Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
Ken Fischer with his Trainwreck amps If you’re interested in guitar amplifiers and haven’t heard of Trainwreck amps then you must be stuck on a desert island. Known for their no frills design, great clean shimmer and screaming lead tones Trainwreck amplifiers were hand made in the 80s and through the 90s by the late … Read more
The Fender Tweed Deluxe has been with us for over 60 years now and it’s popularity is still growing. First produced in 1948 as the Model 5B3 it is the mid 50s 5E3 circuit that guitar player claim is the greatest revision of the classic Tweed formula. Originally viewed as an “entry level” model the … Read more
Dana Hall’s VVR3 PCB kit. Power Scaling (a London Power trademark) and VVR, which stands for Variable Voltage Regulator, (Dana Hall of Hall Amplification’s version of Power Scaling) are currently two of the hottest topic’s in the Guitar Amp world. Both are methods which allow you to scale back the voltages within your amplifier to … Read more
Divided By Thirteen CJ 11 in Cream Divided By Thirteen are a relatively new company (with regards to amp manufacturing) based in California and spear headed by Fred Taccone. They make some great sounding and beautifully build amps, not to mention the way they look! The CJ11 is one of Divided By Thirteen’s smaller offerings and … Read more
Blackstar Amps have quickly established themselves as one of the forerunners of the “new to the scene” amp manufacturers. Some great amps twinned with some really interesting tech have really helped push Blackstar to the front of a pretty saturated market. One of their most interesting innovations is their patented “ISF Control” (“ISF stands for … Read more
Ahhh, the Dr Z Carmen Ghia. It’s long been ranked as one of the best sounding boutique amps available. It’s an all out take on the classic Marshall 18 Watt, great for any rock tones you need but with a clean headroom that gives the amp some versatility. Here’s the description from the Dr Z … Read more
Yep. It’s here alright, I actually drew the schematic up on this one! – Check it out. Note that the power supply in the scheme is not the original switching type as used in the nano. It’ll make no difference to the sound, all the power supply needs to do it provide 230VDC to those … Read more
Well yes indeed – you can turn an Ephiphone Valve Junior into an incredible little amp that sounds just like the small combo’s that have become famous thanks to Jimmy Page and his use of them on the Led Zepplin II Album. With my “Suprono” Mods the rather mundane stock Valve Junior circuit turns into … Read more