Played a Merc. Magn. Modded AC4TV today...

[Neiloler]

It was lovely. It had a Weber Blue Pup (I'm not sure which it was, AlNiCo or Ceramic), but whatever had been done to the amp, it was amazing. Sounded awesome, just the right amount of bark and chime, and it was really lovely at all wattage settings. Really cool stuff. I might have to look into the mod, even though in the end it'll bring the price up a fair amount (Mod is $300!).

Just FYI I guess.

[indianDYsummer]

Those amps are pretty cool. I had one for a while, but realized the MV is so good on my Orange's, I rarely found myself playing it. So, I sold it and put the money towards a silverface champ. I thought it was a seriously good amp for the $ though!

[Neiloler]

It was a great little amp. It's always tricky to get a low-wattage amp, just because it feels like you should be buying a bigger thing for that much money, but it was tempting to go out and buy the amp and mod it!

[indianDYsummer]

Yeah, totally. For the price of a AC4 + $300 I'd rather just get a tiny terror.

[Jondog]

Do you think the Merc Mag mod was a big part of the sound? I always wondered and online demos I hear a bit of a difference but still wonder if it's worth doing it.

[Neiloler]

Do you think the Merc Mag mod was a big part of the sound? I always wondered and online demos I hear a bit of a difference but still wonder if it's worth doing it.

That's a good question. The Merc Mag mod demo video I heard made a big difference, but then again, I've never heard a stock one myself. All I know is this amp ROCKED, very smooth and chimey all at the same time. Very cool.

I'm thinking the best way to go about it would be buy a 1x10" AC4TV, then put a Weber AlNiCo (I found out the Blue Pup was AlNiCo) in there, and see if that gets you where you want it to be. Then go for the mod. I might try that out just for the ol' kicks and giggles.

[AJS19]

A customer sent my boss and new AC4 to mod right away to Mercury. I helped him out a bit with it. It sounded fine before, but it sounded top notch after the change.

[Neiloler]

A customer sent my boss and new AC4 to mod right away to Mercury. I helped him out a bit with it. It sounded fine before, but it sounded top notch after the change.

That's cool I'm not the only one to have experienced this in some way. If the Weber Maggie amp kit doesn't do it for me, I'll look into this one.

[a.hun]

Never underestimate the difference really good transformers can make. Especially the OT. They really are the heart and soul of valve amps.

That is why I always try to advise people right about impedance mismatching, especially with older amps. Change the OT and you'll change the character of the amp. If it already has really good vintage ones in than it'll basically never sound the same if you trash the OT.

I'm almost tempted to grab an AC4 head and have it converted to MMs but there are plenty of things I actually need more.


Andy.

[TESLA_EL34]

I have an original AC4 TV.
I don't think i'll mod it.... A bit too expensive, the mod is so costful man!
I like the stock tone a lot and it sounds killer

[ESBlonde]

Output transformers are critical in amplifiers, probably more so than valves.
Thats why old HiWatt/Marshalls etc. are much cheaper if the original tranny is replaced. Leo used to do an electrical match tranny in his amps during prototyping, then swap around a few near matches and perform listening tests with his posse. The best sound/price (notoriously tight was our Leo) went into production and those with ears still crave those sounds today.

[Neiloler]

Never underestimate the difference really good transformers can make. Especially the OT. They really are the heart and soul of valve amps.

That is why I always try to advise people right about impedance mismatching, especially with older amps. Change the OT and you'll change the character of the amp. If it already has really good vintage ones in than it'll basically never sound the same if you trash the OT.

I'm almost tempted to grab an AC4 head and have it converted to MMs but there are plenty of things I actually need more.


Andy.

I thought of you, Andy, and smiled when I heard the power of a nice set of transformers. "Ah HA! THIS is what Andy's talking about!" Really cool stuff.

[nguideau]

I have an original AC4 TV.
I don't think i'll mod it.... A bit too expensive, the mod is so costful man!
I like the stock tone a lot and it sounds killer

Same here.

This upgrade seems like putting lipstick on a pig. Not that the AC4 is bad. It isn't -- I play mine a lot and love it for what it is.

If you're going to spend $300 to upgrade the transformer you might as well just use the money to get or build a better amp right from the hop. The AC4s strength is its high ratio of tone to dollar. And what I mean by that is that for an amp that is dirt cheap (as tube amps go), it packs more tone than most amps (of any size) on the market. $300 for a mod that, in the end, still leaves you with a closed-back 10" combo, destroys that value ratio.

I can see the mod making a noticeable difference, but not a 150% improvement. There are too many other bottlenecks on the sound in a budget, low-wattage amp like this. Namely, the speaker and cabinet.

[Neiloler]

Yeah, I can see that. So what I did was I upgraded the 10" speaker in my Maggie amp coming soon to a Weber AlNiCo Blue Pup. That'll take care of any Vox-lusting.

[a.hun]

This upgrade seems like putting lipstick on a pig. Not that the AC4 is bad. It isn't -- I play mine a lot and love it for what it is.

If you're going to spend $300 to upgrade the transformer you might as well just use the money to get or build a better amp right from the hop. The AC4s strength is its high ratio of tone to dollar. And what I mean by that is that for an amp that is dirt cheap (as tube amps go), it packs more tone than most amps (of any size) on the market. $300 for a mod that, in the end, still leaves you with a closed-back 10" combo, destroys that value ratio.

I can see the mod making a noticeable difference, but not a 150% improvement. There are too many other bottlenecks on the sound in a budget, low-wattage amp like this. Namely, the speaker and cabinet.

Well, right enough if I ever grabbed one I'd be buying the head version myself.

Sure fitting really good trannies would cost a lot of extra money and make it a much more expensive amp. Point is though it would also then SOUND like a much more expensive amp. The standard model is of course built to a price point where it'll sell. Few people are willing to pay double or more when they think the main thing affecting their sound is going to be the valves used. They don't realise quite how important transformers (especially the OT) really are to an amps sound. Some of us do though, and the difference can be really huge...


Andy.