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previous: Nick Will PT handle increased fillam... -- 6/29/2000 1:08 PM

Re: Bluesmaker mod in my SF Bassman 50

6/29/2000 3:21 PM
Peter S	Re: Bluesmaker mod in my SF Bassman 50 Nick, I haven't made the mod to a Bassman, but I've built a few amps using the bluesmaker schematic as a basis. They sound pretty cool, but I prefer the stock 5F6A/Marshall circuits. IMHO, the bluesmakers are not nearly as dynamic.....by that I mean, I build an amplifier model that uses the 5F6A circuit as the basic design. These amps incorporate quite a few changes that I have developed over the years. They are designed so that you can turn the volume all the way up on both the amp AND the guitar and use a soft picking attack to either get a very clean punchy sound with a HUGE bottom end, OR......pick a little harder and get some nice warm bluesy crunch, OR.....bang on the strings with your pick or fingers and get MONDO distortion and sustain, or anything in between. IMO, these amps, like a good 50 watt Marshall produce about as much distortion as you can get from an amp and still retain note definition and the character of the guitar. IMO, when an amp distorts too much, the tone becomes kind of generic sounding and loses the dynamic character of a great amp. I like to hear the guitar I'm playing even when the amp is screaming with maximum distortion......a Les Paul should still sound like a Les Paul and Tele should still sound like a Tele. I found with the bluesmaker circuit, that I wasn't able to build an amp that would perform this way. I didnt find the bluesmaker to yield more distortion or sustain than a good Marshall, just distortion that is less dynamic. If you turn it all the way up it will not clean up as much, so you don't have as much ability to control the distortion using dynamics. IMO, bluesmakers are still much more dynamic than most master volume amps I've encountered though, and you can get a lot more dynamics if you roll the volume back to about 75%. I've always loved amps that sound better and better as you crank them up, but it kind of bothers me when I can turn a knob on an amp up past the point where the amp sounds best. As far as the extra filament current, most Bassmans can handle it with no problem. Peter S Kimerik Amps

6/29/2000 3:21 PM

Peter S

Re: Bluesmaker mod in my SF Bassman 50

Nick,
I haven't made the mod to a Bassman, but I've built a few amps using the bluesmaker schematic as a basis. They sound pretty cool, but I prefer the stock 5F6A/Marshall circuits. IMHO, the bluesmakers are not nearly as dynamic.....by that I mean, I build an amplifier model that uses the 5F6A circuit as the basic design. These amps incorporate quite a few changes that I have developed over the years. They are designed so that you can turn the volume all the way up on both the amp AND the guitar and use a soft picking attack to either get a very clean punchy sound with a HUGE bottom end, OR......pick a little harder and get some nice warm bluesy crunch, OR.....bang on the strings with your pick or fingers and get MONDO distortion and sustain, or anything in between. IMO, these amps, like a good 50 watt Marshall produce about as much distortion as you can get from an amp and still retain note definition and the character of the guitar. IMO, when an amp distorts too much, the tone becomes kind of generic sounding and loses the dynamic character of a great amp. I like to hear the guitar I'm playing even when the amp is screaming with maximum distortion......a Les Paul should still sound like a Les Paul and Tele should still sound like a Tele. I found with the bluesmaker circuit, that I wasn't able to build an amp that would perform this way. I didnt find the bluesmaker to yield more distortion or sustain than a good Marshall, just distortion that is less dynamic. If you turn it all the way up it will not clean up as much, so you don't have as much ability to control the distortion using dynamics. IMO, bluesmakers are still much more dynamic than most master volume amps I've encountered though, and you can get a lot more dynamics if you roll the volume back to about 75%. I've always loved amps that sound better and better as you crank them up, but it kind of bothers me when I can turn a knob on an amp up past the point where the amp sounds best. As far as the extra filament current, most Bassmans can handle it with no problem.

Peter S
Kimerik Amps