Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[joecool85]

Apparently I missed the memo, but Dean Markley is back at it making amplifiers again.  Very cool!  They bought out UltraSound in 2007 and then in January 2011 they started making their own amps again including some tube re-issues as well as a nice lineup of solid state gear.

Here's a link to their page: http://deanmarkleyamps.com/


The DM60RC looks like a nice amp with a 12" speaker, 2 channels, reverb and chorus all footswitchable.  It uses digital reverb which is too bad though.  The DM15R and DM30RC both use spring reverb units which is cool.  The DM15R has no footswitch options, the DM30RC can only switch channels (not reverb and chorus like the 60). 

They are more pricey than Fender Frontmans and similar, but so far reviews have been that they sound WAY better and seem to be built a lot stronger.  I gotta find one and try it out, they look nice.

**Edit**
MSRP pricing can be found here: http://deanmarkleyamps.com/Downloads/DMElectronicsAmpsPrices.pdf

[J M Fahey]

Good news!!
I love the DMs. 

[joecool85]

Good news!!
I love the DMs. 

Hopefully the general public does too.  I'd love to see more all analog solidstate amps out there other than the cheap practice amps.  There is no reason you can't have a quality analog solidstate amp.  Keep it simple, have great tone and good build quality and I'll buy one.

[Tann-74]

I worked on a early 80's dean markley cd60.. this on had worn o/p valve and preamp socket's plus needed a overhaul due to someone's tinkering finger's that made a right mess of all the wiring not sure what they was trying to do here ...
In the end it needed some sorting out and fresh power caps etc then refitting in the case ready for action..I must say it was straight forwards to under take the task all in a afternoons work!   

[joecool85]

Someone finally did a great review of the DM30RC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cldSeryDQzU

Not sure what language the guy speaks, but I get his playing!

[J M Fahey]

Cool !!!
Being GuitarSIAM, it must be Thai.
I've been expecting this for over 2 years now.
A friend of mine who lives in NW USA has been collaborating with "Mr DM" designing some exciting new tube amps for the DM amps line relaunch.
He's (understandably) pissed off by DM's later decision of playing it safe and only reissuing old models.

[joecool85]

Cool !!!
Being GuitarSIAM, it must be Thai.
I've been expecting this for over 2 years now.
A friend of mine who lives in NW USA has been collaborating with "Mr DM" designing some exciting new tube amps for the DM amps line relaunch.
He's (understandably) pissed off by DM's later decision of playing it safe and only reissuing old models.

Hopefully they will eventually release the new tube amp designs.  Although I have to say I am thoroughly impressed with the sound coming out of that all SS DM30RC.  No digital stuff either, all analog goodness including a true spring reverb...mmm.   

[mexicanyella]

Wow! That reviewer guy has great touch on the instrument; I'd say that about 98% of the coolness of that review is in the guy's hands. Although that new DM combo may well be a great-sounding amp anyway. That strat copy sounds pretty nice to me also!

[phatt]

Wow! That reviewer guy has great touch on the instrument; I'd say that about 98% of the coolness of that review is in the guy's hands.

>>PhAtt Phil says,, No not really?
How about,, Just inteligent limiting of high frequency response,, always sounds smooth.  Listen very carefully, (if you have that freq thing on your media player look at the response on the spectrum analizer).

All that sound is 90% under 1kHz response. (A good mixdown working also)

Go listen to Carlos Santana?? same thing,,, heavy supession of hi freq ALWAYS works wonders for slick smooth funk Blues.

The rest is just practice and learning riffs.

In my Humble experience,,,90% of Guitar Amps today have 500 mile too much bandwidth and it just kills the real quality of any electric guitar.<<

Although that new DM combo may well be a great-sounding amp anyway. That strat copy sounds pretty nice to me also!

>> FWIW,,, I personally use a cheap crappy $150 copy Strat,, complete with the cheapest PU's that can be purchased. LOW GAIN!!!!!

Oh and Yes I've got some genuine Fender PU's to A/B test it,, sos I DO know what I'm talkin about.

The cheap PU's can cover a broader range of styles without the hassles often found with big fat high gain PU's. winky


90% of great tone Is In The electronics (Amplifier tricks) not the PU's,,,The more you limit the bandwidth the better it will sound,,, and I'm yet to be proved wrong.

If You people like what you hear in that clip then head over to FSB  (Free Stomp boxes) and look for The *RSO* circuit by *mictester*

RSO = Really Smooth Overdrive.

go here ;
http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=8763

Sorry,,You will need to log in first to view the Schematic

The circuit has a brick wall at 1,000 CPS and it will reproduce the same effect.

Of course I use My PhAbbTone in Front ,, which just gives me the extra lift but those that tinker with RSO will be greatly rewarded.

Needless to say you could build it into an amp circuit,, winky.

The flip side of all this;
That DM Amp would work well in a studio situation but in real world Live playing you would need the extra top end otherwise it will die.

So it's a case of what works in a given situation. (Shrug shoulders)

Have fun, Phil

[joecool85]

Phil, as far as needing more top end live, he could just turn up the treble and/or move the mid shift knob to the top end and turn up the mids as well.

