65Amps notes

The three 65 Amp lines: To make it simple, 65 amps have three lines to choose from, for specs see: http://www.65amps.com/amps.html

The Vintage inpired One channel line: London (EL84 18 w. British), Marquee (EL84, 35 w, British) , Royal Albert (KT77, 45w, Rocket 88 (KT-88, 80 w. loud'n'clean)
The Bump line: Soho (EL-84, 20 w, British and beyond) Monterrey (6v^, 22w, USA Fender style and beyond) and Stone pony (7591, 25 w., Ampeg style and beyond)
Little Elvis: with the Elvis EL84 model (12 w, tremolo, British & beyond) and now introducing in 2010 the Elvis 6v6 model (12 w, tremolo,Fender & beyond)

On the rhythm channel: The 65 'Bump' line of amps, brings you the absolute best of both worlds: Elvis EL84 model (EL84 or 6v6, tremolo) Soho (British and beyond) Monterrey (USA Fender style and beyond) and Stone pony (Ampeg style and beyond) These great amps basically function as 2 channel but are in fact 1 channels amps with a bonus, so to speak, this is to keep the amp sound and tone pure and without compromise. You should realise (as most of you probably already do) that the clean channel (or we prefer to say 'rhythm' channel) is never as clean as for instance a Jazz Chorus or fender Twin Reverb and was never meant to be as clean. I would define it as more of a comfortable, natural, organic and a very musical, good solid rhythm sound. A great foundation for any music reaching from Pop, to blues, to 60's-70's 80-s and 90's rock,. It has a super tone and a minimal 'edge' but is experienced 'clean' in the mix of the instruments of your band. Like for instance a great vintage Fender of Vox amp, but built to last with the best components and with a level of technology that has improved and developed immensely since the sixties and seventies, meaning that the great amplifiers are still made with the sound and vibe yesteryear and the absloute best quality and improvements of todays technology.

On the tremolo Function: useful info on the tremolo function on the 65 amps. There are two basic types of tube based tremolo in existance.

the first is the Bias Tremolo - is a way to have the volume of the guitar go up and down by adjusting the bias or gain of the tube dynamically. The tube is actually gaining up and gaining down to oscillate the volume. The result is a very smooth transition from soft to loud creating a very fluid and musical response that allows the guitarist to retain his pick attack and dynamics while playing. The tradeoff is that the tube will make a bit of noise while oscillating up and down. For the guitarist this tradeoff is usually considered worthy as it allows for much greater use while playing in a band situation. Bias tremolo is also found on most Vintage amps.

The second is the Opto tremolo – this type of tremolo changes the volume of the guitar by interrupting the signal going into the tube. This tremolo was created after the bias tremolo to create and tremolo with wider range of oscillations and it’s a bit quieter. The result is a more abrupt tremolo that gives a more dramatic “helicopter” effect. It also thumps and bumps like a bias tremolo, but is easier to control. The tradeoff with an Opto tremolo is that if you happen to play and the moment when the signal is being interrupted, the note will not sound at all. This can be frustrating for a guitarist during a live situation. It is widely accepted that this performance flaw in Opto tremolos is the main reason that Tremolo fell out of fashion in the late 60’s.

Dan and Peter decided that a so-called Bias Tremolo was the way to go as the advantage of this tremolo is clear (see decription above) - The only set back is that the chosen Bias tremolo makes a little more noise and that you should use it a little differently than you would a piece of consumer electronics. as f.i. this form of tremolo will be a little more dramatic when you set the intensity above position 6-7. It will throb and knock like a wild animal if you'll give it half a chance like any tremolo on a real vintage amp would do. Note that the knocking and throbbing is never really disturbing when playing with a band, only when sitting alone in front of the amp. We really like the sound of the bias-tremolo better. It’s much more fun! Bottom line – both styles have pros and cons, but both will throb, bump and thump depending on what tube is in that position. They will never act like a solid-state tremolo found in modern pedals. However, having said all that, the musical benefits of a gently oscillating bias-tremolo far out weigh the performance problems. It is an adjustment for users to adjust to tube behaviour and accept that they will never act like solid-state devices, but the sound is sooooo worth it!

On footswitches: 65 amps are supplied with a footswitch from the HOSA brand. The Elvis uses the same Stereo (2 button) switch that the London uses. The “bump” amps use only a mono (1 button) switch. The Elvis footswitch switch actuates the Tremolo and the Bump, therefore the need for 2 buttons.