kdawg2a wrote:Thinking out loud here a bit. My dream amp would be 2 channels, slightly pushed tweed deluxe for my clean and driven plexi for my dirty channel. Somewhere around 20 watts. If it was to be built, would it be worth building with oversize transformers to help with lower volume response and 'fullness'?
Ryan, can it be done? How much?!
kdawg2a wrote:Thinking out loud here a bit. My dream amp would be 2 channels, slightly pushed tweed deluxe for my clean and driven plexi for my dirty channel. Somewhere around 20 watts. If it was to be built, would it be worth building with oversize transformers to help with lower volume response and 'fullness'?
Ryan, can it be done? How much?!
Isn't that what a Rivera does?
I have no idea.
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.
kdawg2a wrote:Thinking out loud here a bit. My dream amp would be 2 channels, slightly pushed tweed deluxe for my clean and driven plexi for my dirty channel. Somewhere around 20 watts. If it was to be built, would it be worth building with oversize transformers to help with lower volume response and 'fullness'?
Ryan, can it be done? How much?!
This is a cool/handy thread actually, always good to know how to work your amps to get the best from them.
With clean head room the goal, I always used to set my 800's power section high and use the pre amp as a master volume. It sounded bigger that way compared to the other way around. Once I get back into the practice room I'm gonna have a good fiddle to find the sweet spot.
kdawg2a wrote:My dream amp would be 2 channels, slightly pushed tweed deluxe for my clean and driven plexi for my dirty channel. Somewhere around 20 watts.
If it's a tweed/JTM hybrid I imagine it would be quite doable as they do share some similarities.
kdawg2a wrote:Thinking out loud here a bit. My dream amp would be 2 channels, slightly pushed tweed deluxe for my clean and driven plexi for my dirty channel. Somewhere around 20 watts. If it was to be built, would it be worth building with oversize transformers to help with lower volume response and 'fullness'?
Ryan, can it be done? How much?!
Definitely can be done. Mercury Magnetics started offering this kind of things years ago - over-sized output and power transformer upgrades, which they refer to as Fat-Stack or Super-Stack - definitely makes a difference, particularly to the low-end and the overall transient response, and you can less compression from OT saturation when the output section is pushed hard.
With the current FX rate, a ballpark for that kind of build is $2.5K ... but stay tuned, I'm looking at offering some economy options for builds this summer which may still tick the big iron + lower wattage box.
THE AMP SHOP LTD
Boutique Amplifiers, Guitars & Effects
Repairs, Modifications & Custom Work http://www.ampshop.co.nz
There’s certainly something about big trannies - My THD Univalve had massive great trannies, the size of which you’d expect on a 100 watt amp, and that was only a 10 watt amp. But it sounded big, nothing at all like other low watt amps I’ve tried and it had great dynamics
A well-designed/spec'd single-ended amp such as the Univalve should have larger transformers than you might expect for a low-wattage amp; the OT will need to be an air-gapped design which automatically makes it larger than a typical low-wattage push-pull OT.
THE AMP SHOP LTD
Boutique Amplifiers, Guitars & Effects
Repairs, Modifications & Custom Work http://www.ampshop.co.nz
kdawg2a wrote:
I gig with a 5 watt Marshall class 5 (going through the same cab as the plexi) and it gets me 80% of the tone at a usable volume.
Quick Question: are you one of those guys who uses the fold-back to hear the Guitar amp?
There are still some that think the neck PU is moved to accommodate the extra frets which only proves they cannot detect the difference in length of each.
kdawg2a wrote:Thinking out loud here a bit. My dream amp would be 2 channels, slightly pushed tweed deluxe for my clean and driven plexi for my dirty channel. Somewhere around 20 watts. If it was to be built, would it be worth building with oversize transformers to help with lower volume response and 'fullness'?
Ryan, can it be done? How much?!
Definitely can be done. Mercury Magnetics started offering this kind of things years ago - over-sized output and power transformer upgrades, which they refer to as Fat-Stack or Super-Stack - definitely makes a difference, particularly to the low-end and the overall transient response, and you can less compression from OT saturation when the output section is pushed hard.
With the current FX rate, a ballpark for that kind of build is $2.5K ... but stay tuned, I'm looking at offering some economy options for builds this summer which may still tick the big iron + lower wattage box.
This is why I love this site. Knowledgable good bastards. Keep me up to date with what your doing there Ryan.
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.
kdawg2a wrote:
I gig with a 5 watt Marshall class 5 (going through the same cab as the plexi) and it gets me 80% of the tone at a usable volume.
Quick Question: are you one of those guys who uses the fold-back to hear the Guitar amp?
Nope. Acoustics go through the fold back but the electric just projects straight out from the amp. I very rarely need to go past 3 on the volume and my drummer plays like Animal.
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.
