Tone Talk

Hi, and welcome to "Tone Talk". Catchy huh? I wanted to put this page together
to share information, answer questions, talk about the very subjective, and
sometimes touchy subject of what constitutes "Great Guitar Tone", and also give
everyone a heads up about new products that will be coming to the TWISTER
lineup. My plan is to keep this page updated weekly, so if you have any topics
that you'd like to see discussed, or have anything to add to this page, please feel
free to shoot me an email, and I'll try my best to address it here. This is all
completely off the cuff, so I'll ask for your forgiveness in advance for typos, and
misspelled words.

Jade Lowrey... Head cook, and bottle washer at Twister Amps Inter-Galactic.

10/14/08

October??? Already??

I'm sure you're all tired of my lame excuses for turning what was supposed to be a weekly
discussion into a monthly thing, so I won't even bother this month.... Actually I do have an excuse.
I had this all typed up on paper, and the Dog ate it! We recently adopted a new puppy named
Skip. He's a big dumb black lab, who likes to eat everything in the house..... but we love him
dearly already.

Alright excuses out of the way, let's get to the tone talk.

This time around I wanna talk about one of the most important things that impacts the tone of our
guitar amps, The Speaker.   Now I don't claim to be a speaker expert by any means, I just know
what I think sounds good. The funny thing about speakers is that you can have a great sounding
amp, and match it up with the wrong speaker, and it's just not going to sound very good. On the
other hand, you may have a certain speaker that you think sounds great, but match it up with an
amp that doesn't fit it very well, and all of a sudden that "Great" speaker doesn't sound so good
anymore.

I like to think of speakers in the same way as you might think of tires on a car. Take a Corvette
for instance. One of the highest performance, best handling automobiles in the world. A large
portion of it's handling ability comes from the wide low profile tires that stick to the asphalt like
glue.

Same thing for a Jeep. Those things will go over boulders, through the mud, snow, and rain, and
all sorts of places you'd never even think about taking a regular car. Once again, a large portion
of the Jeeps offroad prowess comes from the big, tall, deep tread offroad tires.

Both vehicles are designed to excell at certain things, and they have tires to maximize those
abilities. Now what would happen if we switched the tires from the jeep on to the Vette, and put
the Vette tires on the Jeep? LOL... Of course most sane people would never do something like
that, but you get my point. Neither vehicle would perform very well.

Speakers and amps have the same kind of relationship.   The problem is, that there are sooo
many different speaker choices out there, that it can be a very difficult task to make a decision as
to what speaker you should match up with your amp.

Luckily, I've had the opportunity to try out a few dozen different speakers from various
manufacturers over the past few months. So far the Eminence speakers are really impressing
me. The Legend Series GB128, the Private Jack, and the ToneSpotter, models have been
some of the best speakers I've tested. They all seem to work very well in the F2, and Dust Devil
combos. They each have a slightly different tone, but they all sound great.

I've also been trying out some of the new Jensen speakers, including the Mod series, and the Jet
series with good results, We'll be getting a sample of the new Jensen "Electric Lightning" which
I'm very excited about.

As much as I'd like to give a rundown of the tonal attributes of all the different speakers we've
been trying lately, there's just not enough room, or enough time for me to go describe each one.
However, if you're intested in choosing the speaker in your Twister Amp, give me a call, or shoot
me an email, and I'll be more than happy to give you my impression of what some of the different
speakers we've tried sound like.

Ok enough about speakers for now. Back to the Twister News. I've been pretty much covered
up for the past 4 months straight, so updates to the website have been pretty slow coming. I've
finaly added some amp pics, and we have a "Testimonials" page, but I havnt gotten around to
posting the comments yet... gimme a couple days, I'll get it done.

OH... one other idea I've been kicking around is the possibility of offering certain models of
twister amps in Kit form for you DIY types out there. What I'm thinking is of shooting a Video
Instruction manual of how to put the whole thing together from start to finish. Building your own
amp can be a lot of fun, and very rewarding knowing you built it yourself. Not to mention you save
a few bux in the process. It still won't be cheap... but it would be less expensive than if you bought
a working production model. So give me some feedback guys, and if it seems like there's
enough people interested in it, we just might do it.

Oh... also.... good grief I gotta start keeping up on tone talk... I just get too much stuff to tell you all
about when I wait this long.... We're probably going to be introducing a new line of Twister effects
pedals. I have no idea when this will actually happen, since I've still got to get the new Xenia amp
design finished up, but keep an eye out, and hopefully well have some stuff designed by the first
of the year.

Ok... I think that'll about do it for now.... It's LATE, and I've got amps to build in the morning.

Cya all on the flip side...
Jade

PS... HI FISH!!

9/5/08

Hey Gang! It's been a while, so let's get to it!

