Welcome to the 3rd Segment of the "The History of Voodoo Amps"
This 3rd photo is a rare pre-production “Hex". The Hex was Voodoo’s first proprietary amp design. This amp was built circa 2000 & began life as a late silver faced Fender Bassman 100 Master Volume model. The amp was stripped down to the chassie & rebuilt from the ground up. 100% hand wired circuitry (no printed circuit boards were used).
Control Features & Specs - 1-Channel, Gain, Bass, Mids, Treble & Master Volume. Controls exclusive to Voodoo Amps; Girth, Global, Bottom controls & "Brutal/Savage" mode mini toggle switch. Power & Standby switch, (1) input jack, (2) speaker jacks, Custom OEI Output Transformer. Amp runs on EL34's and 12AX7’s.
Early models such as this came with "Brutal/Savage" mode switch allowing one to switch between 4-5 gain stages. These days most think of 4-5 gain stages as an extreme amount of gain however the gain was very articulate back then, as some of our facebook friends here may remember. Since the inception the "Hex" has under gone various circuit revisions to keep up with the musical stylings of the times as well as player feedback.
Historical Facts - This is the only amp in existence with this color scheme. There are (2) more similar amps that were built around the same time but the color scheme is red & black.
The particular amp contains an upgraded output transformer (OT) made by the company "Obsolete Electronics Inc", better known at the time as "OEI". I was one of (3) gentleman involved with OEI including company president Joe Pampel & designer/engineer Simcha Delft. The company focused solely on the design & manufacturing of output transformers.
When the time came for Voodoo to release our multi channel production models we needed to look for a company that offered both power & choke transformers. Over a (6) month period we tried countless transformers & in the end we favored the Mercury Magnetics brand. We needed to have custom transformers made to better suit our needs to work hand in hand with the circuits we had already designed. Mercury was happy to accommodate & this not only marked my withdrawal from OEI but also the beginning of a long lasting relationship between Mercury & Voodoo that continues to this day.
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