The secret of the classic Pignose tone = The secret of tube amp tone?

[marcoharder]

I was browsing the net earlier for some mods that I could do to my Pignose 7-100 and I bumped into one thread with an entry that said that the Pignose is an amplifier that uses a single preamp that feeds a push-pull transformer which eventually ends up as the classic sound that you've heard on albums with the Piggy in it.

A thought came into mind after reading that. I've read from some sources (this forum included) that most of the tone that comes from the fact that the transformer drastically colours the sound that is fed to it by the preamp and poer stages.

In that sense, would it be safe to hypothesize that the tubey-but -not-so-smooth-but-buttery-anyway tone of the Pignose is dependent on the transformer? Would you guys also know of any existing solid state amps that use this transformer-based design? It would be interesting to try out one of these and if there is no amp of that design out there on the market, is it scientifically feasible to create an amp based on that framework?

[LMJS]

Is there a schematic on the net?

[soulsonic]

I've had very similar theories about transformers being an essential ingredient to the "tube" sound. And I know I'm not the only one...

[JasonG]

I have had two SS amps with output transformers .  One was a radio converted to a guitar amp the other was an early ss Kay amp. They both were push pull and they both sounded great! I should have never sold that Kay it was a great studio amp. Live and learn.
I remember some one posted a schematic  that was smiler to the Cornaish amp that Brian may used in the studio back in the 70's. It had an output transformer.

[MR COFFEE]

Peavey did a transistor amp with a driver transformer - been a while

[marcoharder]

I see. Any current production SS amps that are transformer-based?

[Caferacernoc]

Yep. The Deacy amp Brian May used was SS, push pull, and had an output transformer. I don't know that the transformer is the "secret" to tube tone. But, I do think it's the difference in why power amp distortion in a tube amp is different from pre amp distortion.

[Joe Kramer]

That Peavey SS amp with the coupling xfrmr is the Pacer, a 45W combo amp with a twelve inch speaker.  IMHO, this amp has the mid-range body that many SS amps lack.  It's not a tube amp-killer by any stretch, but it's very playable, doesn't grate on the ears over time, and holds up pretty well against live bass and drums.  FWIW, I attribute this to the xfrmr. 

Wasn't Zappa a big Pignose user? 

I've got a little PCB with some germaniums and xfrmrs, ripped out of a Penney's portable tape deck from the 60's.  Time to build it into a speaker cabinet?

[JasonG]

Yeah, Zappa used a pignose for a few albums. With all the boosters and filters he used before he hit the amp he got some good sounds out of it.

[spudulike]