Any reputable modders that work on non-production amps?

[MatrixClaw]

Recently picked up an amp from a small builder (SLO-based design, PTP on a turret board, Heyboer transformers, etc) in a trade and I really dig the base tone, especially with a boost (without it, it just doesn't have QUITE enough gain and the low-end gets a bit loose for my liking)... But using a boost makes the excellent clean channel less useful. Would love to bring out that tone, without sacrificing the second channel, but none of the well-respected modders I know seem to want to take on a new circuit or don't have the capacity right now.

The company that originally built it also can't take it on, nor do they seem to want to change much on it. My tech has too much work to do design work like this, even though he seemed really interested in it (he just quoted me several months lead time, which isn't ideal). I don't really want to move this one on because it sounds absolutely insane with the boost, but it's hard for me to find a two channel amp useful when only one channel is realistically usable at a time.

What are my options in the US?

 

[Smash]

Did you ask Dave Friedman? He has always been willing to mess with things.

 

[311splawndude]

There are probably at least 5 dudes on here that may or may not take something like that on - or know someone else on here. Good luck Derek.

@FourT6and2 , @glpg80 , @SpiderWars , @morgansbluff , @harddriver

 

[Racerxrated]

There are probably at least 5 dudes on here that may or may not take something like that on - or know someone else on here. Good luck Derek.

@FourT6and2 , @glpg80 , @SpiderWars , @morgansbluff , @harddriver

I would add Shea of Monomyth to that list as well.....you could also message Jason of Headfirst and he may be able to look at the circuit and make suggestions to a local tech? If they have time of course.

 

[glpg80]

Can you post some detailed gut shots? It would help us at least get an idea of the scope.

Will the originator at least release a preamp schematic? It’s not necessary as it can be reverse engineered on a bench but it’s a bitch for one off designs. I’ve got full blueprints of my one off.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Did you ask Dave Friedman? He has always been willing to mess with things.

I haven't. Honestly, I assumed he'd only work on Marshalls

There are probably at least 5 dudes on here that may or may not take something like that on - or know someone else on here. Good luck Derek.

@FourT6and2 , @glpg80 , @SpiderWars , @morgansbluff , @harddriver

Cool, appreciate it!

I would add Shea of Monomyth to that list as well.....you could also message Jason of Headfirst and he may be able to look at the circuit and make suggestions to a local tech? If they have time of course.

Worth asking! I honestly had written off Headfirst cause they're in Australia. I also didn't think Shea worked on anything that wasn't Marshall, worth looking into!

Can you post some detailed gut shots? It would help us at least get an idea of the scope.

Will the originator at least release a preamp schematic? It’s not necessary as it can be reverse engineered on a bench but it’s a bitch for one off designs. I’ve got full blueprints of my one off.

For sure! I'll see if I have some time to open it up today. I didn't ask the builder for a schematic, but I can try. He has a V2 circuit that I was going to have him update it to, but he told me that it's already at the end of its range as far as gain is concerned, otherwise it'll squeal too much. I mean, it maybe has half the gain of all my other amps, so I'm not sure that's true. If it's truly SLO-based, I assume it's based on the Crunch side and not the lead, because my SLO had considerably more gain. Builder says it's meant to be used with a boost, but if that's the case, I'd rather have that extra gain staging in the circuit itself. Doesn't really make sense to me why it would squeal with circuit changes but wouldn't with a boost

 

[Smash]

I haven't. Honestly, I assumed he'd only work on Marshalls


Cool, appreciate it!


Worth asking! I honestly had written off Headfirst cause they're in Australia. I also didn't think Shea worked on anything that wasn't Marshall, worth looking into!


For sure! I'll see if I have some time to open it up today. I didn't ask the builder for a schematic, but I can try. He has a V2 circuit that I was going to have him update it to, but he told me that it's already at the end of its range as far as gain is concerned, otherwise it'll squeal too much. I mean, it maybe has half the gain of all my other amps, so I'm not sure that's true. If it's truly SLO-based, I assume it's based on the Crunch side and not the lead, because my SLO had considerably more gain. Builder says it's meant to be used with a boost, but if that's the case, I'd rather have that extra gain staging in the circuit itself. Doesn't really make sense to me why it would squeal with circuit changes but wouldn't with a boost

Friedman works on way more than just marshall. He obviously favors the marshall circuit, but a lot of us do.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Been super busy as of late, but finally got around to taking pics of the amp. Construction seems really solid to me. I ended up sending this to Dave as well, so we'll see if he'd be interested in checking it out. If anyone else is, let's talk! This thing has an awesome base sound, but I'd love to take it to the next level and it looks like the builder has closed shop as his social media account are all gone now.

