The Basics Of A Valve Guitar Amp With Martin Kidd Of Victory Amps
Вставка
- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- Welcome to the Victory Amplification UA-cam channel.
We were shooting some FAQ videos with Martin at Brighton Electric Studios. He started to explain the basics of what's in a valve guitar amp, so we thought, 'Let's record this!'
It's a very introductory-level walk-through of what's what in a 'normal', common-or-garden valve guitar amp. No techno speak, no jargon, just a bit of insight from Mr Kidd himself. If you're looking for some beginner level info about what does what in an amp, here it is!
Enjoy!
To see the Victory Amps range, head to www.victoryamps.com
Finding it particularly encouraging that Victory Amps publish additional useful information in their manuals, such as biasing and maintenance etc. It speaks wonders of Martin as a designer, that he's enthusiastic enough about amplifier design that he trusts his customers with their own gear (more than can be said about some manufacturers that leave it to their marketing dept. to disseminate information).
He's a standup guy
Who wouldn't want to buy and amp from Martin Kidd.
Martin Kidd, you genius!!! I own a Kraken and I love it. Thank you so much for using your intellect to build these amazing amplifiers! Greetings from the Basque Country :)
Gora Euskal Herria!!! Ia egunen baten topatzen garen Krakenak fardatzeko! jaja (nik V4 kraken-a daukat pedal forman) bueno... "corona"-k uzterik badauka!
Thank you for this informative video Martin!I am about to purchase the V30 mk2 first of August when they arrive at Lark guitars in San Antonio Texas!Love the attention to detail in your explanations of the amps design!I feel very comfortable in quality and design with your expertise behind them! Love the tones they are unique indeed!Cheers,Wendell.
Thank you Wendell for the kind words, we hope you enjoy your new Victory amplifier when it arrives! Thanks Victory
Me being an Electrician and amp lover.....this was awesome
Excellent video Martin. I've been playing 30 years and didn't know this. Thank you.
Martin from a retired Electrical Engineer thanks. I wish there had been someone like you teaching ack then. Enjoying my Super Kraken. .
Thanks Phil, Happy to hear you are enjoying the Super Kraken! Cheers Victory
Thanks Martin for your very clear delivery in 'Guitarist Speak' language. Great quality amps and great tone!
I know Mick Taylor was manning that camera. I can only imagine how long this video would have been if they were conversing about the specifics! 😂
Very informative!
Thank you Victory and Martin for making this video!
I own one of these V40 and it’s superb!
great nerding, I love it... also, I love my Sheriff 44
Jim R Not nerdy enough.I like to know which brand of preamp tubes they use.I can see that the power tubes are JJ,s but what about the preamp!Are they just"standard Chinese"or what?
@@rorycunningham5457 Yes, I agree!!! I don't understand when a top notch company puts shitty preamp tubes in a $1,000 plus amp.
very interesting thank's Martin 👍🏼
beautiful explanation of how it works loved every bit of it
I think that you can put a baby to sleep with this video just for Martin's voice😄 relaxing but interesting for guitar nerds like me, I'll be back when looking for some peace☮️✌️🕊️
excellent Explanation. This video should be a reference for all users/techs.
A really great video! Love to see the walkthrough of the signal path as you can see how the amplification is actually made at the different stages. I own one of your lunchboxes, the Jack V30 Mk2, and I am very happy with it! After watching this video however, I have a couple of questions. My model has a FX-loop too, and would one be able to use this FX-output as a way to by-pass the power amplification, and use the unit as a pre-amp only, would the signal be too low after the "divider"? And also, my model does not have the single end switch, but wouldn't that be possible to do "manually" by removing one of the power valves? (Don't let the size fool you, this little amp is a beast! even in the "Low" setting :)
.. cant stop peeking at that LA-2A! Very informative video too, thanks Martin!!
Great video 👍 ive got a v50 earl and a quik question can a valve be half working ? the earls inside is a work of art you and your team deserve a pat on the back 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
very informative , just the right amount of detail
I always wondered why some amps can be so expensive then felt really stupid when he took the bottom panel and revealed all that god tier craftsmanship would love to see Martin and Guthrie Govan talking about amps together
Ian Abraham that video does exist..
