We upgraded our online tube amp calculators to create a more detailed representation of gain versus frequency. There is no file to download or software to install - just enter your component values and click the "Compute" button.
Amp Industry News
The Garnet Amplifier Company has been making a slow but steady comeback in the years following the passing of its famous founder Gar Gillies. Gar's signature Herzog guitar effect, for example, has been selling briskly in its post-Gillies incarnation as a full amp head. His successor Pete Thiessen tells us that there are plans to gradually expand the company's products to include a combo version of the Herzog, a kit version of the Guillotine all-tube distortion effect, a limited re-issue of the Session Man amp, and perhaps even a new series of low-watt combos. Read more.
Digitech, known for its distortion pedals, preamps and modulators, has entered the guitar amp market. And not just DSP turbocharged bit manupulators - the company's top of the line TH-150 is a pure vacuum-tube stadium blaster that sports four KT88 power pentodes. How many guitar players really need all those decibels? Read more.
Mack Amps is shutting down its traditional dealer network to focus on direct factory sales. Owner Don Mackrill tells us that the savings are substantial for both the builder and the customer. Mack's best selling Gem head, for example, had an MSRP of US$547, quite a bargain for an all-tube design, but the current factory-direct price of only US$449 still generates a profit. Brick-and-mortar retailers are suffering from economic recession even with their typical 50-percent markup from wholesale. As boutique amp builders and guitar players continue to cut costs, the red ink that flows from traditional sales channels is likely to continue.
Replaced a preamp tube lately? Back in the days of Eddie Durham and Charlie Christian it was easy - even the cocktail waitress could swap a big-socket octal in a Gibson BR-3. An over-sized chassis mounted upright on the floor of a completely open-back amp made the procedure trivial. Today we get tightly packed miniatures mounted upside-down behind the screws of a cabinet panel designed to make even a simple tube substitution seem like open-heart surgery. Fryette Amplification wants to change customer perception. The company's new Memphis 30 features front-mounted dual triodes that all but beg to be swapped out. Only the reverb driver, phase inverter, and power amp tubes remain off limits to cocktail waitresses. Read more.
Parts wholesaler CE Distribution and its affiliated retailer Antique Electronic Supply have begun selling JJ Electronic's custom-designed EL844. Although the EL844 is potentially a drop-in replacement for the EL84, its electrical characteristics are quite different, offering a sonically unique opportunity to amp designers. Transconductance is typically 6.5mA/V, about half the EL84's current-to-voltage ratio. Maximum plate dissipation is 9 watts in contrast to 12 watts for the EL84. Screen dissipation, on the other hand, is identical. Read the EL844 Data Sheet.
James Brown, Chief Engineer at Kustom Amplification and former tech guru for Peavey, has begun moonlighting with his own company, Amptweaker. An engineer going solo is hardly news, but James has adopted a bold business strategy by appealing directly to the public for amplifier and pedal ideas. Famous artists expect a request like "make it a little brighter" to command the late-night insertion of a bright boost cap or less cathode bypass. Via Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, and his website, Brown wants to give the same power to everyday consumers. Well, maybe not "late night," unless you count answering email. Read more.
Amplified Parts sales engineer Kurt Prange has written an excellent article on the selection and installation of spring reverbs. He includes listening tests for units manufactured by Accutronics, MOD, and Belton, and a handy table for estimating input and output impedance based on DC resistance. Read more.
Vox Amplification says that computer design and visualization software accelerated the time to market for its AC30C2 and AC15C1 models. According to Vox product development manager Dave Clarke, Autodesk Inventor and Showcase software reduces Vox's expenditures on physical prototypes and cuts the company's product development time in half. Boutique amp builders may not share Clarke's enthusiasm for point-and-click design, however, especially at a licensing cost of $6290 per workstation.
Mention "outsourcing" and most people think of local jobs being exported to some far off country. For guitar amp builders, however, outsourcing usually means supporting your local cabinet maker, circuit assembly house, chassis fabrication shop, and parts supplier to focus on what matters most: great design. Henriksen Amplifiers doesn't sell tube amps but the company deserves credit for openly publicizing its outsourcing strategy and for employing highly skilled workers in Colorado, California, and Kentucky. Read more.
Extreme gain often demands extraordinary measures. For its new NATAS 100-watt head, Canadian builder Fortin Amplification takes a cue from high-end audio by including a regulated DC heater supply. Minimizing hum via silicon is limited to just the low-level preamp stages where it matters most. Read more.
Antique Electronics Supply, a major supplier to boutique amp builders through CE Distribution, has moved decisively into the amp kit retail market. AES has launched Mod Kits DIY, backed by its musician-oriented parts subsidiary Amplified Parts. Mod Kits DIY, in direct competition with some of CE Distribution's business customers, will market kits for amps and effects pedals directly to individual consumers.