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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Torres Engeneering kits

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11/29/1999 12:06 AM
JC	Torres Engeneering kits What is it all about? I tried to find revues at Harmony Central, but there were no entries about this amps. I could be interested on the DM2000 that seems to be quite a nice 30w amp. Any opinions, please? jc

11/29/1999 3:26 AM
Mark Abbott	Don't do it, I have built up a Super Texan amp which worked well with a humbucking guitar, but was pretty lame with single coils. If you must buy the circuit, I feel what he charges for parts is very expensive. Mark.

11/29/1999 3:33 PM

Dan has gotten a really bad rep on the newsgroups, at least partially deserved. I'm not going to comment on the quality of the kits, etc. since I have no experience but thought that I'd point out that:
1) The general consensus is that Dan tends to make things unbearably bright (to the point of being harsh).
2) You have to take ANY manufacturer's literature claims with a huge grain of salt. This seems especially prudent since there aren't many 3rd party reviews to found for these amps.
3) You care probably paying a premium on the parts since usually these types of things come at a major mark-up. Make sure the price of the kit (assuming it's a complete amp kit and not a mod) includes the transformers, cabinet, &chassis; these are the MAJOR cost in building an amp. The board, sockets, and components (i.e. resistors, caps, wiring) are all a very small part of the cost.

BTW - I've bought caps from Torres and found the turnaround very fast with their new online ordering system. I got the stuff 3 days after I ordered it, exactly as described.

MJ

11/29/1999 6:55 PM

I've been informed that Dan's hearing is kinda shot from too many loud gigs in his younger days. Since the first thing to go is the high end response to your hearing in this case, he supposedly compensates by making his amps and mod kits REAL bright, so it still sounds "right" to him. Consequently, to the rest of us, they would sound way too bright, if not "harsh", as was mentioned above. Consequently, if you build an amp kit from scratch, you may end up having to re-voice the thing a bit to tame the high end. If you can take that on, then why not..

Stay FAR away from his amp mod kits. No quicker way to butcher up an old Fender and destroy it's value than with a hack kit from Torres.

You may also want to do a Deja News search on him, for user feedback. Seems like his customer service in the event of dis-satisfaction or confusion has been....ahem.... less than stellar. Buyer beware.

11/30/1999 10:17 AM

jc:

    I just checked Dan's site and for the parts to build the DM2000, it runs $806.xx (less cabinet and speakers). If you can scrounge a chassis and other parts he has other versions of the DM2000 kit for under $500. Unless you've built amps from scratch before, I think it would be safe to figure at least 20 or 30 hours labor to put it all together (time flies when you are having fun!)

    I haven't heard this particular amp kit but other ones tend to be a bit on the bright/fizzy side (once you've put it together it is fairly easy to go back inside and change some of the caps and resistors to fine tune the sound- but that kind of stuff can run into many hours over several days as you decide what sounds best).

    If you are looking to save money by building your own amp— well, if you write off your own labor as education, it might not be prohibitively expensive... But compared to tuition at a college it might be a real money-saver! But be sure to get some real electronics texts to supplement the instructions if you are interested in learning all about tube amps...

Steve Ahola

P.S. BTW the DM2000 is a build-it-yourself-from-scratch kit, not a hack'n'slash mod to an existing amp... so no Fenders were harmed in the production, et al.

12/2/1999 2:03 AM

I haven't a clue about his kits, but here's my advice. If you want to learn, have fun and actually end up with something that works, buy a silver face bassman. You should be able to find one for about $150. Try to get it for $100. Do the "cap job" it will most likely need. Buy some caps and resistors. Scour the web for schematics of interesting pre-amp circuits and go to town. In the end you will still have a $150 amp (that should sound like a million) and you'll be alot smarter.

12/3/1999 6:43 PM
consumer	SF Bassman SF Bassman for $100-150?? You gotta be kiddin' me!

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