Man... Where has the summer gone? Here we are in September, and I just don't know where the
time went.   Crazy!   They say time flys when you're havin' fun, I must have been having a blast the
past couple months! Honestly, I have been having a good time. Not much time off to speak of,
but, I've been enjoying all the phone calls, and emails from those of you with questions and orders
for new amps. The Dust Devil is keeping me busier than I've ever been! Speaking of the Dust
Devil, the first ones should be shipping out next week sometime, So for those of you that were
the first few to order.... It won't be long now!

Speaking of the Dust Devil, That amp has me so impressed, I'm thinking of offering a new amp
model, with the same basic preamp design, but with two KT66's instead of just the one. Still
Class A Single Ended to keep the nature of the amp the same... just twice the watts. Should
make a GREAT gigging club amp. I have no Idea what we're gonna call it at this point, but we'll
figgure something out.

Also... I've got ANOTHER new amp in the pipeline. Tentatively, we're gonna call it the "Xenia".

It's going to replace the F4 in the Twister Lineup. Initial specs will be Single Channel, High
Gain, Available with either 50, 100, or 200 watts. An effects loop will be standard. This puppy is
still in the design stages, so It may be a little while before we bring it out, but It is coming.
Hopefully this new amp will fit the needs of all the Gainiacs out there playin the heavy stuff.
HOWEVER... For all you guys that need a clean amp... like all Twisters, It'll still do the clean stuff
too.... with LOTS of headroom!

I'd like to take a sec, and thank all of you that have sent in Testimonials about your amps!
There's nothing that makes me happier than knowing that you guys are out there playing, and
enjoying the stuff we build here. Keep an eye out for the testimonials page in the near future. If
you sent a comment, it'll be on there!

OK... Lot's of good stuff, but we've got some sad news as well, and a little bit of Twister History.

When I first started building amps for people besides myself, I needed a name to put on the
amps..... Marshall, and Fender were already taken, and "Jade Amps" just sounded stupid LOL... I
kicked ideas around for quite a while, and couldnt come up with anything that I liked at all. So in
the end, I decided to name the amps after our family's very loved, and loving Border Collie
"Twister" We got Twister when she was just 8 weeks old. She was an amazing dog. Probably
the smartest dog I've ever seen. As is typical with Border Collies, she loved to be active, and
playing Frisbee was here game of choice.
Twister was with us for 12 years, and in that time, as most pet's do, she became less of a pet,
and litteraly " part of the family".

So know you know where the name came from!

Unfortunatley, Twister was diagnosed with a Brain tumor about two months ago, and we ended
up having to put her to sleep about a week ago. She was in bad shape... it was time.

Amazing how attached you become... She'll definitely be missed.... We loved her very much.

If you have a pet, it's easy to take em for granted sometimes. Show your pet some affection, and
attention, They won't be with us forever.

OK... Sorry about the downer. I usually don't like to get into too much personal stuff on here,
especially sad stuff, but since the company was named after her, I thought it was appropriate.

OH.... I almost forgot. It seems Twister Amps has this amazing cheerleading squad! I don't know
what else to call it, but I appreciate it.   Somehow by my sheer good fortune, there are a number
of you out there who have taken a real interest in promoting Twister Amps. I'm not sure exactly
why you guys have taken on this cause, but you should all know that your efforts are appreciated
very much! THANK YOU FOR SPREADING THE WORD!! You all know who you are, but you all
deserve some recognition, so here goes..

Tommy, Craig, Dani, Mark, Denny, Tim, Tim, and Tim (yep all 3 of you) THANKS GUYS!!

Alright... I think that'll just about wrap it up for this week, but I've got a couple great ideas for the
next instalment, so check back in a week or so, and we'll have all sorts of good stuff for ya!

Jade

8/10/08

Busy,Busy,Busy... Once again I apologize for not keeping up with the weekly Tone Talk articles.
I've honestly just been too busy building amps to stay on top of it.

Well, It looks like I owe a big THANKS to all of you who urged me to get in gear, and offer the low
powered combo which ended up becoming the Dust Devil. This little guy continues to amaze me
every day. Not only does it keep showing me new tones every time I twist the knobs, but it's
amazing me at how quickly the orders for these little guys are racking up! We're literally
swamped right now, and lovin every minute of it! We took a little time, and recorded some video
clips of the Dust Devil in action. I wanna take a second, and thank my good buddy Tim Flanagan
for lending his time, and guitar playing talent to the recording of the videos. We've got the Dust
Devil clip posted, but we've also got some more video clips of the F1, and the F3 head that we'll
be posting as soon as I get some time to transfer them, and get em edited. So keep your eyes
peeled for those in the near future.

Unfortunately, no time this week for some of the excellent tech questions I've gotten from you guys
lately. I've got to get back to the soldering iron, but I'll do my best to address those as soon as I
get a spare minute or two.

Talk to ya all soon!
Jade

7/20/08

Man, I just don't seem to be getting any better at keeping up on the "weekly" Tone Talk thing. Oh
well, better late than never right? So let's get to it...

