”TubeSync DIVO works perfectly and does an excellent job of keeping even the most wayward valves on the straight and narrow. If you want to get the absolute best out of your amp and improve its reliability, DIVO is almost an essential – it’s a real innovation”.

Duesenberg is better known for their high quality guitars. In a unique way Dieter Goelsdorf´s Duesenberg design consolidates guitar construction, features and sounds which have written music history. The art deco style design of headstock, pickguard and metal components gives Duesenberg its own eye-catching look, while the body design bases on the old traditional Jazz guitars like being built from the 40s in Europe and in the USA.

These design elements are combined with the best possible electric guitar construction values of the 50s: Grand Vintage Alnico pickups, classical Fender scale length plus a Gibson-like fingerboard radius. Most of the vintage-style tailpieces, bridges, tremolos, pickups and controls come with greatly improved details.

The Duesenberg Doozy Two amp as pictured above is hand-wired and built in Germany, It is equipped with EL34 power tubes at 110 watts, but with the capabilities of also switching to 55 watts. This all around two channel amp comes with a switchable gain stage for the drive channel as well as serial loops for each channel. Duesenberg are proud to announce that TubeSync technology will be fitted as standard on new models manufactured after July 2010. ‘’TubeSync enhances reliability without changing the tone of the amp’’ More exciting TubeSync features will be announced shortly!

For more information visit :

http://www.tubesync.co.uk

http://www.duesenberg.de

The ‘’Jack 66’’

‘’The combination of TubeSync with short signal paths and other high quality components make our amplifiers world class and due to this, Bulldog Amplification is becoming a preferred choice by professional artists and serious guitar players’’.

The TubeSync ‘’Bias Engine’’

‘’ Robust, bomb proof reliability, with enhanced functionality and perfect tone is what we want’’ – says Ingo Bührmann from Bulldog Amplification. Ingo goes on to say…

‘’Cheap poorly designed products from China are fast becoming unacceptable to guitar players especially within Germany, where high quality engineering is embedded within our culture’’ You would buy a car if the drive was terrible and it broke down when you needed it the most, well would you? ‘’ I believe the same philosophy applies to guitar amplifiers, high performance and reliability is paramount’’.

Bulldog Amps are currently used by a number of high profile bands such as the massively popular German band Guano Apes and Livingston. Bulldog amps with TubeSync will soon be appearing on a stage near you!

Guano Apes

Livingston

For more information on TubeSync email:

UK: info@tubesync.co.uk

Germany: info@bulldog-amps.com

ANDY Fallon and Colin Arrowsmith are not guit- arists. Their affair with the valve amplifier isn’t born of a youth spent practising solos or arguing over kit specifications next to the counter of their local guitar store.

In fact, Andy’s experience lies in automotive and military engineering, while Colin is an expert in microelectronics.

However, their contribution to a piece of kit beloved of the White Stripes, The Who and Black Sabbath has attracted the attention of major international amp-makers.

Andy and Colin are co-founders of KBO Dynamics, a Consett company created to market technology designed to improve audio and guitar amplification.

They are the men behind TubeSync, a “tube management system” which monitors the performance of valve amplifiers to avoid meltdowns while maintaining sound.

The product won the innovation award in the Durham and Wearside heat of the nebusinessawards 2009, run by The Journal and Evening Gazette.

KBO co-founder Andy said: “We were looking for a niche market. Neither of us plays the guitar, but we did a lot of brainstorming.

“Colin worked with microelectronics, but he’s also an expert with valve technology. We realised very quickly that the biggest application for valves was inside guitar amps.”

The valve amp isn’t exactly a rapidly advancing technological product. The technology was developed between the world wars and uses a series of vacuum tubes to regulate a signal. It was present in items from TVs to radios, but fell out of favour in the 70s.

The resurgence of such equipment has been prompted by high-end users in the audio and guitar amp market, who praise its natural sound.

Andy said: “There’s a warmer, more rounded tone to it. Anyone who’s serious about playing a guitar would only use a valve amp.”

When they developed TubeSync, the pair didn’t set out to change the sound. Instead, they set their sights on the downside, the problems that plague valve amp users looking for that special sound.

He said: “The closest you can compare it to is an engine management system on a car. It’s like having a maintenance technician looking after your amp 24/7 without you noticing it. It’s continuously monitoring the circuit, looking for faults.

