Non-Vacuum Tubes

[indysmith]

ive never had a problem with them becoming microphonic.

lucky bar-steward

[Davey]

the idea is neat
why?
because you can be dead on accurate with the current and voltage of the tube. it isnt fragile and it lasts forever

the fragility and not need to replace em, is worth a lot in itself, especially for gigging musicians, who have to schlep their gear from venue to venue and not worry about the tube being broken or anything.

like i said, i'd like to see the technology behind it. did he just take a valve and make one with different materials, or does it have a PCB circuit inside, that mimmics it. but the fact that you can mix and match different types in one, points to the latter.

the price however is preposterous.






can someone buy one and take a hammer to it, so i (emm.. we) can see what's inside? :D

[horsehead]

It really does intruige me as to the how these work, but I can't see beyond it making your amp solid state, or have I got it wrong (again)

[Davey]

i dont think it makes your amp solid state.. because it is still a valve based amp. the circuitry for a SS is completelly different than a valve head, because of the elements used.
what this does (as far as i understad, IF it is a circuit and not just a re-make of a valve, using modern materials .. meaning, it still has all the components that a tube has, just made from different materials) anyway.. this just copies or mimmics the operation of a valve, signal goes in, signal gets processed (phase inverted, amplified, distorted, whatever ..) then it gets sent to the other stage, where another process is applied or repeated, so it should behave like a valve amp, with all its dinamics and subtleties, because that this operates like a valve ... that's at least what it SHOULD be like.

[HTH AMPS]

This has been done before, by I think either Mesa Boogie or Seymour Duncan, I can't remember which.

They made a plug in 12AX7 replacement.

I suspect the fact that NOS examples of this device don't command high prices would suggest it wasn't a success......

Soldano and Lee Jackson both made plug-ins that were used in the V2 position to add extra dirt.

[Dmoney]

This has been done before, by I think either Mesa Boogie or Seymour Duncan, I can't remember which.

They made a plug in 12AX7 replacement.

I suspect the fact that NOS examples of this device don't command high prices would suggest it wasn't a success......

Soldano and Lee Jackson both made plug-ins that were used in the V2 position to add extra dirt.

the soldano hot mod? that had a tube in though. what was the extra gubbins?

[HTH AMPS]

i dont think it makes your amp solid state.. because it is still a valve based amp. the circuitry for a SS is completelly different than a valve head, because of the elements used.
what this does (as far as i understad, IF it is a circuit and not just a re-make of a valve, using modern materials .. meaning, it still has all the components that a tube has, just made from different materials) anyway.. this just copies or mimmics the operation of a valve, signal goes in, signal gets processed (phase inverted, amplified, distorted, whatever ..) then it gets sent to the other stage, where another process is applied or repeated, so it should behave like a valve amp, with all its dinamics and subtleties, because that this operates like a valve ... that's at least what it SHOULD be like.

well, it's not a vacuum tube (valve) Davey so I wouldn't be too sure of that.  to operate as we know and love, valves need a vacuum.

I think we can pretty much assume that it's solid state - inside those plug-ins you'll most likely have Mosfet devices that are biased via the existing amp circuitry.

That's my next venture - enclose a pair of Mosfets in epoxy, mount them in a 9-pin design and sell it for £150.00  :lol:

[Davey]

haha, if it works :D


like i keep saying, i would dearly like to know the technology behind this.
without it, we can just keep kicking in the dark as to what this is made of.  for all we know, it could be compressed vomit :P

[HTH AMPS]

This has been done before, by I think either Mesa Boogie or Seymour Duncan, I can't remember which.

They made a plug in 12AX7 replacement.

I suspect the fact that NOS examples of this device don't command high prices would suggest it wasn't a success......

Soldano and Lee Jackson both made plug-ins that were used in the V2 position to add extra dirt.

the soldano hot mod? that had a tube in though. what was the extra gubbins?

yep, thats it - the hot mod.  I know it used a tube - a 6C10/6K11 triple-triode... http://www.schematicheaven.com/newamps/soldano_hot-mod.pdf

basically, you get an extra gain stage - seems wierd that they never took off, seems like they would be perfect for 2203/2204 Marshalls to add extra gain.  even plexis would scream with one of these things.

[martinw]

without it, we can just keep kicking in the dark as to what this is made of.  for all we know, it could be compressed vomit :P

We're not in the dark. We do know what's going on in there.
Unless the guy has invented a totally new kind of technology (in a sector where research costs run into billions of dollars, I think we can rule that out) then it's some kind of solid state amp stage in there, as HTH said, most likely a mosfet as these get closest to valve-like behaviour.

He's probably ignoring the HT and using the 6.3vac to generate voltage to run the device.

Put simply, this will convert your amp to solid sate operation. It's irrelevant whether the devices are in a valve-shaped package, or built in to the amp proper!

If it was possible to do this and still make your amp sound like a valve amp, why hasn't it been done before? Of course Stewart Ward at Session would say it has!  :)

It's going to be like one of those hybrid amps from the 70s/80s (e.g. Pro-amp Viper) with SS preamp and valve output stage.