Folks, I am EXCITED! I am putting the final touches on our newest addition to the Twister amp
lineup, Dust Devil prototype, and I can honestly say that this is ONE OF THE BEST SOUNDING
AMPS I'VE EVER BUILT, OR PLAYED. That's not salesman's hype either, I'm just really really
floored by how good this thing sounds. One of the cool things about designing, and building
amps is that when you first start out with a new amp, you never know exactly how it's going to turn
out. Sometimes you end up designing, and redesigning, and tweaking, and untweaking.
Sometimes you end up pulling your hair out, and starting from scratch.   This design had a little bit
of that, I started out with one circuit, I wasnt happy with it, so I tweaked on it a bit. Still wasnt
happy with it, so I left the power section alone, and started from scratch with a whole different
preamp design. When I fired it up for the first time..... WOW my jaw dropped. I knew I was on to
something good. A couple minor tweaks here, and there, and BAM! It's totaly rockin!. I hope my
enthusiasm is showing, and not comming off as cheezy. I'm just really excited about this new little
guy.

OK, let's get to the specificics of this new amp.

*Small combo with a single 12" speaker.

* Single ended, Class A, 12 watts.

* Tube compliment of: (1) 12ax7, (1) KT66, (1) GZ34

* Hi, and Lo inputs.

* Volume knob, with a pull "Boost" feature.

* Single Tone knob, with an amazing amount of control.

* New "Vari-Watt" control.

Ok, that's the technical specs. Now let's talk about this new "Vari-Watt" feature. This is a circuit
in the amps power supply that has control over the voltage being sent to the power tube. By
controling this voltage, we can change the output wattage of the amp. With the "Vari-Watt"
controll turned all the way up, the amp will put out it's full power of about 12 watts. With this
control turned all the way down, you will be able to drop the output wattage all the way down to
less than half a watt for true bedroom volume.

Unlike a standard Master Volume control on most amps, which just decrease the amount of
signal that gets sent to the power tubes, the Vari-Watt circuit does nothing to the actuall signal
inside the amp. It is actually changing the wattage output of the power tube. The advantage of
this, is that with the volume cranked up, and the Vari-Watt turned down, the power tube still thinks
it's working very hard, and you can get power tube distortion, and saturation at extremely low
volume. Something that is simply not possible with a standard Master Volume control. Since the
Vari-Watt circuit is not in the signal path, your tone doesnt get changed, It just get's quiter.

Ok, so now you know what it is, but what's it look like, what's it sound like? I'm hoping to have
some picutres of the prototype up in the next few days, and Hopefully we'll have some soundclips
to share shortly after that.

What else.... Did I mention this thing is LOUD?   I was surprised myself just how much guts this
little guy has.   I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and say that it sounds to me every bit as loud as
the F2. Which is a pretty loud little amp for only 18 watts. The Dust Devil should be able to
handle smaller club gigs with no problem.

Oh, and did I mention that this thing goes from really, really, really nice beautiful cleans to rip
roarin Lotsa lotsa gain?   Well, it does!

MAN I'M EXCITED!! I feel like a proud papa! I'm really lookin forward to getting this thing out
there for you guys to play, and hopefully you'll be as excited about it as I am. If you've got any
specific questions about the Dust Devil, feel free to ask, as I'm sure I probably left some things
out.

OK, I've gotten some really good tech questions lately. Unfortunately I've rambled on a little too
long already, so we'll get to those next time, and since I've been slackin off lately, with my TONE
TALK duties, I'll try to slip in a Tech session sometime in the middle of this week, so keep
checkin back. I will get to your questions!

Thanks for reading, and I'll talk to ya soon!
Jade

7/7/08

Wow... That was a long week! Or did I just skip one? Sorry for slackin off here, I've been
extremely busy lately, and of course the holiday weekend was thrown into the mix as well. I hope
you all had a great 4th of July!

This week, we've got some more tech talk by suggestion from reader Craig Fish. Thanks Craig!

Craig's question is regarding the differences in amps that use a "Choke", and amps that don't.

OK, first off, we need to understand what a "Choke" is. The choke is a part used in the power
supply. It looks like a small transformer, but unlike a transformer, it doesnt have a primary, or
secondary winding. it is simply a coil of copper wire.   In electronic terms, it is an INDUCTOR. In
a guitar amp, the choke is usually connected in the power supply between the high voltage supply
that goes to the screen grids of the power tubes, and the rest of the power supply which sends
power to the other stages of the amp.... Gain stages, Phase in verters, etc.

