[Valvepower]

Hello,

This story is kind of centric to my previous post and I hope it’s keeping on topic.

I’d been chatting to young guitar player about vinyl playback systems to check their vinyl record test pressings and the music they are in process of recording etc.

This got me talking about my first job, building valve guitar amplifiers some 37 years earlier in the 1970’s (it’s now actually 47 years ago!) … This young lad went on to say he used an old valve amplifier to record the guitar parts on their first single as this gave him the sound he wanted on the guitar. I asked the make of the amplifier he used, and I was absolutely staggered when he said it was a combo amplifier made by the company, I worked for some 37 years ago back in the 1970’s (this was back in 2012). I know I would have defiantly tested it and I could have possibly built this amplifier.

This gave me a direct connection with the young guitarist, as he was using an amplifier, I’d worked on and tested many years ago. This gave me feeling of a continuation of my skills, which was even heading out of date back in the 1970’s when the amplifier was made. From memory Mullard ceased production of the EL34 in the latter part of the 1970’s.

This [old] technology gave a common connection between the two of us. Its things like this that make me pursue the musical instrument and audio playback side of [old] electronics. This technology can mate quite nicely with state of the art digital audio. A 24bit 192K DAC connected, via something as simple as a volume potentiometer to a Leak Stereo 20 sounds rather nice.

When talking about [vintage] valve technology I find it easier to bridge the gap with comments like… Brian May (Queen) and Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) use valve amplifiers with the same valves as found in 1940’s-50’s radios, radiograms, and record players. This gives a connection between valve radios etc., and current use of [old] valve technology. It’s the link between the PYE Fenman and Brian May.

As I said, in my own little way, I’ll keep plugging away at bridging the gap between valve vintage technology and them [young] guitar playing musician folk…

Terry