ok, so the previous idea (4 El84, 2 6L6, 2 EL34 and 2 KT88 for ultimate versatility) was gonna be very difficult with transformers and such, but what about my new idea:
A tone generating power amp. probably been done to some extent, but 1 of each kind of power tube - doesn't necessarily matter which ones - and a built in attenuator (sp?). now - a few issues do arrise.
the practicality issue is the same as before - how much weight and complication would be involved in having, say, three different tube types, or even four? considering it'll just be one of each, does that help the problem, or not really change it?
attenuated tone is something that's widely disputed, but I saw a thread ages ago (might've been one that was sticky'd on the HC amp forum, or maybe here in the archives...) comparing two attenuators (hotplate and something else) with the amp recorded at volume 3 and volume 6 or something. but the hotplate came out very favourbly, and though pure valve tone would be favourable, the idea is of having power tube distortion at, essentially, the turn of a gain knob - so it's a compromise that should still sound great. i really just need to buy a hotplate and experiment.
having a gain knob - it seems not-too-difficult, but i would like the "volume" knob to be a "gain" knob by linking it to the built-in attenuator somehow so that as the volume is increased, so is the attenuation, so the output stays at line-level. possible? simple? hope so...
oh, and of course, as before, it'll have to be Class A, because it'll only be using one tube at a time, so how does that affect the tones of tubes like an EL34? famous for it's use in marshalls, but would it still sound marshally outside of the AB setup? and what about other kinds of tubes? any idea how it would affect their tone compared to their "typical" sound?
ok, well, a lot of ideas that have been all jumbled and mumbled but see if you can make sense of it... so once again - is it possible/practical, and also is it worth it? would power tubes attenuated all the way down to line level sound any better than preamp tubes? they'd atleast sound different though right? so worth having...
anyhoo, cheers!
A tone generating power amp. probably been done to some extent, but 1 of each kind of power tube - doesn't necessarily matter which ones - and a built in attenuator (sp?). now - a few issues do arrise.
the practicality issue is the same as before - how much weight and complication would be involved in having, say, three different tube types, or even four? considering it'll just be one of each, does that help the problem, or not really change it?
attenuated tone is something that's widely disputed, but I saw a thread ages ago (might've been one that was sticky'd on the HC amp forum, or maybe here in the archives...) comparing two attenuators (hotplate and something else) with the amp recorded at volume 3 and volume 6 or something. but the hotplate came out very favourbly, and though pure valve tone would be favourable, the idea is of having power tube distortion at, essentially, the turn of a gain knob - so it's a compromise that should still sound great. i really just need to buy a hotplate and experiment.
having a gain knob - it seems not-too-difficult, but i would like the "volume" knob to be a "gain" knob by linking it to the built-in attenuator somehow so that as the volume is increased, so is the attenuation, so the output stays at line-level. possible? simple? hope so...
oh, and of course, as before, it'll have to be Class A, because it'll only be using one tube at a time, so how does that affect the tones of tubes like an EL34? famous for it's use in marshalls, but would it still sound marshally outside of the AB setup? and what about other kinds of tubes? any idea how it would affect their tone compared to their "typical" sound?
ok, well, a lot of ideas that have been all jumbled and mumbled but see if you can make sense of it... so once again - is it possible/practical, and also is it worth it? would power tubes attenuated all the way down to line level sound any better than preamp tubes? they'd atleast sound different though right? so worth having...
anyhoo, cheers!