captainbeefheart

Ok I felt lazy after seeing all the great pics of all you guys' guitars and I only posted a pic from the Collings site. I took her out to go over some music and figured I would snap pics for you guys. I highly recommend these guitars to anyone in the market. Word of the wise get a used one made before 2017, Bill lost his battle to cancer then. The new ones are still great but the master passed away and I believe his son still makes them but the one's Bill made are worth more and will only increase in value. I got mine back in 2011 and don't think I will ever sell it, it's just lovely to play, hands down best guitar I have ever played and I have played a lot.

Paul showed that his scope was floating, just like the resistor (load) or speaker would be, there is no difference in test results because the output transformer is the problem. Whoever wrote the responses to the questions states that there is magic going on in that tiny output transformer that allows it to get 75 watts at 20Hz yet the sticker on it says 15 watts, pretty sure Edcor knows what they are selling by labeling it a 15 watt output transformer so they are in the clear. Amir just posted and has the amplifier in his possession, it's only a matter of time before we get some definitive answers.

The only thing that is ridiculous is this response that I don't even believe is from Bob himself. You connect your speakers to the binding posts, which there are only two per channel, kinda hard to mess up. They rate the amplifier into multiple loads but Paul chose 8 ohms to test with so he connected a resistive load between the two output terminals, pretty straight forward and typical testing method. Input different frequencies and measure the output on a scope. Say you measure 16.3 volts on the scope, that's where the peak measure to, you convert that to RMS by multiplying by .7 giving us 11.66v; voltage squared 11.66^2 = 135.95 divide by load 135.95 / 8 = 16.99 watts This is all very basic and common amplifier testing that has been done for a very long time. Paul over at ASR did all his testing properly, if he was doing anything wrong by regular standards then it would have been pointed out a long long time ago before this would even get this far. They got caught with their pants down and are doing the classic deflect defense where they simply point blame that people just don't know how to test their 'special' amplifier as if it needs any sort of special method of testing different from the standard methods we all use. The crux of the matter is extremely simple to understand, they use a 15 watt output transformer for a 75 watt circuit. The testing has proven the poor low frequency performance one would expect from doing such a ridiculous thing. I was hoping for a more empathy in their response instead of arrogance and denial. I too have no idea what is taking Amir so long to test the amplifier over at ASR, seriously man we NEED answers NOW!

I love the timbre of a Sitka Spruce top and is what I use myself, I would certainly say it has mellowed out I thought it was Cedar from the picture. My buddy uses a Cedar top for rhythm when we do duets and it has a nice warm tone where as my Spruce top just cuts right through. Indian Rosewood is beautiful, I see it now, don't know why my first thought was koa which I also really like as a tone wood. I almost picked up a full hollow body electric with small cavity that was all Koa but the Luthier wanted $10,000 for it and it was just too expensive at the time for me. I need more Koa in my collection which is probably why I had it on the brain. Lovely Guitar!

Is that a Cedar top for the Guild? The back is gorgeous is it Koa?

I am lucky enough to have the choice to use a Guild AA where we practice as my good friend is an avid collector with quite a collection of guitars and amps. I have learned to playing with certain people that less is more, those big jazz chords are great when playing solo or a duo but with a full band I find that using inversions of chords emphasizing the melody within while keeping the inversions to 3-4 note maximum. The bass player fills in a lot so I am lucky and the wind instruments are on the melody and head most of the time, when I get a solo the AA certainly stands out. It is a tough instrument to master for sure, and I won't lie the Collings I have is much easier to master as it's so forgiving and easy to play. I still keep the mindset of less is more and stay away from jumping around chord forms blindly, I dissect each song melody and rhythm and as mentioned move my chordal rhythm inversions depending on the melody line and which voicing works best in the larger context. Get rid of the notes not needed that can 'muddy' the sound. In a duo I need to work much harder in filling in the context of the piece both rhythmically and melodically, it's really all about playing in the band your with at the moment. Gibson ES175 is another gorgeous jazz box to play (which he has also), he uses that a lot though so it's hard to get my hands on. I have found laziness has got the best of me which is why I have been just playing one guitar as it gets to be second nature when you play the same instrument all the time. Same neck, same scale, same action, etc... easy for muscle memory.

