Dual Recto and power scaling?

[p.h.s]

Anyone tried power scaling on a Dual Recto?

 

[MikeK]

Anyone tried power scaling on a Dual Recto?

I'd like to revive this thread and ask the same question. Has anyone tried this mod on a DR Solo Head?

 

[siggy14]

I have not tried it on a dual rec, but I have a 50 watt JCM800 Single channel vertical input with the power scaling mod and that thing sounds great. Anyone that plays it loves it!

 

[MikeK]

Thanks for the reply sig! I have a few followups if you don't mind.

Does it hold it's tone as advertised? Does that work equally well for 'clean' and 'over driven' sounds?

I've only heard great things about it, nothing negative. Have you found any draw backs with your amp?

I'm curious about the London Power Kit, is that what you have?
Did you do the modification yourself? I'm wondering how difficult it is to install.

(London Power - Power Scaling Mods: http://www.londonpower.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=7 )

 

[StoneOfFire]

what is this power scaling?

 

[MikeK]

This link explains it better than I could.

http://www.londonpower.com/pscaling.htm

You can hear it on a Shur Badger for yourself.
It's the very last one down the list. The Power Scaling demo is toward the end of the vid.

http://www.suhrguitars.com/video.aspx#

 

[siggy14]

It holds the tone i think better then the hot plates and sounds **** good. I have had my friend dave and mike play it, mike who use to play 800's all through the 80's said it is a great sounding 800.

I have never tried it with the clean, but with clean less volume is usually better so I wouldnt have used it anyway, have to remember my amp is a single channel so i pretty much use it just for dirty.

Yes it is the london, and no i did not do it myself i purchased it that way from some guy used. I have the 50 watt 2x12 with V30's and the thing sounds amazing!

Only draw back is they put the two knobs on the front of the amp so it doesnt look original.

Thanks for the reply sig! I have a few followups if you don't mind.

Does it hold it's tone as advertised? Does that work equally well for 'clean' and 'over driven' sounds?

I've only heard great things about it, nothing negative. Have you found any draw backs with your amp?

I'm curious about the London Power Kit, is that what you have?
Did you do the modification yourself? I'm wondering how difficult it is to install.

(London Power - Power Scaling Mods: http://www.londonpower.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=7 )

 

[MikeK]

That was my impression too, from watching a few youtube videos and listening to sound clips. It does keep a better original tone than the attenuators do. Plus the fact that it can get down to almost whisper quiet while still keeping most of the sparkle is a very cool thing. I also like what they say about tube life being extended. Definitely another plus.

Those 800's are sweet and do sound amazing and you have one of the best versions. It must be nice to have all that extra range in volume and still get that 'cranked' tone .. and all for about the same additional cost as a pedal. Very cool.

I've been thinking about the location of the two pots, too. I think I would move or eliminate the power lamp and stack them in it's place. That would still leave the channel select light for a quick glance check to see if the amp is on. I also thought about moving the On and Standby switches ... maybe to the back of the amp. Oh well.

Thanks for your reply, I appreciate it.

 

[StoneOfFire]

wow.

im sure glad i didnt get that Weber Mass Lite.

well, go on and get it for your Dual Rec and lets see what happens


how much btw?

 

[MikeK]

Could be as little as $100 or as much as $160 for parts, depending on the kit. I don't even know if it can be installed in a Dual. It would be certainly be easier to install in a single channel amp. They've used it a lot in THD's replacing the built in attenuator and of course Sigg who has one in his 800. I shouldn't have too much trouble building the board, but I'm not sure how detailed the instructions would be for hooking it up inside the amp. I might have to find a tech in my area willing to take it on. I'd prefer someone who already had done a few, but shipping from my area is not too easy and the cost of that would probably as much as the job itself is altogether. I don't know enough about it yet to satisfy myself. If I had it, I'd use it. But I'm not sure if I really need it. I don't need this DR to 'whisper' ... in fact I like it better when it doesn't. You know? :?

Have you checked out the links to the site?
What kind of amp were you thinking of using it in?

 

[carlsoti]

Power scaling SEEMS to be the same thing as the VVR (variable voltage reduction) mod for the blackheart and epiphone VJR amps. What has been found out over at sewatt is that if you ONLY "powerscale" the output section, the pre-amp runs pretty much the same. So in a multi channel amp, it should be a-ok. if you get into the simul-class stuff, I would suppose it gets tricky. Though, I'm not a engineer, or even a tech, just a parts-swapping modder.

 

[nomad100hd]

carlsoti is right i is basically the same tech, and can easily be installed in a dual rec. What it does is lower the voltage threw the amp so you have lower head room. 3 channel amp would be just as easy as a 1 channel. Hop on sewatt.com and look for a guy named ur12 he brought us the tech over there. For clean sounds it wont help you any unless your like me and light the clean to be a little pushed. Than it will help you get that sound at lower volumes.

 

[MikeK]

That's a very cool site, I've been looking around for a couple of days now. I can't seem to find a search function, is there one??

I appreciate the heads up, but please tell me there IS a search function there? :shock:

 

[MikeK]

"... For clean sounds it wont help you any unless your like me and light the clean to be a little pushed. Than it will help you get that sound at lower volumes."

yup, that'll be me... I like warm 'Fendery' cleans .. 'tweedish' to 'blackfaced' .. that crispy~crunch around the edges I get when I give it a little pinch, looking for that tone. 8)

Turning the volume down on the amp or the guitar seems to lessen the 'sparkle' .. I lose some of the 'highs'. So what I've been doing for a nice bedroom level is use my Burriss boost .. I choke the output to a minimum level and push the input up while the amp stays at the same volume as set for the room so I keep pushing the power tubes. I can add a little of the highs back with the tone control on the burriss. The guitar's volume and tone stay 'up' with a little adjustment on the volume to compensate for the Burriss, giving it (the Burriss) a little more headroom to keep everything 'quiet'.

I have never found good results with an attenuator, in fact I still have one that I don't use because it sucks the life right out of the tone. So when I came across power scaling, it sounded interesting.

.. and now, with this VVR on a little single ended Epiphone I might need a whole new bedroom rig!? Who would'a thought! :lol:

 

[MikeK]

*Double post deleted by author* - MikeK

 

[carlsoti]

MikeK, unfortunately, sewatt has NO search function. The FAQ there has just about everything you could ever want to know about those little monsters, though. If you can't find what you're looking for there, ask the question. Lots of good, knowledgeable folks over there.

 

[MikeK]

MikeK, unfortunately, sewatt has NO search function. The FAQ there has just about everything you could ever want to know about those little monsters, though. If you can't find what you're looking for there, ask the question. Lots of good, knowledgeable folks over there.

Too bad about a search function, there is a lot of good stuff there. I did find two threads on VVR and read them over once. I'm going to have to read it again though as well as look for more information on the mod itself. Very Cool. Thanks.