Introducing the Talos Basic

It has been long overdue. With the exception of digital modeling amplifiers (an immature and unsatisfying platform in its present incarnation) there really has not been a truly original approach to amplifier design in decades. Beginning with the fundamental conviction that a guitar amplifier is as much an instrument as the guitar connected to it, Talos Instruments set out to design, using a clean sheet of paper, a new amplifier that would function as one with the guitar and the player; responding to the subtlest nuances of musical expression that would, in short, provide the kind of inspirational musical experience to the musician and the audience that only the finest instruments are capable of.

Design Goals: Fidelity, Versatility, Simplicity, Durability and Portability

Fidelity

For a long time in the guitar amplifier world, there has been the belief that a good sounding amplifier comes from a combination of "cheap parts", speaker "break up" and "point to point" wiring. Although point to point wiring has its merits in durability, the other folklore could not be farther from the truth. The merit of the earlier amps rested mainly in their short audio signal path. Some early examples would be Princetons and Plexies. Although there are more examples, the amplifiers I mention were very simple. They had two transformers, maybe a choke, an understated power supply, and a very short signal path. These amps also distorted at full volume as preamp gain controls had not yet been thought of. This concept is at the core of the Basic design. Rather than hammer your tone with several preamp gain stages, we let the whole amp saturate. Isn't that the way it was meant to be? The early amps had clarity and a response to the touch that most players covet; however, the power supplies were understated for two reasons. First, the guys designing these amplifiers were usually radio repairmen who were not particularly inspired engineers and, secondly, regulated power supplies were both expensive and bulky. Why do I mention regulated power supplies? Because they can reduce hum and noise to an imperceptible level, they improve frequency response and due to drastically lower source impedances they make an amplifier faster and more responsive to its input signal.

I define Fidelity as faithfulness of reproduction, and through fidelity the best tone is ultimately reached. If you think about it, an electric guitar is not supposed to hum, that is a design imperfection. Amplifier hum and hiss cause signal degradation and therefore distortion. This distortion can include phase cancellation which occurs when amplifier noise is superimposed on the original signal which causes part of the original signal to be cancelled or lost. The design of the Basic is very intentional in eliminating this phenomenon in many ways.

 To achieve fidelity, we focused on power supply, short signal path, audio circuit grounding, and parts quality. What is the result of all of this? Well, when you plug your guitar into the Basic, you may be hearing your instrument for the first time.

Versatility

Versatility has often been confused with complexity of operation. Amplifiers nowadays can have as many as 50 knobs and switches. Not only is this unnecessary, but it is the formula for disaster as this is 50 opportunities for parts failure; not to mention the difficulty in quickly moving from one voice to another. We define versatility as a measure of the range of tone and therefore the range of playing styles that any instrument is capable of supporting well. The Talos Basic has proven on stage that it can support any playing style. From Jazz, Rockabilly, Country, Rock and Roll, Metal to Acoustic or Bass Guitar; the Talos Basic will do it all at the very highest standard.

Simplicity of Operation

We achieved all of our design goals with a simple user interface on the control panel. Three jacks, two knobs and four switches. Our tube complement consists of (1) 12ax7, (1) 12at7 and either (2) 6L6's or (2) 6550's. Our design also transfers control functions to the guitars volume and tone controls. Set your maximum sound pressure level and voice; then step out and play. Roll the volume down for a full and complex clean sound and turn up to lay down a fat solo. Use your tone control to smooth things out, or to cut right through. It is as simple as that.

Durability

The Talos Basic is built to last. We really overbuilt in every way possible for maximum reliability. The double-sided heavy duty fiberglass boards and all aluminum chassis are all built by hand. The standard cabinets are made from 13-ply Birch and feature interlocking joinery. The pine cabinets feature dove-tail joinery. We are also proud to say that Talos products are made in the USA.

Portability

Have you ever noticed how many combo amplifiers are just too heavy? Most of that is due to cheap plywood or composition board and over-heavy transformers. We use Pine or 13-ply Birch. Pine is light and soft so you have to take some care with it, and Birch plywood is very strong and light compared to other plywood's. Cheaper plywood is very heavy as it is wet and full of voids which usually fill up with glue. It is also sonically inferior. Cheap ply costs about one fifth of what Birch costs. We chose Birch and Pine because they are simply better sounding and will save you money in the long-run with the back doctor.

Transformer design is critical to any amplifier. That is why we design our own. We use rather expensive nickel alloys to achieve the desired power transfer with greatly reduced weight.

The Basic Combo is also designed to meet the current weight and dimensional airline standards for checked baggage. This means that with most airlines you can put any of the combo's in a flight case designed for two inches of protection on all sides and check it like a suitcase at no additional charge. Take out your power tubes though.

Unsurpassed Quality

In all phases of the Basic design we did what was best for tone and for reliability, not cost.

Let us leave you with one final thought:

The best engineering in the world can only get you so far in the quest for the best. The art of the process lies in the choices made that influence the voice of the final instrument. These decisions are made though painstaking auditions, all the while relying on our own experience as musicians and players, as well as feedback from a number of highly talented musical minds. We are confident that you will agree that the Talos Basic is truly something special.

