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Vintage threads from the first ten years

9/2/1997 9:00 AM
Dave Charneski	Re: Heat question Pat, Interesting comments! I have noticed the same thing with my Fender Tone-Master that your friend has. Certain amps, it seems, sound much fuller and harmonically complex after being played fairly hard for about 20-30 minutes. I experienced this phenomenon when I tried out the Tone-Master in the music store. I CLEARLY hear the same thing happen at every rehearsal/gig with my band. The amp seems to just blossom after the chassis gets almost too hot to touch. CHECK THIS OUT! I was browsing not long ago in a music store and I happened to stumble across an Owner's Manual for one of the Matchless amps that were on display. Guess what? It stated in black and white that their amps sound much better after getting hot (which required about 20 minutes of playing). No kidding! There's some other (circumstantial) evidence for this phenomenon. On the back of my Tone- Master, there's a statement that reads something like: "CAUTION: Amp chassis gets very hot!" Why wouldn't Fender just put in a fan to cool this thing down and/or lower the bias on the tubes and/or redesign the cabinet to allow more air flow? I suspect it's because they've noticed the same phenomenon. In fact, I have been trying, without much luck so far, to contact Bruce Zinky (the designer of the Tone-Master) to find out what his design intent was regarding heat accumulation and tube biasing. Any advice would be truly appreciated. Thanks. Dave

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