Vox and Matchless are having my baby..

[Feel_My_Twang]

I'm setting forth to use a Vox AC-30 power section with the Matchless DC-30 preamp section because I love that chimey Vox but it needs a little more "MUSCLE" or something along those lines for my taste. I was curious to see if anyone has done it or have done something close. ANY input will receive a standing ovation! Thanks guys..

-kyle

[kg]

I'm setting forth to use a Vox AC-30 power section with the Matchless DC-30 preamp section because I love that chimey Vox but it needs a little more "MUSCLE" or something along those lines for my taste. I was curious to see if anyone has done it or have done something close. ANY input will receive a standing ovation! Thanks guys..

-kyle

i have found that a lot of the vox chime is due to the el84 outputs. to retain as much as possible while increasing output power i would consider paralleling more of them up. however that means you can't use an off the shelf vox output tranny which is also part of the tone.

hth
ken

[Don Moose]

i have found that a lot of the vox chime is due to the el84 outputs. to retain as much as possible while increasing output power i would consider paralleling more of them up. however that means you can't use an off the shelf vox output tranny which is also part of the tone

How about doubling the AC-30 power amp? - 2x the speakers, 2 OTs, 2x the EL-84s

- gotta say, wouldn't more 'muscle' mean a bigger power amp, not a 'bigger' preamp?

Hope this helps!

[Feel_My_Twang]

gatta have that thickness with the chime!

By "muscle" I meant more thickness and girth while still being chimey, I didnt mean more actual power output ... I guess I would just have to mess around with different component values to get the tone im chasing? Mabey more low end with some more midrange bite! Thanks for the replys guys..

[Ben N]

How 'bout just boosting the input with a mid-rangey booster? Neil Finn gets a pretty fat lead tone out of his Vox, and I think a Hotcake boosting leads. Anway, isn't the Matchless preamp pretty much a modded AC15?

[Feel_My_Twang]

Hey Ben, If your talking about an actual "pedal" booster I would rather not. I'm not a big fan of pedals...thats just another thing I have to plug in! I want the sound I'm after to come straight from the amp. The only pedals I have are a tuner and a Jetter Gear Gainstage Red (Jetter Gear is bad ass!) into a Bogner Shiva. But I need a little more than my Bogner(which I am in love with!). I play alot of different styles and I need something along to compliment my true love. I have the tone in my head.. I just need to know how to build it.

[Paul P]

In the Matchless DC30, what's the point in having two triodes in parallel
at the input ? :

http://www.schematicheaven.com/newam...s_dc30_old.pdf

Couldn't you achieve the same amount of gain with a single triode ?

And that first coupling cap sure is small.

Paul P

[kg]

well the theory behind it is that paralleled sections give you twice the gm, half the rp, and the same mu.

that is good from a noise standpoint, both "internal" to the tube, and external/induced due to the lower plate node impedance.

however if the lowest input stage noise were really your goal you wouldn't be using a 12ax7.