 

[Smash]

Hey. Let me know how this turns out

 

[glpg80]

The amp instability needs fixed first before considering it for mods. I’d have to troubleshoot what problems the amp has before it’s a candidate. Otherwise you’re just chasing your tail.

I suspect there’s a lot of ground loops with the coax lines and just poor planning on component and hardware placement on the designers part.

I likely will pass on this opportunity. It’s a lot of work from the looks of it. I don’t understand why he has so many tubes installed either. Plus there’s no documentation as to what he was thinking.

 

[glpg80]

If absolutely no one will touch it with a 10ft pole and you’re at wits end, then as a last option send me a PM.

 

[rottingcorpse]

I was looking at scoring one of those recently.

 

[MatrixClaw]

The amp instability needs fixed first before considering it for mods. I’d have to troubleshoot what problems the amp has before it’s a candidate. Otherwise you’re just chasing your tail.

I suspect there’s a lot of ground loops with the coax lines and just poor planning on component and hardware placement on the designers part.

I likely will pass on this opportunity. It’s a lot of work from the looks of it. I don’t understand why he has so many tubes installed either. Plus there’s no documentation as to what he was thinking.

Appreciate it! Dave Friedman said he'd look at it, but can't get to it until after January. When I contacted him, the builder told me that adding more gain would make it squeal too much, which doesn't make much sense to me, because I have amps with way more gain that aren't noisy at all. It sounds absolutely vicious with a boost and the clean channel is so good that I'm considering selling my Deluxe Reverb in favor of it... Even though it only has a single knob for the channel. I just don't love the idea of needing to use a boost on an amp to get a sound I like, but that clean channel is so good, I don't want to really give the amp up for something else. The work inside looks clean to me, but I have no idea about circuit design. I did notice there's a lot of long wires, which seemed oddly planned to me.

 

[mnemonic]

Is it just a simple latching footswitch to change channels? If so you could build / have built a boost using a 4pdt footswitch so the extra pole can be used to change channels when you turn off the boost, that way you turn off the boost and switch to the clean channel with one click. I think a couple Fortin pedals have this option.

If the boost you like has a non-pcb-mount 3pdt switch you could just replace it with a 4pdt if there’s room.

That’s probably the simplest solution if you like the sound of the amp with a boost, certainly safer than sending it to get modded and getting back and amp that is different but potentially not what you want.

 

[GuitarBilly]

Recently picked up an amp from a small builder (SLO-based design, PTP on a turret board, Heyboer transformers, etc) in a trade and I really dig the base tone, especially with a boost (without it, it just doesn't have QUITE enough gain and the low-end gets a bit loose for my liking)... But using a boost makes the excellent clean channel less useful. Would love to bring out that tone, without sacrificing the second channel, but none of the well-respected modders I know seem to want to take on a new circuit or don't have the capacity right now.

The company that originally built it also can't take it on, nor do they seem to want to change much on it. My tech has too much work to do design work like this, even though he seemed really interested in it (he just quoted me several months lead time, which isn't ideal). I don't really want to move this one on because it sounds absolutely insane with the boost, but it's hard for me to find a two channel amp useful when only one channel is realistically usable at a time.

What are my options in the US?

An option, without modding the amp, would be to get a loop switcher that can also switch amp channels like the Boss ES-5. That way, you can have the boost on when you're in the drive channel, then take it off when you switch to clean, all in a single click.

BTW, Redbeard amps are cool. They're local to me and Brian is a friend of mine, our bands play shows together sometimes.

 

[CrystalSky]

An option, without modding the amp, would be to get a loop switcher that can also switch amp channels like the Boss ES-5. That way, you can have the boost on when you're in the drive channel, then take it off when you switch to clean, all in a single click.

BTW, Redbeard amps are cool. They're local to me and Brian is a friend of mine, our bands play shows together sometimes.

Perfect opportunity to ask him for them schematics

 

[GuitarBilly]

Perfect opportunity to ask him for them schematics

Sure, I can ask him. Not sure if he's going to give it to me though lol
Hes been taking time off social media but I'll call him and see what he says.

