj e34l holds up really well with the 725 vdc B+, I've heard of other brands being eaten alive due to the high voltage. it has worked for 30+ years, and with the recap I expect it'll be around for another 30. these old amps by leo fender were all built like battleships and designed to last.

N/A the company went out of business in 1984-85.

I've been playing 47 years, much of it professionally. I have accumulated quite a bit of gear in all those years. I initially bought the amp as a replacement for my twin (JBLs) because of weight and transport space issues; though the MM is also quite heavy it takes up less room in an equipment van. I chose this amp because--though leo was still under the under the no competition clause with CBS--it was an open secret that musicman amps was a leo fender enterprize and carried with it all the cachet of a "fender" amp: a workhorse professional's amplifier. I also had a One-Thirty HD musicman stack that I'd been using for about six months...that certainly played a part in my decision to buy.
I'd seriously consider murder if this amp was stolen... I feel that stongly about it because of the good memories associated with it. I'd definitely try tom find a replacement if lost or stolen. I've had this amp a long time, gigged it harder than hell (the road is always the test ofequipment) and it has never let me down. the amp has always been considered a "keeper" in my books.

Mine is a mid 70's that started life as a head only version which was converted to a 2x10 by Leyland Sound Design in Canada (beautiful work!)I replaced the stock speakers with JBL E110's and it sounds absolutely amazing. The BEST clean amp around by far. The Reverb is as good if not better than any BF Fender,and the Tremelo is BETTER! No channel switching or EFX loops,but I dont miss them at all. All you need is a good overdrive pedal in front of it and you are all set.

With a Tele or a Strat is where this amp really shines IMO. This amp has a ton of clean headroom with the JBL's and it sounds awesome with a little reverb and a splash of chorus. Although this amp sounds quite good with a nice Overdrive pedal in front of it, I usually A/B it with a Marshall plexi or Budda Twinmaster for leads.

These are built like tanks....mine has had a cap job as anything of this vintage should.

N/A MM is long gone!

I've been playing for about 30 years and I have owned alot of amps in that time, and this is one of the best hands down! If it were lost or stolen I'd be really bummed out, and immediately look for another one. I'm picky when it comes to tone and amps...and this amp for clean sounds can't be beat IMO. I've owned other MusicMan amps,as well....but this one is the Holy Grail for clean sounds!

Mine is a mid 70's.Bought it in 1981 i think in Sydney off a mate at the time- (he later became 'Randall X'- with Shania T's band). He got it from another great player-Phil Keaggy, if i recall correctly(amp must have been let down to have me going thru it after those blokes!).Its the model with the tranny preamp. Was made for the states with 110v,and changed to 240v when it migrated south to Oz.Has all the usual features. This has been my main amp since. Has become part of my 'sound'. I've played lots of styles over the yrs-blues/rock/pop/twang...been a great amp.Channel switching would've been nice, but those were the the days.
Been used everywhere- recording, small gigs, big gigs(often miked) etc. Power switch is great-65w for gigs,25w for smaller stuff/rehearsals.

I've used semis,strats,teles,gibsons through this amp over the years.All with great results.I play lead/rhythm and a fair bit of slide. Amp is crisp, clean but still warm. It warms up to crunch nicely,especially with humbuggers.A lot of people whinge about the distortion-but years ago i started using a DOD preamp to juice it a bit-works a treat to give the amp some signal to play with-sings.Just need a touch,not too much.Now have it velcro'd to the top. Also often use pedals-boss dist(orange one) for rock,boss o/d(yellow one) and tubescreamer for crunch and blues.Great.These amps are loud for old school styles.These days i'm twanging a tele a lot of the time-just the ticket. Used a fender quad reverb with 4 10s once.Loved the bottom end and all that air in the back.So have used a cab since. first a 2 10 fender tweed.now have a cab with 2 10 bass spkrs-great mix of open back amp top/enclosed big bottom...a dehydrated quad-just add water!(be careful to match impedance-i tried a marshall cab once. ohm mismatch caused mid gig failure!so-"do the math"!).

