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SS Power amp suggestion for hybrid.

Started by ntblade, January 11, 2010, 05:22:16 PM

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ntblade

Hi all, first post here,
I'm at the design / planning stage of my fist build which will be a hybrid.  Probably based on the ax84 P1 or Hi-Octane with an additional switchable clean channel.  There will be an effects loop taken from a dummy load on the output transformer into a SS stereo power amp.  I'm not looking for monster power output but I'll still want a bit of headroom.  I'm selling my Peavey Valveking 112 to part finance the build and also because it's far to loud!

So, I'm thinking along the lines of 10-30W per channel.  Does anyone have any suggestions for a simple stereo power amp, preferably with output short circuit and thermal protection?

Many thanks,

NTB

J M Fahey

Hi ntblade.
You are getting into "reamping", which is a *good* thing.
Search a little around here, Phatt has experimented on that more than anybody else and posted quite a lot of useful tips, MP3s, the works.
Of course others have something to say too.
As for amp kits, the ones offered here are accessible and have a good reputation; and being quite popular, there are some guys around to help you on those practical, non documented facts of life .

ntblade

Thanks for the reply.  Yes "reamping" is good!  The all-valve section of the amp will end up being a glorified overdrive that should theoretically give cranked tone without the deafness!

NTB
8o)

phatt

#3
Well LOL, Coming so highly recommended I had better do a good job of explaining what can be very confusing.
Before I start my observation of great guitar tone;
"""It has more to do with what you DON"T hear that what you DO hear"""

Adding there is no perfect system for two reasons;

Firstly guitar Amplification is so vastly complex that quite literally a 5 cent wrong component can wreak havoc on what would otherwise be a good sound.
There are just so many places where great tone can be won or lost that it's impossible to focus on a one line answer to great tone.

Secondly, add the simple fact that we all play different kinds of music, we all hear and percieve sounds in different ways. So toss a coin I say. :-*

Many roads essentially lead to the same result and there would be countless ways to do the same thing.
(give or take a Decibel, Watt or Ohm and 10,000 guitarist's that will tell you there way is better)

Ways to do it, Pick one.
Resistive load,
Resistive attenuator,
Power brake type setup,
light bulb,
Coneless speaker.
I even used old wire Jug elements for a while  :o

Dana VVR.
King TUT's Power Scaling.
And countless other options or combinations of the above.

I do like King TUT's concept of *power scaling* and was attempting that until I realised that the limitaion was that no *post power Amp tweaking* could be implimented with his otherwise brilliant idea.
You are still bound to the raw sound/tone that a paticular amp can produce.

So in the end I opted for simple resistive load with a simple Voltage Divider line out and that gives the ability to *Re EQ*, add post poweramp time effects and then reamplify to whater SPL is needed.
The astute will recognize this point can also be used to take a record signal to track if needed.

I felt this gave me the most options and flexability for my needs and if you are on a strict budget this may also be the $cheapest$ way to do such things, Hint Winky.

PS, You may wish to have a listen to my SS rig MP3's as the only difference is the tube power stage is replaced with a SS distortion unit I built. All the other equipment is the same. Adding the Valve does sound marginally better.
I will eventually post short snippets of the ReAmp Rig.
http://www.ssguitar.com/index.php?topic=1446.0
Cheers Phil.

Brymus

I personaly think there are much better tube amps for re-amping than the P1 or High Octane.
This of course is just IMO,but I felt the high octane was lacking...
I would suggest something from Marshall or HiWatt even the tried and true 5E3,which doesnt really need re-amping.
Maybe a Firefly type amp or a modded Valve Jr? a Champ ?
I would search Phatts,Armstrongs,and JM Fahey posts for your answers.
Good Luck , I hope for a positive outcome and will be watching this thread.