The Watering Hole

It seems that every time I look in a gear mag lately, someone has released yet another 3-8 watt recording/bedroom amp.

As we speak, I'm putting the final touches to the schematic for my own take on a 5 watt single ended head.

My question to you all is.........If you where in the market for a low wattage head to use for pure recording purposes, what "features" would you like to see on it?

I personally would still have a valve driven reverb curcuit in there but with the ability to swtch it out when requiered.
I guess a full TMB tone stack is a must also.
Master volume?
Gain boost?
Bright and deep switches?
Adjustable bias?
Switchable octal and noval power valve sockets? ( That way you can swap any PV you want and bias it correctly. Think THD's)
Would you want a valve driven effects loop? Don't forget this is a recording amp.

What else?
It would be interesting to get a few thoughts here from the likes of Sheep and Kabala as well as Howie and the usual sarcasm from Craig ;) :)

Let me know what you think and if I've missed anything off the list.

Spud

What IS this "recording" concept I hear so much about anyway?  :D

(Was going to add some constructive thoughts, but that wasn't what you were expecting from me so...  ;) )

Though mine is a 100 watt head (switchable to 50), I LOVE the feature the Splawn folks starting applying to their line in '09 to further tame the beasts while retaining the tone: an *effects loop volume knob* on the back. Its not the same as a master volume and it does work (there is more circuitry going on there then a simple volume pot - he broke it down once on their amp forum)! I prefer the 100 watt setting though and have tracked it both cranked and at convo level (using the loop vol knob) and the results were the same! More amp makers should apply this feature, regardless of wattage.

If 'I' were personally in the market for a low wattage amp right now for recording bluesy dirt levels up to full out saturation, the HT-5 Head from Blackstar would be the first on the list! I've been tempted several times to buy one anyway but just don't need it, but they sound awesome! No cleans though, but still...

Boogies have a loop volume feature too.  But I know many prefer them with the loop shut off.  I run my Mark V with the loop on since I love my Timefactor delay, so I could do that if I needed too.  

I'm fortunate to be living in my own place now and don't have to worry about volume.  If I did live in a place where I had to watch volume, the Mark has 3 different wattage settings: 10/45/90 watts.  

A lot of boutique makers are starting to add power scaling to their amps.  Suhr has a power scaling they put on their Badger series that lowers the power while allowing the tubes to clip.  So does Reinhardt amps.  

spud — Nov 27, 2009
I personally would still have a valve driven reverb curcuit in there but with the ability to switch it out when required.
I guess a full TMB tone stack is a must also.
Master volume?
Gain boost?
Bright and deep switches?
Adjustable bias?
Tube Rectifier
Switchable octal and noval power valve sockets? ( That way you can swap any PV you want and bias it correctly. Think THD's)
Would you want a valve driven effects loop? Don't forget this is a recording amp.

I would want all the bold print things. I would not need the tube change thing. I think three preamp tubes would be minimum and channel switching, with the single tone stack would be OK. But I would want to use this as a live amp as well so with a preamp out to a larger power amp.

Dearthian: — Nov 27, 2009I'm fortunate to be living in my own place now and don't have to worry about volume.  If I did live in a place where I had to watch volume, the Mark has 3 different wattage settings: 10/45/90 watts.

Wow Chris, you must have very distant (or deaf?) neighbors. I cranked the basic 5 watt chassis through a friends Celestion V30 loaded 2x12 cab the other night, (just to get a taste of how close I was with the base tone stack), and had people commenting/complaining from 3 doors away!........

A lot of boutique makers are starting to add power scaling to their amps.  Suhr has a power scaling they put on their Badger series that lowers the power while allowing the tubes to clip.  So does Reinhardt amps.  

I'd love to get my head round how this works. The few articals I've found so far are either too in-depth to be relevant for the topic in question, or...too vague to make sense of in order to make it work....... >:( :-?.

Guess it's back to the internet/bible  ;D

spud — Nov 27, 2009 A lot of boutique makers are starting to add power scaling to their amps.  Suhr has a power scaling they put on their Badger series that lowers the power while allowing the tubes to clip.  So does Reinhardt amps.  

I'd love to get my head round how this works. The few articals I've found so far are either too in-depth to be relevant for the topic in question, or...too vague to make sense of in order to make it work....... >:( :-?.

Ah, so you've already talked to Howie!  :D ;D

Andy,

I've been looking at all this for a while now.  I think it's probably wise to go basic on the amp and do all the "feature" stuff with pedals.  At least at first.  

Come to SEwatt.com for a WEALTH of information on amp design.  That's where I've gotten all my mod info on the Valve Junior.  Anything you want to know from biasing to voicing etc. is all there.  

In fact, most of the work is already done for you.  I have a "Plexi SE" board on the way that has a full tone stack, Marshall voicing, etc.  

CraigBert — Nov 27, 2009What IS this "recording" concept I hear so much about anyway?  :D

(Was going to add some constructive thoughts, but that wasn't what you were expecting from me so...  ;) )

In any event    :D :D :D