Been using it regularly for 26 yrs now.Bullet proof.Reliable.Had original tubes replaced 10 yrs ago just to be safe,but were still ok anyway!Leo was using good tubes.As mentioned,died once because of impedance mismatch with ext. spkr cab-my fault.Valves replaced,rebiased,been fine since.Power lead was trodden on and ripped out during set up once-resoldered and have extra cleat screwed in to be safe.

As said,re the company-your high and dry, but as with all things in net world ,the truth is out there.Just find a repair man who knows valves and can google.

'Bin a long time since i (began to) rocknroll'...30yrs+.I own a rebuilt tele copy,a bastarcaster,old jap thinline tele copy,acoustic guitars,reso, mando etc...Now my sons play, so with their quivers we have more axes than a woodchop comp. I used to play 'name' brands but end up playing my own hot rods and customs.I like seymour d. p/u's.
Fender devilles sound great and with channel switching one might be a replacement eventually...but after all these years why fix something that ain't broke?Amp always gets comments-just a bit different and getting old enough to evoke some voodoo and vibe.My baby.If Leo had his name on these amps they'd be worth a lot more.

For the record, I own 7 MM amps, 2 - 212-HD130's, a 410-130, a 115-130, an RP 100 and two the 210-65's. Overkill, I know, but I went on an e-bay bender after my alimony obligation ended! One of the 210's has the 12AX7 phase inverter, and one doesn't. I know there is a lot of hoopla about the 12AX7 tube adding warmth, but I have to say that the one without the 12AX7 sounds much better. It's my main rig, and I can't say enough about how great it sounds. For some reason, it has more bottom end than either of my 2-12 HD 130's, and is the best sounding rig of all my MM's. Go figure. This is just a clean, crisp amp with enough crunch to make your pedals shine.

I use it mainly with a PRS swamp ash special. I do a lot of cover gigs, and this combo handles all of the sounds I need really well. I use a Roland GT-6 for effects, and it gets the job done. The MM's fundamental solid clean sound is a great canvas to start from. It's quiet, except when I run two of them in stereo, and then I get a ground loop hum. I bought a Hum-x for 70 bucks and the problem was solved. Much safer than pulling a ground prong....

My only minor complaint is that it can get mushy if you start to crank the bass controls past 6. However, it has a ton of botttom end in the first place, so it's really not a problem. I keep the tone contols all between 4 and 6, which gives a pretty neutral. This thing sustains for days on any note, and I get a lot of compliments on my tone. People are pretty amazed when they seee this little amp on the floor making all that noise.

I brought in a MB MK 2c+ for a few gigs, and my band told me to stick with the MM!

It's a tank. I hardly ever even have to change the tubes. Plus it's nice that I only have to replace 2 of them at a time. Never failed me on a gig.

Musicmanamps.com is a great site for info. Otherwise the support from Ernie Ball is limited to new amp corner hardware.

I've been playing forever, probably about 35 years if I start to do the math. Still a great deal for the $$, I hope it stays that way. It's simply a really reliable amp that sounds great. I love that I can just plug in the amp, my GT-6, and be ready to play in 10 minutes.

I'm not sure about the year, I've only had the amp for about 24 hours and have played it for about 2. It is very versatile and seems that with a proper distortion pedal you could play anything from death metal to a hawaiian steel guitar sound. It has two channels and doesn't seem to switch, but has a footswitch for reverb and tremolo. I kinda wish it had a headphone output, or maybe better distortion, but those seem minor compared to how good the amp sounds. It does have enough power at 65 watts for small clubs or recording or basically anything that you wouldn't have to use a full stack for. It's one of the tube varieties, which I guess would indicate that it is of the earlier models.

I use it mostly with a Gibson SG circa 1996 and I tell ya it f*ckin' sings. It suits my style almost perfectly which is blues-based rock and different country and blues musics. It doesn't seem too noisy but it seems that certain harmonic pitches cause the amp to vibrate. Again, I've only had the amp for about a day and haven't really tried to tighten or tweak anything yet. It stays very clean until you turn it up past halfway, at which point the distortion is very smooth, think Buddy Guy or BB King.

