Buying an Amp Just to Reverse Engineer?

[guittguy1]

Has anyone done this? Besides TW and Dumble of course. I've thought about getting a Budda 18 to reverse and build into my Traynor YGM3. For most amps if you're patient you might break even after selling it. What are some other amps you'd like to see reversed?

[selloutrr]

This has happened to most vintage fender, Marshall, hiwatt, orange, vox, and modern amps like the soldano SLO, matchless, bogner, Mesa boogie rec & mark series.

If the amp has a following it's been cloned by someone. In most cases it's not an improvement. The main reason for cloning is to cut the cost. This usually means cheaper parts or quicker build methods such as using pcb.

I can't personally think of an amp worth owning that hasn't been reversed engineered already or isn't able to be purchased for less then the cost of cloning.

[selloutrr]

If the komet songwriter was the same circuit as kf's songwriter I'm sure one of us would have purchased a production model to reverse engineer. Given it's mass production components it's less thrilling of an undertaking.

[rdjones]

"Wiring by Monster cable ..."

[cbass]

"Wiring by Monster cable ..."

[husky]

Has anyone done this? Besides TW and Dumble of course. I've thought about getting a Budda 18 to reverse and build into my Traynor YGM3. For most amps if you're patient you might break even after selling it. What are some other amps you'd like to see reversed?

90% of the time unless you are a meticulous freak, know all the exact parameters, copy the layout , wire dress and all the parts it wont sound the same. If you do go through all that effort then unless your time is worth nothing you wont save yourself any money, in fact probably cost you more, Unless it is a Dumble

[Gaz]

Suhr Badger

[Leviman]

I'm reverse engineering my tube radio to a point where I can turn it into a guitar amp and then continue forward again. Pretty simple so far, considering all the nay-sayers on the internet of AA5 conversions.

[xtian]

I love to see the lengths to which some builders have gone to protect their circuit from prying eyes. Pools of epoxy, anyone?

[img:600:450]http://www.timeelect.com/hack-3.jpg[/img]

[LeftyStrat]

I love to see the lengths to which some builders have gone to protect their circuit from prying eyes. Pools of epoxy, anyone?

I've never understood why they couldn't at least do something that looks a little neater. Maybe molding the "super secret circuit" in a block of resin or something. Maybe even with jacks/connectors so at least the owner could swap out the circuit for a new one if something went bad.

[renshen1957]

This has happened to most vintage fender, Marshall, hiwatt, orange, vox, and modern amps like the soldano SLO, matchless, bogner, Mesa boogie rec & mark series.

Fender borrowed Western Electric and RCA circuits. Most likely the design for the Original Champion later to be called Champ.

The most famous reverse engineer job is the Fender Tweed Bassman into the first Marshall.

Traynor was based on Fender, the bass amps on the Tweed Bassman circuit, the Guitar Mate, YGL Mark 3, etc had Black Face influence. Traynor's amps introduced the first Master Volumes (1962) which every company eventually copied.

Traynors Super Custom Special 250Watt Bass amp with its TV Sweep Tubes (plate caps) Power and the 8 X 10 inch speaker Cabs must have influenced the team that designed the orignal Ampeg SVT 300 Watt (6146 Plate Cap transmitting power tubes) and 8 X 10 speaker cabs. Rumor has it that Roger Cox imported some Traynor Cabs from Canada.

Hiwatt (Rich man's Marshall) and Laney (Poor man's Marshall) first amps where based on Marshalls and later incorporated popular Mods the Techs were performing on Marshalls. All these mods would eventually appear in Marshalls later offering, Jim would introduce the stacked gain stage preamp in the later in the 800 series which debuted after the Rose Morris distribution contact was finished.

Dr. Z's Carmen Ghia is alledgedly from the Hammond Reverb Amp or as TDPR multiple posts a "straight across AO-35 clone" with a mid tone circuit from Matchless.

Vox AC30 has its tone stack from the old Tweeds, its vibrato circuit from an Wurlitzer organ circuit (with parts accidentally shorted by dropped screwdriver) , the top boost circuit is taken from a Gibson schematic right down to error on the page, misprint on a ground not found in the original amp.

The Mesa Boogie was a hot-rodded Fender. The Mesa Dual Rectifier is a reverse engineer job of Soldano's SLO, right down to early models had matching component values but with a tube rectifier added. Clone Job.

Peavey cloned Marshall 800 and the Soldano SLO, and even patented a circuit that was used by London Power years before the patent and published in TUT2 in the 1990's.

Matchless hotbox tube pedal was from Marshall's 800 preamp, DC30 is obvious enough....

Behringer cloned everyone's everything (including the clones of other builders) in their line, and now after trouble with the FCC, uses the Bugera label and continues to clone everyone's everything.

Not a complete list, but when you don't have an original idea, borrow one.

Best Regards,

Klones R US

[renshen1957]

I'm reverse engineering my tube radio to a point where I can turn it into a guitar amp and then continue forward again. Pretty simple so far, considering all the nay-sayers on the internet of AA5 conversions.

The AA5 was the basis in principal (if not in tube count) for most of the Power transformerless student models that were sold in department stores.

Best Regards,

steve

[DR.Z]

[
Dr. Z's Carmen Ghia is alledgedly from the Hammond Reverb Amp or as TDPR multiple posts a "straight across AO-35 clone" with a mid tone circuit from Matchless.

Renshen 1957 I am a contributing member of this forum, and I'm sick of the posts here stating I nicked Matchless's tone circuit.
The first Ghia was sold in 1988 that pre-dates any example of Matchless
using anything like the tone circuit I designed in the Ghia.
Matchless borrowed from me, I know that is a shock to some but a fact.

Yes the Ghia was based on the Hammond AO-35 a fact I have many times stated in interviews, but I turned that useless amp into a pretty cool guitar amp. A technic of DIY that has been copied ever since by many builders.

Verify your facts my friend before you accuse me, or post an alligation about me. Sorry if this seems strong but if I don't defend these lies they become fact in eye's of many.

DR.Z

[guittguy1]

My reason for asking is that I have a Traynor YGM3 that I foolishly gutted. I was thinking about getting a Budda SD18 and reversing it. I would then build a reasonable clone and tweak it to sound like the original and sell the Budda. I was also wondering if there would be an amp that hasn't been reversed that some of You would like to see reversed.

[Luthierwnc]

I've hack-butchered lots of donor amps, usually for the better but you are taking some risks. I'm not sure I would get one just to blueprint it. Starting from what you want to end up with, the first things you need to confirm are that;

a) the transformers can handle the voltage, load and impedance,
b) you have enough room for the layout and controls (horizontal too),
c) if you don't have a cab, can it be made to fit one,
d) you can make the structural and cosmetic changes easily and
e) once you've spec-ed the parts, could you do the same thing better
for less with another cadaver?

For b) above, make an educated guess on the size and draw it out 1:1 to see if things will actually fit where you think they should go and that you don't have a bunch of rail wires next to sensitive preamp wires.

I just got a basket-case Gemini II chassis. I've sketched-out putting a 5F6-A on the normally-ignored channel. Heresy, I know, but the accordion player can get his own amp

FWIW, Skip