Looking for Silicone Carbine Varistor for Magnatone amps

[Steve A.]

Someone was looking for a source for these parts and I'd usually tell them to go to hel..., er, I mean VibroWorld, but it looks like Granny's cupboard is bare:

http://www.vibroworld.com/parts/tech14.html#varistors

Any help on locating this part, or devising an acceptable substitute would be appreciated. (This is for an amp that Lonnie Mack sometimes uses!)

Steve Ahola

[Ray Ivers]

Steve,

If they don't have to be made from silicon carbide, here's a link:

http://www.avx.com/docs/Catalogs/ve-vfp.pdf

Ray

[Rob Mercure]

Steve, don't shoot your self - you'll never get the silicooties out of your system <grin>..

Rob

[mpeg2]

Weren't the Varistors that Magnatone used made out of Copper Oxide, not Silicon Carbide?

Rich

[mad dog]

Steve:

I would ask this question on the Magnatone/Valco list at Yahoo. These guys, collectively, know more about maggies than any single source. Both my maggies came from members, as does all the little that I know about them.

[Rick Erickson]

Steve - If you do find a source for those please let me know - those are made of Unobtanium as far as I know.

RE

[R.G.]

Someone was looking for a source for these parts and I'd usually tell them to go to hel..., er, I mean VibroWorld, but it looks like Granny's cupboard is bare:

http://www.vibroworld.com/parts/tech14.html#varistors

Any help on locating this part, or devising an acceptable substitute would be appreciated. (This is for an amp that Lonnie Mack sometimes uses!)

Steve Ahola

You're out of luck on the real thing. As you know, modern MOVs are not suitable. These old voltage variable resistors have only a very gradual curve of resistance versus applied voltage, not the snap-over that circuit protection MOVs do. It would be pure chance to find any that the other Maggie parts purveyors have missed somehow.

I have done a Magnatone style vibrato with LDRs driven by LEDs. Works fine.

I think you could adapt a Fender-style neon/LDR module to the Magnatone circuit in an organic way. You might need to adapt the circuit a bit to get enough voltage for the neons to fire. I'd have to look at the circuit to tell for sure.

If you get into this, remember the MOSFET Follies - a high voltage MOSFET follower can do a lot for you in neon driving.