Summary of Contents for London Power ICON
- Page 1 ICON Operating Manual This manual applies to the London Power model: “ICON Vacuum-Tube Preamplifier” musical instrument preamplifier models manufactured from 2019 onward...
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Page 2: Table Of Contents
CONTENTS 1. Warning 2. Wiring Conventions 3. Rack Mounting 4. Connections 5. Overview 6. Preamp Channels 7. System Configuration _________________________________________________________________________________ ICON Operating Manual Pg.2 © 2019 Kevin O’Connor, London Power... -
Page 3: Warning
Ventilation to outside air is preferred. When wet, surface residue on electronic components may be hazardous to health. Wash hands with cold water and soap after working with electronic components. _________________________________________________________________________________ ICON Operating Manual Pg.3 © 2019 Kevin O’Connor, London Power... - Page 4 This equipment should be serviced only by qualified personnel with technical expertise in dealing with high- voltage tube circuitry. To assist in serviceability, ICON is built in a U-frame. This allows removal of the top and bottom covers, providing access to main-board components on one side and solder points on the other.
- Page 5 Otherwise, refer servicing to a qualified tech. EXTENDING TUBE LIFE If there are some channels of ICON that you never or rarely use, remove the related tubes to avoid wearing them out for no reason, and to save power.
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Page 6: Wiring Conventions
“floats” so that ground levels become irrelevant. At the sending end, London Power uses a male 3-pin XLR connector fed from either a transformer providing galvanic isolation, or a balanced drive circuit producing symmetrical signals. The receiving end uses a female 3-pin XLR and either a transformer or a differential amplifier. - Page 7 Neither does the application absolutely define the signal levels. Instrument: -20dB = 77.5mVrms = 100mVpk Semi-pro: -10dB = 210mVrms = 300mVpk Line: 0dB = 775mVrms = 1V pk “1-volt” Line: +4dB = 1.1Vrms = 1.6Vpk _________________________________________________________________________________ ICON Operating Manual Pg.7 © 2019 Kevin O’Connor, London Power...
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Page 8: Rack Mounting
The rack-mount brackets bolt to the sides of the unit and are interchangeable from left to right. Start all four bolts before tightening any of them. The bolts should screw in freely without binding. Use appropriate bolts and washers to secure the unit to the rack rails. _________________________________________________________________________________ ICON Operating Manual Pg.8 © 2019 Kevin O’Connor, London Power... - Page 9 (50+ years). Each channel of ICON can be used on its own and as many channels can be used simultaneously as required. Channels can also be chained together in series for extra gain; however, this may lead to excess noise or even instability depending on which channels are used and in what order, the choice of tubes fitted, and the control settings.
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Page 10: Connections
‘off’ (out) prior to connection of the power cable. Use only a properly grounded AC source. 120-240: This is the AC RANGE switch which matches the power transformer in ICON to the nominal local mains voltage. Move the slider to the correct position for the local mains voltage prior to connecting the power cable to the amplifier or to the wall socket. -
Page 11: Preamp Channels
Level: This control sets the output level for this channel, via OUT-1 on the rear panel. To achieve a complete match to the iconic clean Fender sound, patch ICON Channel-1 through a tube power amp fitted with 6L6s driving a relatively clean guitar speaker - specifically NOT a Celestion; rather, a traditional Jensen, Electro Voice, JBL, Altec, “generic”... - Page 12 Level: This control sets the output level for this channel, via OUT-2 on the rear panel. To achieve a complete match to the iconic Vox Top Boost sound, patch ICON Channel-2 through a cathode- biased tube power amp fitted with EL-84s driving a Celestion driver or similar.
- Page 13 Level: This control sets the output level for this channel, via OUT-3 on the rear panel. To achieve a complete match to the iconic Marshall master volume sound, patch ICON Channel-3 through a tube power amp fitted with true (skinny) EL-34s driving a Celestion driver or similar. Change to KT-66s for a “vintage style”...
- Page 14 Channel-4: London Power Hot-rod Lead Style This is the classic high-gain channel of the London Power Standard Preamp from the 1980s to present. This channel represents many hot-rodded preamps of the 1980s and -90s and can be used on its own or with external amplifiers.
- Page 15 Level: This control sets the output level for this channel, via OUT-5 on the rear panel. To achieve a complete match to the iconic Dumble jazz over-drive sound, patch ICON Channel-5 through a tube power amp fitted with 6L6s driving a relatively clean guitar speaker - specifically NOT a Celestion;...
- Page 16 Level: This control sets the output level for this channel, via OUT-6 on the rear panel. To achieve a complete match to the iconic Soldano distortion sound, patch ICON Channel-6 through a tube power amp fitted with 6L6s driving a relatively clean guitar speaker - specifically NOT a Celestion; rather, a traditional Jensen, ElectroVoice, JBL, Altec, “generic”...
- Page 17 For a live-use system or for recording, ICON can be connected to a power amplifier driving guitar speakers, in which case no additional EQing is required.
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Page 18: System Configuration
However the player chooses to use the channels is up to his or her need at the time. For recording personnel, ICON provides a very easy way to have tube-based tones of a wide variety without having to change control settings between sounds. ICON can also be used to warm up digital recordings or previously captured digital sounds. - Page 19 “tone generator”. Switching Between Channels ICON has no internal switching; rather, it is simply six building blocks that can be used however the player or recording engineer wishes. The simplest switching form is to plug into whichever of ICON’s channels one wishes to use at the moment, then unplug and replug into another channel as required.