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I’ve made many a great sounding amp over the years and am always interested in a challenge. By the title, many of you can see that I am about to stir up a hornet’s nest.
My most recent project started with a chassis from a late 1970’s-early 1980’s Pro Reverb…yes the UL, MV version that everyone generally seems to pan all throughout the www.
My goal was to take the basic elements…and I mean basic…the circuit boards, chassis, wiring, and the UL OT and wire it up as a Torres Super Texan. Channel Switching, DC Heaters (to also conveniently power the relay’s) and all.
Ideally I would be taking my many years of experience (bumping my head) to build all kinds of amplifiers and applying it to understanding the Super Texan circuit. Yes, the Torres Super Texan!!!
Truth is that Dan Torres and his designs don’t get a lot of kind words on the forums and I got to thinking that it seemed like very few people actually played one, built one, or even seen on to have such disdain.
(I know, I know many of you have, but indulge me.)
I realize that there have been some “transactional issues” with purchases from him, etc., so I do not want to discuss that stuff. I just wanted to study his circuit, build it, and OBJECTIVELY show that it can be great (secretly I do have an opinion prior to this project) but I thought I would let the process speak for itself.
Or course I have seen many images of Torres builds on the web, as well as have seen inside many, too. Some made by Dan, others by his numerous employees over the years, and those built by the wayward souls who decided to try their hands at building an amp with little or no experience.
The following are some of the underlying reasons and proofs I wanted to address.
1. One observation I had and wanted to somehow prove or sadly disprove if that should be the result; that the Super Texan circuit could indeed be a viable, reliable and great sounding design. Clearly it is very similar to other amplifiers – leaning toward Fender designs – but it’s actually Dan’s interpretation of a Fender circuit; resulting in what he believed (now me too) (along with several guitar magazines who actually utilized his knowledge and services in amplifier Q & A columns) sounded good.
From my study, I can see that it really was re-voiced and modified to create a High-gain, switching amp with all kinds of bells and whistles (many features that all of you have applied to any number of the circuits that you all have individually built) but in this case to meet his design and playing needs.
2. I also wanted to prove that Fender UL designs were ultimately plagued by a bad combination of values that took all the life out of the circuit, not the UL Output transformer. By combining the Super Texan circuit with the Fender UL Pro Reverb components that I had…that I could really show that any good design come down to many factors - with execution being a large part…not to mention just making good choices in the design ranging from parts values, placement and grounding practices.
4. I also really like using recycled parts that have plenty of life left in them, too. So, the final design will be placed in a repaired late 1970’s Fender Twin Cabinet and will power a couple of JBL’s. (Again another test…)
As you can see much of the same wire is used. Original circuit board made me be a bit creative with position as well.
By the way…it is totally quiet! You’ll get a sense of that when I upload the sound clip.
So, for now here it is...I figure out how to upload the video.
I realize there is a lot of wiring in there, but I believe it was tastefully placed utilizing the available real estate.
Now that I put myself out on the chopping block, please be kind and respectful. THis was fun and it's already sold!
Happy Holidays all and kind regards...
(Apologies how all the photos attached. I tried to do it cleaner, but...enjoy all the same.
My most recent project started with a chassis from a late 1970’s-early 1980’s Pro Reverb…yes the UL, MV version that everyone generally seems to pan all throughout the www.
My goal was to take the basic elements…and I mean basic…the circuit boards, chassis, wiring, and the UL OT and wire it up as a Torres Super Texan. Channel Switching, DC Heaters (to also conveniently power the relay’s) and all.
Ideally I would be taking my many years of experience (bumping my head) to build all kinds of amplifiers and applying it to understanding the Super Texan circuit. Yes, the Torres Super Texan!!!
Truth is that Dan Torres and his designs don’t get a lot of kind words on the forums and I got to thinking that it seemed like very few people actually played one, built one, or even seen on to have such disdain.
(I know, I know many of you have, but indulge me.)
I realize that there have been some “transactional issues” with purchases from him, etc., so I do not want to discuss that stuff. I just wanted to study his circuit, build it, and OBJECTIVELY show that it can be great (secretly I do have an opinion prior to this project) but I thought I would let the process speak for itself.
Or course I have seen many images of Torres builds on the web, as well as have seen inside many, too. Some made by Dan, others by his numerous employees over the years, and those built by the wayward souls who decided to try their hands at building an amp with little or no experience.
The following are some of the underlying reasons and proofs I wanted to address.
1. One observation I had and wanted to somehow prove or sadly disprove if that should be the result; that the Super Texan circuit could indeed be a viable, reliable and great sounding design. Clearly it is very similar to other amplifiers – leaning toward Fender designs – but it’s actually Dan’s interpretation of a Fender circuit; resulting in what he believed (now me too) (along with several guitar magazines who actually utilized his knowledge and services in amplifier Q & A columns) sounded good.
From my study, I can see that it really was re-voiced and modified to create a High-gain, switching amp with all kinds of bells and whistles (many features that all of you have applied to any number of the circuits that you all have individually built) but in this case to meet his design and playing needs.
2. I also wanted to prove that Fender UL designs were ultimately plagued by a bad combination of values that took all the life out of the circuit, not the UL Output transformer. By combining the Super Texan circuit with the Fender UL Pro Reverb components that I had…that I could really show that any good design come down to many factors - with execution being a large part…not to mention just making good choices in the design ranging from parts values, placement and grounding practices.
4. I also really like using recycled parts that have plenty of life left in them, too. So, the final design will be placed in a repaired late 1970’s Fender Twin Cabinet and will power a couple of JBL’s. (Again another test…)
As you can see much of the same wire is used. Original circuit board made me be a bit creative with position as well.
By the way…it is totally quiet! You’ll get a sense of that when I upload the sound clip.
So, for now here it is...I figure out how to upload the video.
I realize there is a lot of wiring in there, but I believe it was tastefully placed utilizing the available real estate.
Now that I put myself out on the chopping block, please be kind and respectful. THis was fun and it's already sold!
Happy Holidays all and kind regards...
(Apologies how all the photos attached. I tried to do it cleaner, but...enjoy all the same.
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