Ok, now the purpose of the choke is to help smooth out the ripple in the DC voltage in the power
supply. Remember how we talked about Filter Caps? Ok... well the choke does a similar job.
The best way I can describe this to you, is to think of a choke as a really really long garden hose.
If you go out to your back yard spigot, and quicly turn the handle on, and off, over, and over again,
you would see the water start, and stop while coming out of the spigot.... Now, if you hooked up a
really long garden hose, and did the same thing, when you watched the water come out the end
of the hose, you would notice that the ON/OFF action of the water wasnt nearly as drastic, the
water might just slow down, and speed up a little, instead of actually starting, and stopping... If
you had a long enough hose, the flow would eventually become completely smooth, with no
noticeable ON/OFF.

Now to really understand Chokes, you need to understand how power supply is designed.
Basicly what happens is that the High voltage from the Power transformer comes into the filtering
section which is made up of resistors, and capacitors. This section is broken down into
seperate sections called "nodes" each node in the filter supply has it's own set of filter caps, and
each one of these nodes is also seperated from the next by resistors, or in the case of an amp
with a choke, one of those nodes is seperated by a choke.    Forgive me if this isnt very clear,
without a picture of a schematic for you to look at, It's a little difficult to describe.

OK, so hopefully I've been clear enough that you have a basic idea of what a choke does, so
now, the question is why do some amps use them, and why do other amps not?

Back in the early days of amp building, Filter Capacitor technology wasnt what it is today. They
were'nt very efficient, and they were EXPENSIVE.   A choke on the other hand, was a simple,
easy to make coil of copper wire, which back then was easy, and CHEAP to make. So lots of
amp makers used a choke at the beginning of the filter section, and this let them use less, and or
smaller filter caps.

As Electrolytic capacitor technology progressed, Filter Caps became increasingly efficient, and
much much cheaper to produce. At the same time, the price of copper, went way up, and the
price of Chokes went right up with it. So amp manufacturers started using larger Caps, and
ditching the choke, and just putting a simple resistor in it's place.   The overall result was pretty
much the same. Nice clean, smooth DC voltage for the amp to use.

The resistor that replaced the choke, doesnt do a very good job of filtering the incoming DC
voltage, but the BIG new caps, certainly do. This is a classic example of the old addage about
"More than one way to skin a cat".   Two different designs, with the same outcome.

There is of course more to the story.   One of the advantages a choke has over a simple resistor,
is that it doesnt drop, or "lose" as much voltage, as your average power resistor in a filter
section.   This can be advantageous in amps that have a lot of different stages in them. Each
time you add an extra "Node" for an extra circuit in the amp....you lose some voltage. So on
Large multichannel amps, or amps with lots of extra bells, and whistles, Reverb, Tremolo,
multichannel. etc... a choke is still a good option to have, to keep you from loosing too much
voltage.

In an amp with adequate voltage though, the difference between a Choke filter, and a Resistor,
with properly sized Filter Caps is pretty much indistinguishable, and there really isnt a decisive
advantage of using one, or the other, it just depends on how the amp designer wants to get his
DC voltage filtered nice, and smooth.

The only Twister Amp with a choke is the F1. I use a choke in this amp, simply because that's
the way the originals from the 50's were made, and I wanted to keep the design as close to
original as possible. Of course the F1 has benefited from the modern technology Filter Caps as
well, as It's built with a Choke, AND larger better filter caps. It really keeps the amp nice, and
tight sounding.

My thoughts as an amp builder, and a musician, are that you shouldnt really worry too much about
wether an amp has a Choke, or not. If the power supply is designed properly, it really doesnt
make a difference.

Thanks again for reading, and I'll see ya all next week!
Jade

6/23/08

Welcome back to Tone Talk!

Before we get to the technical bits, I just want to take a sec, and let you know that we'll be adding
a "Testimonial" page to the site for the guys that have sent in great reviews, and comments on
the amps. If you'd like to add a testimonial to the page, please send it to
"TwisterAmps@yahoo.com" and we'll post it for all the world to see!

This week we're going to talk about some pretty interesting, and very subjective stuff. Namely,
output transformers, their affect on tone, and why we use the transformers we do.

First, we need to understand what the output transformer does. The transformer is the part in the
amp that takes the signal from your power tubes, changes it, and sends it on to the speaker... It's
basicly the bridge between the Power tubes, and your speaker. Now, like most components in
an amp, there's TONS of things to know about them, lot's of math, and science that apply to the
design, and implementation into a specific amp. There is no way we can get into the deep
technical aspect of transformers, and their interaction with tubes, and speakers in this forum...
there's just not enough room, and honestly it would be a VERY dull read that most folks wouldnt
be interested in anyways. So for our purposes, I'm going to use some generalizations, and share
with you my thoughts, and experiences with different brands, and types of transformers, and how I
think they affect tone. Of course tone is one of those things that's just as subjective as food. You
may like seafood, and I may like steak... Is one of us right, or wrong? of course not... we just have
differing tastes... if we all didnt have differning tastes, we'd all be playing thru the same guitar,
and amp.

