owner’s manual
Thank you for the purchase of your new Diamond Amplification Spec Op 100watt guitar amplifier. This amplifier is of the highest quality and will give you years of enjoyment if it is well maintained. Before you begin, remember, learn your amp and you’ll be in the best position to achieve the tones and performance you want. So please take the time to read this manual. Afterwards, enjoy the finest in tone and American craftsmanship – Diamond Amplification.
owner’s manual FEATURES............................................................................................................................ 1 FRONT PANEL...................................................................................................................... 2 REAR PANEL ....................................................................................................................... 2 MAKING CONNECTIONS ..............................................................................
Welcome to a new world in guitar amplification. Combine the functionality you want with the tried and true technology of tube tone, wrap that in a completely new approach to the structure of a high gain sound, and unleash the dynamic range of Diamond Amplification’s Spec Op. This manual will walk you through the features, controls and tonal possibilities available to you.
FRONT PANEL REAR PANEL MAKING CONNECTIONS Power. As always, plug your power cable in first. All DA amps use a corcom design. This allows you to take your amp all over the world and ensure you’re ready for the voltage you need. Your corcom comes ready for the appropriate voltage for the country of destination of the amp. If you need to change, you will find instructions at the end of this manual on changing your corcom for other voltages. Speakers. Your DA product comes equipped with two speaker jacks.
If you are using two speaker cabinets, you should reduce the impedance to half that of the impedance of the cabinets. For example, if you are using two 16ohm cabinets, your impedance selector should be set to 8ohms, not 16 (if you were using only one 16ohm cab, you’d set the impedance selector to 16). So, for example: Load Amp Setting 1 cab @ 16ohms 1 cab @ 8ohms 2 cabs @ 16ohms 2 cabs @ 8ohms 16ohms 8ohms 8ohms 4ohms Never use your amp without a load! Doing so is likely to damage your amp! Instrument.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN Ensure your guitar is plugged into the front panel “Input” jack. Make sure your amplifier is connected to a speaker (or speakers) and ensure your impedance is set correctly (more on this in the previous section). Flip the “Power” switch up with the amp on standby and let it warm up. A minute or two of warm up is usually recommended before using the amp. As most of you know, a solid 15 minutes is optimal to ensure the tubes are nice and warm.
3. 4. 5. 6. 7. e. Bass 3 (yes, really) f. Presence 7 g. Gain B 3 h. Volume B 6 Set your Low Focus knob on the rear panel to Low Take the amp off standby and try out Channel 1. Play with the “Low Focus” knob. Go first from Low to High (wait ‘til you hear this!), then back down to Mid. This will give you the flavor of what that knob does. The higher the volume, the more dramatic the effect. Now switch to Channel 2A and play away! Try varying the “Low Focus” knob again.
end-heavy tone. Consequently, we let you adjust your tone to give you the low end you want in the frequency range it needs to be in. The Low Focus knob does much, much more. As you move the knob from Low to Mid to High, you are also increasing the clarity of the amp and filling out your tone. Hence, as you move from Low to High, you’ll hear the amp get fuller with the feel of much more low end.
Many people inquire about the lack of an effects send. There is one. When the loop is engaged, each Volume control becomes that Volume/Gain’s effects send. So, when on the clean channel with the loop engaged, the Volume control on the clean channel becomes the effects send. When on Channel 2, Volume/Gain A, that Volume control becomes 2A’s effects send, and so on. So if you’re clipping your effects, that is the control to reach for. What about that E.
THE TONE/VOLUME CONTROLS The interplay between the volume and gain dictates your tone more than any other controls. So let’s start there. Volume/Gain. As with any amp, the gain control dictates the amount of saturation, break up or distortion of the channel. The higher the gain, the more the channel distorts. Like any good tube amp, this amp is very sensitive to the signal it is being fed.
start with your gain at 5 and work from there. On your clean, start with your gain at around 2 and work up. Bass. This is the most incorrectly used control on an amp. Do we all want fat low end? You bet. Do we get that by diming the bass control? Not on this amp. The simple truth of a good tube amp is that the amp will do its job and produce low end. The higher the volume, the more low end the amp will produce.
Dialing in Channel 1 (Clean) Your clean channel is capable of a huge array of tones ranging from full, round crystal cleans to vintage classic rock crunch including blues/Texas blues tones and everything in between. Our suggestions? Start for true clean tones first. Set the gain around 2, dial your tone controls to 5 (other than bass – 3-4), bring your volume up to the desired level, then work your tone knobs. For blues tones or more break up, try a few things.
Dialing in Channel 2 (Crunch) You’ll note the Dual Volume/Gain design of Channel 2. For the moment, let’s forget about Volume/Gain B. Set them to 0 and forget them. You’re crunch channel is also capable of producing a wide range of tones as well. Most important, the sweep of the gain knob will change more than just the gain. The most important feature is that as you bring the gain below 5, the amp will brighten. So, if you’re looking for punchier, cleaner and brighter tones, keep the gain down.
Start with whichever of these settings is closer to your tone, then tweak the controls one at a time. Until you really get used to the amp, after altering one control, return it to where you started before tweaking the next. NOTE: In both examples, none of the controls vary far from 5. similarly when you work the amps to get your sound. You should dial OK – so what about that Volume/Gain B? Are the different from Volume/Gain A? No. Switching between them is like turning the knob.
As the boost is a decibel level boost only, you are not likely to use it as part of your normal sound. Proof of this is that your sound does not alter by kicking on the boost. If you think it does, you’ll probably find that you can accomplish the same tone by turning up the amp instead of turning on the boost as the boost is only a volume increase. So we recommend you use the boost as an intermittent feature rather than an “always on” feature.
of the switch. Hence, you don’t step on Ch 2B again to turn it off. The only switch where that is true is the Boost switch. Rather than trying to “turn off” Channel 2B, just select the channel you want instead. Note: the front panel switches will override the footswitch. Hence, for the footswitch to operate correctly, all front panel switches must be in the “off” position, which is toward the right when facing the front panel.
TUBES TUBE LAYOUT V1 – Common V2 – Channel 1 (Clean) V3 – Channel 2 (Gain 1) V4 – Channel 2 (Gain 2) V5 – Boost V6 – Loop V7 – Phase Inverter CHANGING/REPLACING TUBES Preamp tubes have a much longer life than power tubes. You are not likely to have to replace them unless one or more tubes fail. Preamp tubes can have a life span of at least two to three years and usually much longer.
The bias trim pot, in the event you need to adjust bias, is located on the PCB near the corcom. DIAGNOSING TUBE PROBLEMS Most tube amp problems relate to the tubes themselves. After all, tubes are not the cutting edge of technological advancement. DA tube choices are based both on tone and reliability. Nevertheless, tube problems are not infrequent occurrences. But before you have to worry about shipping your amp for repairs, learning to diagnose a tube problem can keep you rockin’.
or microphonic tube in this position will affect the entire amp. Microphonic or noisy tubes in several other positions may not be audible at all. You can try tapping the tubes like you did the power tubes and see if the problem worsens. It is normal to hear a slight ring when you tap on preamp tubes. This test is only to see if the identified problem changes when tapping. This test is NOT outcome determinative. If the problem is only on one channel or the other, you’ll know which tube is the problem.
CHANGING FUSES/VOLTAGES (WORKING WITH THE CORCOM) Spec op owner’s manual (rev 2) Page 18 of 18
Diamond Amplification, Inc. 5261 Langfield Rd. Houston, Texas 77040 713.934.0100 (tel) 713.934.0155 (fax) www.diamondamplification.
