JeffTD
Senhor Testiculo
Loving the character, can't wait to hear stuff with a TS, more volume, and 6L6's!
What kinda price/channel number are we looking at for these?
What kinda price/channel number are we looking at for these?
Wolfe Amplification Hellfire- Have a quick listen
- Thread starter Wolfeman
- Start date
AudioPhile777
Mathew Cohen
This is more of a 'studio' amp, so it only has one channel, and no channel switching. BUT, it does have two independent stages coming off of the input gainstage, that meet before the noisegate and tone stack. So technically, its 2 independent channels, and by rotating the 2 gain controls you are essentially 'mixing' 2 different preamps together. One channel is almost a dead copy of an XTC (with slightly more gain) and the other is more 'SLO/5150 sounding', although not as excessive on the gain/fizzyness.
The 2 channels look nothing alike on the schematic, yet the differences are subtle. But you can really hear a difference with both turned up on full, compared to one turned down and one turned up. (You get the phases counteracting each other, just like when using 2 separate amps to record with and then blending them.)
Shit, I kinda got off topic. Price I'm going to be dead set on is $1600. For a hand built amp, and the quality of parts I'm using, I'm not going to be making much on these. Just enough to stay in business. I didn't go cheep on transformers, which a lot of people do. I went with Hammonds, and they sound great. Lots of new builders out there are using a cheap brand from Michigan(won't mention names), and they do sound good, but I'm more comfortable using a bit higher priced ones. They are switchable to overseas voltages as well for you guys in Europe (although I'm not sure if I'm even allowed to sell overseas, since some components are not ROHS compliant).
All caps are Mallory 150s, I love those things. Power caps are low ESR Nichicons.
Turret board is hand made, out of pure carbon fiber. Front plate is also made out of carbon fiber(not a false veneer like that other company, I spare no expense. Not that it matter anyway).
All resistors are Xicon 1/2 watters, metal film. (Except for power resistors, obviously)
All wiring is done with military grade Teflon coated wire, 18 gauge all throughout the amp(most amps only use 18g on certain areas, and smaller wire on the rest). All wires have a sweet looking nylon braid on them. Probably going to bite me in the ass when I need to repair anything, but it really looks good and makes the whole amp very neat.
All tube sockets are ceramic, mounted on the chassis.
All pots are Alpha. Yes, they are the cheaper brand of pots, but in all my builds I have NEVER had an issue with them. In fact, you see these more and more in production amps these days. As much as I wanted to use the sealed pots found in amps like the SLO, I couldn't find the correct values and they are VERY expensive, and don't make that much of a difference to raise the price of the amp that much. Controls on the amp(from left to right) are- Gain 1, Gain2, Treble, Middle, Bass, Contour, Noise Reduction(which I might omit, since the amp isn't noisy at all in the range it covers), Master Volume, Presence, Depth
Very heavy duty Carling industrial type switches for power and standby. All other toggle switches are Mountain brand. The toggles I have so far control- FX Loop Bypass, FX Loop +4/-10, Power Amp Tightness. May add a few controls for bright switches as well.
FX loop is solid state, YET DON'T BE AFRAID OF IT!!! It really doesn't color the sound at all, and the levels in the amp are set to never reach an overload point on the opamps. So you won't be able to clip them, no matter how hard you try.
Amp will ship with choice of tubes. Power tubes will be SED "C", you pick 6L6 or EL34, or 2 EL34 and 2 6L6. Preamp tubes will be Tung Sol 12AX7 in V1-V3, and a JAN Phillips NOS 12AT7 for the phase inverter.
The amps standby control is only connected to the power section(which really is the only thing that needs to be on standby to let the heaters warm up, preamp tubes are fine running full boar even when you immediately turn the amp on). Hell even putting the power tubes in standby is a debatable subject. But the cool thing about this setup is that you can have the amp in standby, and still have output from the preamp on the FX loop for silent recording with impulses. I think Engl's work this way also? The only thing bad about this standby is that at a high master volume, you may still hear some stray sound coming through the speaker, but it's very quiet. You could just unplug the cab when it's on standby anyway. STill need to see if this is normal for this type of standby.
