KJL Amps

[mgu...@pacbell.net]

Hello Fellow Tonemongers-

Has anyone heard of these amps? I have an old pamphlet
(5 yrs old)
put out by the company, which shows their "Dirty
Thirty" amp
for
$825.00. I found their website (I was unaware that they
were
still being built) and now they want $1125.00(!) Can
someone
who
has played through them post your thoughts on their
amps?

M.G.

S.F. Ca

[BluesGuit1]

Unless it's a vintage gem, I think anyone who'd spend that kind of money on a
30 watt amp (if that's what the name impies) deserves to be parted from their
cash!

[Ethan Young]

Here's what he told me: (a lot of info)

We can package the Dirty 30 in a head for you. It's the most versatile of
our
amps. The Gatemouth Signature model is cleaner and doesn't distort as much.
The Dirty 30 is extremely responsive to the touch. You can fingerpick
something
soft and then just by bearing down with your right hand harder, the amp will
start to distort. The distortion is old tube distortion (Zeppelin, Doobie
Brothers, Frampton, Aerosmith, etc.). You won't get a Metallica sound out
of
the amp.
Recording wise the amp is very impressive. This is due to the 3-band, all
tube
midrange. As a testimony I'll forward you an email I received from Jim
Odom.
Jim had a gold record back in the 70's with his band "Leroux". He's toured
all
over the world. More importantly he's now president of Presonus which
designs
and manufactures studio effects. Presonus has been getting very good
nationwide
reviews for their equipment. He's got great experience and his band is
recording a new CD with one of our amps.
Power wise it's difficult to measure audio power because the signal is so
varying and complex. We list the Dirty 30 as a 30 watt rms amp (60 watts
peak
power), yet I've measured attack transients (while playing guitar) in the 90
watt range (peak).
Please let me know if we can be of any more help.
KJL
---------------------

Here's the email I said I'd forward you
---------------------- Forwarded by Ken Lannes/Digicourse/Laitram/US on
05/17/99
09:05 AM ---------------------------

Jim Odom <jo...@presonus.com> on 05/12/99 09:54:14 AM
To: Ken Lannes/Digicourse/Laitram/US@Laitram
cc:
Subject: RE:

Kenny,
The amp sounded great! We are doing some additional overdubs next month. The
CD
is set to be released at the end of the year. It had a clean, fat tone. I'm
going to bring it on some gigs next month and give it shot.
How's your production line coming along?
Sincerely,
Jim Odom

P.S. Ethan, we can deal direct for $675 plus shipping. KJL

----------------------

The controls are from left to right: 1/4" input jack, Preamp Gain, Treble,
Mid
Cut, Mid Freq (300, 400, 500Hz), Bass, Master Volume, Standby Switch, Power
Switch.
Birch Plywood Construction, 14 Guage steel chassis, Celestion Vintage 30 or
Eminence 12BR8. The wiring is a hybrid. All the controls are handwired to
the
front panel. The power supply and preamp are circuit cards. These are
double
sided circuit cards not single sided. The mechanical integrity far exceeds
single sided cards. You'll find cards like these in the Space Shuttle and
all
the laser guided bombs you saw on Desert Storm (I have 11 years experience
working in the very division of Texas Instruments that built those laser
guided
systems). The tube sockets fit into the circuit card but they are
mechanically
bolted to the chassis so that the stress is transferred to the steel chassis
and
not the circuit card.
If you're interested in the frequency response of circuit cards vs. hand
wiring,
check out our "Guitar Amp Lab Book". I used to design radar receivers that
responded up to 1 Ghz (1,000,000,000 Hz) using tuned microstrip on a circuit
card. You simply CAN'T do that with free standing wire.
Once again if there are anymore questions we can answer please contact us.
KJL

mgu...@pacbell.net wrote in message <37BC5A3A...@pacbell.net>...
>Hello Fellow Tonemongers-

[QualityAna]

>Unless it's a vintage gem, I think anyone who'd spend that kind of money on a
>30 watt amp (if that's what the name impies) deserves to be parted from their
>cash!

If it had the tone, a professional recording artist or performing guitarist
would have no problem. The difference between 50Watts (which many sound men
think is too loud) & 30Watts is not that much. And easily made up for when
needed through a PA or larger power amp.

Pros recognize this, especially today when even a Champ can be used to get the
desired tone, then captured with a microphone or direct methods not only
available to engineers any more.

Of course we can only be sure if our opinions are valid after we hear the amp!

Best Regards,
MBSetzer

*Tone control is a controversial subject with very strong conflicting views
held by many competent authorities. It is the author's opinion that, in view
of the differences of opinion, it is only reasonable to provide the listener
with some degree of tone control to permit him to derive the maximum degree of
satisfaction while listening. This freedom of choice should not be unlimited,
otherwise some listeners will become lost in the possible variations.*
- - - - F. Langford-Smith, 1952

[BluesGuit1]

>>Unless it's a vintage gem, I think anyone who'd spend that kind of money on
>a
>>30 watt amp (if that's what the name impies) deserves to be parted from
>their
>>cash!
>
>If it had the tone, a professional recording artist or performing guitarist
>would have no problem. The difference between 50Watts (which many sound men
>think is too loud) & 30Watts is not that much. And easily made up for when
>needed through a PA or larger power amp.
>
>Pros recognize this, especially today when even a Champ can be used to get
>the
>desired tone, then captured with a microphone or direct methods not only
>available to engineers any more.
>
>Of course we can only be sure if our opinions are valid after we hear the
>amp!
>
>Best Regards,
>MBSetzer
>

I understand what you're saying about "the tone". But I am both a performing
and a professional musician. And for me, I just can't the right feel unless I
hear my "tone" at the proper volume levels on stage. I've tried putting small
amps on a stool next to me and miking it up, but I personally didn't like
having to rely on a combination of the soundman intuition or the sound of my
guitar coming through a two or three way monitor. It just doesn't sound or
feel real to me. I like a full sound coming from behind me. Recording is an
entirely different ball game and volumes have been written on the subject.
Myself, I prefer to be recorded at stage levels, distance-mic and close mic
mixed.
You're right, there's not that much difference between a 30 and a 50 watter
from certain perspectives - and maybe you could say that about a 50 VS 100 as
well. But there is a HUGE difference between a 30 and a 100. If it were as
simple as just miking up, I'd probably use my Vox Berkeley tube head through my
2x12 Celestions, cause it sounds great - at 18 watts. But I want to be
surrounded, wrapped up in the natural sound of my amp, close my eyes and float
up into the universe with it. Kinda hard to do with a Champ coming through a
harsh Peavey monitor or anything similar. In closing, I must say I respect your
personal opinion and viewpoint. Whatever works.
KP

[David Kieltyka]

blues...@aol.comNoSpam (BluesGuit1) wrote:

> Unless it's a vintage gem, I think anyone who'd spend
> that kind of money on a 30 watt amp (if that's what the

> name implies) deserves to be parted from their cash!

That's an odd way to look at it. IMO the value of an amp should be based
on its tone, not its wattage rating. Making a loud amp is easy. Making a
great-sounding amp is something else entirely.

-Dave-

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

[Ethan Young]

Kenny said he could ship the amp to me for $650, anyway, which is almost 50%
less, not too long ago. It just wasn't versatile enough for me, but, maybe
later when I'm a bit more professional than bedroom..........

Later, Ethan

David Kieltyka wrote in message <7qeo9q$8d4$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...