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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Re: Torres "Super Texan" mod

12/17/1997 1:01 PM
anonymous	Re: Torres "Super Texan" mod Tell you what - just by pittman's book and that other tube amp book and study up. You can learn to do all those mods yourself and not have to pay some guy $350 for changing a few caps and resistors!

12/18/1997 2:16 AM
Steve A.	Anonymous: >>>Tell you what - just buy pittman's book and that other tube amp book and study up. You can learn to do all those mods yourself and not have to pay some guy $350 for changing a few caps and resistors!<<< The $350 ST mod involves a total rebuild of a pre-1980 Fender amp chassis, reusing only the transformers, power supply caps, tubes/sockets and pots. The fiberboard circuit board is replaced with a new phenolic board that doesn't warp or absorb moisture, and contains all new parts (like Orange Drop caps, etc.) There are added circuits, like extra gain stages and a dual stage master volume on the input to the output tubes (at lower volumes it does not effect the sound of the preamp like many designs do, and when set to 10 it is effectively out of the circuit). As for the tube-buffered FX loop, it is not immediately before the driver/output section so it does not work well as a preamp out/main amp in. The ST mod isn't for everybody- if you have a vintage amp, you're probably better off replacing all of the critical caps and resistors, making a few substitutions as needed to fine-tune the sound. If you have a SF amp and are looking for vintage tones, you might be better off doing a BF conversion. Incidentally, Torres Engineering does these mods as well as the more radical conversions, or can sell you the parts and instructions to do the work yourself. Or if you just want to buy into the technology, you can get the schematic, instructions and parts lists for any of his major mod kits for $29.95. I'd recommend that anyone learn enough about the technology to be able to fine-tune the ST to their own preferences, whether the work is done in-shop or not. The clean channel may be a bit too bright for some guitarists, and the OD channel can be too midrangy, so you may need to fine-tune the mod to get the sounds you like. The final result is NOT a vintage Fender amp, but something more like a Boogie optimized for blues (which may not be what you are looking for). Steve Ahola

12/18/1997 2:16 AM

Steve A.

Anonymous:

>>>Tell you what - just buy pittman's book and that other tube amp book and study up. You can learn to do all those mods yourself and not have to pay some guy $350 for changing a few caps and resistors!<<<

    The $350 ST mod involves a total rebuild of a pre-1980 Fender amp chassis, reusing only the transformers, power supply caps, tubes/sockets and pots. The fiberboard circuit board is replaced with a new phenolic board that doesn't warp or absorb moisture, and contains all new parts (like Orange Drop caps, etc.) There are added circuits, like extra gain stages and a dual stage master volume on the input to the output tubes (at lower volumes it does not effect the sound of the preamp like many designs do, and when set to 10 it is effectively out of the circuit). As for the tube-buffered FX loop, it is not immediately before the driver/output section so it does not work well as a preamp out/main amp in.
    The ST mod isn't for everybody- if you have a vintage amp, you're probably better off replacing all of the critical caps and resistors, making a few substitutions as needed to fine-tune the sound. If you have a SF amp and are looking for vintage tones, you might be better off doing a BF conversion. Incidentally, Torres Engineering does these mods as well as the more radical conversions, or can sell you the parts and instructions to do the work yourself. Or if you just want to buy into the technology, you can get the schematic, instructions and parts lists for any of his major mod kits for $29.95.
    I'd recommend that anyone learn enough about the technology to be able to fine-tune the ST to their own preferences, whether the work is done in-shop or not. The clean channel may be a bit too bright for some guitarists, and the OD channel can be too midrangy, so you may need to fine-tune the mod to get the sounds you like. The final result is NOT a vintage Fender amp, but something more like a Boogie optimized for blues (which may not be what you are looking for).

Steve Ahola

12/18/1997 7:20 AM
Phillip Saunders	As for Torres' mod kits: I bought the "blackface" kit to use on a Deluxe Reverb. It didn't do a good job of explaining WHY changes were made. More importantly, NONE of the changes in the kit returned my Silverface DR to ANY blackface values. NONE of them! They seemed to be intended to get an "IDEALIZED" Fender sound, which he called Blackface. I ended up buying the parts and making the modifications myself. At some point, I'll put up a web site with details.

12/18/1997 7:20 AM

Phillip Saunders

As for Torres' mod kits: I bought the "blackface" kit to use on a Deluxe Reverb. It didn't do a good job of explaining WHY changes were made.

More importantly, NONE of the changes in the kit returned my Silverface DR to ANY blackface values.
NONE of them!

They seemed to be intended to get an "IDEALIZED" Fender sound, which he called Blackface.

I ended up buying the parts and making the modifications myself. At some point, I'll put up a web site with details.

12/20/1997 5:55 PM
Budman	I've used Torres mods exclusively for a few years now on everything from a Champ to a Dual Showman with exceptional results! What I did find, though, IMHO, is that not all of his mods are for all people. They make your amp sound different. Not all people like that. I happened upon a bf Bassman with AB165 circuitry, or so I thought. It actually was using only 2 pre amp tubes and had about a dozen components on the board. Sooooooo.... I figured I'd bring it back to AB165 specs using the 'best' parts available today. After I was finished I had a good sounding amp, but not one that sounded like a bf Bassman! So, IMHO, when you change something, the sound changes, even if you upgrade the components. I believe Torres Engineering does a more than reputable job of resurrecting old amps and brings them up to close to todays standards. And yes, you are paying for the technological experience, not the parts. As it should be!

12/20/1997 5:55 PM

Budman

I've used Torres mods exclusively for a few years now on everything from a Champ to a Dual Showman with exceptional results!

What I did find, though, IMHO, is that not all of his mods are for all people. They make your amp sound different. Not all people like that.

I happened upon a bf Bassman with AB165 circuitry, or so I thought. It actually was using only 2 pre amp tubes and had about a dozen components on the board. Sooooooo....

I figured I'd bring it back to AB165 specs using the 'best' parts available today. After I was finished I had a good sounding amp, but not one that sounded like a bf Bassman!

So, IMHO, when you change something, the sound changes, even if you upgrade the components.

I believe Torres Engineering does a more than reputable job of resurrecting old amps and brings them up to close to todays standards.

And yes, you are paying for the technological experience, not the parts. As it should be!

12/23/1997 12:37 AM
Steve A.	Budman: I'm glad to hear from someone besides me putting in a good word for Torres. I thought he was the "God" of tube amp mods, but that was before I logged on here at AMPAGE... (Some of the guys here can run circles around Dan with electronic theory, but he sure knows a lot of tricks to make an amp sound great!) Merry Christmas! Steve Ahola

12/23/1997 10:32 AM
Budman	Yeah, but they don't market products internationally!

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