Mercury Magnetics....

[Scott_F]

worth it or not? There is certainly a bit of hype associated with those two words. Now after seeing those last couple of JTM45 auctions on ebay, I'm wondering if I need to start using them. I've jumped on the SoZo bandwagon, why not MM? Oh yeah, price. The SoZo's are about the same price as M150's. Not so with Heyboer versus MM.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

I personally don't see the benefit. How are they gonna top Heyboer in terms of performance or quality? The Heyboer's work and sound better than original. Can't ask for more than that.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

I personally can't hear a difference. Metro amps had 3 sound clips of a JTM 45R.I. with his tag board. 1st the stock O.T,2nd a Heyboer,3rd a M.M. all playing the same ZZ top riff. I couldn't differentiate between them?? But after 25 years of playing in Loud Rock bands and working around heavy machinery everyday... My dog like hearing is long gone.:13:

 

[joelap]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

^ +1 to that. It's hype. Heyboer for me. Not only do they sound great, but there are many reports of the man himself being a real stand up guy. I'll give him my business in a heartbeat. Not that MM is a bad run company, but cheap + good sounding + nice guy run company = FTW for me.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

If the Edana has a Heyboer, I wouldn't change a thing. :dunno:

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

worth it or not? There is certainly a bit of hype associated with those two words. Now after seeing those last couple of JTM45 auctions on ebay, I'm wondering if I need to start using them. I've jumped on the SoZo bandwagon, why not MM? Oh yeah, price. The SoZo's are about the same price as M150's. Not so with Heyboer versus MM.

If Bruce uses them, and Blockhead they gotta be top notch!

That aside, from what I've heard from Christian the Heyboer guys are great, and they use paper bobbins which would seem to be more work to use.

Luke

 

[firebirdVII]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

If you don't try, you'll never know.

 

[ErikH]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

Ok....does Heyboer make replacements for Marshall JCM900 MkIII amps? I know Mercury does. I need a power transformer for my 100 watter and possible an output transformer too. I believe Dagnall's are in it now, they *might* be Drakes but I think they used Dagnalls in the 100 watters then.

 

[shredaholic]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

I'd recommend checking out Marstran transformers - over on the Metroamp.com forum they seem to be at least as highly regarded as MM if not more highly. Also Brian Wallace who runs Marstran is a pretty cool guy.

http://www.marstran.com/

There's nothing special going on at MM that isn't going on at Heyboer or Marstran; one thing cool about Heyboer is on the OT's they wind for Metroamp, they compensate for the differences in steel between 1960's steel used in vintage OT's and modern day steel, instead of using the same gauge, they use a different gauge to compensate for the higher level of impurities that older steel had. I think Marstran might do this too, but I'd have to double check.

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

All of the kit manufacturers just tack on an "upcharge" if someone wants Mecury iron. My cats may not be able to hear the difference, but you could always offer Mecury transformers as an option (provided you make a bit more dinero yourself).

With most components in the signal chain, I can hear a big difference going from the mass market junk to middle of the road quality but it's really hard to hear any incremental benefit (or significant difference) from the extra-pricey name brands. Seymour-Duncan pickups hit that sweet spot for me. Monster cables don't... YMMV

Chip

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

There's nothing special going on at MM that isn't going on at Heyboer or Marstran; one thing cool about Heyboer is on the OT's they wind for Metroamp, they compensate for the differences in steel between 1960's steel used in vintage OT's and modern day steel, instead of using the same gauge, they use a different gauge to compensate for the higher level of impurities that older steel had. I think Marstran might do this too, but I'd have to double check.

You sure you don't have that backwards? You would figure older steel would be pure in comparison to the contemporary highly recycled steel?

 

[Scott_F]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

I've got an Aislinn 6V6 about to go out the door, but my normal Heyboer 5E3 OT was back ordered. So, I bought a MM one instead. So, I'll see if I can hear any improvement.

Unfortunately, MM is almost twice as expensive.

 

[shredaholic]

Re: Mercury Magnetics....

You sure you don't have that backwards? You would figure older steel would be pure in comparison to the contemporary highly recycled steel?

Older steel is less pure than modern steel - steel production techniques have improved since the 1960's. Less impurities nowadays might be better for buildings and the like, but for OT's it will change the sound due to the way the steel reacts with the windings.

Therefore "x" gauge steel nowadays has a different effect on the OT (stronger magnetic field or something, i cant remember the exact science of it), so to compensate the weaker modern "y" gauge steel is used. I'm not sure what the actual gauges are that are used because they've not been disclosed, but in laymen's terms that's what the deal is with it.