So is the Atomica really THE Atomica Curt played?

[Digital Jams]

Going by his post that amp is NOT the high gain diode clipping Jose that Jose pumped to everyone but more of the EVH type Jose mod that only few have played.

I take it the low gain setting is by-passing the clipping right?

I think lots of guys would be pissed and running for boost pedals everywhere if it is the Atomica that Curt played

 

[Chubtone]

Probably the only person in the world who knows how close the new Atomica will be to the one Mark and I played will be Mark. I don't know circuits at all. Heck, Mark and I don't even remember the year of the amp being the same. He insists it was a '68 plexi and I thought it was a '71 metal panel. I am going to defer to Mark on that because he spent a ton of time playing and looking inside that amp.

It was not a very high gain amp at all, but it did Van Halen very well. Anything more gainy than that, for example Lynch, DeMartini etc you had to boost it. I had a low gain Jose mod that I really dug and a few years later Mark put the High Gain Jose in there too with a switch to go between them. Personally I preferred the Low Gain side but I know 99% of the RT'ers would prefer the High Gain side.

I don't think there would be any problem for Mark to duplicate the Atomica amp in a new build. With Mark dialing it in and playing it, I have heard very "Atomica" like sounds out of the CCV as well.

And IMO this is the coolest name for an amp out there.

 

[joepete77]

if mark remembers it being a 68, does this mean that they will be using a metro 68 type platform to do the new issue? Would be really cool to start with one of georges metro 68 spec with the dual voltage switching etc plus then have marks mods. Would be killer but probably too expensive that way. With george and mark working on this new project I bet it will be killer and low noise as george does clean work.

 

[OBGYNkanobi]

I'm not sure how similar this is to the "Atomica" amp Curt was talking about. Someone posted this over at the Metro site. Apparently it was an amp that Jose and Ed were working on back in the 80's.

 

[fluff191]

Dude those are the exact same pictures.

 

[OBGYNkanobi]

Yeah, I'm not sure why it's labeled that way; they're obviously two duplicate pics. I just downloaded it from the Metro site to share with you guys here as I thought it was kind of applicable. Anyways, it reminded me of the Atomica story when I saw it; I think there's even a thread about it over there. There were supposedly two of these prototypes that Jose and Ed had worked on that were setup with internally jumpered channels and had Orange Drops and one of the "beefed up" Output Transformers that were made at Valley Electronics for Jose by a guy named Arson.
I think the photo was from the ebay auction a few years ago when it was sold. Who knows if the story is even true. I guess Mark Cameron would be the man to ask about it.

 

[Digital Jams]

Ok then, the Atomica is not the Atomica that has been internet legend. The metal heads would burn this place down if Brad sold them a low gain player's amp


Curt, IMO you played the real EVH mod that Jose did for not many people. Jose gave everyone the knuckledragger diode clipping mod as he thought that was what they were looking for. You would shit if you played the Jose down the street from me.


Who ever gets to pop that amp open will shut down the metro forums

 

[Digital Jams]

I'm not sure how similar this is to the "Atomica" amp Curt was talking about. Someone posted this over at the Metro site. Apparently it was an amp that Jose and Ed were working on back in the 80's.

Nope, only a few know that amp and where it was used.

That aint atomica.

 

[nitro]

The amp that Ed and Jose worked on(project) and then it fell though due to Jose illness that became the peavey VTM,Jose took trips with Ed to mississippi which is where the peavey plant is.Thats how the birth of the 5150 started,which is a fact.

 

[King Guitar]

Mark knows ATOMICA, no worries our amp will have the low gain and the high gain (diode) option. Mark has a pretty good grasp of this tone.

B

 

[Shiny_Surface]

The metal heads would burn this place down if Brad sold them a low gain player's amp

 

[Digital Jams]

I am sure Mark knows the atomica, not questioning that for a second

My understanding though is that the amp was an EVH type Jose mod from Curt's description, a plexi type with just enough gain over a stock one. Some filtering changes and cap values will do that, about $5 in parts and 15 minutes with an iron.

Shit I need to see inside that Jose EVH down the street from me

 

[Shiny_Surface]

Shit I need to see inside that Jose EVH down the street from me

You should buy one of those mini spy camera's and put it in your baseball cap or something, ask him to pull the chassis for a look see.

 

[Digital Jams]

Shit I need to see inside that Jose EVH down the street from me

You should buy one of those mini spy camera's and put it in your baseball cap or something, ask him to pull the chassis for a look see.

I did not want to be rude when I met him as I was there on business but I think this guy would not care, he has two of them. 50 watter and 100 watter.

 

[King Guitar]

Make no mistake, our ATOMICA covers tones from Pasedena to the Sunset Strip and in between. Low Gain and High Gain =No disappointments. If you want more gain, saturation and a different voicing get the OLD BITCH, or get them both like I will be doing.

 

[Anonymous]

Jose gave everyone the knuckledragger diode clipping mod as he thought that was what they were looking for.

So ridiculous because in every mod Jose did for me that had the clipping circuit, you could bypass it just by leaving the push/pull master "in". Voila! No clipping circuit. There was more going on in Jose's mods besides just the clipping circuit. Anyone who can read a schematic can see that in the version that is traveling the Internet. Even without the clipping, the amp would have more gain than a stock super lead or even a JCM 800... Everyone focuses on Jose's clipping circuits, but the preamp changes and placement of the master have a lot of effect on gain as well - not all of the players I know who used the Jose mods in the clubs back in the day played with the diode clipping engaged.

Steve

 

[Digital Jams]

Jose gave everyone the knuckledragger diode clipping mod as he thought that was what they were looking for.

So ridiculous because in every mod Jose did for me that had the clipping circuit, you could bypass it just by leaving the push/pull master "in". Voila! No clipping circuit. There was more going on in Jose's mods besides just the clipping circuit. Anyone who can read a schematic can see that in the version that is traveling the Internet. Even without the clipping, the amp would have more gain than a stock super lead or even a JCM 800... Everyone focuses on Jose's clipping circuits, but the preamp changes and placement of the master have a lot of effect on gain as well - not all of the players I know who used the Jose mods in the clubs back in the day played with the diode clipping engaged.

Steve

I agree and may have been too general in my thoughts

It is just my opinion that if Mark is going to recreate the Atomica it should be like the amp we have heard about for 10 years and from what I gather from Curt's memory it is a low gain mod unless maybe he did not try the high gain part.

I would be interested in that version, the low gain without anything else.

 

[Digital Jams]

The amp that Ed and Jose worked on(project) and then it fell though due to Jose illness that became the peavey VTM,Jose took trips with Ed to mississippi which is where the peavey plant is.Thats how the birth of the 5150 started,which is a fact.

The VTM was created from Brian Jay's 50 watt Jose Marshall, the Golden amp was not used I can provide more info on that if you need it.

 

[OBGYNkanobi]

I thought the VTM was a traditional cascaded circuit with 10k &. 68uf/2.7k at V1a and V1b respectively. Not really much more than a tweaked JCM 800 circuit with a switchable tonestack and 6L6s in the power section. The golden amp looks to be jumpered internally instead.

 

[Gainzilla]

LMAO!!! Not only have I never heard of The Atomica, Im clueless on the cicuit discussion!!!! Thank God for guys like Fortin,Cameron etc etc..