Power Scaling in the house!!!

[jzucker]

A couple quick demos I did tonight to show what the Rockytop Plexi amp sounds like with Dana Hall's "Drop-in" power scaling. These were recorded at bedroom volume with my wife in the room next door watching TV.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=95402&content=songinfo&songID=6521007
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=95402&content=songinfo&songID=6521012

On the 2nd clip I'm using an area 51 wah and a hartman ge fuzz

[Aardvark]

Sounds killer. Love it, especially with your playing.

[jzucker]

Thanks. I'm still struggling trying to learn to play in this style. It's just kickin' my butt.

[Suproman77]

Cool clips, but I'd like to hear that Plexi's natural, cranked distortion with the power scaling....I think that would be the true test.

[jzucker]

Cool clips, but I'd like to hear that Plexi's natural, cranked distortion with the power scaling....I think that would be the true test.

wind cries mary was exactly that though it wasn't cranked. Channel volumes were just under 10 O'Clock which just gives you a tad bit of distortion with a strat. That's a pretty true test IMO. The Les Paul through the cranked amp with the scaling turned down is *ANOTHER* good test. I'll do that one soon.

If I did that one first, people would complain and say the real test is the semi distorted in between tone. ;)

Patience my son... :D

[Suproman77]

Hahaha, well, it would be my personal true test, anyway. :D

Patience, I will have. Your clips, sound great they do. :p

[jzucker]

Hahaha, well, it would be my personal true test, anyway. :D

Patience, I will have. Your clips, sound great they do. :p

Thanks. I'll definitely do the cranked amp test with scaling and a 339 or les paul. I'll try to get to it tonight or tomorrow.

[jimfog]

Best demo I've ever seen of PS'ing is Pete Thorn with the Suhr Badger......where he get s a great crunchy tone, full blast, then keeps that tone as he lowers the scaling and master all the way down to whisper.

Doing that RT in front of a camera is a great test.

[scottl]

Nice Jack! I need to delve into this style too. I know how you feel. Tones were nice. Add some delay and verb and you are there.

[Cary Chilton]

Best demo I've ever seen of PS'ing is Pete Thorn with the Suhr Badger......where he get s a great crunchy tone, full blast, then keeps that tone as he lowers the scaling and master all the way down to whisper.

Doing that RT in front of a camera is a great test.

Listen to my clips (4 at the bottom) on my soundclick
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=516588
that is a plexi marshall with POWER SCALING installed, and the best part:
a computer microphone into windows recorder.

Peter's demo is way more professional though, mics, the recording, the DAW etc. Mine is recorded with worst possible materials, later imported the low quality mp3(when came back to Taiwan) panned it, added reverb, done!

[jimfog]

Listen to my clips (4 at the bottom) on my soundclick
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=516588
that is a plexi marshall with POWER SCALING installed, and the best part:
a computer microphone into windows recorder.

Peter's demo is way more professional though, mics, the recording, the DAW etc. Mine is recorded with worst possible materials, later imported the low quality mp3(when came back to Taiwan) panned it, added reverb, done!

That sound real nice..... Is your Plexi modded? What settings, etc?

......but what I like about Pete's is you can hear the tone stay excatly the same at various stages of scaling. To me, that's where the rubber meets the road.

I pissed off Jack when I mentioned this in his other thread, but these clips don't sound nearly as good as his unscaled clips.....there's a weird undertone of (non-intentional) distortion, which happens when the scaling isn't quite setup right. (too much master, etc). I took me a while to get the hang of it on my Rockytop.....it's a delicate balance, which I found involved messing with the channel volumes and EQ a wee bit , as well. (which some claim you shouldn't have to).

To be fair and balanced, and save him the trouble of typing, Jack thinks I am "tripping".........lol

Thanks!

- Jim

PS......just so no one misunderstands.......I'm not saying it sounds shitty, or that Jack's playing is anything less than stellar.......just talking about the PS aspect in comparison to past clips.

[Lucidology]

Sounds good to me... and I don't even know what Power Scaling is ...!!

[jzucker]

Sounds good to me... and I don't even know what Power Scaling is ...!!

Power scaling is an alternative to master volume and/or an attenuator. It scales the voltages to the power tubes (and optionally the preamp) in such a way as to (stated goal) sound the same as a cranked amp at lower volumes.

