Now I understand!

[George61]

I've been playing guitar for 40+ years and I've owned quite a few amps; all tube or hybrid amps. I've owned a Fender Super Reverb, Ampeg V4, Musicman 210 Sixty-Five, Musicman 212 HD130, Mesa-Boogie Mark IIC, Mesa-Boogie Mark III (still have), Marshall Studio 15, Ceriatone 36W, and Trainwreck Rocket clone. Of all the amps that I've owned and sold the one that I wish I would have held on to is the Musicman 212 HD130.

I have never been a big fan of pedals. As near I can remember, I've owned a MRX Phase 90, MRX Dynacomp. Morley volume pedal, and a Roland chorus. I have never used an overdrive or distortion pedal.

A couple of years ago I decided to try building an amp so I got a Ceriatone kit. The build was a disaster (learning experience). My second build was the Trianwreck, which was a winner. Then I rebuilt the Ceriatone, another winner. Although both of my tube amp builds came out good, eventually, sourcing parts was difficult and expensive. Tubes seem to be a major problem followed closely by transformers.

I decided to try a solid-state build. I got circuit boards from Elliott Sound Products, chassis from Par-Metal, toroidal power transformer from Antek, heatsinks from Heatsinks USA, and everything else from Mouser. All readily available, inexpensive, off the shelf parts.

The solid-state amp is done and I am sure it works good for a solid-state amp but it isn't a tube amp. The ESP amp sounds smaller and more distant compared to the tube amps I have. I disliked the overdrive sound of the ESP so much that I broke out my dikes and surgically removed the clipping diodes. The only good thing I can say about the ESP is that I built it with two power amp boards (stereo) and I bought a Behringer DSP2024P multi-effects processor. The ESP can get a jazzy chorus sound that gives a Roland JC-120 a run for it's money. An 18watt Lite IIb is my next build.

Solder on,
George

[M Fowler]

Sounds like a lot of fun, nothing wrong with building some SS amps once in a while. Been many years since I have.

Mark

[George61]

Sounds like a lot of fun, nothing wrong with building some SS amps once in a while. Been many years since I have.

Mark

The amp was fun to build. I started in DIY audio about five years ago. I have built several Elliott Sound Products projects. Rod Elliott's circuit designs lean toward the minimal and perform very well. The circuit boards are very compact and well designed. The technical and construction articles are very thorough and geared towards the novice. My home stereo runs on two ESP power amps amd an ESP electronic crossover and it sounds as good or better than anything I have ever heard.

[C Moore]

http://www.ssguitar.com/index.php?action=forum

These guys are into SS. Never really looked at this forum, but it may hold Interest/Help for some.
best

[rdjones]

I've been playing guitar for 40+ years and I've owned quite a few amps; all tube or hybrid amps. I've owned a Fender Super Reverb, Ampeg V4, Musicman 210 Sixty-Five, Musicman 212 HD130, Mesa-Boogie Mark IIC, Mesa-Boogie Mark III (still have), Marshall Studio 15, Ceriatone 36W, and Trainwreck Rocket clone. Of all the amps that I've owned and sold the one that I wish I would have held on to is the Musicman 212 HD130.

Interesting that you like the MM above some pretty well respected classics.
I was a MusicMan dealer and tech from 1980 till they were phased out after the Ernie Ball takeover.
My favorite is the 50RD models of which I still have 2, a head and 112 combo.
So you can say I'm somewhat of a 'hybrid' buff even though I have plenty of all tube amps.

The Marshall Studio 15 is a cool little amp, with some fairly unique features for it's time.

rd

[rdjones]

http://www.ssguitar.com/index.php?action=forum

These guys are into SS. Never really looked at this forum, but it may hold Interest/Help for some.
best

I was reading this forum for a while but didn't join.
Some cool projects, especially for beginners and intermediate experimenters.
Looks like they have more hybrid and low voltage tube stuff now.

RedDog Steve

[katopan]

George61, I remember you saying you were building one of these when I asked if anyone had one on the Wattkins Forum.

The preamp was always going to have bad sounding distortion with that diode clipping. But I'm particularly interested in what you think of the current feedback / high output impedance compared to a standard voltage feedback / low output impedance SS power amp even clean? From your description it doesn't sound like it's enough to make the amp a total winner and that it's still lacking any harmonic richness that valve amps have. When people compare valve and SS amps harmonics and high output impedance are most often in the list of what makes valves sound better. But the deeper I dig the more I believe that harmonics (even clean) are at the top of the list way ahead of everything else.

You'll like the Lite IIb. They're great amps.

[George61]

George61, I remember you saying you were building one of these when I asked if anyone had one on the Wattkins Forum.

The preamp was always going to have bad sounding distortion with that diode clipping. But I'm particularly interested in what you think of the current feedback / high output impedance compared to a standard voltage feedback / low output impedance SS power amp even clean? From your description it doesn't sound like it's enough to make the amp a total winner and that it's still lacking any harmonic richness that valve amps have. When people compare valve and SS amps harmonics and high output impedance are most often in the list of what makes valves sound better. But the deeper I dig the more I believe that harmonics (even clean) are at the top of the list way ahead of everything else.

You'll like the Lite IIb. They're great amps.

As far as clean sounds go I would rate the ESP as very good. With the Analog Compressor/Limiter patch of the DSP in the chain the sound is fuller and more in your face, close to a good tube amp. I say the clean sound is as good as my Mesa-Boogie Mark III but a notch or two behind the Rocket clone or 36 watter. Without the compressor the sound is still pretty good. With the clipping diodes removed the ESP has way more clean headroom than any of my tube amps.

I like the fact that interfacing a rack mount digital or analog processor is no problem. No Dumbleator needed. I would imagine because the amp is a bit thin to start out with, it likes humbucker pickups more than single coils. That's fine with me. I like humbuckers more than single coils.

The ESP is quiet and reliable and nails the Roland JC-120 stereo chorus sound. For playing in a weekend variety band the ESP is a good amp.

Solder on,
George

[katopan]

Thanks!