...Yes of course !
41 years I´ve been messing around with music and my first guitar was also my first victim of my first customizing attack, of and endless row...
In all that time lots of instruments and gear passed through my hands and ears. At the end (of my life in Belgium) I had a second hand music shop and did a monthly second hand music market in Antwerp and Brussels.
A good guitar was no problem; I just make one, point. :lol: :wink:
But the amps always missed something and my knowledge on electronics was/is too basic to create a good one myself.
Funny enough, the guy that inspired me to move over to Canarias was also a very handy electronics wizzard, with a fascination for music and had made his first guitar amp 45 years ago... :shock:
The rest of the story you can guess, except the end :
In the meanwhile I have got a few perfect and unique guitar amps, but my friend has died (in 2006).
He once told me never to show/share the electronics schemes while he was alive (long before he even got ill)...
He did an absolutely great job and could spare lots of time in research.
When I met the guy I had already a clear view of what my ideal amp had to be and what not.
The amp had to be completely silent, ´cose I make the noise. :wink: :hihi:
I mean : take any amp, without connecting anything on the input and open all volume and tone knobs. When one uses a 4 speakers bin (1 pair of bass and a pair of guitar speakers cross-wise placed) you have to run away from the hisss and hummm the amp generates (imagine adding the noise of the other amps of the band, in that typical small rehearsal room, multipied by those many years).
Using resistants and condensors of high quality (10x more expensive, but not important in the total cost) elliminates that, together with the tubes, instead of transitors (another fountain of noise).
The amp had to have a powerfull warm sound, so it had to be type A, like a Vox AC30. AB amps give more watts, but a "cold" sound...
My friend changed also all of my other AB amps (Fender, Marshall, etc... ) into A amps and the result spoke for itself.
A year ago I´ve sold 3 of them to some young kids and they couldn´t believe their ears; I´ve never seen people being so happy !
The Vox AC30 was the reference I gave to Walter, ´cose that was the amp I prefered.
I make my sound with my fx´s, so a simple (bass-treble) EQ is all I need, but I kept the simple high-cut (1 condersor and 1 potmeter on the output in the power amp) of the Vox. This way I can boost highs and cut off the sharp 'points'.
IMO more efficient than a flexible mid.
Now it has 2 different pair of tubes : two 6L6GC for the warm sound and the first 30 watts, then 2 EL34 for an extra hi-mid with the last 30 watts.
30W more isn´t that much more for the ears ! (volume isn´t liniar) IMO a 2x12W is more efficient and less weight to carry !
2 main inputs : a normal (à la Vox) and a 'brilliant' one with a special designed preamp.
A simple, but perfect amp : it just amps my sound as I want it !
The price can be cheap if you´re able to find an old broken tube amp. The 2 transfo´s must be OK though, that´s the most expensive ! Sand, paint the chassis, redo the wooden exterior and the front plate.
Having the opportunity to elaborate my ideal amp in these conditions was in fact like a dream !
The schematics and warm greetings,
Max... .. .
PS : I´ve made photos of the amp; due to being very tired, I made the error taking only 1-shots, resulting in 3 badly focussed and 1 clear photo (the most important ). On the inside-top you can even see that a mouse is using it as a W.C. !