Doug Aldrich sig amp/Suhr
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Wizard of Ozz
Well-known member
Lots of talk... no amp. Was a lot of hype about a year ago around it.
fusedbrain
Well-known member
The original CAA Bradshaw / Suhr / Golub "Aldrich" amps that Doug has been using for years were basically channel 3 of the CAA 3+ SE preamp with a plexi power section. I believe it was a mod they built into Doug's Marshalls.
( yes I know Cameron made him an amp as well, but these appear to be the original and more widely used "Aldrich" amps. There are a few threads on the Gear page where John Suhr posts about these amps )
The Suhr SE100 was a handwired production version of this. He also did a 50 piece run of a "Blackout " version that was the same amp with different cosmetics.
There WAS going to be a signature Suhr Aldrich amp, but it never happened for whatever reason. I don't imagine it would have been drasticly different than the circuit Doug has been using for years, aside from the Aldrich name on the front.
I believe if you get in touch with John Suhr, he'll still make you an SE100, but they are large$$ for a single channel amp (handwired though ).
It's definitely a great sounding high gain circuit, and it cleans up pretty well with your volume control.
4 gain stages + cathode follower ( 4x 12ax7's, + one for the tube loop) no diodes. Second stage is a cold clipper like an 800. The scheme for the 3+ preamp is all over the net, so it's not hard to figure out.
The SE100 has really beefy filtering on the plates, and a kind of funky presence / depth arangement, but it sounds great, and more importanly FEELS better than any other Suhr I've played.
The older CAA OD100 SE+ is supposed to be similar, but it's buit on a PCB, and while it sounds OK ( though not as agressive as the SE100) it feels like a lifeless turd.
YMMV
( yes I know Cameron made him an amp as well, but these appear to be the original and more widely used "Aldrich" amps. There are a few threads on the Gear page where John Suhr posts about these amps )
The Suhr SE100 was a handwired production version of this. He also did a 50 piece run of a "Blackout " version that was the same amp with different cosmetics.
There WAS going to be a signature Suhr Aldrich amp, but it never happened for whatever reason. I don't imagine it would have been drasticly different than the circuit Doug has been using for years, aside from the Aldrich name on the front.
I believe if you get in touch with John Suhr, he'll still make you an SE100, but they are large$$ for a single channel amp (handwired though ).
It's definitely a great sounding high gain circuit, and it cleans up pretty well with your volume control.
4 gain stages + cathode follower ( 4x 12ax7's, + one for the tube loop) no diodes. Second stage is a cold clipper like an 800. The scheme for the 3+ preamp is all over the net, so it's not hard to figure out.
The SE100 has really beefy filtering on the plates, and a kind of funky presence / depth arangement, but it sounds great, and more importanly FEELS better than any other Suhr I've played.
The older CAA OD100 SE+ is supposed to be similar, but it's buit on a PCB, and while it sounds OK ( though not as agressive as the SE100) it feels like a lifeless turd.
YMMV
fusedbrain
Well-known member
Sorry, no idea.PAULYC2":uixc8yau said:
I was researching the amp to do a build, not really focused on Doug's gear per se.
It was actually Chippy's vids that got me interested in this amp, even though I've owned a few other Suhr amps and wasn't impressed.
So I said fuk it, I'm not dropping any more cash on another Suhr amp I might hate, I'll just build one and see how it goes. ( It's just a beefed up plexi really, and I had most of the parts on hand already )
It has exceeded all my expectations, fortunately.
I think it's become my favourite amp
Mailman1971
Moderator
Saw Doug with the Dead Daisies.
Tone was insane good
Tone was insane good
fusedbrain
Well-known member
Premiere Guitar Dead Daisies rig rundown:Mailman1971":1z41a0di said:
https://youtu.be/MTEdZtG3NKc
Pic of the Suhr modded JMP here:
https://www.premierguitar.com/ext/resou ... G_8891.jpg
I did mention that it's a good sounding circuit
psychodave
Well-known member
fusedbrain":1l1zz5np said:Premiere Guitar Dead Daisies rig rundown:Mailman1971":1l1zz5np said:
https://youtu.be/MTEdZtG3NKc
Pic of the Suhr modded JMP here:
https://www.premierguitar.com/ext/resou ... G_8891.jpg
I did mention that it's a good sounding circuit
It’s a great sounding circuit, but to me, it isn’t the easiest to play. It’s touch sensitivity is really lacking.
fusedbrain
Well-known member
I agree about the touch / feel thing with the CAA / Suhr amps I've tried, and also the SL68, but I'm not finding that to be the case with my SE100 clone.psychodave":1kt41by2 said:fusedbrain":1kt41by2 said:Premiere Guitar Dead Daisies rig rundown:Mailman1971":1kt41by2 said:
https://youtu.be/MTEdZtG3NKc
Pic of the Suhr modded JMP here:
https://www.premierguitar.com/ext/resou ... G_8891.jpg
I did mention that it's a good sounding circuit
It’s a great sounding circuit, but to me, it isn’t the easiest to play. It’s touch sensitivity is really lacking.
