elwood
02-17-2008, 10:41 AM
Hey folks,
I'm an amateur musician (studied voice and violin for years, been playing guitar for close to a year now) and electronics designer. Since getting interested in the guitar I've gotten the urge to combine my love of sound, music and electronics together to design some guitar-related stuff. But I'm not going to quit my day job just yet... (also designing electronics)
So, I've been working on an effect pedal and an amp. The pedal makes weird digital sounds that are sort of reminiscent of Commodore 64 games. (I grew up in the 80s so I have a special place in my heart for such things)
The amp project is a whole different beast, and I'm interested in ideas or opinions from the guitar-playing masses. The basic idea is a high-end (=high price) 40W combo amp (1x12") which combines great sound with ultra-portability. I live in downtown Toronto and don't own a car, so a portable amp that sounds as good as my 12" Fender Hotrod would be excellent. Wheels might be included too to save fingers for playing instead of carrying. The built-in signal path, effects, etc. would circumvent the need for a lot of pedals. And a rechargeable battery pack would mean true plug-in and play capability. Most battery-powered amps I found are low-end crap.
The overall goal is a great sounding amp that can travel easily, works anywhere, but doesn't sacrifice sound quality for portability. Obviously this is a challenge because tube amps + portability don't really seem to go together. And by the looks of it most high-end amps are all tubes. So obviously something has to give. And the easiest places of course to save weight are in the power supply and power amp. If I use a high-efficiency non-tube amp and switching power supply, I think everything else (including tubes in the preamp) would be possible.
I welcome any of your comments or questions. Also, I have a few questions which perhaps you can help me answer:
- Is great sound in a lightweight box something people want? All I see everywhere are all-tube monsters that are really impractical.
- Does an amp need to be all-tube to catch peoples' attention? (and command a high price?) I have some unique design ideas for avoiding the need for a heavy tube power amp, but still giving some of the same sound characteristics. Does a tube power amp really make that much difference? (please be totally honest)
- Should there be tubes in the preamp? A few 12AX7s and a modern power supply doesn't add much weight.
- Do people actually like the spring reverb sound? I find it horrible and would rather use a DSP for effects. (the main signal path would still be all analog)
After looking at countless products part of me thinks that the guitar community is addicted to retro so much that a high end product pretty much needs to be an all-tube monster. But another part of me (after talking to friends who play guitar) thinks that there would be real value in a high-end amp with modern features and light weight.
I welcome your ideas and questions!
I'm an amateur musician (studied voice and violin for years, been playing guitar for close to a year now) and electronics designer. Since getting interested in the guitar I've gotten the urge to combine my love of sound, music and electronics together to design some guitar-related stuff. But I'm not going to quit my day job just yet... (also designing electronics)
So, I've been working on an effect pedal and an amp. The pedal makes weird digital sounds that are sort of reminiscent of Commodore 64 games. (I grew up in the 80s so I have a special place in my heart for such things)
The amp project is a whole different beast, and I'm interested in ideas or opinions from the guitar-playing masses. The basic idea is a high-end (=high price) 40W combo amp (1x12") which combines great sound with ultra-portability. I live in downtown Toronto and don't own a car, so a portable amp that sounds as good as my 12" Fender Hotrod would be excellent. Wheels might be included too to save fingers for playing instead of carrying. The built-in signal path, effects, etc. would circumvent the need for a lot of pedals. And a rechargeable battery pack would mean true plug-in and play capability. Most battery-powered amps I found are low-end crap.
The overall goal is a great sounding amp that can travel easily, works anywhere, but doesn't sacrifice sound quality for portability. Obviously this is a challenge because tube amps + portability don't really seem to go together. And by the looks of it most high-end amps are all tubes. So obviously something has to give. And the easiest places of course to save weight are in the power supply and power amp. If I use a high-efficiency non-tube amp and switching power supply, I think everything else (including tubes in the preamp) would be possible.
I welcome any of your comments or questions. Also, I have a few questions which perhaps you can help me answer:
- Is great sound in a lightweight box something people want? All I see everywhere are all-tube monsters that are really impractical.
- Does an amp need to be all-tube to catch peoples' attention? (and command a high price?) I have some unique design ideas for avoiding the need for a heavy tube power amp, but still giving some of the same sound characteristics. Does a tube power amp really make that much difference? (please be totally honest)
- Should there be tubes in the preamp? A few 12AX7s and a modern power supply doesn't add much weight.
- Do people actually like the spring reverb sound? I find it horrible and would rather use a DSP for effects. (the main signal path would still be all analog)
After looking at countless products part of me thinks that the guitar community is addicted to retro so much that a high end product pretty much needs to be an all-tube monster. But another part of me (after talking to friends who play guitar) thinks that there would be real value in a high-end amp with modern features and light weight.
I welcome your ideas and questions!