Construction Details

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hand-made all-tube non-clone guitar amps

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SIMPLICITY BEGETS TONALITY

The circuit design of BC Audio amplifiers is intentionally simple, because I believe that the more electronics your guitar’s signal passes through, the more it becomes degraded. The simpler the circuit, the purer the tone.

The end result is that the character - or “voice” - of each BC Audio amp is pure, rich and thick, big and beautiful. And despite their simplicity, these are not one-trick ponies. Premier Guitar declared, “as the performance of BC Audio Premier Gear Award winning Amplifier No. 7 attests, these simple circuits can be capable of a startlingly wide spectrum of sounds.”

LOOK MA, NO BOARDS!

Guitar Player called it “jaw-dropping.” Premier Guitar called it “ridiculous attention to detail...workmanship and build quality is worthy of a museum piece” But I see true point-to-point wiring not as an expression of some artistic ideal - art for art’s sake - but rather as a means to an end: clarity, openness, responsiveness, pure and beautiful organic tone.

How is that end achieved? The construction methods I employ provide a compact and physically direct signal path not obtainable any other way. Parts are soldered directly between chassis-mounted components, without wires running back and forth to a board - whether that board be an eyelet board, turret board or printed circuit board.

Historically, point-to-point wiring is messy. So I took what I like about turret board and eyelet board construction - the nice neat rows of parts - and applied it to point-to-point. So rather than a rat’s nest, you have a neat and tidy interior.

OCTAL PREAMP

Rather than the familiar 12AX7 tubes found in nearly all guitar amps made today, BC Audio amplifiers use 6SL7 octal tubes in the preamp section. These large, hi-mu twin triodes do not exhibit the over-brightness or harshness that 12AX7s can, which many amp makers attempt to filter out with additional circuitry.

There’s something about these big octal tubes - perhaps the larger plates and heavier construction compared with 12AX7s - that gives them a bigger, more power-tube-like tone, particularly when overdriven. A DC heater supply eliminates filament-induced hum.

THE UTMOST IN IRON

The transformers used in BC Audio amplifiers are built with the same high quality materials and methods as transformers found in our favorite amps from the 1940s, ‘50 and ‘60s. These transformers are built in the USA to military specifications. They feature paper bobbins/paper layer winding, not nylon plastic. The high quality iron laminations and copper flux bands are tightly construction to eliminate air gaps and mechanical buzzing. They are coated in military style varnish.

MADE FOR GIGS, DEVELOPED AT GIGS

When I say BC Audio amps are built for the gigging guitarist, I’m not kidding! I’m in a semi-pro working band. Much of the development of BC Audio amps takes place at gigs and gig-volume rehearsals. I bring in a test mule, play it, listen to it in the context of the band, then take it back to the workshop and make adjustments. Often I’ll install switches on the test mule to allow for experimentation with component values on the fly - right there at the rehearsal or the gig.

The obvious benefit of this is approach is that you can trust that your BC Audio amp will sound great where it matters - at the show. If you’ve ever dialed in your tone at home only to be disappointed at how it fit in the mix with the rest of the band, you know what I’m talking about.

BUILT TO LAST

The parts, materials and methods I have chosen fulfill two primary goals: awesome, inspiring tone and extreme, long-term reliability.

- The chassis are heavy 16ga steel, galvanized and powder coated or zinc plated depending on model. These are not off-the-shelf chassis; I have them custom made for me locally.

- Hardware is stainless steel throughout.

- The tube sockets I use are made from machined ceramic and grip the tubes very securely, without the tendency of plastic and Bakalite sockets to loosen their grip over the years. The solder tabs to not move, which means no flexing of wires or component leads when tubes are inserted or removed.

- Passive components are over-rated for more voltage and current than they will ever see.

- Even the grommets that protect transformer wires as they pass through the chassis holes are not the standard rubber faire, but are but durable nylon bushings that will never dry out, harden and crack.

It is this level of attention to detail, with an eye toward longevity and reliability that make BC Audio amps a solid choice, one that you can rely on day in and day out for years to come.

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