Bieworm wrote: ↑Mon 03/08/21 1:36 pm
TriodeLuvr wrote: ↑Mon 03/08/21 1:26 pm
Bieworm wrote: ↑Mon 03/08/21 5:46 am
You have to know that the blackface style optocell tremolo is totally different from the bias vary tremolo. I hate the opto tremolo too.. I even converted the opto style of my vibro king to bias vary for that reason
Well, the amp in this thread doesn't use either method, right? It modulates the gain of the tremolo channel by varying the B+ on the preamp stage. That means there are actually at least three methods.
My first-ever commercial amplifier was a Guild Thunder 1 that I bought new around '65 or '66. It had bias tremolo, and I hated it. Whether that was due to the specific tremolo technique I'm not sure, but to me it was just a cheesy effect that no one except Tommy James would ever use. A very different sound than the clip Josh recorded.
Jack
No this amp wiggles the signal in the preamp stage. It's a very nice tremolo effect. Strong enough.
But the bias vary on my vibro king is a copy of the brown vibroverb. That is the best trem on the planet. When you play with lots of overdrive the tremolo effect mushes up the sound, but that 6G16 tremolo holds the sound together in a superior way, oozing and swamping in a way you think your speakers are gonna blow up. Niiiiiiice!!!
The Thunder 1 was bias tremolo, but different in several ways. For one thing, there was no Intensity control. For another, I don't remember it being able to tremolo as slowly as the version in Josh's clip. Also, the 6G16 and Tremolo TMB appear to have more gain stages. That would change the tone quite a bit, especially when it's cranked. Maybe my negative impression of that amp's tremolo is the result of all these things together.
I'm already thinking that if I build another amp, it might be based on the Guild Thunder 1 RTV (reverb-tremolo) version. That also uses bias tremolo, but it includes an intensity control. Tone controls are based on the James bass/treble topology, not TMB. Most interesting to me is that it uses an entirely separate amplifier chain and speaker for reverb. I just happen to have two amplifier chassis from Hammond organs that do the same thing. Each chassis powers a pair of 7591 at 45-50W for the main channel, and a pair of 6GW8 at about 15W for the reverb-only output. I need to decide over the next few months whether to use these for a stereo pair (HI-FI) or two guitar amps.
Jack