A few years ago, I was at the Dallas Vintage Guitar Show and
my band was scheduled to perform a few times. A friend said,
“Hey. You need an amp to play through, and I have a friend
who makes great amps.” He took me to the booth of a Texas
amp builder, Doug Sewell. I loved the way his amps sounded,
and after barely saying hello, Doug and I were inside rewiring
the amp I was going to play through. Since that day, Doug and I
have spent years rewiring and listening to every single possible
variation to finalize the circuits. Our goal was to have highly
usable and musical amplifiers.
I am not an amp collector. I am an amplifier user who keeps
the amps I am presently playing through. That said, after Doug
and I got several of the prototypes finalized, I sold some of
my old coveted live and studio amps because ours sounded
considerably better. The next step was to take the prototypes
to musicians who are known for their amplifier tone as well as
their playing. What’s interesting is that when I spoke to these
artists about trying the amps, they all said the same thing.
“Sure I’ll use them, if I love them.”
In a real way, amplifiers are musical instruments. They are the
devices that “amplify” the sound of the player’s hands, the
guitar and possibly the pedal board. They must share many
qualities. They must work - they have to have a beautiful
balance of bass, midrange, and treble; the highs should be
sweet - not harsh; they should be easy to operate and be
highly musical. In addition, amps should clean up really well
when you turn your guitar down. The final quality that Doug
and I looked for are amps that sound good no matter where
the knobs are. It is a rare quality that we insisted on.
I hope this hand-crafted amplifier gives you years of
enjoyment, musical results, and pride in ownership. I
appreciate your confidence.
Using your PRS Amplifier
IMPORTANT:
Before using your amplifier, refer to the IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS insert
supplied with the product.
Powering Up:
1.
Make sure your speaker cabinet is connected to the correct speaker output impedance jack with a
high quality speaker cable. Do not use guitar cords.
2.
Make sure the power cord is connected to the correct grounded outlet.
3.
Make sure there is at least 6 inches of clearance behind the amplifier to allow for proper cooling.
Never place the amplifier against a wall or other equipment, and keep it clear of other heat sources,
such as other amplifiers or stoves. Make sure there are no flammable items, such as curtains,
behind the amp. Do not drape items over the amps that can prevent proper cooling. Do not set
drinks or other liquids on top of the amp that can spill into the amp.
4.
To increase the life of the tubes, set the “Standby” switch to the STANDBY position before
powering on. Turn the POWER switch on and let the amplifier warm up for 2 minutes before setting
the standby switch to “ON.” If this is the first time you are turning on the amp, check to see if all of
the tubes are glowing.
5.
Plug in the guitar cable, turn the volume knob down and turn the standby switch on and wait a few
seconds for the bias to settle. Bring the volume up and play some tunes.
Input:
1/4” standard guitar cord.
Bright Switch:
The bright switch adds shimmer in the clean settings. It allows high frequencies to be
unattenuated by the volume pot. As previously stated, to achieve bell-like cleans, back off the treble
and employ the bright switch. Also, if you are using a distortion pedal, use the bright switch with
discretion because it will add sizzle to the higher frequencies. If you are trying to achieve smooth, fat
lead tones, the bright switch should be off.
Volume:
The volume is one of the most important controls on the amp. Depending on the output of
your pickups, you can find your sweet spot at various locations on the sweep. There will be a point
in which actual volume stops increasing and the tone becomes thicker and more compressed. Each
guitar will react differently and exploring this control should be a source of great enjoyment.
Reverb:
The reverb knob controls the amount of reverb added to the guitar signal at the output.
Adjust to your liking.
Treble:
The treble control is very sensitive and should be used with discretion. Like all three knobs,
there are no numbers to encourage you to set the amp with your ears. It affects the gain and
distortion of the amp and can work effectively with the bright switch to produce more mid-60’s
American “scooped-mid/bell tones.” Just roll back the treble to say 11 o’clock and flip on the bright
switch.
Middle:
Controls the Mid-EQ tone.
Bass:
The bass control is more useful in clean settings and should be used a little more sparingly
when overdriving the amp. Back off the bass to say 9 o’clock when initially experimenting with
overdrive. Another thing to explore is to turn this control all the way up to phase cancel certain
frequencies for interesting tonal effects. Consider the bass “all the way up” at about 3 o’clock. If you
like to hang in that “sweet spot,” try the control at about 1 o’clock and adjust the treble to taste.
Master:
Controls the overall volume of the amplifier.
On-Standby-Off Switch:
3 position switch to ramp up the power on the amplifier. Turn the amp off
in the down position, then switch to standby in the middle position, then switch up to turn the amp
on.
Jewel Power Indicator:
Power indicator. If the jewel is lighted, the amp is on. This does not indicate
the standby setting of the amp. Note: An amplifier may be plugged in and “on,” but a malfunctioning
or burnt-out indicator will not show the amp is on. Check the power cord and Power Switch if the
jewel light is not on. If these are connected correctly, then check the main fuse. If the main fuse
burns out, check for proper speaker connections. If the fuses continue to blow, the amplifier may
need servicing.
Fuse:
Blown fuses may indicate that the amplifier needs servicing. Use only the type and rating
specified on the back of the amplifier. See the section on Service Notes for proper fuse servicing
and replacement.
Speaker Jacks:
Get into the habit of checking these first. The jacks include a connection for 4, 8 and
16 ohm loads. There is an extension (EXT) included in parallel with the “speaker out” jack. Use the
extension speaker jack for adding a like speaker load, being careful to calculate the total impedance
for the two loads. For example, two 16 ohm loads would total 8 ohms and two 8 ohm loads would
total 4 ohms. Do not connect an 8 ohm load along with a 4 ohm or 16 ohm load in the jack. This
procedure halves the reflected impedance of each and will not allow ideal operating conditions.
If you are using more than one speaker, they must be the same impedance. For example, use two
4-ohm speakers, or two 8-ohm speakers. Never use 2 different speaker impedances - You should
not mix and match. The maximum number of speakers you can safely connect is 2. Always ensure
that the speaker impedance matches the correct impedance selection, since this amp is designed to
be played “wide open.” Mismatching impedances from a lower tap to a higher speaker impedance
stresses the amp more than going into a lower impedance mismatch and can cause arcs on the tube
sockets, failure of power tubes or even failure of the output transformer.
Confirm that the speaker cabinet you are using matches to the correct impedance selection on the
back of the amp. Note: The total speaker impedance must be determined before connecting to the
speaker jacks.
PRS 30 Amplifier Front Panel Controls
Rear Panel Controls
© 2009 PRS Guitars
All rights reserved.
“Paul Reed Smith,” “PRS,” the PRS logo, the PRS Paul Reed Smith logo, the Paul Reed Smith signature, the
bird inlays, the headstock bird, the PRS headstock shape, the PRS body shape, the PRS “scoop” design,
“Singlecut,” “Mira” and the “SE” are all registered trademarks of Paul Reed Smith Guitars “Custom
24,” “Modern Eagle,” “SE Custom,” “SC 245,” “SC 250,” “Starla,” “Tonare,” “Sewell,” “ Blue Sierra,” and
“Angelus” are all trademarks of Paul Reed Smith Guitars. The Birds and New Birds are copyrighted by PRS
Guitars.
SPEAKER JACKS
TO AVOID DAMAGE, USE PROPER SPEAKER LOAD
