Stand alone power amp build

[M Fowler]

Here is another power amp consideration.

[Stevem]

Voltage sag is one of the things that take place in a tube amp that gives compression and compression gives good touch sensitivity and sustane without resorting to high gain overkill preamp style distortion, so choose your overall needs carefully!

!

[mrbadwr3nch]

You guys rock!

Thanks for the compliments.

I have a basic understanding of how different power amp designs sound/operate which is one of the reasons I'm gonna build a number of different styles of power amps, and preamps as well, to mix and match and do the mad scientist thing.

I looked at the AX84 unit and I may do one of those but for the first few I want to go with known quantities. Designs that produce tone that I and the majority of other guitarists are very familiar with. If anyone sees where I'm going with this, please be kind to me.

I know that sagging voltage, squishy, saturated power tube sound is considered by most to be the only real overdrive sound and while I love that tone like my first born, I have other children. And one of them is the high gain overkill preamp style distortion. There is just something about the cascaded notes that sustain through an entire Dokken album;-). I have a passion for all the killer tones that can be squeezed out of that little glass envelope. As I said, this little high gain preamp and Tweed power section are just the first styles of many to come. So, Stevem, I appreciate your concern for my tonal health but, the overall needs that I have are to build a bunch of very different tone blocks and stack them in every way I can imagine. P.s. Stevem, your signature couldn't make a better point.

I hadn't considered your point Smoke. I guess I will find out. I could put the preamp on a variac when I hook it up to the low voltage power amp and find out. I know you weren't asking me about the line/inst switch and the CF divider but I also want to know the answers to questions you asked. Who's the brainiac around here?

I'll post pics as the projects progress and clips when finished.

[martin manning]

Can someone explain the benefits of taking the signal off the divider in the CF, and how that seemingly small difference in the leg to ground (on the switch)would change the output level from instrument to line level.

It's a divider with a variable shunt leg as you say, 6k8 vs. 1k6 when the switch is closed. The difference is about a factor of 4 in signal level, so ~12dB.