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Post by woodyblues on Feb 26, 2023 14:27:39 GMT -5
I have a dream. What I want is a guitar amp that isn't like a normal guitar amp. Just a cabinet with a speaker and the tube power amp section of a Blackface amp of say 25 to 50 watts, no controls, no reverb no effects. I wish to feed it the preamp out of another amp which isn't loud enough on it's own but gives me tones I've always wanted. I use an early Fender Tweed "Champ" model and an early Fender Tweed Bassman model and even though it's a digital front end the two patches sound superb and incredibly touch sensitive with P90's.
As an example one version of a Fender Twin has a "Power Amp In" which I believe bypasses all of the preamp tubes and electronics. So basically that's what I would want only in a lower power version (like say a DRRI) without all the unnecessary tubes, electronics, potentiometers and weight. Were I to mod a DRRI to allow for a power amp in I think that would be close to ideal but it would be nice to eliminate all that unnecessary weight and electronics. Is this a dream which could be realized and if so is there a kit from a manufacturer which could be purchased or a schematic to follow to build such a thing?
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Feb 26, 2023 14:53:20 GMT -5
This is pretty much how the original Hammond Organs operated: a preamp in one box and a power amp in another box.
Nobody I know of makes anything like this for guitar, but it's all over the audiophile world. Problem is, audiophile gear does not adapt well to guitar because the circuits are not designed to compliment the guitar.
Many years ago, Dave Hunter set out to design an amp that was as simple as possible, because he (like many others) believes that the fewer components you have in an amp circuit--the better the sound will be. He came close to designing it as a kit, but realized it would have less appeal to a wide slice of guitarists if he omitted a volume control and some tone-shaping features. It was called the Two Stroke Amp. Cornford Amps (UK) makes a commercial version of the Two Stroke, called the Romany. There are several schematics out there that are all slightly different. I built one that uses a single power tube and it does sound fantastic.
You certainly could build separate pre and power amps, but it's simply more economical to have both in a single unit because they can share the power supply--which contains the most expensive parts.
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Post by Leftee on Feb 26, 2023 15:07:48 GMT -5
Old lap steel amps also had no controls… sometimes. Especially the smaller amps.
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Post by woodyblues on Feb 26, 2023 15:21:11 GMT -5
I see some companies who make floor type stomp amp modelling boxes now making powered cabinets designed to just amplify those floor based units. This is kind of what I want only to have it a "tube" powered cabinet rather than solid state.
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Post by woodyblues on Feb 26, 2023 15:38:21 GMT -5
On a Fender 94 Twin the "power amp input" jack on the rear panel connects directly to the input of the power amplifier automatically disconnecting the preamp signal when used. In the manual it claims this is useful for using the Twin as a slave amp. And that's the term for what I'm trying to do. A "Slave" amp.
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Post by markfromhawaii on Feb 28, 2023 12:56:01 GMT -5
There’s the Synergy module route endorsed by Steve Vai. They make a 30 watt combo with a 6L6 power amp section and you can plug in your favorite preamp section. www.synergyamps.com/shop/c/combos/After checking this out on Sweetwater, it seems Synergy amps have some quality control issues. Seems like the heads and combos have a few negative reviews along these lines. Buyer beware. |
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Post by Pinetree on Feb 28, 2023 22:35:04 GMT -5
When I was a wee lad, I used to draw pictures of rock bands..
And the amps had only one control..
ON/NOT ON
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Mar 1, 2023 9:33:31 GMT -5
It's like when my pals gripe about crap TV and noting that's worth watching anymore. I remind them the ON switch also works as an OFF switch  |
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Post by reverendrob on Mar 3, 2023 22:29:42 GMT -5
Combo: not likely a thing.
You can get tube rack power amps that are as described to do the job intended.
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