-The days of summer have passed and the autumn equinox begins. Fall colors will soon be covering landscapes everywhere......................
With this change in season comes
additions and changes in the Germino product line. The latest and certainly the
largest addition is the Monterey Classic!
After quite a bit of interest in a prototype
model of this amp close to a year ago it was my goal to take the inspiration and
make the Monterey Classic a separate model building the amp on a full size
aluminum chassis as the original
"Super Amp" from the 1966 time period.
Original examples of these early amps are getting harder and harder to find,
however digging deep into personal friends' stashes I was able to find three
examples to examine and base design parameters around.
The aluminum chassis is made with 1"
folded and spot welded corners for strength out of .90 gauge material. All
filter caps are mounted internally as originally done which gives the exterior
of the chassis a very clean look.
Cosmetically the Monterey Classic sports
a white "plexi" back panel with gold lettering. The aluminum chassis is mounted
in a full size 100 watt head cabinet of the vintage style with gold piping and a
gold Germino block logo badge.
Transformers are exact replica's of the fabled Drake 1204-43 3" stack power transformer and Drake 1202-84 2" stack output transformer both made by Heyboer. The Heyboer 1204-43 replica delivers a whopping 550+ vdc at the plates of the KT-66 output valves. This is original spec voltage for this P/T running at correct AC input voltage. I have found there is no need for excessive worry with current production KT-66's ( either Russian or Chinese) at these voltages as long as proper negative grid bias and cathode current draw are observed.
The 1202-84 replica O/T has a 4K primary
impedance as the original. Output selection is 16 ohms, 8 ohms, and 100v line.
Obviously the 100v line was never used but the winding does affect the sound of
this unit. The upwards mismatch at 4K is very similar to the upwards mismatch
of the Classic 45. This seems to be an area of misconception for many. In
simpler terms the high primary impedance gives a cleaner tone to most folks,
more Hi-Fi, less midrange and does reduce output level of the amp. KT-66's
specifically work very well with these reflected higher impedances and sound
excellent. Impedance mismatching is not a problem by running an 8 ohm load/cab
with the amp set at 16 ohms or by running a 4 ohm load/cab with amp set at 8
ohms. Expect a louder more aggressive tone with more midrange emphasis.
Inside the heart and soul of the Monterey
Classic you will find all the quality components that Germino Amps have set a
new standard of which others should be judged by. Meticulous wiring with the
absolute best quality parts available abound. The spot welded .90 aluminum
chassis, custom wound paper bobbin transformers with correct interleaving
ratio's, PEC 2 watt MIL spec potentiometers in correct audio tapers (Presence
control is linear taper), Sprague Atom electrolytic, the incredible Solen tin
foil coupling capacitors, Allen Bradley NOS carbon comp resistors, electrical
grade fiberglass turret board, heavy duty Carling switches, Cliff jacks, NOS
Cinch tube sockets and stranded copper wire. I would certainly challenge in a
friendly manner anyone to find an amp built of better quality parts anywhere!
Wiring and assembly is 2nd to none. I spent a lengthy amount of time examining and preparing the layout of the Monterey Classic. A separate power supply board is used in conjunction with the turret board for the main circuit.
The Monterey Classic uses the same
circuit as the Classic 45 which is defined as the early "plexi" circuit. Shared
cathode on V1, 250pf/56K tone section values with .1uf coupling caps in the
output stage. Filtering is very low as originally done and is a crucial element
to the tone and feel of this amp.
This amplifier was made to fully capture the tone and vibe of the early Marshall Super Amplifier. The most fabled performance being the Jimi Hendrix Experience at Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of 1967 hence the name Monterey Classic. These early 4 KT-66 powered amps with high voltages and very little filtering produce a unique tone that was used by many greats in early recordings from the middle sixties.
The Monterey Classic fully captures the tone AND feel of these early amps with the addition of unparalleled reliability and quiet operation. The early tones of Hendrix, Free, Cream and others are readily available for those who have trained their hands and hearts in the musical sense. Please enjoy the 1st accurate reproduction of this amp in 40 years!
-PARTS UPDATES and SPEC CHANGES
For about 9 months now Germino Amps has been using several new and upgraded parts in all amplifiers.
First to mention is that all chassis are folded 1/2" in the corners and spot welded for strength as of November 2004.
Also late 2004 the turret board material was changed to an electrical grade fiberglass material GP03. This has a great retro look, excellent strength and temperature characteristics as well as being easier to machine in production.
Beginning early 2005 is the use of a full
compliment of
2 watt MIL Spec potentiometers by PEC. All
values are in correct audio taper except the Presence control which is linear
taper.
By Mid January 2005 all power transformers use a multiple primary with voltage taps for 100vac,120vac,200vac,220/230vac, and 240/250vac operation. Steel laminate (M6) was upgraded at this time for better cooling and performance.
By late January the use of Solen tin foil signal caps was begun. These are the finest coupling caps I have heard and offer unparalleled performance and reliability. They are made of polypropylene film and tin foil with a 3% tolerance!!
NOS Allen Bradley 1/2 watt 5% carbon
composition resistors are still in use along with heavy duty Carling switches,
Cliff jacks, NOS Cinch tube sockets and electrolytic capacitors by F & T and
Sprague.
Stainless steel hardware is used throughout
to mount all components.
All said and done these changes have been in effect for over 9 months as my goal to bring you the finest constructed amplifier with the best quality components available
Thanks,
Greg Germino