@Guitarists - Handmade Valve Amps - Your Wishes

[bluelife]

Hi people,

you may have seen I've been making and converting guitars and stuff, doesn't matter, this thread is about a bloke I met through that who is starting to build valve amps.

He has over 30 years experience in the electronics field and knows his stuff.

I would like you to write down what you would like to see in a small valve amp.

1) power
2) controls
3) connections
4) looks
5) anything else too of course

What has always stopped you buying these cheapo ones?

I won't ask what you would be willing to pay, because these are handmade, each one will be a bit different, also in looks, so they will cost a bit of course, but price isn't the theme at the moment.

Your help is appreciated, I'll send him a link,

Cheers

Richard

[trimph1]

I'll be thinking of that one....

[Dean Aka Nekro]

+1 Richard cheers man

Dean

[lfm]

I don't know what he means by small amp, but:

I think Koch Studiotone has excellent features and is a good model:

- 3 levels of crunch with footpedal
- direct outs with cabinet sim filters. I miss though there is not level control of this built in.
- built in load resistance that can take power output to run without speaker for silent recording purposes and ability to get the crunch you want.

But I had to tweak it a little to be versatile for my needs:

Changed valves at input to 12AT7's to handle humbucker. Clean channel were distorted with normal passive pickups at full.

So two level inputs are good not having to tweak to use humbuckers.

Effect loop with level controls - both on input and outputs like Fender has on some amps.

I feel the range of the passive tone controls is to narrow though. So 3 channels with full tone controls, and really wide range is really nice.

If going for a 50W or more amp maybe switch for output power to 15W or so. Or a powersoak built in like I mentioned.

If to pay what handbuilt cost maybe not to weak circuit boards(if any at all) that break too easily. Point-to-point soldering maybe is necessary.

A few things that comes to mind....

[Dean Aka Nekro]

Marshall's old but effective 'Contour' control i miss dearly. I can 'shift' the mids but that is rubbish as it is not at all the same. A tone stack with heck even a single fully parametric band along with the regular tonestack (sort of similar to what is seen on many bass amps) would pique my level of intrest alot, To save space they could be on pull knobs and obviously the fully parametric band would be active which some player will not want which could be hard bypassed unless its pulled active. That is a big deal to me but a good old well tuned contour knob would be ample
Lift the ISF (Infinite Shape Feature Control from Blackstar amps )
A deep switch
A bright switch

A pre-amp line out for using with either another power-amp or for use with Mic'd Speaker Cabinet IRs ITB
Power-Amp Input (If it is going to be a full amp but a pre-amp i would be happy with)
FX Loop switchable between -10db to +5db
No more than 50 watt output
selectable Tube/Valve or Solid-State rectification/tracking
Nothing effects wise in any way, shape or form including even a valve driven spring reverb tank...I hate onboard effects with a passion

Alot of features i like are implemented in Rivera's Knuklehead K7 Amp head (they do not offer it as a smaller powered version nor do they offer the pre-amp section on its own either and getting one from the US is too pricey for me) which i can easily link to Richard if that would help?

Thats just the tip of the iceberg and like the Terminator:

I'll be back

[susiwong]

So hard to say ...
An amp could have all my dream features, but the only things that matter in the end are tone, and then build quality.
Still, a few ideas, as long as they don't mess with tone :
- ptp with good, solid components, no corner cutting with trannies, tube sockets etc to keep cost down as with most small amps
- single channel
- wooden headshell, metal tends to rattle ime
- dual parallel symmetrical DI outs, one compensated, one straight, of identical levels
- built-in complex load for silent recording, not only a load resistor
- long Hammond tank tweaked right instead of a loop
- taking a wide variety of (output) tubes, bias accessible externally
- low to medium gain and taking pedals well
- both presence and cut controls
- (optional) dual tone stacks, pre- and post OD, with individual bypass switches (not sure if this can be done without sacrificing overall tone, in doubt better avoid
- an amp like this would not be too cheap, obviously, but as long as the price/performance ratio is reasonable I wouldn't complain personally.
Better tone/build quality over cheap price any day, boutique eye candy not needed.

Ymmv,
susiwong

[trimph1]

Definitely a wood cabinet for sure, top quality parts, a good PS is necessary, maybe a few effect loops and/or presets, handle up to 50 watts,

But the biggest thing for me is to have good tone...