Advantages over master/attenuator approch

Unlike a master volume, you get true output distortion
Does not get buzzy at lower volumes (if done correctly)
Unlike attenuator, is actually easier on the tubes than non scaled low volume playing
More natural sounding than master or attenuatedDisadvantages (this assumes a non scaled preamp)

2 Knobs to fool with. You must manually turn down the master in parallel with the scaling or your preamp in order to avoid swamping the scaled power amp.

You must have a good master volume to turn down in parallel with the power scaling. *
When scaling the poweramp only and not the preamp, you lose some of the preamp sag that occurs in a normal amp when driving the power tubes hard which results in a slight voltage starvation to the preamp tubes as well. (I haven't found this to be an issue)
* (This is the weak link in my Rockytop which uses the Rich-mod Master. No offense to Rich, but this master is awful. Proof of the pudding is turning the scaling all the way up and turning the master down results in a very gurgley tone. Trainwreck #2 or the modified version with 250k dual audio taper pot sounds much better and is what I'm going to convert mine to.)

[jzucker]

I pissed off Jack when I mentioned this in his other thread, but these clips don't sound nearly as good as his unscaled clips.

You forgot to say "in my opinion". I think they sound great. Just different. My other unscaled clips don't have any power tube overdrive so it's a completely different animal. Not even close. ;)

[Cary Chilton]

That sound real nice..... Is your Plexi modded? What settings, etc?

I pissed off Jack when I mentioned this in his other thread, but these clips don't sound nearly as good as his unscaled clips.....there's a weird undertone of (non-intentional) distortion, which happens when the scaling isn't quite setup right. (too much master, etc). I took me a while to get the hang of it on my Rockytop.....it's a delicate balance, which I found involved messing with the channel volumes and EQ a wee bit , as well. (which some claim you shouldn't have to).


PS......just so no one misunderstands.......I'm not saying it sounds shitty, or that Jack's playing is anything less than stellar.......just talking about the PS aspect in comparison to past clips.

Hey, thanks and I know! ;) It sounds infinitely better in person. The recording mic and recorder were utter sh#t for decent audio, but the tone still holds up somewhat. It is not modded at all, it is a 12 series plexi, shared cathode, jtm-45 circuit. Settings were basically bass 0, mids 6, treble 10, presence 2. Yes, you may not be trippin. Power Scaling can definitely be set non-transparent. That is, deliberately starving the internal voltage as to create more compression and saturation. That is what I did in my clips for that kind of gain, whilst cranking the volume at about 30 watts worth.


Lucid, basically PS is what Kevin O'Connor designed as a transparent attenuator. Basically, it is a master volume that scale your voltage internally. Maybe like an SHO ( crackle ok) type thing, but on a grander scale? If you turn both PS knobs full clockwise, the PS is completely bypassed. One knob delegates voltage full voltage to 60 volts or something silly, the other knob acts as a vol control with extreme control. PS in a plexi more complex, b/c the plexi's inherent loudness 1 and 2 ( vol controls) are still functional, so long as both PS knobs aren't completely shut off (counter clockwise) standby mode. Why bother? PS allows your true cranked amp sound at any volume so long as both PS knobs move together at the same positions. If the voltage knob moves at a much slower pace, whilst turning both PS knobs, the voltage will be much less and the amp will produce more compression and tube drive ( and at a threshold will start to lose more detail and dynamics, more extreme settings).
Also, as I was saying, with a plexi the PS is more complex. Lets say I wanted my plexi on 10 sound at 30 watts of output on the bright channel of loudness 1:
I would set the Ps knobs both at 11 o'clock. However, if the loudness 1 and or 2 are set to zero, the volume will not be 30 watts, more like 2 watts. If I turned both loudness1 and 2 to 10, then the 30 watts would sound huge and full, probably would actually be 35 watts. So in effect, there are 4 vol knobs to tweak and noodle with. The loudness 1 past 5-7 o clock is just adding more body and bass and of course, as with any plexi, dialing up loudness 2 is taking advantage of channel cross over from the bass channel, for even more body. I find a compromise between the two loudness 1 and 2.
Sometimes, if I want pure Angus Young in a hurry, I just bypass the PS turn Plug into the loudness, normal the loudness 1 to 6 (loud!) and loudness 2 to 5( body) : done. For malcom? Loudness 2 bright, loudness 2 to 6 and loudness to 3 or 4. If I want this tone at a much quieter vol, then I keep the settings the same, but turn the PS knobs together from anywhere from 5 o'clock to 9 o'clock.

Wow, that is pretty much a realistic instruction manual for Power Scaling. I should get something comp, from London Power!!! :)
:agree