Well, it was well built and lasted a lot, if properly used, but driving it with far more than 100W is a certain recipe for blown resistors, melting solder, other damage caused by overheating beyont what's designed, etc.
Once resistors or connections start opening, it's a countdown timer for the transformer.
Is this the Powersoak's *fault*?
Maybe, the same way it's a Zoo Lion's fault if you lose an arm ... after you put it inside the cage.
The real problem here is for amateur musicians to buy way too big amps ... while *real* Guitar Gods often play with less than them ... for very good reasons I might add.
Once resistors or connections start opening, it's a countdown timer for the transformer.
Is this the Powersoak's *fault*?
Maybe, the same way it's a Zoo Lion's fault if you lose an arm ... after you put it inside the cage.
The real problem here is for amateur musicians to buy way too big amps ... while *real* Guitar Gods often play with less than them ... for very good reasons I might add.
Me neither
That's the point
("lower wattage amps")The Power Soak was invented by Tom Scholz so he could use his (then what *everybody* used) 100W non-MV Marshalls at more sensible levels.
Fine.
Other great players went for another solutions: Angus Young and Yngwie Malmsteen, 2 guitar players as different as you will find, went for 45 or 50W Marshalls, so they could heavily overdrive them without drowning everybody.
Van Halen loved an ooooold 100W Marshall he had used when he was young .... still with the old worn tubes in it.
So it was not putting out 100W *at all* .
Once he retubed it .... "it lost all the magic"
(in his own words).Then he started using Variacs to pad other amps down.
The point is that a balls to the wall 50W amp still allows you to listen to the drummer, voice monitors, etc. , without problems.
100W starts complicating everything.
150W ????? Ouch !!!
while not even remotley close to being as loud as real Marshall its still cool lol I like to think of it has some monster hybrid 6v6 deluxe crossed with a plexi/jcm etc lol and this clip I had them late 50s sylvania coated glass 6v6 in and imo they are amazing lol. I had some earlier 50s GE/Ken-rads they were amazing too but they died lol. and well the JJ 6v6 I'm not sure what to think of them huge warble/wahhh low end but that mid range grind/snap was missing lol
but really though back to main topic the the scholz unit pretty sure has wild resitor values and the question does it really maintain proper impedance? like I would use it on smaller amp but like no way in hell on a larger one well maybe slight db cut but man say like that max attenuated setting and diming out a 100watter scary lol and that whole impedance matching and yes I know impedance is variable resistance depending on frequency so it constantly changing etc but if its wild enough like crazy flyback power burns out transformer smokes tubes and whatever else. I mean there is no way to gauge accurately how long power tubes are gonna last at all when getting abused like that. I would feel more comfortable with a weber or a hotplate lol
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.