I just wanted folks to know that they don't necessarily need a large plate choke going with a parafeed amp as that may scare some away due to costs and size. I only wanted to mention that you can use any other means of loading the plate, all with their own unique pros and cons, there are trade offs to everything. Anyone reading your original quote might take it as they can only go parafeed by using a plate choke, which is untrue. Plate chokes and gyrators are actually very similar as they both present an inductive load, with a real inductor that can store energy you can get away with a lower B+. In other fields where I needed a large inductance value for filters and in no way possible use a real inductor because of size and cost is where a gyrator is handy so long as you don't need the energy storage aspect. Now the downside is I need higher B+ with a gyrator BUT I can achieve a much larger inductance value compared to your actual real choke. And let's face it here, you would chose a choke with the highest possible inductance possible if you can correct? It's in this regard the gyrator is great, small footprint, inexpensive, and huge inductance values that we look for in a large plate choke. I am in no way trying to tell anyone what to use, I am merely pointing out pros and cons to each choice and more importantly, if you are interested in parafeed circuits you have options on output stage loading and are not stuck with a plate choke as the only option.

I was referring to the quote My point was the word 'needed' isn't true because although you may prefer it you can load it anyway you want to, with a resistor if your B+ is high enough. Plate chokes are great but expensive and impedance changes with frequency where a gyrator load will in regard to AC be a much higher and more linear impedance across a much wider range of frequencies. The benefit of the choke is it can swing beyond the B+ by it's reactive nature so you don't need as high a B+. Technically they are similar, a gyrator is inverting a capacitance into an inductance (that can't store energy though) so with a gyrator you can reach a much higher AC impedance over a wider range of frequencies unless you have such a massive plate choke to reach the amount of inductance you can get from a gyrator that it would be outlandish really. A CCS is also popular because it will have a constant high impedance for an extremely wide frequency range and has better PSRR, but I still prefer the gyrator as it comes as close to a massive plate choke as possible without using an unrealistically large (and very expensive) plate choke. Nothing about a grid choke was even mentioned. The benefit of the Grid choke is a very low DC impedance for the grid circuit, this is good for tubes that require low g1 resistance for stability purposes. I prefer A2 operation which is going to best any AC coupled output stage grid choke or not.

You have a Guild Artist Award I am very jealous!! I really really wanted one for an authentic jazz box guitar but they can like any full hollow jazz boxes they can be tough to pair with amps and feedback if not careful. Honestly I would play that guitar through my Roland JC-120. So amazing. The Fender Princeton is a great amp! We seem to be very similar in tastes, especially with evolving into using lower wattage designs where you are in the power stages 'sweet spot', not full out power stage saturation but in the sweet spot where it's producing some nice coloration. My go to rig is a 6G15 clone reverb unit designed for lowest noise possible. The signal circuitry is essentially the same except for grounding scheme, power supply was changed to a full wave rectifier with active pass regulator. The reverb unit goes directly into a 15 watt tube power amp (single ended KT88) powering my vintage 'Ampro' cabinet. The cabinet was found at an antique shop and I was told it was from a very old film projector system. I purchased it because the speaker was original and absolutely mint Jensen 12" Alnico. I can't push too much power through the cabinet but power isn't needed like it was back in the old days where if you didn't have a loud amp you were not heard, now we are mic'd through PA even for rehearsals.

One thing that's almost never considered is where the resonance ends up. The inductance of the pickup and the capacitance of the cable + input of amplifier create a resonance that ends up smack dab in the midrange. I noticed with those older pickups that had both weaker magnets and smaller bobbins, ending up around 4k-6k coil resistance and low inductance compared to 10k-12k hot pickups with 8H-12H of inducatance. This shifts the resonance up but also the coil resistance and cable +input amplifier capacitance that creates a low pass filter, the -3db point is shifted higher in frequency from the lower impedance winding. So between the two they end up being brighter and more chimey sounding. It's really fascinating all the different variables to get different tones. Carlos Santana has always used an extremely long guitar cable to naturally roll his highs off before the amp. I know, the guitar has tone controls but hey he likes it.

