narad
Well-known member
Up for grabs is my custom Naylor Super Drive 60 (2x12 combo). This started off as an original Michigan amp, so early that it didn't have the ganged gain pot. Serial # is 206. The core tone was great, but it really did not have nearly the amount of gain I like, so I sent it off to Dave King at Naylor a few years ago. He upgraded the circuit to the latter MI spec. In addition, I asked him to add the following options from his standard options list:
- Hi-drive, switchable 4th gain stage
- Density control
- Bandwidth control (rotary)
- Pentode/Triode switch
- Cathode/Fixed switch
Some quotes from Dave's options list on these:
– BANDWIDTH CONTROL - A 6 position switch that controls the bandwidth of the signal in the clean or dirty
channel of any amp. Control is from 1 to 6 with the number 2 position with the dot being the normal position (no
change in the circuit) Position 1 is very full and thick, as you go down to 6 the sound begins to thin out and become
less full causing the mid-range and hi end to become glassy and very clear.
L - DENSITY CONTROL – A variable control which adds some very low end to the output section of the amp. Its
control is most notable on the low E string and is just slightly interactive with the Presence control on the front of the
amp.
Q – FIXED BIAS / CATHODE BIAS SWITCH – A switch located on the rear control panel which controls the
output tube biasing options. FIXED BIAS is the standard Naylor biasing that gives you an adjustment pot that you
can use to set the bias of the output tubes to just about any bias level required for that set of tubes (you can set the
bias Cold Medium or Hot depending on how you like to run your output tubes) CATHODE BIAS uses a
cathode bias resister to automatically set the bias of the output tubes according to their particular needs at the voltages
the output circuit is running at. (the bias is set automatically, no user adjustment required)
Some of the tonal differences between Fixed and Cathode Biasing:
Cathode biasing will compress more and (appear to) sustain longer... it sings. Fixed biasing will not induce the same
amount of compression as there is less recovery or sag going on in the tubes.
Cathode biased amps generally get less wattage out of the same set of tubes than fixed bias amps. So they seem to
break up earlier.
The bias of cathode biased amps is generally not adjusted, they are considered self-biasing and so you don't need to
re-bias when you change power tubes.
Cathode biased amps appear to have a softer feel - more compression, more sag or seem to have more give.
Fixed bias amps tend to stay cleaner longer. They have a tighter sound. Contrary to what you might believe from the
name, they need to be re-biased when you change tubes.
R – PENTODE / TRIODE SWITCH – A switch located on the rear control panel which allows switching the
operation of the output tubes. PENTODE OPERATION is the normal Naylor setup and tone. TRIODE
OPERATION is a new option available for a little tonal difference in the amp.
A quick run-down on each mode:
Pentode mode: Not very linear, high output impedance, lots of gain, highest power / efficiency, easy to
drive.....Pentode sounds loud and punchy with great headroom.
Triode mode: Very linear, only about 1/3rd the power of pentode mode, lowest output impedance, not much gain,
harder / hard to drive due to high input capacitance and low gain. Triode is more vintage and warm with a thicker
midrange and is mushier or less articulate.
The amp won't be half as loud, but will break up sooner and smoother in triode mode.
So a pretty fully optioned out amp! Just the cathode+triode mode is like an entirely different amp! But then it got really fun because he was actually up for trying a couple additional options I thought would be useful on this amp:
- Friedman-style SAT switch (and if you're familiar with the Friedman Naked, you can guess why I'm asking
)
- Switchable Mid-Cut option based around the Diezel Herbert control. The Naylor can be pretty mid-heavy, but the inherent gain style is just fantastic so I thought an easily switchable scooped metal sound would be a nice option to have. It has a level control on the back, and the mid knob can be pulled to engage the cut, or take it out of the circuit.
I have seen some recent sales of these amps bone stock in the $3500+ range. I'm listing it for sale for $3k + $200 shipped worldwide which I think is fair given the probably $1k+ in service I've put into it. Why am I not asking $4500? Well A, I think these new prices are pretty crazy And B, there are some caveats:
- This is just the chassis. The only cabinet I have for it is a 2x12 combo cab, so kind of rules out including it with worldwide shipping. The official headshells are available from Naylor for about $300, and you can order them in whatever custom color / cloth you'd like. I can include the combo cab if you're in Japan.
- It's a 100V amp. You should use a step-down/step-up or have a tech convert to your local voltage.
- Not all the high-gain options play nicely with each other. Having the gain above 80-90% and turning on both the bite and sat switch will cause some oscillation, as will having the bite on with the gain in the 95-100% range. When I first received it this was more in the 70%+ range, so I had the most famous amp tech in Japan service it (about 5 months just in queue before he could start work on it) and add additional filtering to prevent oscillation, but in the extreme cases it's still possible. But Naylor is one of his favorite amps so he's also an expert on this circuit. I also asked him to change the push/pull hi-drive engage to a ganged pot so that the extra gain stage is just an extension of the usual gain pot rotation.