Ok with that being said, let's get into what I see as the two ends of the output transformer
spectrum.   Hammond is a transformer company that I used in my early days of building amps.
They're an American company, and they build a great product, and their transformers are nice,
and heavy duty, and conservatively rated.   When I say conservatively rated, I mean that when they
build a transformer, and market it as a 40 watt unit, it will easilly handle 40 watts, and more often
than not quite a bit more than that.   As a general rule, an over built transformer like a Hammond
is going to have a tighter punchier sound over a wider range of frequencies, and it will not
introduce distortion into the signal even when driven hard by the amp.   Hammond is just one
example of a manufacturer of these types of transformers. Usually you'll see these types of
transformers in High end Hi Fi tube audio amplifiers, like a Macintosh, because of their excellent
fidelity.

There are a few other companies out there that produce transformers in that fashion, and some
of them will even go so far as to tell you that they make the best soundng transformers in the
world, and that if you dont put their transformer in your guitar amp, well you just dont know what
good tone is.   Are they right? Are they wrong?.... let's look at the other end of the spectrum to get
a little more feel for what transformers do to our sound.

If you ask 100 rock guitarists what the greatest rock amp ever made was, I guarantee that a very
large percentage of them are going to say something like "Marshall JCM 800" or some other
similar Marshall product. And I won't argue with them at all. There's too many great recordings,
and live perfromances using those amps. You just cant argue with the great tone those guys got
from them.   The achillies heel of those amps were always the transformers. I'm not pointing
fingers, I'm just telling you that If you ask any amp tech that's been around for a while which
transformers out there were underbuilt, and as a result burned up because they werent designed
to handle the strains that the amp manufacturers put on them, they'd tell you that they've replaced
more Drake brand transformers in old Marshalls than any other.

Of course, if you talk to a tube amp snob... you know the guy I'm talking about. He'll tell you "If that
old JCM 800 doesnt have the original Drake transformer, well it just doenst sound any good
anymore"   And he'll believe that, and try to convice you of it as well.

Now, my point here isnt that he's right, or wrong. I'm just trying to point out that depending on who
you talk to, you're going to get differing opinions on which type of transformer sounds best... The
part that really kills me, is when you hear BOTH arguments from the same guy. The guy that
swears the old Drake transformers are the only thing for an old Marshall, yet when it comes to
boutique builders, if they arent using brand "XYZ" that is over built, and costs a gazillion dollars,
well then, they just arent building a quality amp.

OK BUDDY... make up your mind. The truth of the matter is that the guy that tells you that kind of
stuff knows nothing about how an amp works, and he just read some articles, and
advertisements in Guitar Planet magazine, and he wants you to think he's a guru.

Transformers are like every other part of an amp, in that different types, and values can be used
to yield different sounds.

Those old underbuilt Drake transformers we talked about before really helped to get that
midrangy crunchy sustaining tone that made Marshall a rock legend. At the same time the
relatively HUGE transformers in a Fender Twin, played a big role in getting those wonderfull tight
clean tones that everybody loves.

Obviously the other circuitry in these amps played a very large role in the tone of these very
different amps, but you get my point.

Here at Twister Amps, we proudly use Heyboer transformers. They're an American made
transformer built in Michigan, and they're probably used by more boutique amp builders than any
else. They're not the MOST expensive transformer, they're not the CHEAPEST transformer, But
to my ears, they're the best sounding transfomer i've used in our amps, and I've tried most all the
brands out there looking for the best tone. The Heyboers are also a well built transfomer, that will
handle the rigors of hard use without blowing up. Ofcourse with our 10 year warranty, it would be
foolish to use cheap underrated transformers.

The moral of all this?? I'm not really sure, but when you play a Twister amp, you can be sure that
you have an amp with a high quality Transformer you can depend on, and that sounds GREAT to
MY ears. I think you'll like the way they sound too.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see ya next week!

Jade

6/16/08

Hello all, Welcome back to TONE TALK... Wait... I dont like this color.....Ok.... Much better.
This week, we'll get into the latest Twister news, and by reader suggestion, we'll talk about the
purpose, and proper use of the "Standby Switch". Thanks for the suggestion! Keep em commin!

First off, we had a GREAT time in Nashville this past weekend! What a great city. Saw some
killer musicians playing their hearts out, Had some excellent BBQ, and Cold beer. It just doesnt
get much better than that! The Nashville Guitar show was a complete blast, we got a chance to
let a bunch of folks demo the amps, and got some great feedback. I'd post some of the
comments that were made, but it would just sound like I was bragging LOL.

I'd like to personally thank Mike, and the rest of the promoters for hooking us up with our own
private demo room so we could really let it rip without sonicly decimating the rest of the show
goers. Not to mention that room had a fabulous natural reverb to it! THANKS GUYS!

