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[Monster Factory]

Hello all.  Cool thread, by the way, and thanks for the invite!  It'll take me a while to really check the place out.

Hoyt

[jackal]

Welcome Hoyt,  glad you could join us and be a part of helping people get the right information about music equipment.. 
by the way thanx for all the help and info you gave me about your amps..  very helpfull.

 


JB

[MrSandMan]

Welcome to the boards Hoyt 

You're amps are sweet looking. Love the green touch.  The monster sounds crisp.  I can't wait to hear more clips 

[ww12]

welcome to the site. Awesome amps 

[Monster Factory]

>...thanx for all the help and info you gave me about your amps..  very helpfull.

Not at all - it's just part of it.  And I appreciate all the other comments, too.  Since you guys don't have any problem speaking your minds, here's something you can help me with if you're interested:

I'm sketching out some scripting for youtube videos that will basically be demos of my amps.  If it works out like I think, then I'll use those instead of sound clips/songs on the website.  Generally, people don't really trust sound clips and they sure don't trust complete songs.  We know that all kinds of tricky things can be done in the studio and the better your sample is, the less people want to trust that it wasn't doctored in some way.  You can doctor the audio portion of video clips just as easily, but there's something to be said of seeing things, too, which brings me to the second reason for doing this:  I want to be able to give people a visual introduction to these amps while they're hearing them.

All that's well and good, but what I'd really like to know is, what do today's players want to know?  If you could tell an amp manufacturer to send you a video of a particular amp, what would you want highlighted?  What would you want explained?  What would you want to hear - more playing and less talk?  I assure you, I will take your suggestions in the highest regard and you'll see that when these videos hit the web.  I'll be ready to shoot these within two weeks, so I'll need any comments by then.  Just post right here and I'll see them.

Thanks in advance!

Hoyt

[MrSandMan]

Hi Hoyt.

I make video blogs for Gear-Vault.com and it's fun.  I simply mic the cab with a SM57 to a small behringer mixer and run it out into the JVC HD MG-555 mic input.

Another thing you could do is video the amp and add a MP3 track over the video. I have not done this, but it is an option.

You can see my youtube videos here: http://youtube.com/user/GearVault
(some videos are my customers playing the gear they purchased from me)

I would suggest making several videos.  Video blogs need to be updated just like regular written blogs.  I would have some videos with verbal demonstrations and all the other videos of playing.

I'd also suggest breaking the videos up.  Like Make a 1 minute video of clean,  then make a 1 minute video of crunch, another video of crunch with neck pick up, then heavy distortion video, and etc....

This will be easier for the listening if they are researching a particular tone clip, rather than listening through 8 minutes of playing of random tones.  You'll also benefit because you are getting more videos 'out' there.

You might also want to make a video with short demos of 3 settings to sum up the amp for your website.  This will be a teaser video to get the listener interested into clicking your youtube account to hear more Monster amp.

That's just my 2 cents. I'm sure other guys here will love to chime in for more insight.

[jackal]

o0o0 and chime i will, 

Ok I'll try to make this short but usefull..  I personally perfer less talk more play..  If you want to explain you amps, then make a video just explaining what they are and what the can do..  then like mr.sandman said make a few more, one clean, distortion, etc..  Everyone now adays seems to know the basics of setting up and amp, so i dont think players need to feel like they have to explain every knob on the amp anymore...  we all know what gain does..    speaking of witch, i'm very very much looking forward to this "Over the top"  amount of gain your amp includes, make sure to make a video of you amp pushing the limits..  oh and don't use any pedals or fx on the vid's because like you said people are not very trusting.  and we all know the effects of a good hidden equilizer..

I know no matter what video you make that amp is going to sound amazingly raunchy

JB

[MrSandMan]

Hoyt,

What brand of tubes come in the Monster amp?  Have you tried 12AT7 or 12DW7 in the V2?  I love the fact that it has 6L6GCs loaded in it. 

I just made videos of the Mark IV tonight. I didn't have the chance to mic it... it's just through the video cam mic, big mistake that was.  Ah well, I'm still posting it on youtube.

[Monster]

welcome to the site... Hoyt.......

[Monster Factory]

Great suggestions so far.  Keep'em coming.

