#1
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Amp Question - What's Up With Knob Placement?
Beyond aesthetics or style considerations, is there a reason some amps have their controls on top while others have theirs on the face?
I play facing my amp while it sits angled in a floor rack, as that gives me the best sound. I have amps with top mounted controls (at the back of the top panel) and amps with the knobs on the front panel. As I'm sitting in my chair leaning forward to make adjustments, guess which approach I prefer. Now, if I was sitting next to the amp as it faced out to an audience, the top mounted controls certainly make sense there, but given that amps serve the same general purpose (playing to an audience and/or practicing), why do the makers place their controls differently? |
#2
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It all has to do with chassis orientation. If the chassis is oriented with the transformers protruding towards the front and the tubes hanging off the bottom (ie. Fender tweed), the controls will be on top. If the chassis is oriented with the tubes and transformers hanging from the bottom (ie. Fender blackface), the controls will be at the top and either front or back. If the chassis is oriented with tubes and transformers on top (ie. Marshall), the controls will be at the bottom at the front of back. Why the difference? Mainly design philosophy and style. The earliest amps were designed to sit in front of the player so the controls were on the back.
Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) |
#3
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Thanks Bob |
#4
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some of the earliest amps had the chassis in the bottom of the cabinet. just think how hard that would be to tweak from sitting in a chair, or anywhere for that matter.
play music!
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2014 Martin 00015M 2009 Martin 0015M 2008 Martin HD28 2007 Martin 000-18GE 2006 Taylor 712 2006 Fender Parlor GDP100 1978 Fender F65 1968 Gibson B25-12N Various Electrics |
#5
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Bob
__________________
"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website) |
#6
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Fifties and earlier Fender amps were normally placed in front of the musician, which made sense early on. Leo Fender's first guitars were lap steels and were sold in pairs with an amp, so having an amp easy to adjust while sitting at your instrument was functional. Around 61 or 62, Fender shifted to front mounted controls on the blonde tolexed amps. You'll also notice around this time that the amps moved to the back of the stage to make room for the musician to be out in front - there was no way Chuck Berry was going to sit in a chair!
When Marshall started, they copied (okay, flat out cloned) the late fifties Fender Bassman but with the chassis rotated so the tubes were on top and controls in front. If you orient the two amps the same way, the control panels are identical in layout including the jacks being to the right. That way you could put the head cab on top of the speakers and have your controls right at your fingertips. There's technical reasons for the tubes to be normally vertical, but I'll not get into that.
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"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." -Zig Ziglar Acoustics 2013 Guild F30 Standard 2012 Yamaha LL16 2007 Seagull S12 1991 Yairi DY 50 Electrics Epiphone Les Paul Standard Fender Am. Standard Telecaster Gibson ES-335 Gibson Firebird |
#7
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My peavey's got a nice fender-type front panel, and my mustang's got a top-mount oriented like the Vox's but at the front of the top, rather than at the rear. Learning every day. |