Yes it's a semi-hollow just like a 335 with the center block. The top on the Gibsons are ply w/ veneer where as Eloise is a solid carved top made from quality tone woods, in her case it's a solid piece of flamed maple. Mahogany back, sides and neck w/ a rose wood fretboard. I wanted Ebony for the fretboard but Eloise came my way on a loan to possibly purchase and I had to have her after a few rehearsals. I actually traded an absolutely pristine 1959 Fender Bassman amplifier for her. I never cared for the Bassman tone for guitar anyway, I'm more of a mid-sixties Deluxe Reverb or Vibrolux kinda guy.

Very nice!! I think most of us want as much copper on the bobbin as possible or 'overwound' as it gets us more inductance and a hotter output. I don't think I have ever heard anyone ask for 'underwound' pups.

Bingo! That's why I went with the Alnico II magnet versions because that was the type used in early pups. They have a different B-H curve compared to Ferrite magnets. I am not certain if the Fender 'American Original' 57/62 set is of the same magnet type but that's what I found to be the closest to getting the vintage Strat tone.

To keep the wiring clean and as noise free as possible I used a vintage style shielded cable where the outer metal shield is also used as a ground bus and gets soldered directly to the pot shells. The only exposed wires are very short lengths to the pot lugs.

Everyone needs a strat in their collection!! I ended up with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pups in my American Standard with rosewood fretboard. The electronics in a Strat is very important IMHO. I almost went with the Seymour Duncan Texas Hot versions similar to the Fender pups you are using. I also installed original bumblebee tone capacitors that I have a bunch of. They are the hermetically sealed versions and test great.

'Eloise' is my only guitar as of late that I play. She is a Collings Soco Deluxe and very versatile even though I mainly play Jazz it does blues and rock very well. It plays and sounds as good as it looks.

Clearing doesn't require much current at all, it depends on the thickness of the metal film. The fault that occurs is usually the current that vaporizes, it's not really an arcing action that heals it although an arc is a fault mode which is cleared by the vaporization. The metal literally vaporizes a hole and this only lasts for an extremely short duration until the fault has been 'cleared'. I have visited a few capacitor plants and have spoken to many engineers that design these capacitors, this was always how the mechanism was explained as they were trying to sell their 'superior products' to us we had to endure all the technical explanations for the technology. I mean don't get me wrong it's very interesting but after a while it's like email me your data and I'll look over it.

Here is the difference between Polyester and Paper in Oil and Ceramic for fun.

Metalized film capacitors have a thin metal coating on the surface of the dielectric, when there is a fault the metal vaporizes leaving a hole that has been 'cleared' so no shorts can occur. It keeps the capacitors in service longer due to less failures but over time if too many 'clearings' has happened you can get reduced capacitance, and increased ESR.

Mention Capacitors or Cables and watch them all crawl out from the woodwork

Simplified for the OP: If you want the speakers to be 'authentic' use a polyester film capacitor, brand shouldn't matter so long as they are from a reputable manufacturer and are within tolerance. Doesn't matter where you buy from IMHO. All other capacitors using a different dielectric may 'color' the speaker not giving you the 'authentic' sound as intended by the engineers that designed the system.

The oil helps cool the capacitors, it displaces air to help prevent corrosion and reduce the chance of destructive corona. It increases the voltage breakdown for a given dielectric thickness.

Paper capacitors are smoother in the Tweeter circuit. The very early Klipsch crossovers used paper and then switched to polyester. Polyester as a dielectric has a more grainy sound to them due to their higher non-linearity. Paper seems to always test as 'smooth' during listening and I am willing to wager it's because of cleaner linearity of the paper capacitors. There is a simple test with a scope if you want to play around with seeing this phenomena with your eyes. Ceramics are the worst and come out as an S shape badly as it's extremely non-linear giving the highest distortion. I am not knocking polyester, most probably will never hear a difference but others here have noticed how smooth PIO caps can be in the Klipsch crossovers compared to polyester. I heard Dean's theory about the self heal attribute to metallized types but I feel all polyesters inherently have this sound due to the dielectric properties.

I have done this as an experiment, all you need is foil and paper. Tape the leads to the plates and roll it all up then dip in wax. To my surprise they actually worked but I would never trust it enough to leave in circuit. Well, except maybe in a guitar tone circuit that is a pretty easy life for a capacitor.

The linearity and hysteresis of the dielectric remains the same whether it's in oil or not.