And around 1980 we began the long and arduous task of collecting and cataloging transformer specifications for every vintage amp, from all over the world. Sometimes you end up becoming an expert at something when no one else wants to do the job.īy the time I took the helm we were developing a really good and workable understanding of the relationship of transformer design to decent tone and how amps should behave. Eventually I did, and that was when Mercury got serious about the guitar amp connection. That aside, he pestered me for almost a decade to take over the company because he felt I was the only one qualified. As a customer of Mercury, they had built many custom transformers to my specifications - although we had many heated, on-going debates on the subject because the company owner hated audio! He never did understand what made guitar amp transformers tick, or how musicians thought and reacted to them. ![]() Out of pure necessity I had to got involved with transformer design and manufacture. Audio and MI had always been considered the illegitimate stepchildren to the rest of the industry. For the most part the established electronics industry considered the needs and opinions of the audio and MI (Music Industry) communities as subjective, run by kooks, and occupied by people who didn’t know what they are doing. To further complicate things, most transformer people I dealt with just didn’t want to bother with the music industry. The problem was coming up with a way to remedy the blown transformer replacement or repair that wouldn’t alter its tone. It was the transformers, it turned out, that were the key. And no matter what resistors, caps or tubes were used, it could not be rescued or returned to its original sound. The invariable result was that the amp’s characteristic sound was gone. No one seemed to know any better so it was just swapped by whatever “factory” replacement or an off-the-shelf “equivalent” catalog transformer was handy. Typically when an amp’s output transformer blew. So, I worked as a hired gun for a bunch of studio heads and pro musicians. I found myself in demand as a guy who knew about those “old things” not only the math, formulas and specifications but I also had the “ears.” I could fix and keep the old gear running. Back then the electronics world was well into its solid-state “evolution,” and interest in tube gear was quickly disappearing. I met him in the 1970s when I was an engineering student and an audio enthusiast. A booming economy in the early ’50s gave him a lot of business. The name “Mercury” came out of his passion for Mercury cars, he always drove a Mercury since the late ’40s - he loved those cars - and eventually moved from the East Coast to the West Coast where he found that there was a lot of military and aerospace work. And in the early ’50s, hung a shingle and became self-employed. He then went on to do a bunch of design work for the war effort. Mercury was started by an old General Electrics transformer engineer who was working there pre-World War II. The company’s roots date back to the early ’50s. Visual kei band ACME will release a new digital single on May 2nd.In late 2009 I had the opportunity to talk with Sergio Hamernik about the history of the Mercury Magnetics, how he became involved in making transformers for guitar amplifiers, and the difference a high quality transformer can make on your tone. All four will Visual kei band ACME will release a new digital single on May 2nd! ![]() PHALARIS will be available in four editions. The two new YOSHIKI-inspired energy drinks “Real Gold X” and “Real Gold Y” have launch Footage from “THE FIRST FINAL”, the “graduation ceremony” concerts held for contestants from SKY-HI’s boy group audition show “THE FIRST”, will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 29th.įootage of the last show from THE FIRST FINAL, a series of three “graduation ceremony” concerts he DIR EN GREY will release a new album on June 15th!ĭIR EN GREY will release a new album on June 15th. PICTURES will be available in three editions YOSHIKI Partners with Coca-Cola to Launch Two Music-Inspired Energy Drinks Visual kei band Arlequin will release a new single on August 3rd. Part of her KYARY PAMYU PAMYU 10TH ANNIVERS Visual kei band Arlequin will release a new single on August 3rd, and they will be playing a special show with a 51-member orchestra at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA on June 30th Pop singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu will be touring Europe this November. Tonari Kyary Pamyu Pamyu will be touring Europe in November, with a stop in London on the 25th. The talented girl group “PiXMiX” will release their 2nd album “Mada, Tabi no Tochuu. PiXMiX to release 2nd album on October 19!!
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