Watt Grinder?

[7String Thing]

Hey guys, anyone heard of the Watt Grinder preamp tube replacements?

Im interested if anyone checked them out at NAMM or if anyone has one.

I can't find their website, however there is a video on youtube.

Fill me in - and save the bashing, i know most guys aren't interested, but i am!

[kimock]

Originally Posted by 7String Thing

Hey guys, anyone heard of the Watt Grinder preamp tube replacements?

Im interested if anyone checked them out at NAMM or if anyone has one.

I can't find their website, however there is a video on youtube.

Fill me in - and save the bashing, i know most guys aren't interested, but i am!

I'll be in Sonoma county soon, and I'll look the guy up.
Not bashing, just fyi, that same product and idea has been floating around Northern California since the 70's. This is the 5th person I've seen to come along with these claims. I know the other four personally.
oh yeah, they used to be 20 bucks!

peace

[Terry Hayes]

I heard a demo at NAMM. It sounded okay but, since I didn't get to hear the amp running with conventional vacuum tubes, the demo didn't really tell me too much. Also, it would have been nice to have actually played the amp with the Tone Grinders to see how they felt.

Terry

[gsf]

What was Howard Dumble's famous quote about 'crystalline lattices'.....
One still never knows when a 'better' breakthrough might come.
Your ears will tell you the most. If they are so consistent and resistant to wear, do you get a 10-day money back trial?

[7String Thing]

I wonder if its just FETs in a tube shaped casing. I like the option to split things up, but the price tag is kinda high. For that money, you can buy a NOS Mullard 12AX7.


Anyone else hear em?

[6ringing]

pretty interesting, but yeah if it's just a SS plug-in I'll pass.
But it might be cool to have a few in the gig bag incase your tubes crap at that gig!

[blastastick]

Looks interesting. Pretty pricey though.

[jlagrassa]

At some point someone is going to get it right, if it gets the feel of tubes I will be all over it but untill then keep them glass bottles coming!

[tradarama]

I heard the demo but honestly it's SO hard at NAMM where everything sounds good. Had a call with them & they told me they had a lot of interest. I actually wanted to order 4 different types just to try them (agree they are very expensive).

My comment to them was that the average person might not want to spend $X times Y number of tubes...so they needed to recommend where they had the biggest bang for buck....they seemed to think that people would replace all their preamp tubes w/ them.

[7String Thing]

Originally Posted by jlagrassa

At some point someone is going to get it right, if it gets the feel of tubes I will be all over it but untill then keep them glass bottles coming!

even if they did, guys would deny it.

I was hoping for an end all, that would be fantastic!

[will richardson]

I Heard the demo at NAMM too The Demo guy was knowledgeable about riggs in general, a very good player. I believe he was using a Marshall maybe 800 model. Th - just talked and answered questions. His guitar was a High end Frankenstrat (swamp ash body and rosewood scalloped fretboard a luthier friend of his built it - I played the guitar it felt pro) with blade style pickups. We don't know how it would have sounded with tubes but it did sound like a pro rigg, which even many pro players at NAMM get horrible sounds. He used the next to the hottest grinder which I believe was coded orange. This is for guys that spend too much on preamp tubes and/or have an amp that burns them up fast and/or leaves them stranded on a gig or studio session.

It appeared to be quality. His demo was in the basement area of NAMM where the small companies are and it was not noisy there the several times I went by there booth.

Best regards,

Will R

[voojo]

Now if he could just make an EF86 replacement that lasts & sounds good!

[jerrydyer]

Russian tube manufacturers took him out.

[flyingvees]

Those guys saw me doing demos for Mad Professor so they called me over...The worst part about trying to demo something at namm is having complicated stuff...The guys guitar was a strat plus type with bardens or something and a marshall and a boogie...I couldnt really hear much but they were nice guys...My belief is that if they had just had a traditional tele or strat and a small traditional combo that it would have been easier for people to get the idea...

[7String Thing]

Originally Posted by jerrydyer

Russian tube manufacturers took him out.

explain?