Hi Guys Yngwie's sound has always been more raw than other players. The G3 DVD is a good representation of this: Joe Satriani's PV amps sound fine for his solo performances where Joe plays his own songs, but his sound seems small and "fizzy" in the jam; Steve Vai's sound is often "plastic" with no e...

Hi Guys When I said that I encountered few players who used the MV the way an MV was intended to be used, that was a fact from my own repair and mod experience. It could be that the cluster of players I worked with all cranked it - and it wasn't just with Marshall heads, but Traynors, Hiwatts, anyth...

Hi Guys As an amp designer myself, I have come to realize that the "intended" use I might have envisioned will only be one way the amp gets used. So, in that regard, I don't even bother with such intentions any more. In this context, an "intended use" is itself an opinion. To the same end, how you s...

Hi Guys There is a myth that operating a tube amp without a load will damage it - and this myth is incorrect. As we have detailed in our books, the only time an open load is an issue is when the load becomes open while the amp is driving it. This is called a "discontinuous load". At the point of dis...

Hi Guys There is a list of licensed Power Scale installers on our site. There is also a guide for selecting the right Power Scale kit for your amp in the sidebar of the online Book & Kit catalog: "Selecting Power Scaling Kits". In Sweden, contact Ola Lehnert of Lehnert Amps. Have fun Kevin O'Connor

Hi Guys I would highly recommend staying away from MM products. Build consistency is non-existent. Technical support is "smoke and mirrors". Open-mindedness, i.e. "Thanks for buying at least one of our transformers even though you didn't buy a matching set", is lunatically missing. The "tone gaurant...

Hi Guys Separate power amps were introduced a long time ago to be used as slaves to a fully-featured amp. Multiple speaker cabinets could be driven for a louder sound or better sound dispersion. Old Ampegs and other brands have a "slave" output that taps the preamp signal. If you have a second power...

Hi Guys The 2/3 PS approach used in the AFD will increase output tube life in any dialed-down power position. The extension of life is not as great as it would be had Marshall gone the whole way to Power Scaling the way we recommend. This would have involved adding two or three more components. Mars...

Hi Guys The variwatt is a copy of Power Scaling that limits the overall performance and versatility by trying to provide a "one-knob" solution. The one good thing about all of the copies of Power Scaling is that more players are realising that they can get their sound without going deaf. Have fun Ke...

Hi Guys "Eddy used a variac to reduce voltage." "Eddy used a variac to increase voltage." "Eddy had a heavily-modified amp." "Eddy used a stock amp." "Eddy pulled one power tube (of four)." "Eddy Plays a tube." All the Eddy runours were perpetuated by a typical low-self-esteem guitar player who want...

Hi Guys

VVR is a poor copy of an early version of Power Scaling.

One of our licenced builders made the mistake of asking Hall to design a PCB for his amp. This gave the opportunity to copy our circuit and the builder's own tweaks to the Marshall audio path.

Have fun
Kevin O'Connor

Hi Guys It would be handy if when you quote someone you attribute the quote to the correct person. I did not say "Fitting a master volume will significantly reduce the power amp from the equation and the sound is not the same"... but it is true to an extent. An ignored truth about tube amps is that ...

Hi Guys

Note that Rat's "OPR" _is_ Power Scaling. Andy is a licenced builder.

A master volume won't mess up the Class-5 but will in fact make it far more useful.

Have fun
Kevin O'Connor

Hi Guys Most players change their tubes prematurely - which is a boon to the tube manufacturers! Tubes have a break-in period that can be 40-100 hours of use. They will lose a bit of gain and a lot of harshness - some may perceive the latter as a loss of treble or punch. But... now the tube is on it...

Hi Guys Transformer saturation is one of the mythical products of overdriving the output stage that most players never experience... certainly not in the way they think they do in any event. The tubes have internal resistance that limits the amount of current and power they can deliver to the OT. Th...