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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Calling any tube gurus...help!

6/1/2005 2:55 PM
Bob Quigley	Calling any tube gurus...help! Hello everyone. I'm kind of in need of some guidance. I am a metalhead who fell in love with a 5150 amp head I ALMOST bought (the crapheads sold it 1 hour before I came in with the cash: $350...what a bite!), and I am trying to come up with a homebrewed PREAMP that would give me the same type of mondo-gain as the 5150 (plus an all tube compressor I found online...RCA I think). I keep drawing out schems, but I'm not sure if I'm going in the right direction. I have 2 prelimanary schematics... http://www.quigzinc.com/fullrack01.jpg http://www.quigzinc.com/fullrack03.jpg Gander at them and let me know what you think. many thanks to all who respond!

6/1/2005 2:55 PM

Bob Quigley
email

Calling any tube gurus...help!

Hello everyone. I'm kind of in need of some guidance. I am a metalhead who fell in love with a 5150 amp head I ALMOST bought (the crapheads sold it 1 hour before I came in with the cash: $350...what a bite!), and I am trying to come up with a homebrewed PREAMP that would give me the same type of mondo-gain as the 5150 (plus an all tube compressor I found online...RCA I think). I keep drawing out schems, but I'm not sure if I'm going in the right direction. I have 2 prelimanary schematics... http://www.quigzinc.com/fullrack01.jpg
http://www.quigzinc.com/fullrack03.jpg
Gander at them and let me know what you think. many thanks to all who respond!

6/1/2005 3:03 PM
MBSetzer	Technically speaking I think the lesson here is, if you negotiate a truly killer deal you best have the cash in hand and the getaway car handy You do not want to let the seller out of your sight long enough to call other potential buyers to let them know how cheap it is ready to be sold. Mike

Friday

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6/1/2005 4:42 PM
Bob Quigley	snicker true, but now that I missed out, I realized it was more than I needed right now. I really don't want 100 watts. I'm running a Digitech RP21d through a MOSFET stereo amp and a 5150 4-12 cab. Souns only OK. Anyway, what feels better than building exactly what you want and having it work? I almost forgot...I have already built the power supply (from 2 12v transformers back to back...140v-280v dc and 12.6v ac) so that's the "b+" in the schems.

6/1/2005 4:42 PM

Bob Quigley
email

*snicker* true, but now that I missed out, I realized it was more than I needed right now. I really don't want 100 watts. I'm running a Digitech RP21d through a MOSFET stereo amp and a 5150 4-12 cab. Souns only OK. Anyway, what feels better than building exactly what you want and having it work? I almost forgot...I have already built the power supply (from 2 12v transformers back to back...140v-280v dc and 12.6v ac) so that's the "b+" in the schems.

6/1/2005 6:41 PM
Enzo	If you want a similar preamp to the 5150, look for a Peavey Rockmaster preamp. They turn up a lot gor $100-150. It is basically the preamp of their Ultra/5150 family. It has effects loops for each channel plus a global one. This is a neat feature, but with all those loop jacks, 4 loops, there is the potential for a level problem, so you can often find them cheaper "as is" with low output, and all it takes is some jack maintenance to bring it back. It really is a cool little preamp - all tube, one rack space. By the way, the Rock Master head is a completely different thing. That is a rude 120 watt thing.

6/1/2005 6:41 PM

Enzo

If you want a similar preamp to the 5150, look for a Peavey Rockmaster preamp. They turn up a lot gor $100-150. It is basically the preamp of their Ultra/5150 family. It has effects loops for each channel plus a global one. This is a neat feature, but with all those loop jacks, 4 loops, there is the potential for a level problem, so you can often find them cheaper "as is" with low output, and all it takes is some jack maintenance to bring it back.

It really is a cool little preamp - all tube, one rack space.

By the way, the Rock Master head is a completely different thing. That is a rude 120 watt thing.

6/1/2005 8:32 PM
Chuck	I fully agree with Enzo here. I had a Rockmaster preamp before I started rolling my own and I must admit that I don't think I ever built a better sounding high gain preamp than that Rockmaster. It really cooked and it sounded right doing it. They can be found cheap too. If I was more of a player than a builder (which sadly I'm not anymore ) I would own one for certain. Enzo, I actually liked the Rockmaster well enough that I called Peavey and asked them what amp I could buy that had that exact preamp. They told me and I bought one. a Peavey Triumph PAG60, a 1x12 all tube combo. I recorded mucho great tracks with that amp. But sadly the 60 watt rating with only 1x12 just didn't seem to cut it for gigs. I used a big a$$ metal head mid scoop tone at the time and you really need 4x12s for that. I think I traded it in on my first Marshall, a JMP MKII 2203. I've never looked back until now. That Rockmaster was a great preamp. I used to plug it into a Peavey classic 60/60 power amp with a Quadreverb in between them. Man playing was simpler when I didn't make my gear. Chuck

6/1/2005 8:32 PM

Chuck

I fully agree with Enzo here. I had a Rockmaster preamp before I started rolling my own and I must admit that I don't think I ever built a better sounding high gain preamp than that Rockmaster. It really cooked and it sounded right doing it. They can be found cheap too. If I was more of a player than a builder (which sadly I'm not anymore

) I would own one for certain.

Enzo, I actually liked the Rockmaster well enough that I called Peavey and asked them what amp I could buy that had that exact preamp. They told me and I bought one. a Peavey Triumph PAG60, a 1x12 all tube combo. I recorded mucho great tracks with that amp. But sadly the 60 watt rating with only 1x12 just didn't seem to cut it for gigs. I used a big a$$ metal head mid scoop tone at the time and you really need 4x12s for that. I think I traded it in on my first Marshall, a JMP MKII 2203. I've never looked back until now. That Rockmaster was a great preamp. I used to plug it into a Peavey classic 60/60 power amp with a Quadreverb in between them. Man playing was simpler when I didn't make my gear.

Chuck

6/2/2005 6:52 AM
Joe N.	I like the ADA MP1, you can find those for under 200$ It really isn't very warm sounding, it's actually pretty nasty and mean sounding. it has a ton of gain too. The rock master also has an active EQ I think. and is a bit different than the 5150 from what I remember. The 5150 has that soldano circuit with some extra's, that seem very unecessary. if you end up building something similar, just build the lead channel from the soldano X88R and save yourself a tube. Joe N.

6/2/2005 6:52 AM

Joe N.

I like the ADA MP1, you can find those for under 200$ It really isn't very warm sounding, it's actually pretty nasty and mean sounding. it has a ton of gain too.
The rock master also has an active EQ I think. and is a bit different than the 5150 from what I remember. The 5150 has that soldano circuit with some extra's, that seem very unecessary. if you end up building something similar, just build the lead channel from the soldano X88R and save yourself a tube.
Joe N.

6/24/2005 2:23 PM
gtrboy	i love my mp-1's, now that they are modded!! better tone and quieter.

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