new tube amp from visualsound

[Suriel Zayas]

anyone know anything about these amps. do the hubcaps spin? guitarzan, you're a visualsound west coast rep?? if so, wanna share?

visualsound tube amp "workhorse" (http://www.visualsound.net/workhorse.pdf)

[fractal]

Sorry I can't be of too much help, but there is a thread currently on The Gear Page forum about this that might have some more info for you:

Forum Link (http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=72878)

Looks interesting...

Hope this helps,
-Garrett

[guitarzan]

Unfortunately, the hubcaps do not spin (that'd be one more motorized function to potentially fail or cause unwanted noise in the circuit). Their purpose is to evenly distribute the high end so that those right in front of it don't get ice-picked while others just off to the side get a different sound altogether. Of course, I'm sure some of the SoCal custom auto shops could add some o' dat bling for the right price.

The thick and the thin of the amp line is that VS is trying to make a really pedal-friendly amp, and they feel that being a pedal company gives them the perspective to do so. Additionally, it's a collective effort between Visual Sound and R.G. Keen. I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with the DIY pedal world, but RG has been on the net for a decade sharing his knowledge and circuits with guys. He used to be an electrical engineer for IBM and has now focused efforts on audio circuit design. Anyway, when VS was getting off the ground, RG was an invaluable source of insight while Bob was building the first versions of the Visual Volume, Route 66, Jekyll & Hyde, and H2O chorus pedals. They became friends and when Bob approached RG about the idea of building an amp, he was agreeable. Bob cut him loose to design whatever circuit he wanted and therefore the amp turned into somewhat of a design revolution. The signal path is all-tube, while the electrical path is IC-controlled so that at a number of critical points, there are "red-flag" shut off points so that the important elements of the amp are protected.

It's called the Workhorse Series, because it's meant to be just that- a Workhorse. It's a super-clean, 6L6-based, one channel tube amp with reverb. It also ships with a free Jekyll & Hyde so that with the 1/2/1&2 selection of overdrives, you have a total of 4 channels with the amp. The amp is designed in Nashville, but built at a plant in China (where 99.9% of the components in your favorite USA-Made/Hand-wired/PTP/Boo-teek amps come from) to keep the final cost down. Bob flies over there quarterly to make sure things are up to snuff. The PCB boards it uses are as good or better than those used by Bogner which makes them reliable and consistent from one amp to the next. Additionally, the plans (right now) are to market the amp just under the competition's street price so the 2x12 is hopefully gonna sit right at the 1k mark (don't quote me on that- I'm going off of a conversation Bob and I started at a Starbucks and ended the week of NAMM). The street date on the beta models are the last week of April.

There are three versions: a 1x12 30watt, a 1x12 60watt which has a bigger footprint and larger cab than the 30watt, and a 2x12 60watt.

Feel free to post questions or send a PM for questions of availability.

[Suriel Zayas]

corey, thanks for the info, sounds interesting. :cool:

peace.

suriel