Carol-Ann

[islandamp]

Anyone seen or come across a schematic for a Carol-Ann? Great sounding sound samples on the site, just curious as to whats going on inside the chassis.

[LeftyStrat]

Never seen any, but I also really like the clips. The clean to crunch is tasty, and the overdrive/lead sounds seem to fall between a Dumble and a Wreck.

[robkeeler]

Why don't you just call Alan and ask?

[LeftyStrat]

Why don't you just call Alan and ask?

Well, I'm not looking for a schematic, but I'd probably buy one of those amps in a heartbeat if I ever win the lottery.

I might call him to just tell him I like the clips, but that would just be wasting his time. Since you're in the same region perhaps you could relay my compliments in person. The clips do give me the feeling it would be a fun amp to play.

When I first saw the web site I thought it was another Dumble clone, but as I said in my previous post, the thing that impresses me is that the lead tones seem to fall between the refined distortion of the Dumble and the wild distortion of the wreck. I do know he has seen the inside of a few wrecks.

['67_Plexi]

Anyone seen or come across a schematic for a Carol-Ann? Great sounding sound samples on the site, just curious as to whats going on inside the chassis.

l believe in sharing information for one purpose only, that of learning.

The only schematic of the OD2 lives in my head....seriously !! Even though they sound the same, no two are ever exactly alike.

Drilling back, it's based on my OD100, which was originally based on a HRM D type circuit with a built in efx loop with a few minor changes .

An OD2 clean channel TS is pretty much based on the Skyliner.

The feedback circuit is pretty much old school Marshall, but without the scratchy Presence pot.

It runs a high plate voltage (around 490V in most, not all, some are 500V, some are 475V, it depends on the customer) and uses custom transformers with an OT that has slightly higher than normal anode impedance.

The choke is a UK made Dagnall unit.

I use a powder coated steel chassis and 22 gauge heavily insulated 600V stranded cable for most things.....if for nothing it just disproves the whole aluminium chassis and solid core BS I read all the time.

Signal caps are Mallory PVC, signal resistors are a combination of 1W Carbon films and 1W Dale Metal Film.

The efx loop uses a NOS 5751. All other preamp tubes are Chinese and the power tubes are either JJ EL34's or TAD EL34BSTRs because they can handle the plate voltage.

The chassis is mounted on the bottom of cab like a Marshall head because heat is a problem with top mounted chassis like the Dumbles. Ever felt your PT after a gig on those top mounted amps ??

The relay switching is silent. I use Omron 12V low signal relays and a heavily regulated supply from a seperate Hammond transformer.

This is a difficult amp to build given the amount of stuff in there and the size of the chassis. Lead dress and correct grounding is vital.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Thank you very much for the nice comments on the clips. Much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Alan Phillips
Carol-Ann Custom Amplifiers, LLC.

[LeftyStrat]

Now I am feeling sorry for chiming in on this thread. First off Alan, the clips I heard were wonderful. Secondly, I have never built and sold anything that was ever close to anything that wasn't twenty or thirty years old. For the most part I just make guys Marshalls sound better. I do spend most of my time trying to find something new and original. Doing stupid shit like moving the tonestack in negative feedback loops or using fixed resistor networks to model the fender or marshall response and then passing them into a Bandaxal tone stack.

I really don't think you should have even offered the info you did.

I apologize for encouraging a thread about a production amp. I do respect your work. All I wanted to do was chime in about how good your amps sounded.

Peace, Love, and Tone.
Tomy

[El_Martin]

Hi Alan!

Amazing sounds from your amps, congrats
Thanx for the supplied information, appreciate it.
Rest assured: Even with this detailed info, no one can build such an amp.
There's more to it...

Ciao
Martin

['67_Plexi]

Hi Alan!

Amazing sounds from your amps, congrats
Thanx for the supplied information, appreciate it.
Rest assured: Even with this detailed info, no one can build such an amp.
There's more to it...

Ciao
Martin

I'm sure some folks could, but the information I suppiled would be irrelevent to them as they they wouldn't have needed to ask in the first place. I'm not threatened by someone cloning an amp, unless they are purposfully trying to hurt my business.

I don't get much chance to frequent this forum these days and never have an issue sharing info that helps folks who want to better their knowledge base. As an apprentice I was taught to do just that. As a Journeyman, I have had many apprentices. My generation was the very last to learn about tube circuits as part of a standard curriculla. If we don't help pass knowledge on, who the heck will ?? The internet ??? There's some good info out there, but there is way too much mis-information to. The cyber-world has brought in a new breed of 'internet tube gurus' that learn in a hap-hazard way from the internet and very often lack fundamental first principles.

Another example of someone that obviously shares the same philosophy as me is Randall Aiken. He has some great articles on his website that every guy new to tube amps should read and learn along with some of his recommended reading. It's one thing to tweak blindly, but if you understand the cause and effect of what you are doing it's way more fun and fulfilling.

Alan.

[jelle]

Alan,

That's is great sounding amp!