I've only had it a day.

I've only had it a day.

I've been playing about 9 years and also own a Roland JC-120. The Roland is known for its amazing clean sound, but the Music Man 210 65 has as good of a clean sound if not better. Honestly. I love how it sounds, I love how much power it has. I like alot of things about it. I don't like that it has tubes, but I'm not sure if it's a hybrid. I don't understand all that much about the tubes and how that couples with circitry and all that, but it powers right up and doesn't make noise. I'm guessing that it hasn't had any alterations to it or any replacements, knowing the guy who used to own it. I just bought it off the guy's nephew who apparently didn't know what he had and sold it to me for 40 bucks. I figured even if it sucks I'll sell it for a profit, but I definetly think I'm keeping it.

70's
Never owned a better amp
2 channels
Doesn't need anything else
Use this amp everywhere. Always has adequate power
Customised, has the two el34 valves but the smaller pre amp valves replaced by transistors

I use it with a Gretsch Roc-jet, a DeArmond Starfire Special, a Telecaster, a Strata rickenbacker and it has had an immense number of guitars played through it (anyone who's borrowed it wants to buy it), this amp is a monster.
I play Rhythm & Blues, Rockabilly, Ska-whatever I play the amp handles it beautifully.
No noise
I use full mid, 7 treble and no bass on ch 2, reverb on 6
sounds range from squeaky clean & bright to dirty muddy blues depending on the vol & master comination

This amp has never let me down and I've had it for 15 years,
I've never had to change a valve since I've had it and I don't know how long they were in before that.

Have never needed even a service on this amp.

been playing 26 years.
Don't need any other amp
If this amp was stolen I'd commit murder to get it back.
I love everything about this amp except the weight.
I actually got this amp for free (ha)! Swapped it for a horrible three pick-up, wangy bar, locking nut, grey telecaster in 1989 (bought for me by a band I'd since left). I bet that guys sick now

1979 2 x 10" speakers, 65/32 watts.
Channel 1: Vol Trebl Bass
Channel 2: Vol trebl mid bass
Both Channels: revrb trem MasterVol
No unnecessary stuff.
Solid State preamp, solid state Driver (early units have 12ax7 tube),
Tube output section (El-34's).

Play Strat's, LPS's, PRS McCarty.
Handles all guitars well.
Sounded OK before re-cap.
Sounds commanding after re-cap (recap restored it's distn. ability).
Clean, thumpy, and adequate blues distotion.
Very 'pedal friendly'.

Have the amp since 1979. Never broke down.
Recently replaced all electrolytic caps (11 of 'em).
Some of the caps were pretty well gone, one of the filter caps
was completely gone - but the amp still worked and sounded good.
I expect to repeat the re-cap service another 15 years.
Hows that for reliability!

There is none. I do the work myself, and rate myself:

They don't make 'em like this any more.
Not construction wise, nor tone wise.
But a drawback is that some of the parts are obsolete,
and can't be found. No transformers, no LM307's...
But with a little maintainence and TLC these things
remain indestructable - and cheap.
(Just stay far away from anything with rust.)

I bought mine from a friend in 1996. He bought it new in 1978 (he thinks). I really like the amp. I've used it in the studio and live many times. It gives me the Fender sound I need. I play a '96 Fender Tele through it and it really sounds great. My favorite guitar is a '62 Jap reissue tele. Unfortunately I can't use this amp live with that guitar because of feedback issues. I think it's because the guitar has a microphonic pickup and the amp possibly has microphonic tubes. I don't know for sure if that's what the problem is but it is definitely a problem. It is noisy in some environments. Like everyone else says it doesn't have a good distortion in it. I use the Boss Blues Driver pedal. The main reason I bought the amp was because of the killer tremelo that it has. It is much better than the tremelo in my Deluxe Reverb. I use it for country-rockabilly-blues-rock sounds. It does the job and has balls.