Still debating a half power switch. If you really want to run it at half power, it's simple to just pull 2 power tubes. So this may or may not happen.
That just about sums up the whole amp! Hopefully I showed that it's worth the price.
Not yet. You really don't want to see what it looks like right now haha. It's quite an awesome sight, you wouldn't even believe it works looking at it in it's current form.
Pics will come in time though.
AudioPhile777
Mathew Cohen
jangoux
Member
- May 9, 2006
- 1,808
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Wolfe, Really cool idea to mix two types of channels, it may be something i may borrow from you on my next amp 
I have a couple comments. For half power, just ground 2 power tubes cathodes. I think it looks neater than pulling two tubes out. also, Alpha pots are not that bad like some people say...The only problems i have with them is the sweep of some log pots. For example, the first 40% of the gain pot wont change almost a thing, then BAM, ultra-mega-higan.
Did you use Oconnors loop? I think ill be using a simplified version , with TL072s, just to have a loop - i never use much fx anyway.
I will say it again. VERY cool idea to mix and match the two types of circuit. I cant hear it atm (using my wife´s crapy msi wind netbook) but as soon as i go to the studio i will download the files.
I have a couple comments. For half power, just ground 2 power tubes cathodes. I think it looks neater than pulling two tubes out. also, Alpha pots are not that bad like some people say...The only problems i have with them is the sweep of some log pots. For example, the first 40% of the gain pot wont change almost a thing, then BAM, ultra-mega-higan.
Did you use Oconnors loop? I think ill be using a simplified version , with TL072s, just to have a loop - i never use much fx anyway.
I will say it again. VERY cool idea to mix and match the two types of circuit. I cant hear it atm (using my wife´s crapy msi wind netbook) but as soon as i go to the studio i will download the files.
Wolfe, Really cool idea to mix two types of channels, it may be something i may borrow from you on my next amp
I have a couple comments. For half power, just ground 2 power tubes cathodes. I think it looks neater than pulling two tubes out. also, Alpha pots are not that bad like some people say...The only problems i have with them is the sweep of some log pots. For example, the first 40% of the gain pot wont change almost a thing, then BAM, ultra-mega-higan.
Did you use Oconnors loop? I think ill be using a simplified version , with TL072s, just to have a loop - i never use much fx anyway.
I will say it again. VERY cool idea to mix and match the two types of circuit. I cant hear it atm (using my wife´s crapy msi wind netbook) but as soon as i go to the studio i will download the files.
I don't know why more companies don't do the channel blending. It could also be switchable to have one on, one off, or both on for essentially a 3 channel amp. I got that idea from one of O'connors books, in one of the preamp topology sections. It doesn't increase the gain much having parallel stages like it does when you cascade, but the layer sounds really sweet if you do it right. Just have to make sure you get the phase right where they get blended back in.
My loop is similar to the TUT SS loop, but more along the lines of the JCM800 reissue loop. I just went with a lower noise opamp, the TL072 really fucks with the presence of the tone and sounds slightly dirty. I just swapped out opamps until I found one I liked better, which ended up being a OPA2132. It's just a few bucks more, and is far superior to the TL072(and you can just drop it right in)
I know what you are saying about the audio taper alpha pots. I just buy a big bag of them and find the ones that act how they should. I also put a little electronics lube on the insides to protect them and make sure they don't act up too soon in the future. My SLO build is still going strong with Alpha pots after 3 years, and I play with the pots daily.
Jackal_Strain
Sigurd Løberg
I'm 90% sold on an Amp from you man, but I have one big question for you: Will you be able to put in a 220v transformer instead of 110v for customers overseas? It's a huge pain in the ass to connect an external step-down transformer when using an amp meant for 110v on a 220v grid here in Norway (and most other countries in europe).
