Magnatone is back

[Bear]

http://www.magnatoneusa.com/

Press release stuff:
http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/I ... nched.aspx

Association with Saint Louis Music is perhaps suspect. Billy Gibbons' endorsement will have some skeptics.

A practical question emerges for DIY-ers: are they making new runs of the nearly impossible to find vibrato parts?

[Structo]

Yeah I was wondering the same thing.

It does say this on the Premier Guitar article.

Perhaps, the company’s most noted innovation was its patented pitch-shifting vibrato effect using non-moving parts to create “true vibrato,” in contrast to what others called vibrato but was actually mislabeled tremolo. Today’s Magnatone engineers have used the patented vibrato circuit from 1958 as their design platform. They have engineered the models to include the vibrato effect as well as tremolo, as both effects are applicable to musical instrument amplification.

Read more: http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/I ... z2IuQez1LE

[Colossal]

I am wondering if part of the motivation for coming out of their 40 year hibernation is in part due to the resurgence in popularity of the 213/214/413 platform solely due to Phil X and Fretted Americana.

[katopan]

Happened before.... Marshall 1974X gets launched only after the 18 Watt is well established in the diy community and a number of kit and amp suppliers set up.

[M Fowler]

You can see the trend happening all over after they read about it in TAG and then incorporated it into their designs.

[renshen1957]

Happened before.... Marshall 1974X gets launched only after the 18 Watt is well established in the diy community and a number of kit and amp suppliers set up.

Hi,

I'll second that. It's happened too many times, Tweed Bassman, Clapton Bluesbreaker, Black Face Fender Deluxe, the usual suspects by Marshall, Vox, Fender get the "re-issued," You can only relaunch what you discontinued before. Or you can recycle the names.

Too bad the re-issues never get as close as the DIY or the Boutique builder communities for the originals. That would cost money. Usually what's offered is in the wrong sized cabinet and what superficially looks like the old model with little attempt to get the sound right.

I guess it gives Fender and Marshall something to follow the market as the don't seem to be putting out New Models. I put in a vote for the Blonde Bassman head (the head with dials on front concept which was borrowed by Leo from Standel's amps of El Monte, CA).

The St. Louis Music revelation doesn't inspire much confidence. Neither does name dropping Rock Bands or Guitarists. I'd suspect any product that is artist endorsed including endorsements by dead guitarists estates. Makes me laugh almost as much when Henry over at Gibson said his 1959 Les Paul re-issues where better than the original 59 LPs.

Best regards,

Steve

[tubeswell]

be nice if they make those old-school varistors available (might help them bring down production cost to put them onto the market). Whatever they do I'll be sticking to DIY.

[shoggoth]

Pardon my ignorance - but isn't the Magnatone circuit just one or two phase-shifting stages that could be accomplished with LDR's ? How much would the varistors distort the oscillator's waveform as opposed to LDR's ?

I imagine the reissue will use widely available LDR's, but that's just a wild guess.

[Structo]

I believe the Magnatone uses the Varistors because it is a true vibrato circuit which uses an oscillator to achieve the pitch shifting effect.

The LDR's are used in Fender and other amps for tremolo which is an amplitude shifting or pulsating circuit.

[M Fowler]

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/ ... rns-569924

Today's line of Magnatone models incorporates that same vibrato circuitry which, as aficionados know, includes silicone carbide varistors, as well as vacuum tubes, to achieve the "true dimensional sound" for which Magnatone is so renowned.

[shoggoth]

Well that's because of where the LDR's are used in the circuit. In the Fender they are bleeding signal to ground to vary the amplitude.

You can get a variable phase shift instead by sending an inverted signal through an LDR whose resistance is driven by the oscillator, and then sending the non-inverted signal through a capacitor. You mix the outputs and you've got variable phase shift.

The varistor is a variable resistor, same as LDR - just driven differently, and probably with different non-linearities when compared to the LDR. I was wondering if those non-linearities really contribute anything to Magnatone tone.

It's possible I'm full of it too and totally mistaken about how the Magnatone circuit operates and the feasibility of dropping in LDR's, I'm just an amateur hobbyist.

In any case that article that M. Fowler linked says they are using varistors, so that's how they're doing it.

[rp]

Maybe they'll do it right and are having repro varistors made. Maybe they'll become available to the DIY community.

[tubeswell]

Maybe they'll do it right and are having repro varistors made. Maybe they'll become available to the DIY community.

+1. see my earlier post on this good idea.

[rp]

Maybe they'll do it right and are having repro varistors made. Maybe they'll become available to the DIY community.

+1. see my earlier post on this good idea.

Sped through the posts too fast, I owe you a +1. Economies of scale and depends how deep their pockets are. If shallow it would benefit them to make the varistors available to the DIY community through CE, Mojo, Tube-Town, TAD etc, if deep they might prefer to keep their exclusivity and we'll only be able to get them through a service tech. Bet they'll be expensive either way. But if it happens can we be the first with a new Maggi subforum?

[Diablo1]

I wonder if I will soon become an idiot for paying $70 for a pair of NOS varistors.....