"Dongbiter" 30 pics online

[M Fowler]

I'm thinking about attending the LA Amp Show so I can mingle with all the kool cats and an amps

Mark

[selloutrr]

when is it? I'll kick it with you.

[dartanion]

I'm thinking about attending the LA Amp Show so I can mingle with all the kool cats and an amps

Mark

You should Mark! It's a hoot, oh wait, that's the Nashville show. LA is fun for sure and there are lots of pro players that show up and you can hang with all us builder geeks

[M Fowler]

http://www.ampshow.com/

October 1 and 2nd.

[rooster]

I heard one of these locally and I would argue with anyone that said it didn't sound good. And I didn't have to, a room of 20+ guitar heads shook their heads in agreement. It was impressive actually, in the vein of a great AC30-ish amp. Believe me I wanted to dismiss it if that were possible.

I agree, the build looks really simple and it's pretty clear what the signal path is. The chassis however... Man, that is a brick! Nicely done.

[Reeltarded]

3200 euros.. What's the exchange rate? 5 to 1? So, that's like 600 bucks...

Better be.

[M Fowler]

It really depends a lot on what idiot is controlling the guitar.

A video showing this amp and others amps has a guy playing hideous passes on a Tele.

If your going to make a video use a guitar player that can bring out the most in an amp and guitar.

Mark

[dartanion]

I heard one of these locally and I would argue with anyone that said it didn't sound good. And I didn't have to, a room of 20+ guitar heads shook their heads in agreement. It was impressive actually, in the vein of a great AC30-ish amp. Believe me I wanted to dismiss it if that were possible.

I agree, the build looks really simple and it's pretty clear what the signal path is. The chassis however... Man, that is a brick! Nicely done.

So let's argue

All I am saying is the one at the NY Amp Show in the Celestion room, right next to my room, did not sound very good. As we all know, every amp sounds different for various reasons. Maybe the tubes were crap. Maybe the cab/speakers weren't a good match. Maybe the room dynamics were not good. Who knows.

[Structo]

$4,745 for that amp is incredibly ridiculous.

I wonder what Ken would think about the prices on his amps nowadays.

I think he was more about putting a great amp into the hands of a good guitarist at a reasonable price.

Not price them so high that guitarists can only drool over web pages or catalogs about something they can never afford.

That is why amp cloners exist.

[Colossal]

All I am saying is the one at the NY Amp Show in the Celestion room, right next to my room, did not sound very good. As we all know, every amp sounds different for various reasons. Maybe the tubes were crap. Maybe the cab/speakers weren't a good match. Maybe the room dynamics were not good. Who knows.

Hey Darin,

Was the SW30 amp you heard the same amp, speaker cab, and room as shown in this Premier Guitar amp demo video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f63C51qj9zo

The Komet SW30 content starts at 5:04. I thought the demo of the amp was abysmal and I would be cringing if I were Hogy/Komet. The SW30 was demoed through a pair of Golds. These demos rarely sound stellar but usually get the point across so I can usually look past the poor sound quality because I know what I'm listening for. The clips of the SW30 on the Komet site sound quite good. However, whatever was happening in that room, with that guy's playing, with those speakers and that Tele...well, it sure wasn't happening! Not a flattering demo at all. IIRC, I read some of Hogy's comments that said he loved the amp through a pair of Blues or a 4x12 with Greenbacks but the nod went to the Blues.

The SW30 looks to be a wonderfully simple circuit and appears to share some things in common with the 18W and Lightning designs so I'd expect the 3D swirl, complex yet clear tone, inspirational chime, etc.

Thoughts?

[rooster]

OK, I want to argue, too. ..No, not really.

I looked at the power tubes (I had to) in that amp and they were all Sovteks, which kinda stunned me. But not enough that I didn't go out and buy a quad for my AC30/Rocket build. I was running J/Js in mine from day one and, although it is somewhat difficult to get a matched quad at the proper bias point from my suppliers, !!!, I did get one. Really, KF can't be ignored on these points as he liked the EL84M tube in his Rockets. This swap transformed the top end of my amp, from somewhat clouded distortion to clear crunch. Well, and most of you here are running these already, or some version of them, so no news here...

If I had to venture a guess as to why that amp at the NY show sounded bad, I would have to go straight to the power tubes or pres. Since it sounds like the amp was OBVIOUSLY sounding bad to more than a few listeners, you have to wonder what kind of Kooliad Komet was drinking. I suspect it may have been the 'OVER-CONFIDENCE' flavor. Been there - and it tasted good at the time.

Anyway, as to the circuit, I have to think the LTP PI for the kind of sound and power I was hearing. The first tube is certainly some kind of two stage KF balancing act. Those caps straddling the flying resistors off it speak to me of a Marshall trick from the JCM800 series, 470K/500pf on the lead channel, something he was very familiar with. Not that those values are the ones used, of course.

Well wait a minute... The pic clearly shows a parallel topology on that first tube, so he is only using one gain stage there.

[RJ Guitars]

I listened to that Komet clip and I couldn't tell you if I was hearing a bad amp... but I did hear some really bad sounds.

In this case I would think Premier guitar and Celestion owe Komet some studio time and a very nice demo to salvage their collective reputations.

Watch out for the guys with the cameras and microphones... free advertising can be very costly.

rj

[redshark]

It's obvious that the problem in that demo was the guitar. This amps are very transparent to instruments and players.....

[rhinson]

the rocket was simply an ac30 top boost ch with a couple of minor changes. this amp is an ac30 NON top boost type ch with a couple of changes. the bass pot just lets you go from the "treb" channel (500pf coupler) to the "normal" channel (.047uf coupler). he's got some series resistance after that which is bypassed by a bright cap, and the vol pot and some more series resistance after that then the pi coupler. all the pi couplers are the same value---.047uf. i'd guess the bright sw is the standard 3 way 100pf/off/500pf-----but you could do that to taste. and yes there does appear to be some nfb from one of the op trans taps----the tail resistor value could be divided up and inserted nfb inserted there, hence the 2 resistors there. this one let's komet use up some of the spare connie trannie sets rh

[selloutrr]

Inger got me thinking.. Does anyone know how the Octal was implimented in the Liverpool octal plus?

I would assume it would be in the Preamp or PI section?