Amp nostalgia TVM?
icarusi
valve amp at the time around Manchester. I was told they were a copy
of the Vox AC 30 or 50? But AFIK the Voxes were copies of the early
Fenders?
The amp has a sloping front like the Fender tops. The whole case is
metaI but I don't know if that's original, or if the outer was
constructed to replace a conventional wood cab which may have suffered
terminal gig damage? It has a 'tremelo' (marked 'vibrato') with speed
and depth, switch and foot control socket. Next 2 channels each with
seperate input and vol control, and a treble and bass control (I
assume a Baxendall circuit?).
Apart from the faceplate, being in a light blue sign-type plastic,
with the legends etched through into the white part of the sandwich,
the significant feature is a vu-meter mounted on the front panel. AFIK
TVM amps always had a vu-meter? Some Selmer amps had 'magic-eye' level
meters, of the type used on domestic tape recorders, but TVM amps were
the only ones seem with vu-meters at the time.
The amp came with Bulgin 3pin and 2pin sockets for the mains and
speakers respectively (2 bulgins for the speakers?) to which I added
conventional 1/4 inch jacks and a captive mains lead to avoid the
expense of the fragile bulgins. It also has a misterious control on
the rear which I think may be wire wound pot, either used for
attenuating the output, adjusting the viewmeter or biasing the valves?
I suspect from the construction TVM may have made theatre or
engineering amplifiers too, and the guitar amps were a bit of a
sideline to cater to the 'beat boom' of the 60's and 70's. AFIK they
never produced any large 100 watt 4 valvers, when the craze took off
with Marshall Hi-Watt and Orange?
Just wondered if anyone (or their dad?) has owned a TVM and knows
anything more about them?
Icarusi
--
remove the 00 to reply
JNugent
news:Fpfm6.9736$I5.259689@stones...
> I have a TVM amp from the late '60s. It seemed to be the 'budget'
> valve amp at the time around Manchester. I was told they were a copy
> of the Vox AC 30 or 50?
Er.... no.
> But AFIK the Voxes were copies of the early Fenders?
Aaaarghhh! No EL84s in Fenders...
> The amp has a sloping front like the Fender tops. The whole case is
> metaI but I don't know if that's original
It is (especially in view of information below)
> or if the outer was
> constructed to replace a conventional wood cab which may have suffered
> terminal gig damage? It has a 'tremelo' (marked 'vibrato') with speed
> and depth, switch and foot control socket. Next 2 channels each with
> seperate input and vol control, and a treble and bass control (I
> assume a Baxendall circuit?).
> Apart from the faceplate, being in a light blue sign-type plastic,
> with the legends etched through into the white part of the sandwich,
> the significant feature is a vu-meter mounted on the front panel. AFIK
> TVM amps always had a vu-meter?
Yes. It is the easiest way to ID them.
> Some Selmer amps had 'magic-eye' level
> meters, of the type used on domestic tape recorders, but TVM amps were
> the only ones seem with vu-meters at the time.
Correct. It was just a gimmick, of course. Nobody had time to monitor the VU
meter on-stage!
> The amp came with Bulgin 3pin and 2pin sockets for the mains and
> speakers respectively (2 bulgins for the speakers?) to which I added
> conventional 1/4 inch jacks and a captive mains lead to avoid the
> expense of the fragile bulgins. It also has a misterious control on
> the rear which I think may be wire wound pot, either used for
> attenuating the output, adjusting the viewmeter or biasing the valves?
> I suspect from the construction TVM may have made theatre or
> engineering amplifiers too, and the guitar amps were a bit of a
> sideline to cater to the 'beat boom' of the 60's and 70's. AFIK they
> never produced any large 100 watt 4 valvers, when the craze took off
> with Marshall Hi-Watt and Orange?
>
> Just wondered if anyone (or their dad?) has owned a TVM and knows
> anything more about them?
I have never even heard of a TVM *guitar* amp till today. The company (IIRC)
was a North of England firm. They specialised in PA set-ups with the
metal-clad cabinets you described. AFAICR, the usual valve line-up was a
4xEL84 (30 watt), similar to the Vox AC30 and several 30-ish watts WEM amps.
