This little tone monster deserves to be described as anything but little. Taking it’s cue from one of my fave handwired amps by Marshall, this little dynamo packs a mean snarl in a very unassuming package. The idea here is power amp distortion and by using a simple pre-amp design, the Heatseeker does just that. By turning the character pedal, one can achieve different results as described below:
 
 
 

    Putting out a lean and mean 18 watts, this amp seems like it has about 30 watts kicking back at you and will work well in a vicious game of “Pin the Pesky Drummer To the Wall”. When I cranked the little beasty up, I was able to dial in a very cool early AC/DC “Highway To Hell” approved crunch much to the staff’s dismay. Best of all, this amp also loves distortion pedals. I was pleasantly surprised when I plugged in my  tried and true BOSS Metal Core ML-2 pedal and dialed up a Slipknot/Metallica approved tone. The other very cool option that we get on every head we bring in is an effects loops for patching in time based pedals and rack gear (i.e.… Delays, chorus, flanger, and reverb). Here are some other specs that might interest you:
 
 
 

     The lovely specimen that you see in the pic is covered in a oh-so cool Marshall-esque red tolex and is expertly finished from top to bottom. This amp has some serious attitude and really needs to be plugged in to believe the hype. Can you say “All killer…no filler”?!
 
 
 

    The Skyraider SR-30 features a 12AX7 tube operating in a parallel triode configuration for the preamp. Running the dual triode sections of the 12AX7 in parallel produces higher gain than a single section and lower noise than cascading one section into the other.  It also produces very warm tube tone. Another 12AX7 serves as the phase inverter and four 6V6s make up the power amplifier producing about 30 watts of power.

   The SR-30 features solid-state rectification.  This means that devices called silicon diodes convert the incoming alternating current power into the direct current power the rest of the circuit needs. Many vintage and boutique amps use tube rectifiers because they produce desirable ‘sag’.  Circuitry downstream of the SS rectifiers in your Skyraider does the same thing.  You avoid the extra cost of tube rectification and the additional heat produced by the rectifier tube.  You get sag that is indistinguishable from a tube rectifier set up.

   A volume control and single tone control reside between the preamp and phase inverter.  The tone control rolls off high frequencies to voice the top end of the amp. The lack of bass and middle tone controls restricts the amount of tone shaping, however it also reduces signal loss inherent in passive tone controls.  The fewer passive controls in the signal chain, the larger the signal getting to the phase inverter and on to the power section.  This is a key factor in the Skyraider’s ability to produce more volume than expected from an 30-watt amp and to drive the power amp into the crunch and distortion zone.