Are Amp Makers Adapting To Cliff's Techniques?

Rotti said:
True, he did say that, but then again, we have a VH4 in the AFX. Not many have seen real Diezel schematics. I have a copy of the schems for the VH4, and it's loaded with pitfalls - omissions, what must be purposeful errors and/or design changes over the years... I can only imagine at least SOME reverse engineering must have taken place with the physical amp present, and on that amp in particular it must have been a monumental pain in the ass.

...but WELL worth it! :D



Moke is on FIRE today!
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I think he said he opened that up a traced all the components. IIRC he stated it is very time consuming.
 
As far as he has a physical amp , even if the components are not marked or identified , Cliff may measure the components and figure out the schematics .
 
Some of the reluctance to posting schematics may be because the schematics would be something like this; Input > SHARC chip > transistor amp chip > neodymium speaker. ;-)
 
dpavel said:
As far as he has a physical amp , even if the components are not marked or identified , Cliff may measure the components and figure out the schematics .
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Right. That's exactly the point I was getting at. And if Cliff said it was very time consuming (particularly for the VH4) I don't doubt it for a second. Have you seen the guts of one of those things??? Might as well be an Engl 670!
 
Lionheart said:
I like this guy's videos and thought you guys might enjoy this one in particular. It's kind of relevant to the conversation at hand. Enjoy!
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Oh god Not this video again. This one has been discussed in other threads on this forum. I posted to his crazy video and debunked the "its soo expensive crap he was spewing. I posted about the real world prices for the amps he was comparing the Axe to and showed him just how economical the Axe really is. I am Reedviews on youtube. All he could say after I shot down all his BS was "I still prefer real amps in the studio. ymmv." I hate when people spew crap about things they really have no knowledge of.
 
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This isn't anything new. Amp manufacturers have always been protective of their circuits and don't want them to be copied by any competitors, analog or digital. Same goes for stompbox makers as well. Some even go so far as to cover their circuit boards with epoxy goop to keep people from tracing the circuits or mislabeling components to throw people off.
 
Like KLON did for the Centaur
Some even go so far as to cover their circuit boards with epoxy goop to keep people from tracing the circuits or mislabeling components to throw people off.
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mr_fender said:
This isn't anything new. Amp manufacturers have always been protective of their circuits and don't want them to be copied by any competitors, analog or digital. Same goes for stompbox makers as well. Some even go so far as to cover their circuit boards with epoxy goop to keep people from tracing the circuits or mislabeling components to throw people off.
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+1. I was just going to jump back in this thread to mention that. Circuit design, like most art, is for the most part, learned by plagiarism at the outset and then the person develops their own style and technique. So, the AF2, being a digital device, is nowhere near as disconcerting to the manufacturer as the decades old tradition of straight up lifting of other people's circuits by competitors in the same medium (i.e. other tube amp manufacturers). So, honestly your whole OP premise/concern is flawed, IMHO. I think for the most part dealing with this kind of competition and trade secret espionage is part of the game and they have learned to deal with it, as other have noted, you can ALWAYS reverse engineer things.
 
zenaxe said:
+1. I was just going to jump back in this thread to mention that. Circuit design, like most art, is for the most part, learned by plagiarism at the outset and then the person develops their own style and technique. So, the AF2, being a digital device, is nowhere near as disconcerting to the manufacturer as the decades old tradition of straight up lifting of other people's circuits by competitors in the same medium (i.e. other tube amp manufacturers). So, honestly your whole OP premise/concern is flawed, IMHO. I think for the most part dealing with this kind of competition and trade secret espionage is part of the game and they have learned to deal with it, as other have noted, you can ALWAYS reverse engineer things.
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Cool. Thanks for giving a great answer to my original post. [emoji106]
 
Yep. The first Marshalls were basically straight up copies of the Fender Bassman with UK sourced components. Countless "boutique" overdrives are basically tube screamers with a couple of components swapped out. People say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but the patent office disagrees.
 
SpectreSoundStudios video removed from post #32. Please see aforementioned post number for reason.
 
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