I'm not sure if I can justify double the price of a Fender Frontman 25R...but it seems to be worth it comparing clips online and also build quality appears to be better.  Plus it does have the Chorus effect, though I'd probably never use that.

[mexicanyella]

>>PhAtt Phil says,, No not really?
How about,, Just inteligent limiting of high frequency response,, always sounds smooth.  Listen very carefully, (if you have that freq thing on your media player look at the response on the spectrum analizer).

All that sound is 90% under 1kHz response. (A good mixdown working also)

Go listen to Carlos Santana?? same thing,,, heavy supession of hi freq ALWAYS works wonders for slick smooth funk Blues.

The rest is just practice and learning riffs.

>> FWIW,,, I personally use a cheap crappy $150 copy Strat,, complete with the cheapest PU's that can be purchased. LOW GAIN!!!!!

Oh and Yes I've got some genuine Fender PU's to A/B test it,, sos I DO know what I'm talkin about.


90% of great tone Is In The electronics (Amplifier tricks) not the PU's,,,The more you limit the bandwidth the better it will sound,,, and I'm yet to be proved wrong.

Me saying "98% of what was cool about the review was in the guy's hands" may have been a bit subjective and provocative, and I didn't mean to stir anything up with that remark.

I don't dispute what you are saying about focusing a guitar's sound into the "good frequencies" either, or that understanding how to work with those frequencies and de-emphasize or eliminate other ones is important. I dug the clip of you putting your rig through its paces awhile back; obviously your ears and hands are in good working order!

I do think that what was going on in that video goes beyond particular gear and eqing though. And even beyond the final production methods on the recording and video. EQ settings aside, the fluidity of the guy's phrasing and how his playing attack/approach changes the voicing of notes from phrase to phrase...that's in the hands, and people that can play at that level can often sound great on anything.

Here's a video that sort of brings your point and mine together, I think:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCgEuDODhf0

It's Monte Montgomery playing "Little Wing" live on a Alvarez-Yairi acoustic, running the guitar's piezo/preamp through some pedals, including distortion for part of the song, into a combination of SWR and Trace Elliott acoustic amps. Since he's riffing on the "Little Wing" theme throughout, you can hear the same player changing tones pretty drastically, and when he's on the distorted sections I'd say the acoustic's highs are pretty heavily truncated into the electric guitar tonal territory  you speak of. Check it out; this guy can kill it.

[phatt]

@ mexicanyella,
Whoops,,Sorry if I took licence from your comments to make a point.
No offence meant,,Just could not let the chance go by,, 

Yes stunning touch by M Montgomery but I'll bet any money he
would not sound half as good without the right gear.
Hope you understand this does not demean the guys obvious talent.

Heck! Way above my ability

I noticed he had a little trouble trying to get the system to feedback at the right freq,, he did well as acoustics are touchy with high gain distortion.

Yes I do like those acoustic players and I have been doing a lot of practice with fingers in the last year or so. (Electric and Acoustic)
Even surprised myself and nailed down Georgia on My clapped out acoustic a while back. I found it hard at first but I threw the picks in the bin and kept at it.
A Pain when you split a finger nail though.

@ Joe,, Just a point to be aware of;
Turning a tone pot up or down by 10Db won't make a scrap of difference if you have accumulated an ugly reso up by 30~40 Db that is the whole reason why gear sounds different,, even though they may have close to identical tone control circuitry.
Each design will have what might be termed a Raw System Tone and the Tone knobs are just to fine tune the final result.
Often the System tone can be up by 60Db at the wrong freq and may not match the guitar or style of music you play.
Not easy for a hobby fella like me to explain but I've come to realize it's very real and the cause of much buying and selling of gear. (often money wasted)

Sims come in handy here,, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Simply be clicking on several points in a simulation will quickly reveal just how much the tone shaping alters as it passes through each stage of the amplifier.

Also a good read here;
http://www.amptone.com/truesecretofamptone.htm
A bit wordy and focused on powersoaks but just grab the basic concept.
Anything active (especially those that distort) needs ReEQing.
So the basic concept reduces to, Distortion> EQ> Distortion> EQ.

Even with close to zero electronic understanding the novice could go a long way armed with such a basic concept.
Phil.

[joecool85]

Back on topic.  I've been in contact with Dean Markley and have found out that the DM30RC uses FET switching for it's channels (as opposed to relays), has an active preamp that they won't share the schematic for and also utilizes a TDA7294, way more than capable of putting out the 30w the amp is rated for.

[QReuCk]

And what are the benefits of such a design?
Reliability?
Ensuring that the power amp just deals with power, thus leaving all the "tone making" function to the preamp (and the speaker, of course)?
Any thoughts?

[joecool85]

And what are the benefits of such a design?
Reliability?
Ensuring that the power amp just deals with power, thus leaving all the "tone making" function to the preamp (and the speaker, of course)?
Any thoughts?

The benefits of using a larger than necessary chip for the power amp is that you aren't running it "full tilt" all the time, meaning it will run cooler and also last longer with less likely chances of breakdown.  It's always better to "over build" than "under build" or build right to spec.

As to tone, it's almost always left to the preamp in a solid state guitar amp - just as it is in this design (at least as best as I can tell).