MVAmps and Mercury Magnetics

Unleash Your Tone
Upgrade to Mercury Magnetics

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Mercury Magnetics
• Dr Z
• Carmen Ghia
• Mcmusicsound
• Bob McGilpin
• amp mods

[mcmusicsound]

You have hit upon one of the reasons why an amps tone can be improved. It may still yet be subjective but to quote a very famous custom amp builder who's amps most could not afford "The manufacturer's way is seldom the best way, but it is almost always the cheapest way." There are a lot of ways to change the tone of an amp. This was just an example of one. the tone is subjective yes. But, I have yet to find a commercial amp with 2 x EL84's that didn't cut corners to meet a price point.

[bornburied]

I can hear the difference

I perfer the stock sound hands down. It's Zaite's sound.The changed transformer takes away from the character of the amp.

Buy a Blackheart amp and put a MM OT in it.

[mcmusicsound]

Thanks to everyone for comments. It's a personal taste thing. Everyone has a different taste or there would not be so many different amps and ways to mod them. As for a Blackheart amp. A fun little amp that does sound better with a MM OT. But then again that too is a subjective opinion.

[mcmusicsound]

Thanks for the comments. The primary Z was the same, which is another experiment in o how that effects the tone of the amp. The Ghia already has a conjunctive filter as part of it's design.  I could have change the value of the cap but that would affect the overall sound. Another method is to use a very high cap like a 750pf in parallel with the plate resistor. The main point here was that transformers, like different brand guitar strings will change your tone. And yes Dr Z is a geat amp.

[mcmusicsound]

Thanks for all the comments. they are appreciated. If this were a scientific experiment much greater controls and measurements would be used and certainly playback on an mp3 would not be ideal. The main point was just to attempt to show that changing transformers can change your tone just like changing tubes can. It is an area that is not often explored but can make a difference in the tone. Check out a stock Epi valve Jr. and upgrade the transformers and there is a nice little amp in there

[bootlegapples]

For christ sake,two times I lost my message because it's set to skip to joe bananamasso.

The MM prob sounds better in person because the audio is compressed and masks the upper mid spike/harsh attack of the stock tranny.MM uses vintage correct alloy and to my ears those vintage alloy OT's are so much better than modern trannies which sound harsh and fatigue the ear.

[crazy4blues]

You know, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone complaining that the Carmen Ghia ever sounded "brittle". I have one and, and, if anything, it's pretty mellow. Truth be told, anyone buying a Dr. Z isn't likely to want to change that already dialed in tone.

I wonder if you could do a video on something that folks would more likely want to change. How about a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe or some sort of Peavey?

[bornburied]

If anything it's more about the circuit.Change the attack? identify the part of ther circuit dealing with that part of the signal envelope

[bornburied]

Is it ever an unpersonal taste thing??

There are amps that truly benefit from upgrades of all types.Usually the part in question wasn't the best to begin with and is usually a mass produced product.

Small builders like Z pick or make the part specifically to impart a sound. In this case someone should just purchase a 2xEL84 platfrom which sounds more to thier liking in the first place-since the market has many variations of this kind of amp already.

[TeleCustom72]

what was the primary Z on the stock OT and the MM OT? I'd be fairly certain that the Mercury has a higher primary Z which is giving it that little extra compression. you could have tried a conjunctive filter too before splashing out on an expensive OT. don't get me wrong, I love Mercury's stuff, but I would use them as a last resort when you're already dealing with a quality amp such as a Dr.Z. If the amp was something like an Epi VJ I'd just junk the stock OT & use MM without any hesitation.