Yep I made sure to buy transformers that can run off of multiple voltages. All that needs to be done is put in different rated fuses.
Jackal_Strain
Sigurd Løberg
I must say, you seem to have everything covered!
I look forward to more clips and seeing how the final product will end up!
I look forward to more clips and seeing how the final product will end up!
jangoux
Member
- May 9, 2006
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Well, the problem with the loop is that op amps are very hard to find here in Brazil and i have bought so much stuff from the US in the last few months that i am sick of it ehhe TL072 can be found in every corner, so thats the reason.
How are you dealing with the both channels phase - I mean, so one wont fuck the other ?
I am not looking for another amp, but I would like to throw in my input (trying to be constructive).
I like the clip, but it definately has a unique dry VHT style sound. I had a Pitbull UL and got rid of it due to its nature. A VHT is useful with its dry style in the right circumstance...I wish you were able to create a "switch" that could control the amount of saturation the amp could take. I ended up trading away the VHT, as I really hated the having to hit a switch for the "extra gain" structure, and then double switch back off to goto clean.
I was really bummed out to hear you say that you designed the amp to only have a certain amount of usable gain, and that if you need more boost it. I prefer amps with loads of usable gain without a boost (I am probably one of the few around here who dislikes a boost). It just seems that you take some of the "Tuning" out of the amp doing this.
That said, I am interested to hear better and louder clips. I always feel the VHT style tone is great when mixed with a heavily oversaturated type of sound.
Also, please bring on the pr0n pics of the inside and the chassis.
I like the clip, but it definately has a unique dry VHT style sound. I had a Pitbull UL and got rid of it due to its nature. A VHT is useful with its dry style in the right circumstance...I wish you were able to create a "switch" that could control the amount of saturation the amp could take. I ended up trading away the VHT, as I really hated the having to hit a switch for the "extra gain" structure, and then double switch back off to goto clean.
I was really bummed out to hear you say that you designed the amp to only have a certain amount of usable gain, and that if you need more boost it. I prefer amps with loads of usable gain without a boost (I am probably one of the few around here who dislikes a boost). It just seems that you take some of the "Tuning" out of the amp doing this.
That said, I am interested to hear better and louder clips. I always feel the VHT style tone is great when mixed with a heavily oversaturated type of sound.
Also, please bring on the pr0n pics of the inside and the chassis.
Well they just have to 'merge' at a point where both paths end in the same phase. So I have a common input stage (lets say this is + phase). It splits there, and each path then has 2 more gain stages. So 'top channel goes to - and then back to +, and bottom channel does the same. They then merge at a common point, so both signals are in phase with each other before going into the next gain stage.
There still is that small phasing effect though, kind of like using 2 mics or layering guitars. It looks really cool on the scope when I blend them together, there are a bunch of sweet spots that really make the signal shine. If they were out of phase with each other where they met, that's when things would get nasty quick, as all you would hear is horrible elements of fizz left over.
I am not looking for another amp, but I would like to throw in my input (trying to be constructive).
I like the clip, but it definately has a unique dry VHT style sound. I had a Pitbull UL and got rid of it due to its nature. A VHT is useful with its dry style in the right circumstance...I wish you were able to create a "switch" that could control the amount of saturation the amp could take. I ended up trading away the VHT, as I really hated the having to hit a switch for the "extra gain" structure, and then double switch back off to goto clean.
I was really bummed out to hear you say that you designed the amp to only have a certain amount of usable gain, and that if you need more boost it. I prefer amps with loads of usable gain without a boost (I am probably one of the few around here who dislikes a boost). It just seems that you take some of the "Tuning" out of the amp doing this.
That said, I am interested to hear better and louder clips. I always feel the VHT style tone is great when mixed with a heavily oversaturated type of sound.
Also, please bring on the pr0n pics of the inside and the chassis.
I appreciate your opinions. As an amp builder though, you tend to design amps based around how 'the builder' wants an amp to sound. What I created is what I've been searching for over the past 17 years of guitar playing. A straight to the point kinda amp, with no useless 'garbage'.
