Maybe I missed it but...

[pureoldsound]

...I am not a pro but it seems that there are just a few things without changing the design to much that you can do.....

there are actually quite a few.

the size of bypass caps in relation to cathode resistors affects LF rolloff.

the size of coupling caps (HF rolloff)

where you have more or less gain, affects where in the chain distortion first appears, as do biasing closer to center, or closer to saturation in a particular stage.

the size of a bright cap (if at all).

NFB (if used).

the values in the tone-stack will affect frequency, amount of boost/cut, and the shape of the response curve at "neutral" settings.

so far, we're mostly talking about component values in the same circuit.

we haven't even mentioned the choice of iron or tubes yet.

[cheers,

unk

I agree 100% with you and yes there are numerous things that you can do to that amp design. However, the more things you alter the further you get from being a true Wreck, which is my point. How much can you change on that amp without losing the “wreck sound” Yes you can change the OT and PT, increase the voltage on it so it can work better with those EL34s, but you know that will change things…

My point is Ken made the design. To his ears it got what he wanted out of the amp. Yes there are always complaint too bright, not enough low, too much gain, I need more headroom, too loud…..But there is little room to tweak without changing it too much, maybe increase the value of a resistor, or decrease it here and there. Major part changes, increasing voltages or decreasing IMHO compromised the sound. So my take is minor tweaks may have occur…If you wanted something different I think he might have directed you to someone else…..

[unklmickey]

...I agree 100% with you and yes there are numerous things that you can do to that amp design. However, the more things you alter the further you get from being a true Wreck, which is my point. How much can you change on that amp without losing the “wreck sound” Yes you can change the OT and PT, increase the voltage on it so it can work better with those EL34s, but you know that will change things…

i suggested those possibilities to explain how Ken could have implemented variations within his designs,
to change the voicing of different Wrecks within a particular model architecture.

if we take the point of view, that Ken did have a particular speaker in mind, when he finalized the details of a particular model,
was this universal across all models?

did he, for instance, have a completely different speaker and enclosure in mind when he designed the Liverpool,
than what what he targeted the Express or Komet for?

the reason i bring up the Liverpool is, among other things, the EL-84s.

an amp designed around EL-84s will have an entirely different character than one designed around EL-34s.

so, if a different speakers inherently sounded better to him with the '84s, and got him closer to the characteristics he was after in this application,
did he design around that?

or did he simply do the best he could with the speakers he liked in general.

i think there are plausible reasons both for and against the likelyhood of voicing differences within models,
and models being targeted for different speakers.

more information is needed than you or i have.