Alright, On to the technical stuff about Standby Switches.   As you know, most tube amps have a
Power switch, and a Standby switch. The Power switch is in between the power cord, and the
Power Transformer of the amp. When you turn the power switch on, 120 volts from your wall
socket goes to the Primary side of the Power transformer. The Power transformer takes that
120 volts, and does several things with it. Your average tube amp needs 3 separate, and
different voltages to work, so the Power transformer has several different "Taps" on it's
secondary side. The first of hese would be the High voltage, which feeds most parts of the amp.
Usually this voltage is in the 400-500 volt range. Next we have the Fillament, or "Heater" taps.
These taps provide the voltage, usually 6.3 volts that power the tube heaters. That's the little wire
inside the tube that you see glow orange, like a very dim lightbulb. Lastly, there's the Bias
Voltage tap. This tap provides the aprox 60 volts that are used to set the bias on the power
tubes like we talked about last week.

Ok, Now that we know what's comming out of the Power transformer, we need to look at where
the Standby switch is located, and why. The Standby switch is in the High Voltage circuit. When
you turn the Power switch on, and leave the Standby switch turned off, what happens, is that the
Heater Taps, and the Bias taps get to send their respective voltages to where they need to go,
and the standby switch is keeping the high voltages from getting to the rest of the amp.

There are two reasons this is done. When an amp has been turned off for a period of time, the
filter cap, or caps in the bias supply have completely discharged, and they take a second to
recharge, and send that bias voltage on its way to the power tubes. Now if there was no standby
switch, and we sent high voltages to the power tubes before the bias supply was completely
charged, the power tubes would act in the same way as if they were biased too Hot, and they
would start to conduct current at an extremely high rate, which would cause premature tube
failure, which is something we'd all like to avoid.

The second reason is very similar to the first, except that it involves the tube Fillaments or
"Heaters". Without going into a lot of metalurgical theory, the important thing to know, is that a
tube needs to be above a certain temerature before it can work properly. That's the purpose of
the heaters... to get the tube up to that working temperature. This usually takes about 30
seconds. If the tube isnt allowed to fully heat up BEFORE the high voltage is applied, what
happens is called "Cathode Stripping", which also has the effect of speeding up the wear on your
tubes, and with the price of gas these days, who wants to spend extra money on tubes that got
toasted prematurely.

So, Basicly the Standby switch is there to give you longer life from your tubes. You really don't
need to be concerned with the why's and wherefores that we just talked about, all you really need
to be mindfull of, is that when turning your amp on, turn the power switch on first, and let it sit for at
least 30 seconds before flipping the standby switch on. When it's time to turn the amp off, you
can turn them both off at the same time, there is no advantage to turning them off in a certain
sequence, or wait period. Just switch em both off, and you're done.

As with most things, there are exceptions to the rules... Many cathode biased amps dont have a
standby switch, because they dont have a seperate bias supply. But that's a whole different can
of worms to get into, and maybe we'll tackle that another time.

Thanks again for reading, I'll see ya all next week!

Jade

6/5/08

Alright, as usual, lots of stuff to cover this week. So let's get right at it. First off, I'd like to thank
everyone who's been calling, emailing, asking questions, and ordering amps!! Things have been
busier than ever round the Twister Inter-Galactic Headquarters, which is GREAT! So thanks for
trusting us with your tone! One unfortunate side effect of our recent good fortune, is that custom
orders are starting to back up a bit, and the average wait time to get your amp is running about 5
to 7 weeks. I know that's not really a long time in the context of the Boutique Amp world, but when
you're waiting on a new piece of gear to show up, it can seem like forever. If you're planning on
ordering a Twister I suggest you do it sooner rather than later, because if things keep up at this
pace, the longer you wait to order, the longer it's going to take to get your amp built, and shipped.

We're also busy getting things ready for the Music City Guitar show in Nashville on the 14th. We
should have at least one example of each Twister model for you to check out. We'll also be
giving away some cool swag, T-Shirts, Stickers, good stuff like that. Come on out, stop by our
booth, and chat for a while.

OK, as promised, we're gonna talk about Bias. I'll appologize in advance if this turns out to be
confusing, but I'll try to keep it in as simple of terms as possible.

What is Bias, and What should you know about it? Biasing your amp is a procedure where you
adjust the "Bias Voltage" to set the "Idle Current" thru the power tubes. Adjusting this Idle current
to the correct level will allow the tube to properly amplify the signal being fed into it.

If you research amp biasing on the web, you'll more than likely realize that if you ask 10 different
people, you'll get 10 different answers on the proper method of biasing an amp. Everything from
Shunting the output transformer with a Mulitmeter, using bias probes, directly measuring plate
current with an Ameter, using 1 ohm resitors on the tube cathodes, Looking at the output signal
on an Oscilloscope, and many more.