[susiwong]

Hi Dean,
good to see we definitely agree on the importance of recording outs !
Everything else (except quality) is fundamentally different, so here's another request :
One size fits all is imposssible, so concentrate on one appproach or the other, but don't try to roll them all into one.
I'd much rather know that a perfect high gain solution exists than another mediocre compromise.
Ideal would be two radically different models ...
Ymmv,
susiwong

Beyond the diametrally different needs however, I think our judgements on overall quality would be very close, we both can appreciate a good amp of a different genre.

[susiwong]

why I don't think a loop is essential:
we're talking small amps, i.e. recording as opposed to stage use.
I never record FX, so ...
And having a bypassable loop is expensive when done correctly without tone loss.
Ymmv,
susiwong

[lfm]

we're talking small amps, i.e. recording as opposed to stage use.

Does it really have to?

I wonder if to get enough sales a combined 50W/15W(triod switch) or a 50W with powersoak would be a more versatile product.

This could very well be used for rehearsal and small clubs, and even bigger jobs being miked up - as well as recording having the DI outs as we all seem to agree on.

Possibly a power amp with 4 valves where two are removable to run on 1/4 effect.

And pure tube signal path. I know Koch cheated on that one with a solid state circuit in the middle somewhere.

And I like the idea already mentioned with a parametric EQ. I have some really cool sounds coming out of a Damage Control Womanizer. Both pre- and post-EQ and one of them parametric. You can really get interesting character of sound with such a solution.

[Dean Aka Nekro]

Amen but a man can try

Build and Tone/Feel are without doubt first priority

and all the 'wants' i have i could do with say an ENGL pre-amp going into a bass pre-amp for shaping admittedly or bite down and just shell out for that damned Rivera...Etc.

Still that good old contour control i am standing by that one, Really good on more than just high-gain sounds and it does not need be that drastic as on the old marshall valvestates i had/liked as i never used it past 1/4 of its travel (the louder it went the less contour was needed/used) and oh that much missed/beloved H&H Bass Amp 100H is what is springing the active mid-range fully parametric band. Still miss all them, H&H the most (not seen one up for sale either!) and why the heck did Marshall think a full-on all or nothing 'mid-shift' instead of leaving the contour control as it was i do not understand and never will (Nu-Metal? Scooping every bit of character from the damned things? Meh )

Anyway enough from me, When i am thinking more realistic i will post

Dean going overboard with the ultimate dream or horrific nightmare depending which way one looks at it amp/pre-amp

PS: a tone stack pre-gain stage? The clean channel on the TSL has that setup and it is not a channel i spend anytime on, Thought something was wrong with it when first trying it out

[Dean Aka Nekro]

Yes a parametric fan lfm dude, If its implemented as to suit many i think it would work and be a pretty unique feature which could be the amps ace up its sleeve if it is switchable with a pull to engage and push to defeat/bypass

[bluelife]

Just a quick note to say with "small" I meant certainly 15W or lower,

thx for your input, will comment at a later date, and the bloke that builds them will be reading this too,

Richard

[susiwong]

Yes a parametric fan lfm

+1 about a fan, but does it have to be parametric ?
Lol,
susiwong

[susiwong]

Anyway enough from me, When i am thinking more realistic i will post

Dean going overboard with the ultimate dream or horrific nightmare depending which way one looks at it amp/pre-amp

PS: a tone stack pre-gain stage? The clean channel on the TSL has that setup and it is not a channel i spend anytime on, Thought something was wrong with it when first trying it out

Nothing unrealistic about your ideas at all, mate, the opposite is true. Very specific thoughts, coming from experience !

Re tone stacks, I actually thought of the higher gain scenarios when suggesting pre & post, always liked this with Boogies.
Pre gain you shape the character of the distortion more than actually EQing tone, post gain is where you do the actual EQ adjustments.
Very effective, imagine boosting the mids for a singing lead tone pre-gain, and EQing them out again afterwards to get a clear tone ...
Not unlike EQ/comp sequence when mixing, or NR emphasis/deemphasis in an analog tape machine if you get my drift.

Re parametric EQs, I like them a lot, but can they be made at all using a simple tube circuit ?
I definitely agree on trying to keep it all tube if possible, though there sure are a few great examples with selected solid state stages.
I always felt JCM900s didn't end up as epic fails due to the solid state boost stage, but due to general corner cutting with trannies, filter caps and related stuff.
Think of the classic Klon or TS into Marshall recipe, nobody would mind the SS component in that scenario ...

Ymmv,
susiwong