OT: Visual Sound - Route 66, WorkHorse Amps?

[gotdabluz]

I was at the Visual Sound website looking at the Route66 overdrive/comp . . . I was trying to find/figure out want they were using for a compressor circuit . . . does any one know?  They seem to be pretty open about the fact of using an 808 for an overdrive, but are apparently pretty tight lipped about what kind of compressor is in there.

Anyway . . . I noticed a link to their upcoming line of WorkHorse amps, and when I looked at the 'more info' page it said that these amps were designed in conjunction with RG Keen!!!!

Is this our same Mr. RG Keen?

If so, Mr. Keen . . . can you tell me where I am going to be able to get one of these cool looking ponies when they become available?

Hey . . . a free Jekyll & Hyde overdrive included . . . how cool  

[CS Jones]

Is this our same Mr. RG Keen?

Great find. Hope it is. I haven't been excited about any new amp in a long, long time.

I'm going to be all over that 30 watter.

Curious as to what their choice of speaker will be.

[wampcat1]

Yes, the 808 is the overdrive, the compressor is a variation of a ross compressor.

Thanks,
Brian

[R.G.]

Ah, well. Secret's out I guess

Yeah, it's me.

Bob Weil, the owner of Visual Sound, asked me to do the detailed design of the Workhorse series based on some ideas he has formed over about 20 years as a guitar player himself, and was kind enough to allow me to incorporate some ideas I had come up with about amps.

To understand the amps, you have to know a little about Bob.

Bob is a longtime guitar player, and a good one. He started Visual Sound literally on a shoestring and has put almost his entire waking life into it since it started. He's a fun guy to know - I think most of you would like him personally if you met him. He's knowledgeable, confident of himself without being %^&*y, and doesn't feel any need to attack others if they don't happen to share his views.

Although Bob has a background in sales, he's a no-BS kind of guy. That's where the motto "Real sound for real people" comes from. He really does want to provide the best possible sound for players, and he works hard at it.

The Workhorse series is not your typical mega-monstro-overdrive channel switching amp. Neither is it a vintage amp copy.

In some discussions with Bob we found we shared a view of amps that's decidedly non-mainstream. I've always thought that you ought to be able to hear your effects, not produce them carefully, then have the amp slice and dice the sound of the effects to ribbons with internal distortion. Bob agrees, and also points out that this is nominally what effects loops are for, but that power amps are usually overdriven so much that even an effect loop doesn't help.

Case in point. What happens if you like your amp's overdrive, but want to use a digital delay pedal? The delay pedal almost has to go before the input, but then the delay gets hacked up by the amp distortion. Wouldn't it be neat if you had your distortion sound but heard the distorted signal cleanly delayed?

Miking up small amps can do this, but it's a tough to do that on a small stage like most working musicians have to use.

So it makes sense that the amp should be relatively clean. Well, it should retain the tube amp character that you get before the tubes start getting massively overdriven at least, so you still get that juicy tube tone when you're playing fairly cleanly, not the sterile tone of tube hifi.

It ought to have a good spring reverb sound, in the best tradition of Fender surf amps.

It ought to be reliable...

And that's where I spent a fair amount of time.

Those of you who've been tuned into the the "R.G. Keen Amplifier Hour" for a while know that I have some definite ideas about how amps should be made for longevity. I have incorporated all of those that we can afford and still price the amp where people can buy it.

Some things didn't get included, because they're just not cost effective in a commercial production amp - like making the filter caps out of motor starting caps for unlimited life, for instance. Too expensive for a production amp.

But a lot of other things did get in, like soft starting, transient suppressors, conservative tube operation, and simple-to-get-to servicing.

There's more, but we're still working the prototypes. The final versions will be out soon. I hope they work well for you.

[wampcat1]

Hi RG,
Can't wait!!

I agree with you totally -- Bob is one of the nicest and down to earth guys I know -- when I was getting started in my business Bob invited me over to his house one evening and just let me pick his brain for a few hours -- just a heck of a great guy!

Take care,
Brian