Santiago Alvarez (electronics engineer, JVM, YJM, AFD...)
- Thread starter santiall
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I think the main reason is that Partridge always had very good reputation due the quality of their products and their R&D. If I am not mistaken, they were operating since the 1930s so in the 60s and 70s, when Hiwatt and some Marshalls used them, they were properly established as a quality brand. Also, some of the 'most famous' Hi-Fi amplifiers used them and yes, they were well made. Nothing magic in there, probably just well a made product.
The thing is that if you look for the "perfect" transformer you'll need to have a very low minimum frequency and a very high maximum operating frequency, then flat in between. The way to achieve this is by using the best materials and then spend a lot of time calculating and winding the transformers. It is complicated, if not impossible, to achieve everything at once because improving the bass usually means having issues with the high frequencies and vice-versa.
This is very important for Hi-Fi and studio applications but does it matter for a guitar amp? sometimes it is actually interesting to have a "bad Hi-Fi" output transformer in a guitar amp
The thing is that if you look for the "perfect" transformer you'll need to have a very low minimum frequency and a very high maximum operating frequency, then flat in between. The way to achieve this is by using the best materials and then spend a lot of time calculating and winding the transformers. It is complicated, if not impossible, to achieve everything at once because improving the bass usually means having issues with the high frequencies and vice-versa.
This is very important for Hi-Fi and studio applications but does it matter for a guitar amp? sometimes it is actually interesting to have a "bad Hi-Fi" output transformer in a guitar amp
pablofdezs
Newbie
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Hi Santiago!!
Just here to tell you that the first time I heard about you was in the EPSIG (Engineering College of Gijon), my electronics teacher "Manés" told us about about a guy who was hired in "M", and me, as a guitar gear freak in those moments, couldn't be more excited and curious about that!!
Finally my carrer has taken me in another direction, but in those years, knowing that someone who studied in the same univesity as me has reach these achievements was really inspiring to me!!!
Un saludo de un paisano tuyo!!
Pablo
Just here to tell you that the first time I heard about you was in the EPSIG (Engineering College of Gijon), my electronics teacher "Manés" told us about about a guy who was hired in "M", and me, as a guitar gear freak in those moments, couldn't be more excited and curious about that!!
Finally my carrer has taken me in another direction, but in those years, knowing that someone who studied in the same univesity as me has reach these achievements was really inspiring to me!!!
Un saludo de un paisano tuyo!!
Pablo
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Hey Pablo, that's very nice from you!. Yeah, Manés is one of the few teachers I ended making friends with. It is very rewarding to inspire people, I really appreciate it
. I haven't passed by the University for a few years due to traveling restrictions, but I was invited a couple of times to give some 'more or less technical' conferences although people show the most interest when talking gossips and the likes 
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it's rather simple actually. When I joined M back in 2005 they already that a plan to upgrade the TSL and make it the new flagship. The starting point I was given to "take a TSL and add a 4th channel with more gain", so pretty much I took a TSL, put it on a shelf as reference and got a JCM800 2203 as starting point. Then everything snowballed from there, since the circuitry I was working on was quite flexible the three-modes-per-channel idea and the 1 wire controller came by themselves. Initially it was just 4 channels and there were always issues with the multipin connector for footcontrollers...
It is always easy to think that I should have done this and that but the JVM is about 16 years old already... I guess the main change I'd have done is to add the noise gate that I designed for the Kerry King amp (and that now everyone uses in the gate pedals
Plans?, I don't work there anymore... lips sealed!
Ahh, I thought you were back at M.
Do you have anything exciting in the fire you can openly discuss?
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always something in the kitchenAhh, I thought you were back at M.
Do you have anything exciting in the fire you can openly discuss?
and also trying to find the right way to release some products as we speak. Still a bit undecided but just don't want to be "another company releasing a Tube Screamer clone" nor focus in 100W tube amps. My ears are very open for ideas too!PS, yes, I returned to M for a while but I'm not working for them since February. Freedom
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always something in the kitchen
PS, yes, I returned to M for a while but I'm not working for them since February. Freedom
Is there a future Marshall release that you had your hand in while back there that we should keep any eye out for?
I just got a JVM 210H a little over a month ago, and I'm really loving it! I've been trying to think of some good questions to ask haha
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that's a good question for which I have no real answer... I guess we'll need to wait till they launch something and see...
psychodave
Newbie
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I'm curious why Marshall never made a Jose style amp? There was (and still is) a massive market for this style of amp.
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Curious for Santiago’s thoughts on this too, because it does seem like one of life’s great mysteries.
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actually we did one back in the day, it must have been between 2015 and 2016. It was shown in 2016 Winter NAMM to some people, not to the general public. Some artists were quite impressed and offered themselves to use/test it but I left shortly after so probably they put it in a shelf and that was about it... I think the first prototype went to Slash.
It was a 2 channel amp, a clean channel and then an OD channel which was similar to a Jose amp. It didn't have a solid state clipper as it didn't add too much and it didn't have a cathode follower either. If I am not wrong it had 2 masters and the HJS noise gate. It wasn't super high-gain but it didn't need a booster to feel right either.
Hi Santiago, I have an oddball question for you on the Satriani blue JVM half stack, here goes........
today, while sitting here in my home office with my kid, he asked if he could see the amp. When I proceeded to take the cover off the head, I noticed the right side of the amp had the initials JS written on the side with a sharpie and this was the first time I've ever noticed it since purchasing the amp brand new several years ago. when I proceeded to inspect the cab, I found the same initials on the right side of the cab, right above the handle. Do you happen to know if Marshall ever did this at the factory? The amp and cab were sealed from the factory in their respective boxes and were never tampered with or returned according to the retailer whom I purchased them from.
Any insight you would be able to provide would be useful.
Thanks!
today, while sitting here in my home office with my kid, he asked if he could see the amp. When I proceeded to take the cover off the head, I noticed the right side of the amp had the initials JS written on the side with a sharpie and this was the first time I've ever noticed it since purchasing the amp brand new several years ago. when I proceeded to inspect the cab, I found the same initials on the right side of the cab, right above the handle. Do you happen to know if Marshall ever did this at the factory? The amp and cab were sealed from the factory in their respective boxes and were never tampered with or returned according to the retailer whom I purchased them from.
Any insight you would be able to provide would be useful.
Thanks!
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Hi, what I'm guessing is that they marked the bare wood cabinets with a thick marker and with time and help from the glue solvents it sipped through the vinyl. I don't think anyone would write the initials over the covering.
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I've been working in an amp that could be the base of what you ask. It'd be something that you could use to record at home and that would be based in preamp plus power amp distortion. Not a modem high gain amplifier but something more classic, more organic I guess. It'd be 50W or less and with IR processor, probably with a simple booster and perhaps 2 channels.
This is how it is at the moment. These are the kind of raw recording experiments that I do to hear the amps when I work on them:
HotRats
Shredder
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Sounds good and promising, I like the concept (preamp + power amp distortion) and the idea of 2 ch+ a booster and IRs.
I hope it will see the light!
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Sounds amazing.
Is this something you would potentially release yourself, or with another company?
The Colonel
Administrator
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This sounds great! Great playing too!
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working on details to finish it (if that ever actually happens...
)
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thanks :), ideally on my own, yes. It is pretty much a plexi preamp with some new power amp ideas to be able to deliver the power amp distortion without heating a 100W load