amlifier inquiry -- guitar amp versus bass amp.

[rumpelstiltskin.]

i'm mostly a bass player. since i also play guitar and i don't have a guitar amp, and it's a business i want to get into, i'm designing a guitar amp that i want to sell, and i'd like some guitar player suggestions about features and controls.

 

in the world of bass, EQ is typically more frequency sensitive than guitar, i.e. sweepable mids, graphic EQ, and it's more of a +/- dB control. in guitar, it seems mostly to be bass, mid, and treble, from 1 to, uh, 11. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif

 

is there a general standard for center frequency for the three controls? do you people have any preferences? i assume treble to be somewhere around 10kHz to 12kHz, and bass to be around 100Hz to 400Hz, but i really don't know at all.

 

is there any interest in digital outputs? the amplifier is going to be 100% tubed from input to speaker, but i figured direct digital outputs, along with an analog direct line might be worthwhile.

 

the rest of the thing should be a typical amplifier, except that it will be rackmountable, instead of a normal head. would that be bad?

 

are there any other features you've been dying to see on a guitar amp? advance thanks for your input. it's really helpful to me, and hopefully will help create a new standard in amplifiers.

[Matt.Hepworth]

Alot of the good guitar bite is at 3k. Put treble there. Put lows selectable at 80, 100, 120, 160, and 200hz. Sweepable mids, wide Q, +/- 12 db. "Extend" button to switch mids to +/- 20db for crazy sound. "Air" knob to add sound around 6k, 10k, and 15k. If you want to go all out, have an EQ selector for active (settings as above), or passive (like old tube amp EQ). Let the amp have 2 channels and selectable power tube types without rebiasing. Two twelves. Power brake. Remember who thought of this http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif !

http://www.xmission.com/~glitch/images/alien2.gif

 

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Matt

No clever saying.

[KHAN]

I think it would be great to have EL34's and 6L6's in one unit. Marshall type crunch and Fender type clean, and a blend to get both at once. Keep the power down around 40 or 50 watts, and let me know if you need any beta testers. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif

 

Mmmmmmm TONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

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KHAN (Always hopeful, yet discontent)

 

www.floydtribute.hpwebhost.com

[rumpelstiltskin.]

Originally posted by KHAN:

I think it would be great to have EL34's and 6L6's in one unit. Marshall type crunch and Fender type clean, and a blend to get both at once. Keep the power down around 40 or 50 watts, and let me know if you need any beta testers. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif

 

Mmmmmmm TONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

funny you should suggest that, because that is what made the most sense to me. the plan is for 40W with a nice hybrid between marshall and fender tone. it should be really smooth. i don't want to give away too much about it, because i think there are a lot of novel ideas in it.

 

as far as testing, i'd love to send it out to some people, but it's still out on the horizon. i expect to have a prototype by christmas, and a working unit by summer. with a full time job, this side work is just that: not a priority.

 

thanks, guys.

[Emperator]

My partner makes boutiques amps of the vintage type (59 Bassman, Vox AC30 Top Boost etc. all types of hybrids just to see what they sound like). Repairs and restores vintage amps. Definitely try Class A and a beefy power supplie, use the best parts, especially the capacitors. The tubes you choose really do make a hell of a difference. I've got Mullard EL34's in my Marshall Plexi sounds incredible. DId a test one day where we just changed tubes. Clean to mean just by changing tubes. He's built me all types of configurations. Rack mounted means you have to have a rack that has room for the heat of the tubes and won't melt if anything should really go wrong. Standard amplifier with handle is more convenient to me.