“We got a market research report from Think M in Newcastle. It conducted a series of live interviews with OEM companies and guitarists.

“We looked at the problems people were talking about, but we didn’t change the sound.

“It can detect faults. It can disconnect a pair of valves if it finds one is faulty. You normally have to buy valves in matched pairs and you need to take the amp to a technician to tweak it, but with TubeSync you only need to buy one valve if one fails and it can tweak the system for you.

“One faulty valve can blow up the output transformer. TubeSync can detect this and prevent catastrophic damage.”

KBO had support from a number of North East backers. It won £90,000 from NorthStar Equity Investors’ Proof of Concept fund, developed its prototype with help from Business Link and got £20,000 from the North East England Investment Centre. The process was then advanced by a grant of £20,000 from One North East.

In all, Andy estimates the product has taken 18 months and around £200,000 to develop.

He said: “We built and developed it from the bottom up. We tried to use components that were available in the marketplace and we created our own unique algorithm.

“We don’t think there’s a similar product to this on the market and we’re hoping to receive a patent in the next couple of months.”

Right now, KBO is on the hunt for buyers. The team has just returned from the international Musikmesse instrument trade show in Frankfurt, where they saw a live band perform using TubeSync technology for the first time.

He said: “It was being used by a band playing Pinball Wizard by The Who. We’re expecting to see the technology on stage properly some time this year.

“The lead time on the product is about eight weeks so it could well be appearing in the summer.”

British amp manufacturer Hiwatt, whose users include Arctic Monkeys, The Killers and The Kooks, has incorporated TubeSync into its amps and Andy says that others, such as fellow Brits Orange, are keen.

The company is talking to manufacturers about fitting it in amps this year and down the line it may create variants of the product that could be fitted by amp technicians or even end users.

Over the last year, Hiwatt and Durham-based KBO Dynamics have developed their own version of a pioneering technology called TubeSync®, which Hiwatt will launch at Frankfurt Musikmesse 2010 in March. The technology has been developed in order to overcome problems associated with conventional tube amplification such as biasing, tube longevity and overall reliability. What the collaboration has achieved is to improve amplifier design without changing the fundamental amplification process yet retaining the classic Hiwatt tone and sound.

Although not an integral part of the amplification process, Tubesync® is connected to the heart of the amp’s circuitry, constantly testing and monitoring; it’s like having an amp technician working full time inside the box every time the amp is powered up. This technology eliminates the need for tube bias current matching, increases tube life by micro-adjusting the bias on each tube, predicts tube failure and can, in the event of a catastrophic tube failure, even run the amp at half power. The result is the eradication of many of the problems hampering conventional tube amplifiers and peace of mind for the musician wise enough to have taken this route.

KBO Dynamics Chief Exec Andy Fallon: “It has been a pleasure working with Hiwatt who have been extremely receptive to change and have embraced the new technology. They have seen the benefits it can bring to them and of course, their customers, and we are looking forward to further exciting collaborations. This technology genuinely has raised the bar concerning reliability and classic tube amps, and what’s more. It’s been developed exclusively in the UK.”

The new Hayden MoFo 100 with TubeSync

KBO Dynamics Win Innovation Award 2009

KBO Dynamics, winners of the Durham and Wearside Innovation Business Awards 2009, stated : TubeSync technology achieves unique benefits including vastly improved reliability and performance in tube amps.  Securing orders from Hiwatt and others is a significant achievement.

KBO Dynamics Power and Control Devices

‘The scale of the companies that KBO Dynamics are working with is impressive. They have ambitious plans for growth and have been performing very well since receiving investment from us. KBO Dynamics is an excellent example of successful innovation coming out of the North East and is testimony to the region’s strong knowledge base,’ Dr Richard Exley, North Star Equity Investors.

­The company has also been supported with market research, manufacturer introductions and early product launch activity by think M., a leading strategic marketing and research agency specialising in technology and innovation.

Andy Fallon, KBO Dynamics, ‘think M.’s channel research played an important part in helping us to secure investment by providing the market evidence required to prove TubeSync’s growth potential. It helped us to refine our offering to amp manufacturers and was instrumental in getting us through the door at some really high profile organisations.’

TubeSync

As KBO look forward to Frankfurt they already have further collaborations underway and anticipate generating more interest from manufacturers, amp technicians and musicians alike. If you would like any more information on TubeSync technology, please visit www.kbodynamics.com.