 

[CrystalSky]

Sure, I can ask him. Not sure if he's going to give it to me though lol
Hes been taking time off social media but I'll call him and see what he says.

Yes, just ask if it’s possible, as guys here would need that to work on it. I hope he doesn’t take it with hostility, as if someone wanted to copy something, they could reverse engineer it on a bench.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Is it just a simple latching footswitch to change channels? If so you could build / have built a boost using a 4pdt footswitch so the extra pole can be used to change channels when you turn off the boost, that way you turn off the boost and switch to the clean channel with one click. I think a couple Fortin pedals have this option.

If the boost you like has a non-pcb-mount 3pdt switch you could just replace it with a 4pdt if there’s room.

That’s probably the simplest solution if you like the sound of the amp with a boost, certainly safer than sending it to get modded and getting back and amp that is different but potentially not what you want.

Interesting. I didn't know this was a thing. I assume all my pedals have PCB mounted switches though. I'd have to check, but I have a lot of ODs on my board, so only being able to use one for this purpose wouldn't be the most ideal, but very interesting, still!

An option, without modding the amp, would be to get a loop switcher that can also switch amp channels like the Boss ES-5. That way, you can have the boost on when you're in the drive channel, then take it off when you switch to clean, all in a single click.

BTW, Redbeard amps are cool. They're local to me and Brian is a friend of mine, our bands play shows together sometimes.

I actually have a Fender Switchboard that can do this now. I just haven't fully set it up yet. You're right, that's definitely the easiest option. I just mostly am curious what could be done to it to make it an amp I could replace my Iconic and Deluxe Reverb with and not miss anything from either. I guess, mostly what I want changed on the amp is for it to sound like the one in Kyle's video, which I assume is the v2, because mine isn't nearly as gainy or as modern sounding. Brian told me he'd update it to the v2 specs for me after he was done with his latest round of Chemo, but then he deleted all his socials, so I have no idea how to get in touch with him.

Sure, I can ask him. Not sure if he's going to give it to me though lol
Hes been taking time off social media but I'll call him and see what he says.

That'd be awesome. Also totally willing to send it to him if he's up to working on it. I got this amp from a friend and he had sent it to him previously for the same reasons to see if something was off on it and it was sent back with a clean bill of health Kyle describes the one in his video as being bright and tight, I'd describe mine as dark and loose and I get as much gain with mine all the way up as he gets with his at 9 o'clock. This one does have the "saturation mod", which I have no idea what it does (Brian didn't explain it). I do wonder if that's the cause of it sounding more bassy and fat than modern and aggressive. If it sounded the same as the video I'd be over the moon.

 

[GuitarBilly]

Interesting. I didn't know this was a thing. I assume all my pedals have PCB mounted switches though. I'd have to check, but I have a lot of ODs on my board, so only being able to use one for this purpose wouldn't be the most ideal, but very interesting, still!


I actually have a Fender Switchboard that can do this now. I just haven't fully set it up yet. You're right, that's definitely the easiest option. I just mostly am curious what could be done to it to make it an amp I could replace my Iconic and Deluxe Reverb with and not miss anything from either. I guess, mostly what I want changed on the amp is for it to sound like the one in Kyle's video, which I assume is the v2, because mine isn't nearly as gainy or as modern sounding. Brian told me he'd update it to the v2 specs for me after he was done with his latest round of Chemo, but then he deleted all his socials, so I have no idea how to get in touch with him.

That'd be awesome. Also totally willing to send it to him if he's up to working on it. I got this amp from a friend and he had sent it to him previously for the same reasons to see if something was off on it and it was sent back with a clean bill of health Kyle describes the one in his video as being bright and tight, I'd describe mine as dark and loose and I get as much gain with mine all the way up as he gets with his at 9 o'clock. This one does have the "saturation mod", which I have no idea what it does (Brian didn't explain it). I do wonder if that's the cause of it sounding more bassy and fat than modern and aggressive. If it sounded the same as the video I'd be over the moon.

Yeah he's been going through some health stuff. I'll reach out to him to week and see what he says. Brian is a really nice guy and a great player and singer.

On a slightly different topic, let me know how you like the Fender Switchboard when/if you have the chance to set it up. I've been really interested in getting one. I have a Decibel Eleven switcher that works well but it's a bit clunky to program so I want to get a different unit. The Fender is a RJM design so that's promising.