Mercury Epiphone Valve Junior - The Story Behind Mercurys First Transformer Demonstration Project; The Guinea Pig Amplifier; Mercury Upgrade Process

Epiphone Valve Jr.•Mercury Upgrade Kit 5
ThisprojectanditsdocumentationistheresultoftechnicalinvestigationsmadebytheengineeringstaffofMercury Magnetics.Thedisclosureoftheinformationhereinmaypertaintoproprietaryrightsand
thefurnishingofthesedocumentsdoesnotconstituteanexpresedorimpliedlicensetousesuchmaterials.
The Story Behind Mercury’s
First Transformer Demonstration Project
W
aybackin’06yourfriendsatMercury
setouttocreateabasicdemonstration
toshowexactlywhatquality
transformerscoulddoforyourtone.Ourgoal
wastorevealthesoniccapabilitiesofhighquality
magnetics–i.e.properlydesignedvs.generic
transformers.
Whatstartedoutasasimpleeducationaldemo
endedupblowingthemindsofvirtuallyeveryone
whoheardit.Therewasnodenyinghow
extraordinaryourlittletestampsoundedafter
theMercurytrannyswere
installed....
The guinea pig
Fortheexperimentwechose
Epiphone’sremarkablevalue,
theall-tubeValve Jr:
• 5watts
• Single-ended,classAdesign
• Onegeneric12AX7preamp
tube
• OnegenericEL84powertube
• Genericpower&output
transformers
• Nochoke
Epiphone’s Valve Jr.isanidealdemonstration
platformforourpurposesbecauseitissucha
fundamental,stripped-downtubeamp.Withno
digitalcomponents,notoneknobs,noadded
f/xcircuits,nothin’...youjustcan’tgetanymore
elementaryandstillhaveaplayabletubeamp!
Allthisforaround$100.00–$150.00retail?Yes,but
asyoumightexpect,thestockampisratherdull
andanemic-sounding.
The Mercury Upgrades
TheMercury teamspentabout3months
workingonthelittleampbeforedecidinguponthe
bestsoundingcombinationofUpgradesand
adaptations.
TheprojectwasheadedbySergio Hamernik,
ofMercury Magnetics,andLosAngeles-
basedampwizard,Alan Cyr.Afterexaminingthe
originalcircuitryseveralcustomAxiom-series
transformersandMini-Chokesetsweredesigned
andtested.Alanwasthenabletocleanupthe
circuit,effectivelyopeningupthe
amp’ssoundbecausemuchof
theoriginalcircuitwasdesigned
togetaroundandreducenoise
generatedfromtheoriginal
trannys–nolongernecessary
bytheMercury Upgrades.
Theresultisaremarkably
tonefullittleampthatrunsquiet
andsoundsB-I-G.
Ifyouareanexperimenteryou
maywanttotrydifferentspeaker
and/ortubecongurations,
butoddlyenough,those
componentsdeliverrelativelyminortonalchanges
comparedtotheabsolutelyH-U-G-Eimprovement
oftheMercurytrannys.
HereinLosAngeles,theMercury Upgraded
Valve Jr.isoneofthehottest,mostin-demand
insiderampsaround.Thosewho’veheardit
immediatelywantone–andatsuchlowcostto
makethemods,whocanaffordNOTtoo!
Withthiskityou’llbeabletotransformyourbland
littleValve Jr. intoakeeper.
Continued on next page è