The Amp Garage

Katopan, alright, just wanted to say hi and tell you that your work is much appreciated here. (I just reread all 14 pages.) Thanks Rooster, I appreciate the feedback. I put a lot of time into this original investigation. So many other builds and other bench testing I want to do, but just haven't ha...

I built this a number of years ago and use it all the time with my Wreck Express. It's specifically for a re-amping set up but I also use it as a silent load when bench testing amps. It's very much a reactive dummy load and has a line out for re-amping. It isn't an attenuator that drives the speaker...

I read the whole thing the last 3 times you posted it. :roll: Yes you can make a voltage amplifier gain stage out of an EL34 because a valve is a valve. No it won't sound like an EF86 stage because it's a different valve with different characteristics. Then again a 6AU6 stage won't sound like an EF8...

Do all pentodes such as EL34, EL84, those small signal pentodes, etc. sound the same? No. EL34 and EL84 sound different to each other. They sound different to 6V6 and other power valves. Small signal pentodes sound different too. In some ways they can be thought of as simulators of power-amp distor...

Sorry, I was away for a few days and couldn't post any reply. Ok let see if I understand what you're saying, a Trainwreck Express is only producing pure output valve distortion until we drive the volume pass 12 o'clock where the PI and the third preamp stage started to change in waveforms. Correct? ...

Is there a gain limit to how much pentodes such as EL34 and EL84 can handle? I mean if we drive EL34 and EL84 to maximum, what will they sound like? Is a Trainwreck Express already reached the maximum gain possible for EL34? How extreme will EL34 and EL84 output tubes distorted if we keep increasin...

Good point Brew and thanks for the clarification. Other things come into play too, like available headroom. Say you design some LTP PI variant that somehow has massive gain. But if the maximum output signal swing available isn't enough to overdrive the power grids, you won't get power stage distorti...

Thank you for the detailed response Katopan! So if I'm not mistaken and if I understand you correctly, compared to Trainwreck Express amps and their clones, the older NMV amps such as Marshall 18 watt and Plexis produced purely power tube distortion at any volume while TW Express amps produced blen...

There's a lot to talk about here, so it all depends on how deep you want to go. The Express is the most complicated mechanism of overdrive you'll find in any amp and they way it works it like none other. It took me a few months to work it all out and the thread you reference https://ampgarage.com/fo...

Zen poem.... Is clipping in a distortion pedal occurring at the diodes or the stage driving them? If you go digging I posted a heap of waveform captures years ago that show much more than the polstra ones. Every stage in the amp at a full range of volume settings, with commentary on what was happeni...

Hi Brew. I've got a crappy solid state bass combo I was given that I installed a V30 speaker into. I use it for dummy load re-amping, but also put a speaker jack on the back so I could plug direct into it as well. The couple of other speakers I've got didn't sound great in it, but with the V30 it so...

I never seem to have trouble getting the old one loosened to remove it, but getting the new one tighten up nicely has always been difficult. Various pliers to creep it has always done the trick but it sure is a test of patience.

martin manning wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 9:30 pm Since we are talking harp stuff, I'll link this video featuring the late, great Norton Buffalo, playing with Bonnie Raitt and showing off his mastery of modulation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPzcZNgVfpA

Yeah man, that was awesome!

I built this for a friend many years ago and he is still using it regularly. With the VVR it's good for home and VVR up full is good for modest volume jams with friends. At gigs he plugs the line out into the PA and it works a treat. I started working on an improved version that would have a bit mor...

I have three main amps - the 6G6-B, Wreck Express and an 18 Watt (Lite IIb and EF86 channels) along with a few low watt amps. I love all three of the bigger ones for different reasons but the 18 Watt is still my desert island amp. :wink: But all three do what they do really well. I read your post ab...