The truth of the matter is, that most all of these methods will yield acceptable results. Now I dont
know about you, but "Acceptable Results" arent exactly what I'm willing to accept. In my humble
opinion, there's only one really good way to set the bias on your amp, and this method requires
three tools. A bias probe, a screwdriver, and your EARS. Now before we get to the part about
using your ears, let's talk about why you need the bias probe. A bias probe is simply a device
that plugs in between the tube socket, and the tube. When you turn the amp on, the bias probe
will give you a reading of what the Plate Voltage, and the "Idle Current" is. Depending on the
type of tube being used, there's a maximum amount of energy that the tube can safely dissipate,
this is called "Wattage" For a typical EL34 style tube, the max dissipation is 25 watts. At Idle, we
dont want the tube to be dissipating much more than about 70-75 % of that figgure. Since
wattage is just a calculation of Voltage, and Amperage, we need to know what the plate voltage
is so we can figgure out what the maximum "Idle Current" can be. For the sake of discussion,
let's say that our figgures tell us that the Maximum safe Idle Current is 37 milli Amps, or "mA" for
short.   OK... now here's where the ears come into play. Lot's of amp techs will hook up the
meters, and probes, or whatever method they use to measure Idle Current, and adjust the bias
trim pot untill they reach that 70 % mark, and call it good. Since Bias adjustment can have a BIG
effect on the overall tone of your amp, I'm not willing to let a multimeter decide what should sound
good.

The only way to get the most tone out of your amp, is to adjust the bias trim pot, to the point
where it SOUNDS best. Of course you need to keep an eye on the bias probe meter to make
sure that you arent adjusting the Idle Current so high that it goes above our hypothetical number
of 37 mA, on our hypothetical amp, but ANY setting below that number that sounds the best to
your ears, is the proper bias setting. Running the Bias Current on the high side, "Hot" will
decrease tube life, but can add extra harmonic richness, while at the same time, can also make
the amp get a little "Loose" or "Flubby" sounding. On the other hand, an overly Cold Bias setting
will increase tube life, but can make the amp sound "Sterile", and "Raspy" Usually a nice smooth
happy medium can be found somewhere between those two extremes.

Now the reason you need to have your amp biased when you put new tubes in, is that no two sets
of matched tubes are created exactly the same. Even if they're made by the same manufacturer.
Remember how we said that the "Bias Voltage" controled the "Idle Current"? Well that's true, but
let's say we have two sets of EL34's, one of them may Draw more or less "Idle Current" than the
other EVEN WITH THE SAME AMOUNT OF BIAS VOLTAGE. So knowing that, it's easy to see
how swapping in a different set of tubes on a perfectly good working amp could cause the new
tubes to draw too much Idle Current, and cause you all kinds of problems ranging from shortened
tube life, and poor sound, to complete meltdown.

So in the end, the most important thing to remember, is that if you change the Power tubes in
your amp, you should absolutely have a qualified tech check the bias, and make adjustments if
necessary, and possibly be there with the tech, so you can tell him if you like the sound of it
hotter, or colder. The only exception to this would be on a Cathode Biased amp like the F2,
which should never need the bias adjusted.

It's a simple job, and should cost somewhere in the $30-$50 range. If the tech wants to charge
you any more than that, find someone else who isnt a shiester to do the job.

I know I left out a lot of information about the different Classes of amp. "A vs A-B", and a few
other things, but you could literally write a book on the subject, and that's not my aim here. I think
we've covered the meat, and potatoes of the subject, and that should suffice. If you have any
other questions about biasing, I'll be happy to answer them, Just shoot me an email.

Hope I didnt put you all to sleep this week...

Jade

5/27/08

Hello again. I hope everyone had a safe, and fun Memorial Day weekend spent with family, and
friends. It's nice to have a national holiday to give thanks to those who made the ultimate
sacrafice to protect the freedoms we enjoy, and unfortunately sometimes take for granted.

Ok, once again, I've got lots of stuff to talk about. As I said last week, we'll try to get to the bottom
of Filter Caps, and Bias. We may not get thru both of them this week but we'll see how it goes.
First I'd like to let you all know that I completely stuck my foot in my mouth last week when I said
we wouldnt be offering a Low Wattage amp as a production model anytime soon. Within hours
of posting that little tidbit, I got calls, and emails from Dealers, and Customers asking me if I had
lost my mind! Aparently there's a good demand out there from folks wanting just such an amp.
Thanks to all of you who got in touch with me, and helped me see the light.

Initial design concepts have already been started for a low power 12" combo amp, and I hope to
have a prototype up and running within about a month. Hopefully It turns out as well as I hope,
and we can start offering a production model by the middle of summer. Trying to stay true to the
whole spiffy Twister tornado type naming theme, This amp will tentatively be called the "Dust
Devil" If you have any features that you'd like to see on the final design, send me an email. I like
to get feedback from all you musicians about what exactly it is you're looking for in an amp. So,
Thanks in advance for the help!

