Power Scaling WORKS!

[soundmasterg]

Hi Greg

If the Power Scale is set to a low level, the MV or DriveComp have to be adjusted accordingly to maintain the cranked tone. If this was a combo amp, there will be issues achieving a quiet tone that is "full".

Depending on the MV used, most have limitations of tone versus sweep. TUT shows a simple amendment to make the traditional MV much more even in this respect. The LP-MV shown in the kit notes for SV1 is essentially transparent. However, depending on what specific circuit demands were in place by the player, things can be made a bit difficult.

When a customer wants an amp built for a certain tone, he should leave it up to the builder to decide on parts and circuits. Most players are too ignorant of electronic methods to feel anyway justified in dictating circuit parameters beyond how it should sound.

Apart from that, in conventional circuits there is no difference installing Power Scaling in a low-watt amp versus a high-watt amp as far as the range of loudness sweep and the ability to retain cranked tone. For example, Mark Stephenson's 1W Stage Hog is Power Scaled because it can be too loud when played directly through a cabinet, and it dials down very smoothly. At the other extreme, my old 700W Spectrum was Power Scaled and could play at a whisper. That was the amp I developed the optical regulator for, due to the very high voltages.

Hi Kevin,

Yes I realize the MV has to be adjusted in order to get the tones you are after if you turn the power scale control down. It was a combo amp, but it wasn't a lack of bass...it was more that the tone went from decent and mildly overdriven to fizzy depending on where the MV and PS controls were set. It just needed more dialing in, but as I said, the customer was impatient. I agreed to do the work for him using his parts, and the amp turned out well and he is happy with it now. If I would have chosen the parts I would have made some different choices for sure. For instance, Mercury Magnetic transformers are extremely expensive and don't give any added benefit over other such as Heyboer for example. So I would not have used Mercury Magnetics if it were up to me, but that was what the customer had. It would have been nice if I could have gotten PS to work the way I wanted on it as that was the original concept, but he decided to not use it. I'll incorporate it into a future amp I am sure because I was able to make it work well on my other amp that I put power scaling on. 

Its good to know that there shouldn't be any difference in using power scaling with large amps vs small amps. 

Greg