What was the first amp line with a master volume?
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ItsaBass
New member
Re: What was the first amp line with a master volume?
The "concept" of separate volumes for the pre-amp and the power amp was of course there in the field of electronics. My guess is that Dumble was probably the first to apply it to a guitar amp, however, his amps are sort of one-offs built irregularly and inconsistently. The first in actual series production (i.e. a "line") were probably Boogies.
The "concept" of separate volumes for the pre-amp and the power amp was of course there in the field of electronics. My guess is that Dumble was probably the first to apply it to a guitar amp, however, his amps are sort of one-offs built irregularly and inconsistently. The first in actual series production (i.e. a "line") were probably Boogies.
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Rockstar216
New member
Re: What was the first amp line with a master volume?
I remember looking at the patents on some of the early Boogies and Dumbles and I think he's right that they both knew how to do them but don't know who did it first.
I remember looking at the patents on some of the early Boogies and Dumbles and I think he's right that they both knew how to do them but don't know who did it first.
jon the art guy
Nerdy Nerd
Re: What was the first amp line with a master volume?
I thought it was Marshall or mebee Orange/Matamp.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
I thought it was Marshall or mebee Orange/Matamp.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
MetalManiac
Li'l Junior Member
Re: What was the first amp line with a master volume?
Yeah it probabl;y would be the Boogie?;
From WIKI;
"Mark I[edit]
The very first Mark I was made in 1969, when Smith, as a joke, modified Barry Melton's Fender Princeton amplifier. He removed the standard 10 inch speaker and modified the chassis to fit the larger transformers that were needed by the 4-10 tweed Fender Bassman, the circuit that he had added into the 12 watt Princeton. Finally, mounting a 12 inch JBL D-120, a popular speaker of the time, Smith had created what would be the first Boogie.
Randall Smith took the "hot-rodded" Princeton into the front store. Coincidentally, Carlos Santana was present and played through the amp. Impressed, Santana told Smith, "Man, that little amp really boogies!", thus providing the current name for the amplifier and the company.[1]
The first Boogies are referred to as Mark I's, though they were not given this name until the Mark II was released. They were 60 or 100 watt combo amps with a 12-inch speaker, primarily Altec-Lansing 417-8H Series II. The Mark I had two channels: The "Input 2" channel, voiced like the Fender Bassman, and the high gain "Input 1" channel, which produced the overdriven "Boogie lead" sound used most notably by Carlos Santana on Abraxas, and by The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards and Ron Wood, who used the amps live and in the studio from 1977 until 1993.
This amp in its original form is very collectable. Reverb was optional, and not present on many early Boogies. Later, Mark I models were available with reverb and/or graphic EQ.
Early models have "slave out" and "reverb" labeled on the back with Dymo stick; they do not have any "pull lead" capabilities on the volume controls. Later models had "Pull Bright" and "Pull Boost" on the volume controls. The front panel controls were Volume 1, Volume 2, Treble, Middle, Bass, and Master. These early models are fairly inconsistent, since many of them were "custom" models, made-to-order for various buyers.
Mesa/Boogie has stated the original and the reissue have a "looser" lead sound because the first two preamp stages occurs before the tone controls. In the later Mark II and III models, there is only one gain stage before the tone controls. This signal chain is an issue of some dispute among Boogie owners.[citation needed]"
....
You'll note that the "later" models of the original 1969 MKI Mesa Boogie had teh "Pull Boost", or Master volume. This would probably predate the other amp that I was thinking would be the first with a MV;
The 1975 master Volume MKII Marshall.
Yeah it probabl;y would be the Boogie?;
From WIKI;
"Mark I[edit]
The very first Mark I was made in 1969, when Smith, as a joke, modified Barry Melton's Fender Princeton amplifier. He removed the standard 10 inch speaker and modified the chassis to fit the larger transformers that were needed by the 4-10 tweed Fender Bassman, the circuit that he had added into the 12 watt Princeton. Finally, mounting a 12 inch JBL D-120, a popular speaker of the time, Smith had created what would be the first Boogie.
