Fender used the parallel V1 in several "II series" amps, such as the Deluxe Reverb II and Concert.
In these designs the first preamp stage's output is split to feed two tone stacks and the clean/overdrive paths.
iknowjohnny wrote:Think i'm gonna pass on this one. Tried it on V1 and now i have it back to 3 stages no parallel and i think it's just cleaner and better like that. Well, learned something anyways. Thanks all.
yes it is cleaner, but most times guitarists dont want cleaner, we want harmonic complexity Merlin made a comment some time ago about parralell stages adding more high order harmonics.. maybe I am remembering it wrong though?
iknowjohnny wrote:Think i'm gonna pass on this one. Tried it on V1 and now i have it back to 3 stages no parallel and i think it's just cleaner and better like that. Well, learned something anyways. Thanks all.
yes it is cleaner, but most times guitarists dont want cleaner, we want harmonic complexity Merlin made a comment some time ago about parralell stages adding more high order harmonics.. maybe I am remembering it wrong though?
FWIW in Merlin's 1st book (on preamps), there is a chapter on parallel stages where there are a few different ways of implementing them for different effects
tubeswell wrote:
yes it is cleaner, but most times guitarists dont want cleaner
Actually that wasn't a good description. (cleaner) I can't quite explain, but more strident and less smooth....i guess harsh almost describes it for the most part. But if anything i felt it lacked as much complexity as the no paralleled circuit which was a big reason i changed back, so maybe it was the longer wires and interaction or something. I dunno, but i have a box of sozos waiting at home so right now thats all i care about ! been wanting to try these forever.
tubeswell wrote:
yes it is cleaner, but most times guitarists dont want cleaner
Actually that wasn't a good description. (cleaner) I can't quite explain, but more strident and less smooth....i guess harsh almost describes it for the most part. But if anything i felt it lacked as much complexity as the no paralleled circuit which was a big reason i changed back, so maybe it was the longer wires and interaction or something. I dunno, but i have a box of sozos waiting at home so right now thats all i care about ! been wanting to try these forever.
FWIW in Merlin's 1st book (on preamps), there is a chapter on parallel stages where there are a few different ways of implementing them for different effects
Merlin does touch on this but one of the cool things to do with a paralleled triode is to have them share a common load resistor but dissimilar bias resistors and bypass caps (if applied). Bias one cathode warmer (such as 680-820R) and other cooler (say 1k5-2k7) for harmonic complexity; let the common grids fight it out over the bias point. With a paralleled setup there is only a slight boost in gain over a single triode but reduced noise with half the load. You could use classic Plexi values such as 820R/330uF and 2k7/0.68uF and the common anode mixing arrangement acts like maxed Bright and Normal channels. You could add a pot in series with the 330uF to ground to act as a Bass control.
FWIW in Merlin's 1st book (on preamps), there is a chapter on parallel stages where there are a few different ways of implementing them for different effects
Merlin does touch on this but one of the cool things to do with a paralleled triode is to have them share a common load resistor but dissimilar bias resistors and bypass caps (if applied). Bias one cathode warmer (such as 680-820R) and other cooler (say 1k5-2k7) for harmonic complexity; let the common grids fight it out over the bias point. With a paralleled setup there is only a slight boost in gain over a single triode but reduced noise with half the load. You could use classic Plexi values such as 820R/330uF and 2k7/0.68uF and the common anode mixing arrangement acts like maxed Bright and Normal channels. You could add a pot in series with the 330uF to ground to act as a Bass control.
Have you tried this and if so whats your opinion on it?
By the way, the Sozos are the real deal. Probably my #1 target in amp building/tweaking has always been harmonic complexity. I installed them last nite and they really take that up a notch. It's so rich and chewy now it's just a absolute pleasure to play. I would tell anyone, at least anyone building a amp with a cascaded preamp to definitely use sozos if they were set to use mallory. Can't compare any others because mallory is all i've used.
That's cool that you think they sound good now!...cause after some break in, they REALLY start to sparkle. Are you using the "standard" ones, or the blues?
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Wow, thats nice to hear ! Yeah, the standards. How long till break in? With the way the amp sounds now, if it actually gets better i may not be able to handle it !
Seems like it was after about ten hours or so. And I'm thinkin' it had to be the sozo signal caps...I stuck them in an amp I've had for years, using the same tubes and speaker cab. The only mod was the sozo's. Even my road-worn ears picked up on the gradual change.
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