W0W check out this 5w killer little amp....

Re: W0W check out this 5w killer little amp....

Thats the best thing ive seen in quite awhile.
 
Re: W0W check out this 5w killer little amp....

Looks pretty interesting. The Vjr aficionados say that while putting in a TMB tone stack is cool, it causes major tone suckage. Something to be aware of.
 
Re: W0W check out this 5w killer little amp....

Looks pretty interesting. The Vjr aficionados say that while putting in a TMB tone stack is cool, it causes major tone suckage. Something to be aware of.

That makes sense. Usually there's a decent amount of gain lost through a TMB tone stack, which is usually addressed by another tube gain stage. Not sure how this circuit works, but there's going to be more junk in the signal path.
 
Re: W0W check out this 5w killer little amp....

well I find that when cranked to the max (which is how I like the Valve Jr.) it's got too much gain! gets too raunchy sounding for me, so this may be just the route I need to go! :) Although, i gotta admit I'd prefer it just to have one tone control
 
Re: W0W check out this 5w killer little amp....

I think you mean "it's got too much distortion", in which case you are pushing the tubes too hard. If you need to crank your Vjr to the max to get the desired volume level, what you actually need is a higher wattage amp (or a more efficient speaker), not the same wattage amp with the gain lowered by a tone stack.
 
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Re: W0W check out this 5w killer little amp....

Wouldn't it be somewhat easy to install a switch that would bypass the tone stack? Then you could go full-tilt "pure tube tone" if you wanted and still be able to shape the tone to your liking if you want...

i dunno just brainstorming.
 
Re: W0W check out this 5w killer little amp....

Wouldn't it be somewhat easy to install a switch that would bypass the tone stack? Then you could go full-tilt "pure tube tone" if you wanted and still be able to shape the tone to your liking if you want...

i dunno just brainstorming.

Sure, Dave Allen calls it a "Raw" control. IRRC it doesn't bypass the tone stack entirely, just adds resistance between the "bottom" of the tone stack & ground and gradually reduces the effectiveness of the tone controls. Other amps simply lift the ground entirely from the tone stack.

FWIW a Fender/Marshall TMB tonestack loses a lot less signal if there is a cathode follower stage right before it. Examples are Fender Bassman and almost all Marshalls. Problem is that you need an "extra" half of a 12AX7 for the cathode follower.

Cheers,

Chip
 
Re: W0W check out this 5w killer little amp....

I think you mean "it's got too much distortion", in which case you are pushing the tubes too hard. If you need to crank your Vjr to the max to get the desired volume level, what you actually need is a higher wattage amp (or a more efficient speaker), not the same wattage amp with the gain lowered by a tone stack.

Um, dude I have several amps higher wattage than the Valve Jr. I want something that just gets nasty, but not just sludge nasty (which is what the valve jr.) I don't crank the valve jr. for volume, I do it for the saturation. I want pure, pushed raunchy tone. My Dr. Z and Super Reverb are higher wattage and get the overdrive and the volume I want. I want something for studio stuff that I can just crank and record, hence why I am looking for a good 5 watt amp. The lack of a tone control on the Valve Jr. is a problem for me as it's a very dark sounding amp to begin with and when cranked, it gets sludgy.

I need tone controls...and for the record, I know what I mean.
 
Re: W0W check out this 5w killer little amp....

Um, dude I have several amps higher wattage than the Valve Jr. I want something that just gets nasty, but not just sludge nasty (which is what the valve jr.) I don't crank the valve jr. for volume, I do it for the saturation. I want pure, pushed raunchy tone. My Dr. Z and Super Reverb are higher wattage and get the overdrive and the volume I want. I want something for studio stuff that I can just crank and record, hence why I am looking for a good 5 watt amp. The lack of a tone control on the Valve Jr. is a problem for me as it's a very dark sounding amp to begin with and when cranked, it gets sludgy.

I need tone controls...and for the record, I know what I mean.

I'm not so sure you need a tone control. Even a single tone control is going to drop the amount of top end you have on tap, if you use a traditional passive tone control setup. Passive tone controls take the raw signal and reduce it, rather than add anything.

Perhaps you could try Heyboer's Vjr output transformer replacement. 35 bucks plus tech install and I'm sure you'll hear extended treble and tighter bass as a result. You can get it from Allen (part T07V):

http://www.allenamps.com/parts.php#transformers
 
Re: W0W check out this 5w killer little amp....

the guys at my local shop told me about this amp a month ago... they said they were getting them in soon... they said it has a really great 4x12 bottom end chug to the tone that is killer...
 
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