Randall Smith took the "hot-rodded" Princeton into the front store. Coincidentally, Carlos Santana was present and played through the amp. Impressed, Santana told Smith, "Man, that little amp really boogies!", thus providing the current name for the amplifier and the company.[1]
The first Boogies are referred to as Mark I's, though they were not given this name until the Mark II was released. They were 60 or 100 watt combo amps with a 12-inch speaker, primarily Altec-Lansing 417-8H Series II. The Mark I had two channels: The "Input 2" channel, voiced like the Fender Bassman, and the high gain "Input 1" channel, which produced the overdriven "Boogie lead" sound used most notably by Carlos Santana on Abraxas, and by The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards and Ron Wood, who used the amps live and in the studio from 1977 until 1993.
This amp in its original form is very collectable. Reverb was optional, and not present on many early Boogies. Later, Mark I models were available with reverb and/or graphic EQ.
Early models have "slave out" and "reverb" labeled on the back with Dymo stick; they do not have any "pull lead" capabilities on the volume controls. Later models had "Pull Bright" and "Pull Boost" on the volume controls. The front panel controls were Volume 1, Volume 2, Treble, Middle, Bass, and Master. These early models are fairly inconsistent, since many of them were "custom" models, made-to-order for various buyers.
Mesa/Boogie has stated the original and the reissue have a "looser" lead sound because the first two preamp stages occurs before the tone controls. In the later Mark II and III models, there is only one gain stage before the tone controls. This signal chain is an issue of some dispute among Boogie owners.[citation needed]"
....
You'll note that the "later" models of the original 1969 MKI Mesa Boogie had teh "Pull Boost", or Master volume. This would probably predate the other amp that I was thinking would be the first with a MV;
The 1975 master Volume MKII Marshall.
toneseeker74
New member
Re: What was the first amp line with a master volume?
Guild. Thunderbass.
Guild. Thunderbass.
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: What was the first amp line with a master volume?
The old Thunderbass did have a master volume as did the oriignal Hiwatt DR amps (DR103, DR504, etc) and those predate the MK I Boogie by at least a few years.
The catch is that in those cases the idea of the master volume was to balance volumes if you were using 2 or more instruments plugged into the same amp...say you had a guitar and bass player using a DR103 and they were both too loud or not loud enough, the master volume was there to help correct that.
The first time I remember hearing about someone using a master volume in the manner we thing about it today it was Leslie West from Mountain...at Woodstock he used Sunn amps but for whatever reason they sent him Sunn PA amps...4 channels, 4 channel volumes and a master volume...
He was trying to figure out what all the controls did since he was playing guitar into a PA head when he figured out that by cranking the channel volume and putting the master at a reasonable place he got distortion w/o killing the first 10 rows of people and that is the sound you hear at Woodstock.
The old Thunderbass did have a master volume as did the oriignal Hiwatt DR amps (DR103, DR504, etc) and those predate the MK I Boogie by at least a few years.
The catch is that in those cases the idea of the master volume was to balance volumes if you were using 2 or more instruments plugged into the same amp...say you had a guitar and bass player using a DR103 and they were both too loud or not loud enough, the master volume was there to help correct that.
The first time I remember hearing about someone using a master volume in the manner we thing about it today it was Leslie West from Mountain...at Woodstock he used Sunn amps but for whatever reason they sent him Sunn PA amps...4 channels, 4 channel volumes and a master volume...
He was trying to figure out what all the controls did since he was playing guitar into a PA head when he figured out that by cranking the channel volume and putting the master at a reasonable place he got distortion w/o killing the first 10 rows of people and that is the sound you hear at Woodstock.
Re: What was the first amp line with a master volume?
You beat me to the punch!. I was just going to mention Leslie West and the Sunn Colosseum PA heads, before he found those he was preamping a small amp into a bigger amp (like a Marshall) to get his sound. Although that wasn't strictly a guitar head, it's the first time I think a master volume amp was used for guitar sound. Guitar amps with masters quickly followed.
Al
You beat me to the punch!. I was just going to mention Leslie West and the Sunn Colosseum PA heads, before he found those he was preamping a small amp into a bigger amp (like a Marshall) to get his sound. Although that wasn't strictly a guitar head, it's the first time I think a master volume amp was used for guitar sound. Guitar amps with masters quickly followed.
Al
