How to submit items to the collection

All submissions and comments are most welcome. Every little snippit helps.

Amps

Main site scope...

• Classic Australian and New Zealand valve stage amplifiers
• Homebrew of any vintage, including experimental
• Circuits
• Modifications
• Repair notes
• Accessories, effects, and stomps
• Comments, articles, or essays on related topics

The ideal classic amp submission...

Photos

• Front mug shot (slightly off-square)
• Back view (dressed)
• Above chassis (undressed, valves in)
• Below chassis detail (may require two shots)
• Close-up of control panel
• Close-up of rating plate (if not clear in rear shot)

Each photo should be:

• around 50kB-1Mb JPG's,
• as sharply focussed as possible,
• and well lit.

(See below for details).

I will crop and thumbnail as required.

A circuit diagramme is highly desirable, no matter how rough, scrappy or disjointed. Similar circuits from this site may be used as a basis and edited (just change the name to something suitable). I will re-draft as required.

Some text (an e-mail is fine), listing as much of...

• Maker name
• Model number
• Serial number and date (if any)
• Inputs and controls
• Valve types used
• Transformer numbers
• Rated output power
• Effects (if any)
• Other facilities (e.g. line out)
• Any circuit voltages
• Price, history, etc

...as are known. I will edit as required.

This information can be very valuable for someone trying to identify the make and model of an amp.

For an example please see Electravox.

Even if it's one you've seen in a shop, e-mail maintainer about it.

Links

New link suggestions are always welcome, particularly with comments.

Sites that are educative, a resource, or hands-on - explain theory well; contain useful data or lists such as valve lists and circuit archives; describe experimental work or equipment construction generally.

Also the wierd - outlandish amps or other stage equipment, heroic experiments, and electronic berzerkitude.

And the ugly - incompetence and profound stupidity, fraud and deception (techno-waffle), and the downright insane.

Please call my attention to any broken links, or linked sites that do un-civil things to you like bombarding you with popups.

Bibliography

Read any good amp books lately? Add them to the AVA Bibliography with your review, good or bad.

Valve Amp Technicians

If you are an experienced valve amp technician, either working commercially, informally, or just willing to assist musicians in your area, please consider sending me your contact details, mug shot, etc, for listing on the technicians page.

• Company or trading name
• Technician name(s)
• Mug shot or Logo
• Experience and specialities, areas covered/not covered
• Address
• Hours
• Phone, Fax, E-mail, Web site address

One reason I started this site was because there is a shortage of available valve skills in A&NZ with only a few overworked techs in the major cities.

The site is intended as a “self-help” resource and has generated a lot of e-mail, some of it from musicians with a classic amp that has a problem, and who can't find a tech with valve skills locally or commercially. There are limits to what one can do by e-mail, and that's where experienced local tech's are needed.

Photos

All photos are welcome, and ideally they would be...

Well lit - the best way to get a well lit photo is outside on a bright overcast day. This provides diffuse light which shows detail (see Fi-Sonic). Indoors window light needs to be augmented with a fill light or three, or fill flash. Stark light such as bright sunlight casts deep shadows and hides detail. Avoid using flash if possible as it tends to produce a stark result with reflections. If you have to use flash, shoot off-square to avoid bounceback off the panels etc. Good lighting also shortens the exposure time for a sharper shot.

Sharp - considerable detail is lost in post-processing, so try to keep the focus as sharp as possible, perhaps also using a support for the camera. The self-timer can then be used to take the shot after you are no longer touching the camera.

Framed - tight on the subject to fill the frame as much as possible without loss. Look at the background and avoid distracting clutter, make it is neutral as possible; move your point-of-view, use a sheet or dropcloth, or manage the background with a rug, guitars or other music stuff, bookshelf, etc.

The prefered file format is un-edited JPG, generally in the range 50kb - 1Mb.

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Circuits, drawings

Circuits, tracings, even fragments, are particularly valuable. What was a once-only problem for you may be a generic problem for many.

If you're hand-drafting then ball-point pen does not scan as well as fine black felt-tip pen. And please title your drawing itself with the name and model of amp and your name and the date.

Graphics are prefered in GIF format.

PDF format has its uses, but it generally obstructs searching, easy access, and abstraction, and is slow to load and view, so normally PDF's will be avoided where possible.

Corrections

Any errors you find I would like to hear about, no matter how trivial.

To ease location and correction please copy/paste the error into an e-mail together with the page URL address found at the head of each page (see above; or the foot on older pages).

Contact

Please read me first;

Each year I get over 1000 e-mails about Aussie amps. I love to get your e-mails but some things keep coming up, so before writing please read the following FAQ answers carefully to save us both time.

* This site was established because there is next to nothing on the net about Aussie valve guitar amps - this site is it. If you find a source that isn't mentioned on the links page, then send me the link so others can find it too. (and I can plunder it ;) See also Aussie amp forums.

* If information on your amp isn't on the site, I don't have it up my sleeve, and don't know where you can get it (e.g. a circuit for your Mastergrunge-100). I'm not holding out and my policy is “all the information that fits”. New information is generally posted within a month after I get it.

And if you have an amp that is poorly or not listed it means that you are one of the few sources of such info remaining, and the OzValveAmps community looks to you to submit your amp (as above), complete with circuit tracing if at all possible. Your payoff is that I can often tell you a lot from a good underchassis pic (not to mention eternal fame in these pages ;).

Valuations

* And please, Don't ask me what your amp is worth - I simply don't know (and frankly, don't care). I'm a technician and player, not a trader. I do not buy, sell, or advertise amps or parts. I live on the smell of an oily rag and shop for parts at the tip and roadside hard rubbish collections, build my own gear for a fraction of new cost, so I'm truly one of the worst possible people to ask.

For valuations try;

Music Swop Shop http://www.musicswopshop.com.au/
Grouse Guitars http://www.coolcarsnguitars.com/GG/
MelMusic http://www.melmusic.com.au/

* DO send photosets of amp makes or models that are not shown, particularly the underchassis.

* DO send the serial (and other) numbers of any ANZ classic you encounter.

* I welcome technical questions from anyone designing, repairing or refurbishing an amp, but please try to be as specific and detailed as possible (e.g. make, model, serial, valve types, transformer numbers), and include above- and under-chassis pix - they can be a great help to me helping you. I have found I can often do a lot with one good underchassis pic, and many of the articles on the site have come from good questions. There is no such thing as a “silly” or “dumb” question and I have a lot of time for newbies and improvers.

* Send material in PDF format if you really must, but please NOT MSWord .DOC or other internal wordprocessor formats; there are simply too many incompatable versions for me to cope with.

* To avoid my spam filter please include the make of your amp, or “AVA”, in the subject line. I reply to all e-mails, generally within seven days. In some cases I may also forward your e-mail to others for reply.

* Unless headed “NOT FOR PUBLICATION” your e-mails may be quoted on this site, and contributions will be attributed to your e-mail name unless otherwise specified. See Privacy Statement.

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