Alright, on to the Technical stuff... Let's talk filter Caps. What is a "Filter Cap"? What's it do?,
and why should you even care about them? (for you tech types out there, this is the condensed
soup version, so dont go sending me emails about not going into enough details)

A filter cap, is a type of Electrolytic Capacitor that is part of the power supply in any amplifier.
They serve two purposes. First, they smooth out the DC current in your amps power supply,
which helps the amp run quietly, without a bunch of hum. Basicly they work like a shock absorber
for your amps power supply.

The second function of the Filter Caps is to supply extra current to the amp during heavy
transients. (think palm muted power chords) .   A capacitor is similar to a battery in that It can
store energy. Unlike a regluar dry cell battery, the Capacitor can discharge, and recharge
extremely quickly. It's this ability that helps it supply the amp with the extra current. Amps with
lots of filter caps, or large filter caps will tend to have a tighter sound than a similar amp with
fewer, or smaller filter caps.

OK, so now we know what they do... is there anything else we should know about filter caps?
YES! Two things. Filter caps can be Dangerous. As I said before, Filter caps can store energy
like a battery.   In your typical guitar amplifier, these caps can be storing voltages up around
500Volts! Even if the amp is unplugged, and turned off... there is a very good posibility that your
caps may be holding a very powerfull charge. For this reason, It's a really good Idea if you dont
go poking around inside your tube amp without proper training, or experience. People have
been killed by touching the wrong things inside an amplifier, so don't let it happen to you!

Secondly, Old filter caps are dangerous. They probably dont pose any physical threat to you,
since they are tucked away inside the amp, but an old filter cap can cause lots of damage to your
amplifier. Old filter caps are notorious for EXPLODING. I've seen it happen, and it's not a pretty
thing. Once a filter cap gets to be 10 years old or so, the electrolyte inside starts to dry out, and
the performance of the cap will suffer, and your amp will start to loose it's tone, and probably get
noisier. Since this happens slowly over time, you may not even notice, untill one day your amp
goes "POP" and quits working. In the best case scenario, you just have to take your amp to a
tech, and have the caps replaced, and all will still be ok. Unfortunately usually what happens, is
that the caps explode, or short out internally, and you end up with melted parts, and burned up
Transformers, which are the most expensive part of your amp.

So In general, If your tube amp is over 10 years old, and it's never been serviced, it's probably a
good Idea to take it to your local Amp Tech, or repair shop, and have them check it out, and
probably change out the filter caps. It's not terribly expensive, and not only will it save you money
in the long run, but your amp will sound better.

OK I know I said we'd talk about Biasing, but I think we'll save that one for next week.... I've got a
soldering Iron calling my name....

Till next week...
Jade

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5/17/08

Lot's of stuff to talk about this week, so I'll try to keep it brief, and to the point. We've got a batch of amps
headed to Centerville Music in about two weeks, and another batch the following month. You should be
able to check out the whole Twister lineup no later than July. Tim, and the guys at Centerville Music, are
a great bunch, very knowledgable about their products, and I highly recomend dealing with a localy
owned buisness like them, as oposed to the "BIG BOX" music store down the road. When it comes time
to buy gear, it's nice to buy it from someone who actually knows what they're talking about. Speaking of
Local music stores, we're in the works of adding 3 new dealers. One in Nebraska, One in Texas, and
One in the Music Capitol of the world Nashville TN. We'll keep ya posted with new info as it happens.

I've been getting a lot of requests for very low wattage amps lately. Somewhere between 1, and 10 watts.
I really do understand the attraction to wanting a little amp that you can just crank up, and get the full on
tube, transformer, and speaker distortion. Unfortunately, the problem with tiny amps like that is that they
cost ALMOST as much to build as say a 40, or 50 watt amp. I would love to offer one, but I really doubt
that many people are going to be willing to pay for a 5 watt amp when they can get the 50 watt amp for
just a couple hundred dollars more.   Obviously there are companies offering these low wattage amps, at
very attractive prices... the Valve Jr, the Blackheart, and the Tiny Terror come to mind. Unfortunately, all
of those amps are made in China, or Korea, and they are using the cheapest labor, the cheapest
components, and the cheapest circuit boards out there.   That's not the kind of amp I'm interested in
offering. So for now we won't be offering a super low wattage design as a production model, but If you're
really interested in one, give us a call, and we can always custom build you one. It will however be more
expensive than a chinese made Valve Jr.

We've also been getting a ton of request from the Metal players out there for an F4 head upgraded to
100 watts, and with a built in effects loop. Pretty much every person who's been interested in, or bought
one of these amps has requested those upgrades. So we're just going to go ahead, and start making all
F4's with the 100 watts, and a Loop. We're going to try our best to keep the price right about where it is
now. Of course if you want the 50 watt, no loop version, we'll still build it for you, but It probably wont be a
standard production model at our dealers.

That's all for this week, Next week we'll talk about Filter Caps.... What the hell is a filter cap anyway?, and
Biasing your amp. And ofcourse I'll give ya the latest news updates about what's going on here in the
Twister Amp Camp.

Till then...
Jade