Faustine 100 watt attenuator with Ark in NY

[fyrwyr]

I am proud to announce that Ark Amps will be demonstrating the new 100 watt Faustine Phantom Attenuator in our room at the next NY Amp Show.

I spoke at great length last night with Tim Gregoire about his invention and we agreed that a joint promotion is a good idea as we have mutual admiration for each others products and standards. From what he described to me this is my dream attenuator, the kind I was thinking of trying to design myself!

The new pics Tim sent me are just mouth watering, the best looking attenuator I have seen yet

Hopefully our new 3 watt amp with our unique effects loop will be ready as well

Bill

[muddy]

at almost $600 bucks, it had better be! sounds good in that clip i just heard.


ml

[fyrwyr]

Originally Posted by muddy

at almost $600 bucks, it had better be! sounds good in that clip i just heard.


ml

Where did you hear the clip???

[Faustine Amps]

Originally Posted by fyrwyr

Where did you hear the clip???

Hi Bill,

He might be referring to this video clip of the Faustine VT-58 combo amp produced by Tone Merchants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeUVlogjMuQ

Near the end of the clip (around 6 minutes, 20 seconds), Jimmy turns off all the pedals, turns the amp up about halfway, and demonstrates the on-board Variable Reactance Attenuator (VRA). It's not exactly the same animal as the Phantom VRA, but the reactive part of the circuit is identical and it sounds the same.

Regards,
Tim Gregoire

[fyrwyr]

Just listened, VERY nice Tim, just like you described to me on the phone!

Looking forward to the Phantom!

Bill

[fyrwyr]

Nice pics of the new Phantom VRA will be available soon, I am one of the very few "blessed ones" who have gotten a sneak peak of this jewel. 100 watt with selectable impedance and a switch for passive or reactive load, quite cool

Looks AND sounds incredible!!!

[muddy]

yeah, what he said


ml

[fyrwyr]

Originally Posted by muddy

yeah, what he said


ml

The suspense is killing me

[Faustine Amps]

Hi Guys,

Dave Friedman of Rack Systems Inc. has posted some pics on another forum. Dave has been helping out with the testing, since he has a variety of 100 watt heads. As Dave says, the pictures are "not the best", but you can get a general idea of what the controls and color scheme look like. This is revision "B" of the 100 watt prototype and I am still tweaking, so there will be slight variations in the production Phantom.

Here you go: http://www.hugeracksinc.com/forum/vi...r=asc&start=75

Regards,
Tim Gregoire

[muddy]

mate, that looks AWESOME!!


ml

[fyrwyr]

Looks sooo good Tim, but I agree with the dude on HRI, I don't see a real need for the switch for a fixed load, I wouldn't use it at all Although it does LOOK really cool on the front!

[Faustine Amps]

Originally Posted by fyrwyr

Looks sooo good Tim, but I agree with the dude on HRI, I don't see a real need for the switch for a fixed load, I wouldn't use it at all Although it does LOOK really cool on the front!

Yep, I happen to agree. Coincidentally, I'm doing some more tweeks to the Phantom this weekend and losing the LOAD switch was already on my list of mods. It will be fixed in "reactive" mode. I may use the switch as a bypass switch instead or just take it off the front panel altogether.

Hope all is well with you, Bill.

Regards,
Tim Gregoire

[fyrwyr]

Thanks Tim,

my vote is to use as few switches as possible; you wouldn't believe the trouble I have had with switch failure in the past. Part of me would love to eliminate all switches from my amps and just have a power cord So far NKK switches seem the best/most robust of the ones I have tried...

[Millo 3.1]

so, when's the nest NY Amp show? Have you tried the Faustine yet, Bill?

[fyrwyr]

Originally Posted by Millo 3.1

so, when's the nest NY Amp show? Have you tried the Faustine yet, Bill?

No I haven't played it yet, hasn't made it to my shop just yet, I plan on buying it though now as I cannot imagine letting it leave after getting to know it with my non master amps

Based on the reviews and clips this is THE attenuator for me, the next NY show is:

3rd Annual New York
AMP SHOW!
Coming May 9 2009

www.ampshow.com