>What brand of tubes come in the Monster amp?

Each model is dfferent, but I tend to use JJ's more than any other brand.  I sometimes use the Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EH for phase inverter positions.  Sino (Chinese) have some pretty good miniatures and power tubes.  Many of the newer tooled Russian tubes have reliable standards as well.

The Swamp Thang seems to be the amp you guys are most interested in and it has four JJ ECC83's, one Sovtek 12AT7 (effects loop), and the four JJ 6L6GC's you mentioned.  Every amp I build is designed for the specific tube type that comes in it.  12AT7, 12AU7, 12DW7, etc., are all different in terms of gain, which affects the tube's transconductance, output voltage, operating point, etc.  The ECC83/12AX7 is the highest gain on the market with a factor of 100.  Real tubes aren't perfect devices and perform less than that, but you get the idea.  This means that a perfect tube in the ideal circuit can make it's output voltage 100 times bigger than it's input voltage, or a 3 volt signal would become a 300 volt signal.

By way of comparison:

12AX7 = Gain Factor:  100
12AT7 = Gain Factor:  60
12AY7 = Gain Factor:  45
12AV7 = Gain Factor:  41
12AU7 = Gain Factor:  19

When you swap tube types in a fixed circuit, the new tube type won't 'perform' optimally.  That's not to say, however, that it won't 'sound' exactly like you want.  After all, most of the mojo of a tube amp comes from it's imperfections.  Everything we like about them is something it does that it shouldn't, so mix n' match til your heart's content.

[jackal]

Do you have any other Monster themes in mind??

Do you have any plans on "Monter-ize"ing Guitars?

[Monster Factory]

>Do you have any other Monster themes in mind??

I sure do and I've hinted at them already, but I can't let the cat (...or rather the MONSTER) too far out of the bag, now can I?  I will say this much...

*  One of them is a very British version of the Swamp Thang circuit style.  It's own beast, for sure, but in that high gain sort of "vein", if you get my drift.  The platform will be very coffin-like and I'm having some special hardware made for it.

* Another one will share the American heavy bass/scooped mids sound of the Swamp Thang, but will be almost twice the power.  It'll be a full stack, but only as tall as the Swamp Thang.  I can't say any more.

* There's another full stack like the previous one, except it's over 7 feet tall and 400 watts.  I know, you don't need all that power - which is why the power amp section is modular - connect one section for 200W or both sections for 400W.  You can even disconnect and remove both power sections and just use the preamp.  Putting it together is sort of like building a 7 foot tall monster - which should give you a clue what it's called.

* I'm also working on a new series which will be all combos from 5 to 60 watts and they'll all share similar tone.  If you use a 15W at home and get a 60W for the stage, the settings you use on your effects at home will be the same settings you'll use with the bigger amp on the road - it'll only be louder.

There's more, but I'm keeping a lid on it for now.

Don't forget that you don't have to wait for a new MONSTER to come along.  You can order a completely custom amp any time.  I'll work with you on the design and circuitry to get where you need to go.  Look at the MONSTER-izer section of the website and you'll see the general circuit options I do.  Those are really just MONSTER circuits that I put in existing amps - much cheaper for a lot of folks.  Any custom amp I build will be based on these circuits.  The Boneyard Series amps are limited to those options specified on the website.  I've got costs cut down to the absolute minimum on those and there's no room to maneuver outside of the options listed.  I'll actually be taking a loss on the 30% discount I'm offering this spring, but I've got to get more amps out there somehow or I'll never break into the mainstream.

>Do you have any plans on "Monter-ize"ing Guitars?

I haven't really considered it, but virtually anything is possible...

[jackal]

AHHHH!!  you get me al worked up, lol....your teasing me hehe

I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve...

They sound like great amps already

[MrSandMan]

* Another one will share the American heavy bass/scooped mids sound of the Swamp Thang, but will be almost twice the power.  It'll be a full stack, but only as tall as the Swamp Thang.  I can't say any more.

This here really got my attention. 

[jackal]

7 feet tall,  I like the sounds of that one....  and i should be able to figure the name out but i draw a blank, lol...  it wil come to me
Great ideas hoyt