Design Specifications

Theory of Operation

The Basic is intended to be used for recording or any size of venue. The "Tri-Mode" switch is the key here. The three modes are triode (18 watts), partial triode (30 watts) and pentode (50 watts). If you need to lay down a lead during your set then set the Drive and Gain controls to about 3 o'clock and set the maximum SPL with the Tri-Mode Switch. Turn your guitar all the way up and you are ready to lay down. Pull the guitar volume down to about "5" and you are clean without volume loss. The Basic is designed to be at full volume about ½ volume on your guitar and compress from there when the Gain and Drive controls are at the 3 o'clock settings. Each of the modes have their own sound too. Triode is very smooth. Partial triode is louder with better high frequency definition and tighter bass. Pentode is louder still with extended highs.

Preamp Section Design

In order to voice the Basic for your guitar you need to be aware of how the controls work. We do not use a "Bass/Middle/Treble" passive filter section due to a considerable introduction of phase shift and the resulting loss of tone. Instead we control the source impedance and local feedback of the stages to determine the stage response.

Refer to the block diagram attached for how the audio section is structured.

V1 is the 12ax7, and is the first two stages of the amplifier. Its two sections are identified as V1a and V1b. The phase inverter is V2; the power tubes are V3 and V4.

The following explanation assumes the Fat/Brite switch in the Fat position and both pull switches down.

The "Hi" input goes directly to V1a. The Gain controls V1a output to V1b; and Drive controls the preamp output to the phase inverter. V1a is voiced for a rolled off low end. V1b is voiced for a flat response. If you plug into the "Lo" input, V1a is bypassed. The "Lo" input is very good for jazz guitar, active bass and acoustic guitar; although, the "HI" input is also good for these applications, with lower settings of the Gain control.

At less than 3 o'clock settings the Gain and Drive controls also control frequency response. More clockwise Gain settings will result in a "Fatter" sound while the Drive is less that 3 o'clock. The opposite is true when the Drive is more clockwise than the Gain. The result here is more "cut". With both controls at 3 o'clock; well, you're rockin'!

Now for the more advanced voicing. The Gain and Drive controls are also switches. They both pull up and push down. With Gain pulled up, V1a is now flat response and with more gain. With Drive pulled up and "Fat" on V2b is still flat response and with more gain. So with both controls pulled up and at 3 o'clock, you had better have some ear plugs and a 50 foot cord!

Now, how does the "Fat/Brite" switch work? Just like it sounds. It works in both "Hi" and "Lo" inputs; however, in the "Lo" input with the Drive pulled, the switch is inactive. So here is how to use it. Let's assume we are using a guitar with three single coil pickups. We want to play some lead on the neck pickup and then go to the bridge for some rhythm. We play some single notes on the neck pickup and it is too muddy, so we set the Basic to "Brite". Now we play and it is too brite, so we pull the Drive control up to undo the brite voicing of V2b. Now we set the Gain to 12 o'clock and Drive to 3 o'clock while in Triode mode for smoothness. Now we have some nice "bump and grind" on the neck pickup, but when we go to the bridge it's a little "brite". So what do we do? Remember that useless appendage on your guitar called the tone control? Dial the bridge tone down until it just takes off the edge, and you are ready to go. We have some suggestions for your guitars tone control to make it a useful tool in the modern age, contact us for details at doug@musictechnology.com.

Options

Standard Basic Combo

The Standard Basic Combo comes in a 13-ply Birch cabinet. Standard color is anthracite gray. Speaker choices are a Jensen Neo or a Jensen C12N. Power Tube Choices are 6L6's or 6550's which can be interchanged at any time. This model also comes with a "smart jack" for an extra speaker cabinet on the back panel. When an 8 ohm cabinet is connected, the "smart jack" switches to the 4 ohm output transformer tap to match loads. Both speakers will then operate for a 3 db increase in sound pressure.

Basic Head and Cabinet

Same as the Basic Combo except that the heads and cabinets can be sold separately. The head also has separate 4 and 8 ohm access points.

Bill Kirchen Signature Combo

Same as the Basic Combo, except the cabinet is constructed with pine and is available in custom colors. The pine is about 10 pounds lighter and lends a "piano like" quality to the individual notes.

Mini Basic

This is as small and light as we can make it. Comes in Pine with our standard anthracite gray finish. Great for musicians that favor portability over a little less bottom end.

Speaker Choices

Jensen Neo: Probably the best speaker I have ever heard. Good punchy bottom end and extended highs. A good faithful reproduction of musical information. Resonant frequency of about 90hz.

Jensen C12N: Less bottom end and more "cut". This speaker has a "bump" in its response at 15khz and a resonant frequency of about 112hz.

Tube Choices

6550's or 6L6's in matched pairs. No need for rebiasing, just stick them in.

Permanent voicing options

Some people are never satisfied, so if you desire custom voicing, this can be accommodated on a time and materials basis.