Look at a hand-wired circuit. That is art to me.
Wow! Simply great sounds out of such a complexity ?… interesting. Martin Kidd, Marco Brunetti, Dolf Koch and a few others are just Wizards !! \m/
Fascinating Martin, thanks.
Awesome Martin, Cheers From Argentina,
Removing valve = stirring a cup of tea
An Englishman named John Ambrose Fleming invented the The Fleming Oscillation VAVLE in 1904!! Remember this people....that's why its called a bloody VALVE not a tube. Sooooooo refreshing to here the word "Valve"!
Not only are these amps amazing he is an extremely handsome man with a loverly voice 😁
wow what a great video, thanks
I would'nt be surprised if everyone in the room goes quiet as soon as Martin opens his mouth, nomatter the topic.
Very educational
Thanks for this, Martin & co. Am interested to understand what the advantages & disadvantages are of placing the master volume after the phase splitter. It clearly works well audibly, which seems like reason enough to me, but I’m curious as to why this is a less-common configuration? Cheers!
Chris Drake what's up?
Small world. Lol
Normally the MV is placed after the preamp, before the phasesplitter. Then you can drive the preamp only, into saturation. If you place it later, after the
phasesplitter you also drive that into saturation, before it reaches the power amp. Theoretically that last solution is not quite right, but I am not sure if
it has any real disadvantages. Matchless has done that a lot.
I think the reason is because you need a dual-ganged potentiometer, so two pots of the same resistance attached together, for each output of the phase splitter. They're expensive & not always of exactly the same value so you need to be careful with selecting components. Especially if you like power valve saturation then where you put that master volume doesn't make an enormous difference when it's still the preamp you're saturating
You did not say what the the second valve/tube was for???
I would think in a tube amp that you yourself said is a basic design it would be for something critical. Thanks for the video I really want to know this info. Please do more. Take us a bit more in depth. Paul
It would seem that V2 is the effects loop buffer: one triode for the send, and the other triode for the return. Some phase inverter circuits only need one triode, however, hence V2 could include a recovery stage (to offset the insertion loss of the tone stack [i.e. EQ]) and the effects send buffer (in which case, V3 would include the effects return buffer and the phase inverter).
What would cause significant volume drop after 20 mins or so? I have a '71 Sunn that I just got in a trade, and after a steep drop it now only seems to be running at half power before losing significant volume again. Little bit of crackling. Haven't taped on the tubes or attempted to open her up. Not looking to get zapped by a capacitor. Great video. Cheers!
Aren't the old Sunn amps solid-state?
Have you replace the power tubes yet? With regular use they last about one year.
Working on that now. Replaced preamp 12ax7A tube with a 12AX7 and she opened right up. Doing phase inverter next, then getting a tech to do the the 6550's and bias them. Amp seems to break up early (may go back to a 12AX7A), and the tone gets weak and spongy dimed out. Original GE power tubes when I got her, so I'm guessing that's the issue. I see 4 modern caps in here, but I'm prob going to shotgun the rest when I get time. From what I've researched, the phase inverter is the life blood of this circuit, and potentially makes a huge difference. 6AN8 NOS as they are out of production now. It's an "oldy but moldy", but I at least got her doing some stonerdoom with a Digitech Bad Monkey, DOD Boneshaker, and an EQD Acapulco Gold. Slow and low is how I roll. : )
Very informative thank you very much Martin! I wonder about the caps. I see orange drops in mesa or american style amps. Dont see in yours. Probably its a character thing to choose in design phase. I wonder how they affect and how you decide to choose what to use.
Caps has a sound signature and often the Orange caps are used in Fender type circuits. Normally not in Marshall and other more driven amp types.
I am looking into getting a Victory V40 Deluxe and was wondering where you change the pre-amp valves. The manual says you change the output valves from the back grill. Can you change the pre-amp valves from the front grill on your heritage series?
Hi Elliot, the preamp valves are also fairly easily accessible from the back of the amp, too. Having the amp upside down might help when changing valves. I hope that helps. Victory!
I thought Victory amps are hand built i.e Hand Wired?
Did you use a FV-1 for the digital reverb?
Why don't you have a presence circuit?
