SKYNETRP

Originally posted by myka316 I've never actually dealt with Carvin but I have heard a lot of good things about their amps but what about their cabs? Are they quality stuff? Any ones to check out and are there any that should be avoided? The Carvin Legacy 4x12 cabs have Cellestian Vintage 30's in them and sound fine, and the best part is that they only cost $499, compared to a Marshall with Vintage 30's costing like $900......great dealon the Carvins. They are front loaded, but that's OK, no tonal difference there.

Originally posted by DeathMonkey See: THD Some of the most touch sensitive amps out there, IMHO. PCB, I believe. THD's are supposed to be quite remarkable when it comes to touch sensitivity, and they are extremely well made amps. I am currently using their Hot Plates, another very fine piece of equipment. There is more than one use for the Hot Plate, I use it to properly place my time based effects where they belong.....AFTER the saturated Power Tubes. That's a pretty long story and I have posted it here in another thread.

Originally posted by JamesPeters And, this has exactly what to do with coupling caps on preamp stages which see on average 200-250V, when the caps are rated for 600V? Orange drops are good caps too btw. Let's not go spreading hate about them for no reason. Are they "better" than some other caps? Perhaps not. But they are good. There are just better caps today than Orange Drops, that's all. I am not sure just which caps my tech was referring to either when it came to the extra high voltage Marshalls were using in the 60's. My Amp tech who works on Marshalls all the time told me this. He used to work on my Marshalls when I still had them, and I had 4 of them. And as far as your question about the caps wearing because of the high voltage, I am only telling you what my tech told me. I would assume that high voltage would effect everything in the amp in one way or another, caps included.....but I have not done enough research myself to reply any further on this topic. All I know is that they replace the caps as a precaution after 10 years on Marshalls. The other guy is correct about caps that have sit up too long, they do dry out and need replaced.

Originally posted by cib11mike Here's our PTP with a PCB for switching. For what it's worth I believe there is no tone difference gained by PTP over PCB. I just think that for your money you should get a little art work along with your sound. PCB and PTP As long as you aren't being charged PTP prices for PCB amps, I think they are fine. But you have to admit that there are a lot of cheap amps out there that only used PCB because it is cheaper to make. PTP will always be easier to repair out on the road though, and that is saying something if you are constantly on the road and take particular liking to that particular amp. If you listen to a Mojave Amp, you will hear something that I have never heard on any other kind of amp. The tube sound seems to squeek out those notes they are so tight and articulate, and the touch dynamic is absolutely outstanding. Touch dynamics are very important to a blues player where the emotions they get from their playing touches your soul when done right. Now of course that doesn't really matter if you are playing heavy metal, but for a blues guitarist it makes all the difference in the world. It all depends on the genre you play. A lot of very good amps these days don't have that sensitive touch dynamic as do the PTP amps (where when your pick attack is harder the volume incresese but keeping that awesome tone, and when you pick lightly, the volume decreases, but the tone is still full and rich. This is how they get emotions out of their guitars.

Originally posted by Jeff Seal I gotta disagree with you there, I rarely replace the caps you're referring to unless they're passing DC. I get 50's Fender's that leave the shop with most of the coupling, tone stack caps still original.... Anyone else have thoughts, maybe I'm wrong here.. Jeff Seal NO, you're right about Fenders, but the Fenders seem to do a lot better as far as caps go compared to high voltage Marshalls especially 60's and early 70's. The 100 Watt 60's and very early 70's still had over 600 volts hitting the plates on the El34's and it put a lot more strain on the caps as a result, thus wearing them out faster, hence they say to replace them every 10 years. Marshall started reducing the plate voltages down to 450 volts sometime around 1973.

This is the inside of a Mojave Peace Maker......outstanding: This is one beautiful Amp:

Originally posted by cloudnine NOS Capacitors Forgive me if I'm wrong, but arent old caps generally bad? Dont caps go bad over time? YEP! And they are supposed to be replaced every 10 years. The very first thing that you do to a vintage Marshall is replace all the caps ASAP, and NOT with Orange Drops either!!

Originally posted by CatsGoMoo Soldano SLO Uberschall Bogner Ecstasy (all variations) the Rectifier Series the Mark Series the Fuchs amps and tons more. Do you realize how much of a pain in the ass it is to create a really flexible switching amp without some kind of PCB? I don't know where you get the idea that "all the boutique builders are moving back to PTP" I've owned a ton of amps, also. Just listen to the amp. As long as it sounds great to you and is durable, it doesn't matter if they made it out of Laffy Taffy. I will say that I prefer PTP amps because they're generally easier to repair (As long as they're neatly laid out. I can think of quite a few ptp amps that are still a royal pain to work on.) I agree, like I said, all 4 of mine are PCB, but I am still going to buy either a Mojave or a Splawn one day because I still love that pure powertube saturation that I used to get when I had 4 double stack PTP Marshalls. They got stolen, and so did my heart back in 1982. I have managed to take a decent amp and re-think how to use it and made a great sounding amp that I can get really nice power tube saturation, but I don't use ANY of the preamp gain stages now, atleast as little as humanly possible. My amp is a 6+0 gain amp, and is set up a lot like your Soldano...as a matter of fact the lead channel is almost identical according to one of the builders at Soldano...........except the Soldano is a 5+0 gain stage. So I have nothing against PCB amps at all......but I love PTP vintage and PTP Reissues too.

Originally posted by CatsGoMoo My money says it's an Uberschall. PCB... so what? Many (if not most, now) of the best amps of all time were PCB. "Of all time" is a mighty bold statement my friend. And the boutique builders are all going back to PTP building. But I didn't post here to get into the age old arguement about PTP verses PCB. Alll 4 of my amps are PCB and I love them, but I definitely still admire the late 60's 100 watt point to point Marshalls........best amp ever built besides Hiwatt. Every new high powered amp today still emulates the 60's Marshalls sound, and then they add a bunch of new sounds too.. I am considering gettting myself a Bogner, especially after hearing the ones used on RS INXS...........incredible sound. One more thing....if you took the best amp out there today built with PCB, and rewired them PTP (if that is possible), it would sound even better.

Originally posted by Dave Owens jeff..is this your work.???. (if it is..its real nice !!! )... I think you are still missing the point...they arent showing you this for the neatness, it is the Point To Point they are showing you.......well, the ones that are PTP.....lol.

Originally posted by Ralph Stephens sorry my pic sux Is that the Mesa? I see an aweful lot of PCB in there..........

Originally posted by blargh tape = quality Good God what a mess.....LOL.

Originally posted by DeathMonkey Hiwatt, motherfuckers, Hiwatt. I have always been amazed at Hiwatts....they are so very simply wired, almost like there is hardly anything even in there......AMAZING.

Originally posted by OneArmedScissors Oh, please. The quality of how an amp looks on the inside? Next thing you know, people will be talking about the quality of SOUND. You don't get it.....that is a picture of a finely made point to point amp.......simplicity at it's finest and sound at its purest form. I don't even know what kind of amp that is, I didn't even look, but it is definitely modeled after an early 60's 100 Watt PTP Marshall. I would have to say that this amp will probably sound great if it has good transformers and the layout is good. If the wires that are in parallell and run side by side to each other are not compatable, then you have a different story, but I doubt that that has happened.