As one of those who was unlicky enough to be born after the tube theory was removed from standard curricula, I know what it is like to start with tube amps without basic knowledge. I have learned a lot through the internet and have always tested things that I thought were of interest to me to find out whether it was BS or not. Over the years I have been trying to learn more about the basics and the Aiken site is GREAT!! Right now I'm reading the Radiotron Designers Handbook (4th edition) which can be found here:

http://geek.scorpiorising.ca/RDH4.html

There is great info here. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Jelle

[islandamp]

As I stated in the original post, I am interested in what makes different amps sound the way they do. I have pages and pages of schematics, London power books, info from these forums, and I try to understand from the different techniques, why amps sound the way they do. I hope to one day use all the things I've learned, both good and bad, and build my own amps, however, they will not be a clone of anything. I think with each new (must have) amp that comes out, the bar gets raised a little higher for the next guy and we all benefit from the great selection of amps and tones that are available to us. Must be the reason that I stay up until 3 a.m. every night trying to recreate sounds I hear in my head. Thanks for help with my learning process and the clips that will have me inspired to practice for weeks.

['67_Plexi]

As I stated in the original post, I am interested in what makes different amps sound the way they do. I have pages and pages of schematics, London power books, info from these forums, and I try to understand from the different techniques, why amps sound the way they do. I hope to one day use all the things I've learned, both good and bad, and build my own amps, however, they will not be a clone of anything. I think with each new (must have) amp that comes out, the bar gets raised a little higher for the next guy and we all benefit from the great selection of amps and tones that are available to us. Must be the reason that I stay up until 3 a.m. every night trying to recreate sounds I hear in my head. Thanks for help with my learning process and the clips that will have me inspired to practice for weeks.

No problem, pleasure to answer the questions.
It's not bad to clone an amp design you really like in order to use it as a design baseline to take it in your own direction. That's what every manufacturer has done from the 40's. It all started with the tube application manuals and went on from there. You know there's a lot to be learned from some of the techniques used in tube hi-fi and wireless to. Many of the so-called 'revolutionary' circuits later patented by some amp Companies can been found hidden away in these earlier technologies.

I realise that some guys are more about cloning exactly right down to the type of wire used in a particular amp. That is fine, but it's it not what we're talking about here. I see that like model making and can respect and understand why people do that. It's a fulfilling past-time. However that is a craft, not a science. I've lightened up a lot about this over the past couple of years. Just don't be tempted to make exact clones of current production amps to sell. Apart from being wrong, it can land you in legal high water.

Alan.

[LeftyStrat]

If I can ask, I'd like to know more about the clips. What guitar was used, and were these clips using your 100, 50, or 25? Also, what was the relative volume of the clips?

I just can't say enough good things about the clips. There's a very organic quality to them. It might be the player, most of the Dumble clips I have heard have been more jazz oriented, and don't really give me an idea of what I might sound like with something Dumblish. These are the first clips where the playing style is more similar to mine.

Love to hear your what a strat sounds like through your amps.

[jurgen]

very nice clips indeed

['67_Plexi]

The clips you refer to were recorded by Lance Keltner with a 100W OD2 with the masters on pretty low, certainly no louder than small club gigging level. The guitar used is a PRS David Grissom sig model. I beleive the cab used was an old 70's Marshall....though I personally prefer an oversize closed back 2x12 loaded with EVMs.

The biggest misconception about D-type amps is the instant connection people make with Robben Ford. Personally (with the exception of the tone used on the song Brother), his tones to me are very 'weather channel' and safe . When someone gets to play a decent D-type amp it should take on their tone. I can't build an amp to sound like Robben Ford unless you are actually him or a playing clone of him. The amps are very flexible and I find it a shame that most clips you hear are aimed to try to emulate that one tone.

Not sure if anyone has heard this clip that was recorded by a very good friend of mine called Matte Henderson. I would say Matte has mastered guitar technique to a point most could only dream about. This clip was actually a pickup demo, but he used his OD2 and it demonstrates what a high gain setting played well in to power tube OD sounds like. Notice the articulation of each note, even at blistering speeds. It's not a big blur of mush. Each note has definition. The cleans clips at the beginning are pretty damn cool to.

http://www.eddegenaro.com/burners/crik.mp3

[skyboltone]

The edengenaro clip is indeed remarkable Alan. All the more so because I can't stand that style of playing. If I'm anything (doubtful) I'm a blues player and most clips of these amps played by the hot pickers on this forum are fusion or lite jazz based. But having owned one of HADs reworked fenders I gotta tell you that they'll make blues tone. But there's another point. The guitar is hugely important. I played a '52 reissue tele into a blues deville the other day and compared it to an American standard Strat. Both guitars on bridge pu. That business that you're talking about; the mud and the definition between the notes when overdriven, were like night and day between those two guitars with that amp. The tele stayed definable no matter what, the strat fell apart at high overdrive levels. Must have something to do with voltage output of the two pickups. Apples and oranges I know and it proves nothing except this: the edengenaro clip indicates that your amp can make the full range from clean to way (monster stack) overdrive when played well with that guitar. Without sounding like crap. That's a hell of an accomplishment. I wonder what that clip by Matte would sound like through a Plexi? Or a twin? Different certainly. HAD's contribution was the mix of the two channels. It does it all.

Change the page: I wish somebody would send geetarpicker (Glen Kuykendal) a really nice HRM to doodle with. I'd like to hear his clips through the other beast.