Metropoulos Forum

As i'm quite surprised this subject have not been brought up here i permit myself to do so , brian may's famous deacy amp ....
In fact i've not been able to find ANY gut shot of the vox VBM-1 repro , nor any other repro as a matter of fact , just vague indications , and an old schematic that is supposed to follow roughly the lines of what's supposed to be in the deacy ( not even with the right transistors ^^) ....here it is ;



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also found a pcb image that is of a supposed repro by some swedish guy ( or german dunno really ^^):



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now if somebody is willing to chime in with VBM-1 gutshots or whatever meaty info on the transformers which are suitable , right resistor values , yadda yadda .... he's welcome ...i'm very curious about this very particular sounding setup ( i've got some random germanium trannies laying around and everything ... )

The Vox VBM-1 is not a reproduction of the actual Deacy circuit. Be advised.

The Fryer circuit is reported to be a proper reproduction, but is very expensive considering the few parts involved. Realize that it uses fragile germanium transistors for the output section. Notice the large heat sinks.

I've got a pair of the KEF bookshelf speakers that they used for the original (same wood/cloth drivers). Perhaps I ought to look at building a couple of clones!

neikeel wrote:I've got a pair of the KEF bookshelf speakers that they used for the original (same wood/cloth drivers). Perhaps I ought to look at building a couple of clones!

yeah you'd probably be able to make a pretty buck doing this neil ( considering how much replicas are sold ) ...anyways update , after browsing several pages ( i mean an awfully annoying lot ) of google image searches i finally found the fryer schemo in a readable size ;

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/4210/thedeacy.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


and pics of the original deacy too ( we're all about accuracy here aren't we )

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/5041/img0252ei.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/4710/img0243oe.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The notation on the Fryer schematic makes this project as ridiculously easy and cheap as it should be.

Here are your transformers:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI. ... 0047106576

Here are your transistors:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0820809715

The rest are peanuts. Don't forget the heat sinks, or ...

neikeel wrote:I've got a pair of the KEF bookshelf speakers that they used for the original (same wood/cloth drivers). Perhaps I ought to look at building a couple of clones!

I can think of no better use for those old things.

Ted B wrote:The notation on the Fryer schematic makes this project as ridiculously easy and cheap as it should be.

Here are your transformers:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI. ... 0047106576

badass !

Ted B wrote: Here are your transistors:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0820809715

The rest are peanuts. Don't forget the heat sinks, or ...
:

already have nos telefunken germaniums but thanks ... yeah i thought about the heatsinks , but we're talking about the main issue here as far as parts gathering ^^ i have old computer processor copper heatsinks , the blades of which i'm thinking of bending , drilling and cutting in order to put together something of the proper size ( hope my dremel won't blow up like the last time i was making things of the sort ) , still a pain in the ass though ....

gotta find a cheap 4ohms 6" dual cone speaker too !

please excuse my lack of knowledge but, what is this amp ? how is it related to Brian may? how does it sounds like ?
is this a little cool solid state amp ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXINZ7YzmpM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

here's a guy overdubbing an original queen tune with a deacy amp in pedal format , it's this over the top nasal lead sound ( almost tone bender-ish ) the amp is meant to produce at 1 watts output ...

very cool ! i want one
so it gives 1 watt output on a little speaker, but it's preferably used ... directly into a sound card, or as a pedal into an amp ?

a lot to learn in this brian may solo, i'll add it to my list "to learn", it's amazing to hear such result and invention, hiding all the work and experience behind ..

Xplorer wrote:please excuse my lack of knowledge but, what is this amp ? how is it related to Brian may? how does it sounds like ?
is this a little cool solid state amp ?

Basically, this little amp is the sound behind the those '70s Queen recordings with which you're familiar. We all commonly associate Brian May with multiple AC30s and such, but those were his live rig. This tiny transistor amp and a treble booster were his studio recording setup.

frenchie wrote:As i'm quite surprised this subject have not been brought up here i permit myself to do so , brian may's famous deacy amp ....

Because this is EVH land, french. And if ain't the brown almost nobody gives a fuck even though May's tones are far superior....

Check out this site. Tons of info on May gear...

http://www.redspecialforum.com/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

NY Chief wrote:

frenchie wrote:As i'm quite surprised this subject have not been brought up here i permit myself to do so , brian may's famous deacy amp ....

Because this is EVH land, french. And if ain't the brown almost nobody gives a fuck even though May's tones are far superior....

Check out this site. Tons of info on May gear...

http://www.redspecialforum.com/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

you know mike , i think above all brian may pulls really really really singular types of harmonic lines ( singular in a kickass way ) , i must say i'm not totally fan when he's in all-out harmonic glam rock mode , but quite oftenly he makes some of the most unique B-side types of compositions , and since i'm really really into " weird " ( uber-quoted ) ambiances musically speaking ( primus and miles davis fan here.. yeah i know .. talk about a unprobable mix ) , i've been quite logically led to his very particular sounding gear , not that i really wan't to reproduce his tone as an all end goal , just that i wanna understand how it works so i can eventually one day integrate some ideas in my personnal rig i'm still trying to find my personnal sound , and it's becomming increasingly hard with all the standardized mass produced shit out there ...
will certainly check out this forum thanks buddy ...