Conference napalm::guitar

>    The Mender is a box that you plug into the first two preamp tube
>    sockets of your amp.  You then plug those tubes into the Mender as well
>    as a foot switch cable.  The "normal" channel provides master volume
>    and EQ while the "reverb" channel is used to generate overdrive gain,
>    etc.  Channel switching is relay-operated, so it is supposed to be
>    pretty quiet if not totally silent.
>    
>    The best part...list price $150.  This should be a hot item.
    
     Brian,
     	    Does this mean you can get the reverb in both the 'clean' and
'overdrive' channels?

     Bruce

    
    Re: .1
    
    To get the whole story, read the product review in the Feb. 1990 GP.
    BTW, I got the channels wrong in .0, it's the "normal" channel which
    governs the overdrive.  Yes, you get reverb and tremelo in both
    channels, since what the box does is let you *cascade* the preamp for
    the normal channel into the reverb channel, the concept used in the
    Mesa Boogie amps.
    
    The big deal:
    
    1. No permanent HW mods, so you don't "deface" your vintage amp.
    
    2. The tone you get with the amp on "10" is now available at lower
    volumes.  The individual tone of *your* amp gets retained. 
    
    							Brian

    
    	Gotta hand it to Mr Hicks - pretty slick idea!
    
    	Joe

I'm curious... How does it work does one suppose ??
    
    It's not like a power soak is it ??

    re: Jeff
    
    It's reviewed in the new issue of Guitar Player.  You may want to check
    it out if your interested.
    
    Greg

re Jeff
    
    	it's not a power soak......
    
	Dan Hick's amp mod is fairly simple,he is creating the overdrive
by replacing the circuitry or adding in this case. 
	How it works is the  signal is redirected to create the effect,
by driving the first preamp tube into the second preamp tube. However
by doing this the second channel of the amp is not useable by another 
guitarist. Most people who use two channel amp's only use one channel
when it comes to fenders.
	I expect when playing clean the signal is routed threw the 
typical circuits.
	Seems like a nice packaging job to me.......If this kind of
product takes hold,his next add on is probably a buffered effect's loop
or a variety of flavors of "the mender" for different styles of music. 
Let's see "the metal mender","the blues mender" and lets not forget "the
kithchen sink mender". :^)

	So how does this impact the amp buisness? Well lets see,both Black
and silver face amp's become even more expensive and valueable. :^( 
	It also cut's the tube amp modification guy out of a little income,
which could eventually make your common repair guy become less available. 
						  :^(
    	What's nice is now you can convert your old twin which is
    collecting dust into a useful backup or whatever amp....	
    
    So anyone know when they'll be available?


							Rick
                                                            

    Check out 2.1423 for an ad where someone is selling a Deluxe with a
    Mender.  Sounds like she might be willing to split the Mender and the
    amp...
    
    Greg

    I have a question on a similar line...
    I run thru a silver face Bassman - 2 channels.My question arises from 
    something i did last nite. I put an A/B box between the two
    channels,set up ch.1 for very beefy tone (~8) and ch.2 as clean as i
    could (~3),switching between the two for a normal and lead channel.
    My question is...Can this hurt my amp?? The sound is amazing and i
    really think that after trying about a hundred thousand things, i may
    be able to use this. Any comments??
    
    -kev

    I can't imagine why this would hurt anything...
    

    I just happen to be one of those few electronically illiterate people
    out there,yunno.I know what i like when i hear it, and try to use my
    common sense when it comes to experimenting with gear that i want to
    keep.This brainstorm regarding the channel switching has been bouncing
    around my noggin for a while.i tried it and was pretty impressed.I've
    been looking for a distorted tone like that for a while.Thought i could
    find it in a stomp box...i was wrong.I guess the real test will be when
    i get to try it out with the band blasting behind me.Think i'll my need
    just a little more to get me over the edge...Tube Screamer should do
    the trick-i hope.
    
    -kev

    Kev, don't worry, no problem running your amp this way.  You've just
    discovered on your own channel switching the same way Randall Smith
    did on the early Mesa Boogies; the early Mark I's were more or less
    Bassman circuits and used the same A-B box technique.  Me-thinks you're
    also about to discover the great dilemma of the Boogie player; how to
    get a good balance between clean and distorted volume.
    

    Regarding that "good balance" between clean and dist seems to be the
    volume knob on my strat.
    I've had a couple of practices with it since the "dicvery" and seems to
    be very useable.I'll never find that kind of distortion with anything
    else-that ,i'm sure of...I love it.
    
    -kev

    Can anyone give me a pointer to where I might find one of these
    beauties?  I'm about to acquire a '73 Deluxe Reverb (silverface) and a
    Mender I would fix the only real performace problem the amp will
    present!
    
    Thanks,
    
    	Rick

    Alta Vista comes through again!
    
    Found under the Peavey (www.peavey.com) home page in the list of 
    support centers:
    
    Hicks Electronics Corp.
    3259 S. Yale Ave.
    Tulsa, OK 74135
    918-743-7813
    
    (I just tried it and the phone number has changed to:
    
     918-245-5110
    
    I don't know if the address has changed - there was no answer
    at the new number).
    
    Rick

    I recently stumbled into that site myself. I noticed that PV has a 50w 
    Classic amp with 1x12 (or 1x15,I can't remember). Has anyone played one
    of these or may be own one? I like some honest feedback on this unit.
    I'm in the market for a new amp and this sounds like watt i'm looking
    for.
    
    -kev

    Has anyone out there had any contact with Hicks Electronics or with the
    Fender Mender within the last year or so?  I've not had any luck
    contacting them at he phone number listed in .-2 and I'm really anxious
    to get my hands on one of these.  It sounds like the very best solution
    for bringing my amp up to full stage useability.
    
    	Rick
    

    I traded a Mender I into Daddies (Nashua NH) about 6 month ago. No idea
    is they still have it in stock, but I have seen several in the Daddies
    catalogs over time. It came out of my ProReverb and worked great...
    
    /Jimi

    Would you mind telling me how much they gave you for it (offline if you
    wish)?  I'm looking thru their web page now to see if they have any in
    stock.
    
    	Rick
    

    off the topic but...
    
    Rick, could you post your address for Daddy's homepage?  The one I have
    doesn't seem to work.

    http://www.daddys.com/