Hicks Mender options

From wgsack–(at)–rtsci.wustl.edu Sun May 28 21:00:56 CDT 1995
From: wgsack–(at)–rtsci.wustl.edu (William G. Sacks)
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar
Subject: Re: Q: Hicks Mender ???
Date: 28 May 1995 16:06:59 GMT

: > : Can it damage the amp?

If it’s not grounded properly, yes. The Mender requires a Fender amp
with _reverb_ because the tube coupler grounds to the tank. There may be
other ways to go about draining the excess current, but Hicks is quite
clear that the unit is specifically designed to work with black &
silverfaced models- and that he won’t guarantee its operation in other
designs. Also, some Fender models need internal modification- the tube
sockets need to be rotated so that the coupler module retrofits properly.
The list price on the Mender is $150, btw.
Some of the other options you have are:
a) pull your normal channel’s preamp tube, which will drive the
bright/vibrato channel’s 12AX7 harder, giving you a _bit_ more gain.
b) look for a single-tube unit made by Soldano which increases
gain _substantially_ (I believe the unit boosts plate voltage, but I’m
not sure); I have been told by the tech at my favorite local shop that
he can make these units for much less than Soldano wants. The commercial
model is advertised as a hot-rod mod for Marshalls, but I believe it can
be plugged into any number of different models.
c) If you’ve got a Fender combo with reverb, you might do the
Fischer resistor mod which appears in the Weber book- you essentially
unplug your reverb, and use the tube as a gain stage.