Members T. Alan Smith Posted November 2, 2007 Members Share Posted November 2, 2007 I have been talking to a friend of mine who makes admittably very pricey boutique amps. He's talking about doing a really nice 80w all tube combo with a 15 or 12 - sort of a modern version of the venerable fliptop with better EQ, nice direct outs and stuff - he can't figure out how to do it for less than $2500. It costs a lot to build a quality amplifier, I think GBs proposed pricing is great. The price of copper has gone up 30% in the year and a half...transformers cost more, etc. If you want cheap, buy cheap, but really a good amp is a lifetime investment - if you want something that will serve you well for a long time, it's worth paying for.Sheesh! That sounds SO damn killer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bnyswonger Posted November 2, 2007 Members Share Posted November 2, 2007 Sheesh! That sounds SO damn killer! I think there are guys that would pay that for a great modern amp.. + he says the weight would be under 50 lbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bnyswonger Posted November 2, 2007 Members Share Posted November 2, 2007 Anyway getting back on topic here, how on earth can you expect a company like GB to put out a cheap tube head? If they're gonna do it, they're gonna do it right and the things are expensive to make. The CL is the most mass produced big power tube head out there, so that's gonna be hard to undercut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members T. Alan Smith Posted November 2, 2007 Members Share Posted November 2, 2007 I think there are guys that would pay that for a great modern amp.. + he says the weight would be under 50 lbs.Actually, I'd be interested in the head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassman1956 Posted November 2, 2007 Members Share Posted November 2, 2007 I think there are guys that would pay that for a great modern amp.. + he says the weight would be under 50 lbs. Hmmmmm..................................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted November 2, 2007 Moderators Share Posted November 2, 2007 he can't figure out how to do it for less than $2500. It costs a lot to build a quality amplifier That sounds reasonable. Obviously it can be built for less, but he is probably sparing no expense and also needs to make a profit as well. The thing is, in the 80 watt range, he probably doesn't need a custom transformer (which is often a pain in the ass to source), I use a multi-tap transformer modeled after the Twin/Showman transformer and it is perfect for this type of application. This project is definitely not a difficult one for a boutique builder to tackle, but the large scale demand simply isn't there for the major amp makers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bnyswonger Posted November 2, 2007 Members Share Posted November 2, 2007 That sounds reasonable. Obviously it can be built for less, but he is probably sparing no expense and also needs to make a profit as well. The thing is, in the 80 watt range, he probably doesn't need a custom transformer (which is often a pain in the ass to source), I use a multi-tap transformer modeled after the Twin/Showman transformer and it is perfect for this type of application. This project is definitely not a difficult one for a boutique builder to tackle, but the large scale demand simply isn't there for the major amp makers. You'll be interested in this - he's got a line on some high power dumble transformers and is talking about 4 KT90 head for moi. I'd retire the SVT for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted November 2, 2007 Moderators Share Posted November 2, 2007 You'll be interested in this - he's got a line on some high power dumble transformers and is talking about 4 KT90 head for moi. I'd retire the SVT for that! Wouldn't that be about half the power of your SVT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bnyswonger Posted November 2, 2007 Members Share Posted November 2, 2007 Wouldn't that be about half the power of your SVT? The trannies are in the 180-200w range...he says 100w per pair of KT90s is doable. I never come close to running my SVT at full output, so it would definitely have plenty of gas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members takeout Posted November 2, 2007 Members Share Posted November 2, 2007 4 KT90s should be a little over 2/3 the power of an SVT, depending on how it's designed. My Trace V-Type is 225W out of four 6550s - 2/3 of an SVT at 1/2 the weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted November 2, 2007 Moderators Share Posted November 2, 2007 The trannies are in the 180-200w range...he says 100w per pair of KT90s is doable. I never come close to running my SVT at full output, so it would definitely have plenty of gas. 100 watts per pair is doable. I'd have expected 80-90 for this design, knowing how you like your clean tube tone. It's just hard for me to hear you say you'd retire the SVT. It's too much of a paradigm shift for me this early in the morning... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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