Their heyday was the late sixties and very early 1970s.
The fact that they were a northern firm always told against them. I was in a
Liverpool country band circa 1970/1971 and we used a TVM 30-watt PA amp
(plus two Selmer 2x12" guitar cabinets). On a 1971 trip to the Smoke, we
decided to buy a s/h Selmer 100 watt PA set-up (another metal-clad [but
4xEL34] amp + 2 off 4x12" columns). Try as we might, we just could not get a
deal on p/x for the TVM, as the shop (Sid Bishop's old Top Gear in Denmark
Street, where Roka's is now) had never heard of them.
We sold it privately in the 'Pool (I still don't know what happened to the
Selmer 2x12"s.
As a matter of interest, the amp line-up of the band was a Vox AC30 for
rhythm guitar, a Selmer Treble'n'Bass 50 + Goliath Cabinet for bass and a
Vox AC30 Top Boost for lead guitar. I sold the AC30TB (complete with chrome
stand) for £45 in 1971, because I had just bought a Carlsbro TC60 (2x12"
combo with a 2xEL34 line-up). I thought I was doing well, as I had only paid
£30 for it in 1966....
Tim Sharpe
I have Selmer 2 Treble & Bass 50 heads - only one works and I use it for the
delayed part of my signal with an AC30 Top Boost for the main signal... both
are believed to be 1970 models.
Personally I think that the Selmer is ok. I believe the internals are
similar to the AC30?
t
"JNugent" <JNu...@AC30.spamFreeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:97c4bi$vqn$1...@news7.svr.pol.co.uk...
JNugent
news:97c52d$io5$2...@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk...
[snip prev. post re TVM, Vox and Selmer amps]
> Good grief.
> I have Selmer 2 Treble & Bass 50 heads - only one works and I use it for
the
> delayed part of my signal with an AC30 Top Boost for the main signal...
both
> are believed to be 1970 models.
> Personally I think that the Selmer is ok. I believe the internals are
> similar to the AC30?
Selmers are great amps. If you are interested, take a look at:
http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/steverussell/gallery/gallery3/selm.html
The T'n'B 50 was nothing like an AC30...
It used a classic 2 x EL34 line-up (like Marshall and Sound City and Hiwatt,
and Impact, etc, etc, etc, all would - later).
The AC30 used (and still uses) 4 EL84s (a lower-powered valve).
Tim Sharpe
Selmers are much un appreciated
I think my AC30 internals/Selmer internals confusion is due to EL84/34
confusion.
As you can probably tell my knowledge of this amp stuff is sketchy, but can
I drive my TnB like a Marshall? Or is the pre amp section too different?
Ta
T
"JNugent" <JNu...@AC30.spamFreeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:97c7ke$24q$1...@news7.svr.pol.co.uk...
JNugent
> I think my AC30 internals/Selmer internals confusion is due to EL84/34
> confusion.
Don't worry - a few years ago, nobody except technicians knew anything about
valve IDs. :-)
> As you can probably tell my knowledge of this amp stuff is sketchy, but
can
> I drive my TnB like a Marshall? Or is the pre amp section too different?
I have never owned either, but I would imagine so (especially as Selmer
brochure copy - and a little sticker on the back of the amps - used to warn
the user that "maximum power" might be obtained without the amp necessarily
being on full, depending on the power of the guitar's pickups).
AIUI, both Selmer and Marshall are essentially Fender-derived designs
(Selmer was first, of course).
Tim Sharpe
Maybe I should get a powerbrake and try pushing it till it
explodes/breaks/catches fire.
Love that bit about the brochure copy - I just think that old 'distortion is
bad' thing is so damn 'English'. By the sound of it I might be able to tempt
it with a bit of TS9/Rat/Big Muff temptation - the AC seems tempted so I
shall try.
AIUI? New one on me...
"JNugent" <JNu...@AC30.spamFreeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:97c9ao$39a$1...@news7.svr.pol.co.uk...
Albert Steptoe
JNu...@AC30.spamFreeserve.co.uk says...