A lot of people will love the amp, but probably even more will hate it. And that's the way it goes with every amp, from every manufacturer, since amps were created. It's like the old saying, you can please some, but you can't please everyone
In terms of boosting the amp, that was more of a pun since everyone seems to do it anyway. In my opinion, the amp has more gain than I'd ever need for anything in the studio. Some might like more, but I tend to layer a lot so more gain is usually a bad thing for me.
As for the VHT sound, I still really don't know why the amp came out sounding like that. Obviously isn't the power amp section, since that clip was only at bedroom level. It might be from my filtering in the power supply, I went overboard in that department.
I like the end result, so that's the way it will stay. But don't throw me out the door yet, I'll have more amps coming after this one sells a bit! My next one is going to be a channel switcher, you might like it better(might have midi control too)
Wolfe, one thing that could be cool with this amp is a footswitch with A, B or A+B, and maybe a C for cleans or whatever. Might be doing that on my next build
That was going to be implemented in the next one
I appreciate your opinions. As an amp builder though, you tend to design amps based around how 'the builder' wants an amp to sound. What I created is what I've been searching for over the past 17 years of guitar playing. A straight to the point kinda amp, with no useless 'garbage'.
A lot of people will love the amp, but probably even more will hate it. And that's the way it goes with every amp, from every manufacturer, since amps were created. It's like the old saying, you can please some, but you can't please everyone
In terms of boosting the amp, that was more of a pun since everyone seems to do it anyway. In my opinion, the amp has more gain than I'd ever need for anything in the studio. Some might like more, but I tend to layer a lot so more gain is usually a bad thing for me.
As for the VHT sound, I still really don't know why the amp came out sounding like that. Obviously isn't the power amp section, since that clip was only at bedroom level. It might be from my filtering in the power supply, I went overboard in that department.
I like the end result, so that's the way it will stay. But don't throw me out the door yet, I'll have more amps coming after this one sells a bit! My next one is going to be a channel switcher, you might like it better(might have midi control too)
Thanks for the insite as the "amp designer." It isn't often I get to discuss things with people who actually design products. I see where you are coming from which is great. We just differ in our sounds a little bit, I very much a fanboy of the Engl/Cobra style saturation. That said, I will certainly be looking forward to your next design.
That said, hasn't every "amp design" been built? Doesn't it seem that a lot of the "botique" amps are rehashes of Mesa/Marshall/SLO? Am I wrong? It seems the amp most out in left field due to design and tubes is those DAR amps -- which I still am looking for good clips.
You bring up a good point that you use less gain in the studio. I have only come to the recording world (after lots of live playing) and I play with a stupid shit ton of gain live. I am slowly learning to back off the gain when recording (and live too).
Oh believe me, I never throw anybody out the door.
Yes, these days it really is hard to come up with anything drastically new in preamp design. Hell everything out there is pretty much a copy of the Fender Bassman, just values changed and maybe a tube or two extra.
The thing is, if it works, why try to reinvent the wheel? That's why most designs(at least high gain) are similar. Yet the manufactures do a good job of adding their own personal touch to each design. you would be surprised, changing a cap here or a resistor there will completely change the voicing of the amp.
Funny thing is, I designed the one path in my amp completely from scratch, using a lot of math. Go figure, it looks very similar to a Marshall/Mesa/Soldano/Peavey high gain circuit. It's just the way it works.
My biggest claim to fame on my design though is eliminating the cathode follower before the tone stack. It took a lot of thinking to get that tone stack working properly without it. And I think my tone stack reacts better than a CF based amp.
I did steal Peaveys noise gate, just because it's so frigging simple and actually works. Gets rid of that really low level hum, without affecting the tone at all. And with the turn of a knob you can completely bypass it.
I also had to 'borrow' an FX loop design, since I am clueless when it comes to SS stuff.
It could be worse I suppose, I could pull a Behringer and just carbon copy every amp out there
