# Hiwhat?



## Big Monk (May 31, 2022)

So I went into the basement before trying to find a PNP transistor and notice this little LM386 power amp @fig had sent me:





So I got to thinking (grab your fire extinguishers)…

I’ve always wanted to make a tubes to FET preamp in the style of the RoG units using the Fetzer Valve calculations. In years past, I contemplated something Marshall flavored into a dual Ruby and other ideas like that for low volume practicing. 

During my daily perusal of Reverb, I saw something else that has always intrigued me:









						NuX Solid Studio IR and Power Amp Simulator | Reverb
					

Reverb is a marketplace bringing together a wide-spanning community to buy, sell, and discuss all things music gear.




					reverb.com
				




Unlike similar pedals, most notably the Strymon Iridium, the Solid Studio doesn’t have preamps modeled. 

All this came together as either a great idea or a silly one: Make a FET based Hiwatt preamp in a 1590BB/BB2 enclosure with the 60 watt power amp and an effects loop. Insert the Solid Studio into the loop, set for the EL34 option, and play with the various cab and mic settings. 

Feed a suitable 12” speaker. 

What say the forum?


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## Coda (May 31, 2022)

Finish your fuzz first.


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## Big Monk (May 31, 2022)

Coda said:


> Finish your fuzz first.



Home stretch! Just ordered the relay daughter boards today and the main boards are en route!

Just need a Tayda and Mouser order.


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## mdc (Jun 1, 2022)

I'm not sure I get the purpose of running a power amp/cab sim into an actual power amp and cab?


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## Big Monk (Jun 1, 2022)

mdc said:


> I'm not sure I get the purpose of running a power amp/cab sim into an actual power amp and cab?



I was just spitballing but I was imagining the LM386 Amp being fairly neutral, so the poweramp modeling on the Solid Studio could be useful and using a fairly neutral speaker so the cab and mike modelling would be useful there as well.


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## temol (Jun 1, 2022)

Big Monk said:


> I was just spitballing but I was imagining the LM386 Amp being fairly neutral, so the poweramp modeling on the Solid Studio could be useful and using a fairly neutral speaker so the cab and mike modelling would be useful there as well.


This. 
Another example - D-class power amp (flat frequency response) + FRFR cab (flat response) + Fractal.  
In Fractal you use modeling of the preamp, power amp and a speaker cab.


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## Big Monk (Jun 1, 2022)

temol said:


> This.
> Another example - D-class power amp (flat frequency response) + FRFR cab (flat response) + Fractal.
> In Fractal you use modeling of the preamp, power amp and a speaker cab.



I'm not necessarilly trying to ditch my tube amp, but a small footprint "amplifier" that could be on my pedalboard would be very cool.

The way I see the signal chain is like this, with the HiWhat? having an effects loop to insert the NuX Solid Studio:

Guitar - > Pedalboard -> HiWhat? JFET Pre -> NuX Solid Studio on EL34 Poweramp Model and 4x12 Cab -> 60W LM386TF Poweramp -> 80-100W Neutral 12" speaker.

At least that's how the rough draft of the idea formed in my head.


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## EGRENIER (Jun 1, 2022)

Big Monk said:


> I was just spitballing but I was imagining the LM386 Amp being fairly neutral, so the poweramp modeling on the Solid Studio could be useful and using a fairly neutral speaker so the cab and mike modelling would be useful there as well.


So you are basically thinking building a SS FRFR in a pedal with an FX loop that can plug into a neutral speaker cab ?

EDIT: I thought you wanted a tube AMP at the end...


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## Big Monk (Jun 1, 2022)

EGRENIER said:


> So you are basically thinking building a SS FRFR in a pedal with an FX loop that can plug into a neutral speaker cab ?
> 
> EDIT: I thought you wanted a tube AMP at the end...



I have 2 ideas in my head that I have talked about on the forum. One is a parallel single ended EL84 HIWATT style amp. The other is this new idea which is basically a HIWATT modeler.


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## EGRENIER (Jun 1, 2022)

Big Monk said:


> I have 2 ideas in my head that I have talked about on the forum. One is a parallel single ended EL84 HIWATT style amp. The other is this new idea which is basically a HIWATT modeler.


Well an Hiwatt modeler with a 60W SS amp included... What comes to mind is how hard to find and efficient would a 12" speaker be ?  Maybe just a standard commercial audio speaker  (bass, mid and tweeter) would do the job ?


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## Big Monk (Jun 1, 2022)

EGRENIER said:


> Well an Hiwatt modeler with a 60W SS amp included... What comes to mind is how hard to find and efficient would a 12" speaker be ?  Maybe just a standard commercial audio speaker  (bass, mid and tweeter) would do the job ?



After some digging I found this model from JBL:









						JBL 2202H 8 Ohm 300 Watt LF Speaker 12" Low Freq Woofer   | eBay
					

Has a small repair on the cone, but is otherwise in good shape. Cash on pick up. All major credit cards.



					www.ebay.com


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## EGRENIER (Jun 1, 2022)

Big Monk said:


> After some digging I found this model from JBL:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


But that's my point, how good will this be to drive mid/high frequency.  I'm no speaker expert, but guitar speaker are built to cover a wider range of frequency than a standard audio speaker, thus injecting "tone" into the output.... Could be wrong tho....


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## Big Monk (Jun 1, 2022)

EGRENIER said:


> But that's my point, how good will this be to drive mid/high frequency.  I'm no speaker expert, but guitar speaker are built to cover a wider range of frequency than a standard audio speaker, thus injecting "tone" into the output.... Could be wrong tho....



I'm not a modelling or IR guy by any means, but I thought the point of IRs, Cab Sim, what have you, was to ape the frequency response of specific hardware.

In that sense, you want the speaker to provide the flattest, most linear performance and let the Preamp/Sim/Poweramp combo provide the "color".

I could be way off but that's why I propose ideas here, so that others will let me know if I'm being silly...


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## temol (Jun 1, 2022)

Big Monk said:


> In that sense, you want the speaker to provide the flattest, most linear performance and let the Preamp/Sim/Poweramp combo provide the "color".


So maybe FRFR speaker is the way to go? Something like Celestion F12-X200? 




especially from 3:40 mark.


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## EGRENIER (Jun 1, 2022)

Big Monk said:


> I'm not a modelling or IR guy by any means, but I thought the point of IRs, Cab Sim, what have you, was to ape the frequency response of specific hardware.
> 
> In that sense, you want the speaker to provide the flattest, most linear performance and let the Preamp/Sim/Poweramp combo provide the "color".
> 
> I could be way off but that's why I propose ideas here, so that others will let me know if I'm being silly...


No... I think the idea is great !  My point was more that the JBL speaker you referenced is a sub-woofer low frequency speaker.



temol said:


> So maybe FRFR speaker is the way to go? Something like Celestion F12-X200?



I think that's the way to go... Full range speaker vs low frequency sub-woofer !


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## Big Monk (Jun 1, 2022)

EGRENIER said:


> No... I think the idea is great !  My point was more that the JBL speaker you referenced is a sub-woofer low frequency speaker.
> 
> 
> 
> I think that's the way to go... Full range speaker vs low frequency sub-woofer !



I thought I had seen it referenced as a neutral speaker! Guess I need to read the specs…😂


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