Just curious, but is your comment based on playing a CAA/Suhr OD100 SE+, or did you try one of the handwired SE100's?
psychodave
Well-known member
fusedbrain":3d159cks said:I agree about the touch / feel thing with the CAA / Suhr amps I've tried, and also the SL68, but I'm not finding that to be the case with my SE100 clone.psychodave":3d159cks said:fusedbrain":3d159cks said:Premiere Guitar Dead Daisies rig rundown:Mailman1971":3d159cks said:
https://youtu.be/MTEdZtG3NKc
Pic of the Suhr modded JMP here:
https://www.premierguitar.com/ext/resou ... G_8891.jpg
I did mention that it's a good sounding circuit
It’s a great sounding circuit, but to me, it isn’t the easiest to play. It’s touch sensitivity is really lacking.
Just curious, but is your comment based on playing a CAA/Suhr OD100 SE+, or did you try one of the handwired SE100's?
I’ve played them all but the SE100.
fusedbrain
Well-known member
OK, thanks! That helps a lot.psychodave":3mmmuyfk said:fusedbrain":3mmmuyfk said:I agree about the touch / feel thing with the CAA / Suhr amps I've tried, and also the SL68, but I'm not finding that to be the case with my SE100 clone.psychodave":3mmmuyfk said:fusedbrain":3mmmuyfk said:Premiere Guitar Dead Daisies rig rundown:Mailman1971":3mmmuyfk said:
https://youtu.be/MTEdZtG3NKc
Pic of the Suhr modded JMP here:
https://www.premierguitar.com/ext/resou ... G_8891.jpg
I did mention that it's a good sounding circuit
It’s a great sounding circuit, but to me, it isn’t the easiest to play. It’s touch sensitivity is really lacking.
Just curious, but is your comment based on playing a CAA/Suhr OD100 SE+, or did you try one of the handwired SE100's?
I’ve played them all but the SE100.
I'm trying to understand why why certain amps sound ( and feel ) the way they do from a build standpoint.
It's starting to make sense....
lester
Well-known member
I have the Custom Audio Amplifiers OD100 SE+ and right along side of my Cameron and Gower and Cornfords, it hangs with em all. It's got it's own cool sounding distortion/overdrive to it that doesn't make it redundant to the others either.
A little tweaking with the tubes and bias and this thing's a beast.
Just got the Henning/VFE standout in and I tell ya the second channel, boost off, running the standout...this thing has an amazing articulation/feel, really cool. May even prefer that tone to the 2nd channel with the boost on and John's built in boost in this amp is pretty good.
Sometimes too, for the fuck of it, when I really want to get some Aldrich tones going I run this amp with the Gower Aldrich dual mono.
There are a couple different versions floating around though.
I have the SE+ board with the Heyboer "plexi" output transformer and the original big honkin black power transformer.
I had Chris Justice over there update it too to the current, more gain/aggressive channel 2 and he put in the Whomp 2 while he was there. Only thing I might have added, thinking back, was the solid state FX loop and a second master volume...maybe.
I seem to remember the Doug amp is basically just the SE+ boosted 2nd channel with some low mid/bass removed and a couple small tweeks.
A little tweaking with the tubes and bias and this thing's a beast.
Just got the Henning/VFE standout in and I tell ya the second channel, boost off, running the standout...this thing has an amazing articulation/feel, really cool. May even prefer that tone to the 2nd channel with the boost on and John's built in boost in this amp is pretty good.
Sometimes too, for the fuck of it, when I really want to get some Aldrich tones going I run this amp with the Gower Aldrich dual mono.
There are a couple different versions floating around though.
I have the SE+ board with the Heyboer "plexi" output transformer and the original big honkin black power transformer.
I had Chris Justice over there update it too to the current, more gain/aggressive channel 2 and he put in the Whomp 2 while he was there. Only thing I might have added, thinking back, was the solid state FX loop and a second master volume...maybe.
I seem to remember the Doug amp is basically just the SE+ boosted 2nd channel with some low mid/bass removed and a couple small tweeks.