[Guncho]

Anyone remember these amps?

I had two of the 100 watt all tube heads.

Crazy amps with their little modules and built in attenuator.

Ugly as heck but sounded great to my ears.

 

[Guncho]

No one ever played one of these amps but me?

 

[Paul Running]

I never played one but I've checked out the documentation on it and it looks interesting. I remember in the late 60s, Motorola had a TV...the Quasar. It was a modulator build...the TV with the works in the drawer.
From what I've read, it appears that the contacts for the modules were problematic. A neat concept and would likely be successful it not for the contact issues.
Are you a fan of the EL34?

 

[Guncho]

I never played one but I've checked out the documentation on it and it looks interesting. I remember in the late 60s, Motorola had a TV...the Quasar. It was a modulator build...the TV with the works in the drawer.
From what I've read, it appears that the contacts for the modules were problematic. A neat concept and would likely be successful it not for the contact issues.
Are you a fan of the EL34?

I never had an issue with the module contacts and I owned two of the heads.

It was a neat amp but ugly. Had a built in attenuator. I used to pull two power tubes to take it down to 50 watts and then use the power dial to take it down to 40.

Yeah I'm a fan of EL34. Classic Marshall sound no?

 

[MarkM]

I remember them, never had the opportunity to even play through one at a store. I read guitar magazines back in the day and they talked about them a lot.

 

[Guncho]

I wonder what the odds are that I owned two of the heads that were in Canada. I think I sold both to the same guy in Toronto but I'm not sure really.

 

[Paul Running]

I never had an issue with the module contacts and I owned two of the heads.

It was a neat amp but ugly. Had a built in attenuator. I used to pull two power tubes to take it down to 50 watts and then use the power dial to take it down to 40.

Yeah I'm a fan of EL34. Classic Marshall sound no?

Looking at the connector system and it looks like they used an edge connector system...gold-contact Edacs. A popular connector in industrial electronics. As long as the edge connector on the module stays clean, it should not cause issues...if it's true gold; a tip: never use an eraser to clean gold-fingers.
Are you having GAS for a SD Convertible?

 

[Guncho]

Looking at the connector system and it looks like they used an edge connector system...gold-contact Edacs. A popular connector in industrial electronics. As long as the edge connector on the module stays clean, it should not cause issues...if it's true gold; a tip: never use an eraser to clean gold-fingers.
Are you having GAS for a SD Convertible? View attachment 387130

Fond memories.

 

[jb welder]

I never had an issue with the module contacts and I owned two of the heads.

You may have been one of the lucky ones. I don't think there were a lot in Canada and almost all that I saw for repair was due to the connector issues. If you were swapping modules around much it just made things worse. Connectors like this have reliability issues when there is lots of vibration, which is hard to get away from when speakers are involved.
The modular circuits were a neat idea though, like having plug & play modifications.

 

[Paul Running]

You may have been one of the lucky ones. I don't think there were a lot in Canada and almost all that I saw for repair was due to the connector issues. If you were swapping modules around much it just made things worse. Connectors like this have reliability issues when there is lots of vibration, which is hard to get away from when speakers are involved.
The modular circuits were a neat idea though, like having plug & play modifications.

It would have been less intermittent if they used both edges of the connector, with plated-thru holes...only single-sided board for the modules.

 

[Buzz]

I have a Seymour Duncan 84 40 tube amp. Its a great little 1 x 12 combo. I have new power tubes for it but I'm holding out.

 

[oneflatnote]

Sounded ok if the modules worked. IIRC needed to clean the module connections with an eraser often due to issues

 

[Guitar Bill]

I played a convertible 50 watt one once at a jam-absolutely loved it-still haunts me how much I loved it....but the reliability downside kept me from hunting one down