>
> http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/steverussell/gallery/gallery3/selm.html
>
> The T'n'B 50 was nothing like an AC30...
>
> It used a classic 2 x EL34 line-up (like Marshall and Sound City and Hiwatt,
> and Impact, etc, etc, etc, all would - later).
Actually the T&B wasn't like the old Marshalls etc - the
entire power amp configuration was quite different. If I
remember correctly, it used an ultra-linear configured
output stage, which involves a tapped winding from the
transformer feeding the EL34 grids. Quite unusual for
a guitar amp but fairly common in high end hifi amps
of the day, like Quads.
The pre-amp of the AC30 was also quite different to
amps of those days (someone mentioned it being a
copy of an early Fender - it isn't). Aside from using
EL84s in the power amp, the preamp stage stage used
a Baxendall tone circuit - pretty radical stuff as
it gave both cut AND boost at high and low frequencies,
unlike the passive boost only traditional tone stack
Fenders used. The use of a Baxendall meant quite
different drive requirements were needed.
Tim Sharpe
Don't even know how to respond to that message - very detailed.
Does this ultralinear business mean that the Selmer won't overdrive? I have
tried and it's not overdriven - or if it has it's a very subtle overdrive.
T
"Albert Steptoe" <herc...@rag-n-bone.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.150447a4f...@news.ntlworld.com...
Albert Steptoe
tim_j_...@hotmail.com says...
> Wow
> Don't even know how to respond to that message - very detailed.
>
> Does this ultralinear business mean that the Selmer won't overdrive? I have
> tried and it's not overdriven - or if it has it's a very subtle overdrive.
No, it means that it has a much higher dynamic range but,
when it does clip, it does so rather fiercely and
suddenly. It's a trade off between dynamic range and
clean sound vs over drive characteristics. Ultra
linear stages were never designed for overdrive, rather
they were aimed at very pure reproduction as was required
by hifi. Some UL amps could be modded by disconnecting
the taps and connecting fixed resistors to the EL34 grids
and giving it a more 'guitar-amp' like structure. IIRC
the T&B was never a great amp for overdriving the power
stage but a stomp box in front of the pre-amp, such as
a treble boost, could overdrive the pre-amp and the power
stage kept clean to maximise volume. That way you could
get a decent sound out of it. (A Tubescreamer backed off
to give just gain might be interesting).
icarusi
> In article <97eoio$8d2$1...@news6.svr.pol.co.uk>,
> tim_j_...@hotmail.com says...
> > Wow
> > Don't even know how to respond to that message - very detailed.
> >
> > Does this ultralinear business mean that the Selmer won't
overdrive? I have
> > tried and it's not overdriven - or if it has it's a very subtle
overdrive.
>
> No, it means that it has a much higher dynamic range but,
> when it does clip, it does so rather fiercely and
> suddenly. It's a trade off between dynamic range and
> clean sound vs over drive characteristics. Ultra
> linear stages were never designed for overdrive, rather
> they were aimed at very pure reproduction as was required
> by hifi.
Are the HiWatt and Sound City amps UL?
Albert Steptoe
says...
Hiwatt, no - but it has a very unusual 3 triode
phase splitter in the classic DR103. Some Sound
Citys are UL, I think those using KT88s.
And for those wallowing in nostalgia, anyone recall
the Vortexion PA amp - sometimes pressed into service
for guitar or bass? It resembled a battleship radio
set.
russ...@gmail.com
JNugent
TVM metal-clad PA unit (though with Selmer spk cabs).
They were almost impossible to sell s/h in the south of England becuse
they were such a local brand around the North West.
A separate point, but no Vox amplifiers were ever copies of any Fenders.
The circuitry was completely different. In fact, the AC15 and AC30 were
effectively unique. The AC50 and AC100 were more "generic" (using EL34s)
but still not copies of Fenders or anything else.
davehug...@gmail.com
Wish I could include a photo here.
It’s a pa so designed to be clean, I’m going to figure out how I can mod my pre amp stage for a more overdriven guitar tone.
g.loc...@gmail.com
stev...@ieee.org
> anything more about them?
>
> Icarusi
Steve