- I don't make guarantees on tubes surviving shipping. I'll removing them and wrap with foam, and put them in a smaller box, and that is about as much as I can do to help them towards having a safe journey.
- Hi-drive, switchable 4th gain stage
- Density control
- Bandwidth control (rotary)
- Pentode/Triode switch
- Cathode/Fixed switch
Some quotes from Dave's options list on these:
– BANDWIDTH CONTROL - A 6 position switch that controls the bandwidth of the signal in the clean or dirty
channel of any amp. Control is from 1 to 6 with the number 2 position with the dot being the normal position (no
change in the circuit) Position 1 is very full and thick, as you go down to 6 the sound begins to thin out and become
less full causing the mid-range and hi end to become glassy and very clear.
L - DENSITY CONTROL – A variable control which adds some very low end to the output section of the amp. Its
control is most notable on the low E string and is just slightly interactive with the Presence control on the front of the
amp.
Q – FIXED BIAS / CATHODE BIAS SWITCH – A switch located on the rear control panel which controls the
output tube biasing options. FIXED BIAS is the standard Naylor biasing that gives you an adjustment pot that you
can use to set the bias of the output tubes to just about any bias level required for that set of tubes (you can set the
bias Cold Medium or Hot depending on how you like to run your output tubes) CATHODE BIAS uses a
cathode bias resister to automatically set the bias of the output tubes according to their particular needs at the voltages
the output circuit is running at. (the bias is set automatically, no user adjustment required)
Some of the tonal differences between Fixed and Cathode Biasing:
Cathode biasing will compress more and (appear to) sustain longer... it sings. Fixed biasing will not induce the same
amount of compression as there is less recovery or sag going on in the tubes.
Cathode biased amps generally get less wattage out of the same set of tubes than fixed bias amps. So they seem to
break up earlier.
The bias of cathode biased amps is generally not adjusted, they are considered self-biasing and so you don't need to
re-bias when you change power tubes.
Cathode biased amps appear to have a softer feel - more compression, more sag or seem to have more give.
Fixed bias amps tend to stay cleaner longer. They have a tighter sound. Contrary to what you might believe from the
name, they need to be re-biased when you change tubes.
R – PENTODE / TRIODE SWITCH – A switch located on the rear control panel which allows switching the
operation of the output tubes. PENTODE OPERATION is the normal Naylor setup and tone. TRIODE
OPERATION is a new option available for a little tonal difference in the amp.
A quick run-down on each mode:
Pentode mode: Not very linear, high output impedance, lots of gain, highest power / efficiency, easy to
drive.....Pentode sounds loud and punchy with great headroom.
Triode mode: Very linear, only about 1/3rd the power of pentode mode, lowest output impedance, not much gain,
harder / hard to drive due to high input capacitance and low gain. Triode is more vintage and warm with a thicker
midrange and is mushier or less articulate.
The amp won't be half as loud, but will break up sooner and smoother in triode mode.
So a pretty fully optioned out amp! Just the cathode+triode mode is like an entirely different amp! But then it got really fun because he was actually up for trying a couple additional options I thought would be useful on this amp:
- Friedman-style SAT switch (and if you're familiar with the Friedman Naked, you can guess why I'm asking
)- Switchable Mid-Cut option based around the Diezel Herbert control. The Naylor can be pretty mid-heavy, but the inherent gain style is just fantastic so I thought an easily switchable scooped metal sound would be a nice option to have. It has a level control on the back, and the mid knob can be pulled to engage the cut, or take it out of the circuit.
I have seen some recent sales of these amps bone stock in the $3500+ range. I'm listing it for sale for $3k + $200 shipped worldwide which I think is fair given the probably $1k+ in service I've put into it. Why am I not asking $4500? Well A, I think these new prices are pretty crazy
And B, there are some caveats:- This is just the chassis. The only cabinet I have for it is a 2x12 combo cab, so kind of rules out including it with worldwide shipping. The official headshells are available from Naylor for about $300, and you can order them in whatever custom color / cloth you'd like. I can include the combo cab if you're in Japan.
- It's a 100V amp. You should use a step-down/step-up or have a tech convert to your local voltage.
- Not all the high-gain options play nicely with each other. Having the gain above 80-90% and turning on both the bite and sat switch will cause some oscillation, as will having the bite on with the gain in the 95-100% range. When I first received it this was more in the 70%+ range, so I had the most famous amp tech in Japan service it (about 5 months just in queue before he could start work on it) and add additional filtering to prevent oscillation, but in the extreme cases it's still possible. But Naylor is one of his favorite amps so he's also an expert on this circuit. I also asked him to change the push/pull hi-drive engage to a ganged pot so that the extra gain stage is just an extension of the usual gain pot rotation.
- I don't make guarantees on tubes surviving shipping. I'll removing them and wrap with foam, and put them in a smaller box, and that is about as much as I can do to help them towards having a safe journey.