If the digi reverb is on the effect return does that mean if you defeat the effects loop using the control switch you mentioned that you also defeat the reverb?
HedCrub is correct, with regard to the V40; however, it should be noted that the answer to such a question depends on the design of the amplifier being discussed.
Compare to the fender twin reverb goin' threw cmads brownie distortion it's a toy
Is there any reason why the preamp valves are under cover like that? I love the soft blue glow of exposed valves - would the amp suffer for being used with the covers removed?
These covers have the task to shield the inside of the valve from electromagnetic interference from sources in your room or on the stage ( like radio waves). I think it acts like a Faraday-Cage. If you remove the cover the tube is more likely to amplify signals besides your guitar signal from unwanted sources hence you'll experience more hiss and more noise. Usually it's enough to cover the input valve (V1) since it's the first stage of amplification and every unwanted noise that gets amplificated there, will just get more amplified in the whole circuit after that.
Blue glow?The heaters in mine all glow warm orange with only a faint light blue from the power stage visible in the dark.Pre-amp stages really shouldn't glow blue. That also applies to the hateful practice of fitting an LED under a valve...Blue normally signifies some residual gas the getter isn't capable of absorbing. The electrons strike the gas molecules, the molecules show their pleasure with a blue smile.
Richard Harrold
First of all the blue glow only comes from Power tubes (that is the excess nutrons hitting the glass)
Secondly, the preamp tubes are responsible for amplifying the signal in the front part of the amp before the heavy lifting is done by the power tubes.
So the signal to noise is most impressionable here
And belive it or not most if not all tubes are indeed microphonic so to cover them is to attempt to keep down the noise , an amp ,a guitar amp,takes a major beating each and every note played. They need to be build not only tank like but still being musically intergreious.
is tube amps amd valve amps two diferent things?
Tube and valve refer to the same component. In the UK they are referred to as 'valves' in line with their electronic function rather than their appearance.
So I have a 5150, a JCA custom 22 & a Sheriff.... I'm seeing a trend here.
And he didn't say 'tube' even once!
Hallelujah!!!!
Indeed, when in that part of the world they say VALVE , and on the other portion on the globe we reffer to them as Vacuum tubes .
Valve tube king
Why do we call them valves this side of the pond? Never really understood that.
Not an expert here, but it is my understanding that a lot of early work was done by an English chap whose name escapes me. 'Vacuum tubes' were already known, but he picked up on the valve-like property of the current only flowing one way from the filament to the anode.
MrDblStop
Indeed sir, the mechanics of the tube acts just as a valve allowing and controlling the flow of electrons (current) !!
Thats it exactly!
They we revolutionary when they came out. I think they still are really cool. I mean all things technology speaking continue to improve or head a certain direction anyway but tubes or vavles are bad ass!!!
To this day the most expensive stereos are tube powered i mean like 10 thousand dollars and more!! They cant replicate the naturally forming harmonics and overtones that the valve possess
Yep, I'm still clueless.
Haven't used a Tube Amp since introduced to a Marshall MG 100FX back in 2009..and most likely won't..the Solid State/Modeling Amps are the way to go for me..they do everything a Tube Amp does and much more..and their much more reliable than any Tube Amp...
Except they sound like a shit sandwich
The Roland Blues Cube Hot is a fantastic tube sounding solid state amp. Far from a shit sandwich.😎
Plug into a great ac30 or deluxe reverb then get back to me, it's night and day
I have, have to play it loud to have the tube saturation sound great. The Roland gets me there at a lower volume.
Tube amps can't do that
Have you ever tried the Roland Blues Cube Hot? I was sceptical until I played one.
I understood nothing i just know they sound good
Common? Garden variety? I've never heard anyone describe the V40 as either of those things. Hilarious.
Thought you weren't to touch a valve with your bare skin as it will cause a hot spot?
Darren C No that is a myth. Only type of glass you should not touch is quarts halogen lamps. The oils from your skin will cause a hot spot.Halogen lamps run very very hot.
Tubes do not get hot enough for any oil from your hand to cause any negative effect.
GlenGH that's interesting a lot of amp guys and info says to ware gloves. It says it on power tubes el34s. But theres tones of info taken for granted thats not correct. I think if martins happy to work without gloves who am i to argue