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AMESON
Traditional
Valve Amplification - revised 26/05/07
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RAMBLINGS.... |
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Over
the past 35 odd years I have produced many bespoke amplifiers, both solid
state and valve, in addition to the production items made by MAJ Electronic.
I have listened to the views and sounds of many many excellent players.
I have looked at and repaired and restored many traditional pieces of
equipment, and noted many points about these products, both from a sonic
and an engineering point of view. I have acted as a reference point for
many "boutique" amplifier makers throughout the world, and also
made assemblies and cabinets for these same people. All good stuff. Given
all this, I and other notables have long formed an opinion of what sounds
good and what doesn't. The original Fender (5F6) Bassman, the early Marshall
and Laney variants of the same design, the Gibson GA-50/75 as used by
the Beatles, the Vox amps and early Hiwatts all produce this incredible
rock guitar sound when driven to full power (and more) by a Strat/Tele/Les
Paul/335/SG type guitar. Period. Now modern amps have God knows how many
channels/Preamp overload/on board FX/Drive/ Distortion/Ultra distortion/Mega
distortion/Terra distortion?... you name it. And all generated within
the preamplifier. Some are actually very good - and they are versatile.
Great for the bedroom, but they dont make THAT sound. ANYWAY with all
this in mind, and being asked SO many times to produce a top quality hand
wired valve amplifier, I drew up my specifications with a view. They are
listed below: |
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ARCHITECTURAL
SPECIFICATIONS |
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Single
channel all valve amplifier with high and low gain inputs, with gain, bass,
middle, treble, volume controls. |
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50
Watts rms minimum output - Valve complement to be 3 x ECC83, 2 x 6L6 or
KT66 - typically 50 Watts rms. |
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All
components used must be carefully chosen and more than adequately rated
for best reliability. And I mean this.. |
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Aluminium
chassis for light weight and period magnetic performance. |
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Power
transformer to be core sheilded toroid for maximum power/weight ratio and
low noise performance. |
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Output
transformer to be English made, purpose designed, flash tested to 4kV. To
support 4/8/16 Ohm speaker loads. |
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Circuit
design to be traditional with my optimised values. NO presence control.
NO effects loop. NO drive channel |
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Power
supply to use solid state rectifiers. The advantage over using a valve rectifier
is too great to ignore, both in engineering and playability terms. |
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Perf
board construction for easy servicing, and all connectors to be Gold plated |
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Build
standard to be as impeccable as I can make it.. (See picture below) |
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Case
to constructed from 12mm Birch plywood for strength and lightness,
with choice of coverings, styles, and pipings. All credit to Jim Marshall
and Lyndon Laney on this one - this is a perfect and acceptable format.
Size: 8" x 20" x 8" (HWD). Weight: 10Kg max. |
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A
range of custom made matching speaker cabinets to be available. |
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THE
RESULT |
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Ameson
50 Watt valve head in standard leathergrain finish |
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What
it looks like inside |
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LOUDSPEAKER
ENCLOSURES |
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These
are generally made from 15mm Birch plywood, with MDF or plywood baffles.
Usual choice of coverings, styles and pipings. Again, hand cut, assembled
and wired. Drive units used are Celestion Century, Century Vintage, Blue,
Vintage 30; and Eminence also now offer a huge range of very good dedicated
guitar speakers for particular applications. After exhaustive tests we have
adopted the NEO magnet Celestion Century as our standard loudspeaker. Not
the cheapest but fabulous sound, great efficiency, and light weight. (NB.
The Celestion "Alnico Blue" speaker is excellent but with only
15 Watts handling power it is is only suitable in multiples of four with
our 50 watt unit; then consider the price..) Popular cabs include: |
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Ameson
212A - A staggered 2 x 12" angled cabinet 25" wide with a choice
of drive units |
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Ameson
412A - A traditional 4 x 12" angled cabinet 29" wide with a
choice of drive units |
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Ameson
212O - A traditional open back 2x12" cabinet - same dimensions as an
AC30 - with a choice of drive units |
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ENDIT |
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Thank you
for still being here. You will have realised by now that these products
are not cheap ( or "cost effective" as the sales people call
them) as for example each amplifier unit takes about 12 hours to complete
(not including the case!) I do all the assembly/wiring/finishing of
these items myself. No added input... if it fails it's MY fault...
JUDGING
BY THE FEEDBACK I HAVE RECEIVED SO FAR THEY ARE MUCH MORE COST EFFECTIVE
THAN I THOUGHT...
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by
Michael Ameson |
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If
you want a great sounding valve amp that will serve you for a lifetime
please call Michael on: |
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Telephone:
01384 278646 (Int: +44 384 278646) or Fax: 01384 298877 (Int: +44 384
298877) |
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