BCS Steel Bridge User manual
Hello and Welcome to the elite group of musicians that own their very own Steel Bridge ™
guitar amplifier! We just wanted to stop and take a brief moment to say thank you for
purchasing one of these fine, handmade amplifiers.
Your purchase helps us proceed with paying employees and pursuing our overall goal of
making the loudest, best sounding tube guitar amplifiers on the market.
We generally build based on word of mouth only. None of us enjoy fake marketing language
that does not describe sound or convey feel of an amplifier. One must experience a Steel
Bridge ™ for oneself to truly understand why we don't advertise. If you like your amp, please
tell your friends. We can't do this without you.
WARNINGS AND DANGER!
“
This amp is capable of delivering sound pressure levels
that may cause permanent hearing damage
.” We build
the loudest amps in the world. Wear ear plugs.
Very high internal voltages present. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
SERVICE. Refer to qualified service personnel only.
WE EXCLUSIVELY USE LEAD FREE SOLDER IN ALL OUR
AMPS. Please, when servicing our amplifiers, tell your
technician to use lead free solder.
Specifications:
●Two fully separate GAIN, EQ and MASTER VOLUME controls
●Completely custom preamp designed to enhance clarity and definition while retaining low
end
●20, 50, 100 or 200w power sections
●Featuring a 4x tube preamp using 3x ECC83 and 1x ECC81 (Optional Additional ECC83 for
loop)
●We generally use EL34 or KT88 tubes stock (JJ brand)
●Rear adjustable Drive and Depth controls
●Switchable output impedance for guitar (4, 8, 16 ohms) or bass (2, 4, 8 ohms)
●Fully fused power section (values depend on wattage)
●Anodized Black Aluminum front and back control panels with laser engraved control labels
●Laser engraved front faceplate with Steel Bridge ™ graphics
●Hand applied tolex with multiple optional color choices
●Hand drilled aluminum chassis with welded corners
●Stitched black leather handles
●User adjustable bias controls
●Fully filtered AC input for zero line noise
●10.5” high x 23.5” wide x 12” deep
User upgrade options include:
●Fully custom parallel effects loop with blend control
●Custom reverb option with selectable level control and tone switching
●Custom laser engraved faceplate option
●Direct output to mixing board
●Footswitch activated Boost control
●Choice of exotic color or stained headshell
●Active Mid shape/boost control
Front Panel Controls
Dirty channel:
Our typical dirty channel will most often feature a 3 band version of the popular “James” style
tone stack, sort of like the style found inside amps that are sometimes orange in color. The
difference is that we usually add a mid control so that you can further enhance the range of
operation of this particular tone stack. Our dirty channel does not typically have any clean
headroom. We’ve designed it to go from crunch to maximum fuzz. The tone stack really helps
to shape that level of signal into usable ranges for you to augment.
Ranges:
Bass: +/- 20db @ 50hz
Mid: +/- 15db @ 600hz - 800hz depending on model
Treble +/- 20db from 2-10k
(sweepable upgrade mid range)
Mid: +/- 25db
Mid Sweep: 300hz-2khz
Clean Channel:
The best thing about owning a steel bridge is the useable clean channel!
Our standard clean channel comes equipped to handle effects effortlessly (especially drive or
fuzz pedals of any kind). Typically, this means very minimal breakup until gain is maxed out.
The clean channel is articulate and full sounding without being harsh or brittle. The standard
clean channel for guitar comes equipped with a 3 band EQ section with lots of room for tonal
adjustment.
Ranges:
Bass: +/- 15db @ 100hz
Mid: +/- 12db @ 1000hz
Treble +/- 15db from 3-10k
(sweepable upgrade mid range)
Mid: +/- 15db
Mid Sweep: 800hz-20khz
Presence control:
Our typical presence control is BOOST ONLY and functions as a controllable boost knob. When
cut all the way, the amp will sound normal and be relatively well balanced across the tonal
spectrum. Turning the presence control to the right engages it and adds considerable boost
and clarity to the overall sound of the amp.
Just a friendly warning: Fully engaging the presence knob may cause some high end
feedback depending on what your configured setup is. Set this knob according to your
preferences.
Input and switching:
This section of the front panel represents the option for channel switching or the signal input
for the amp (where you plug in the guitar). Accidentally swapping these plugs will not harm the
amp so please don’t worry about that.
The input is typical of most guitar amps and is high impedance.
The channel switch will be a single button or dual button depending on customer options. A
dual button switch will typically use a stereo jack and requires a stereo cable to function
correctly.
Rear Panel Controls
Depth & Drive controls:
We get asked about these knobs quite a bit. The best explanation is simple: One knob controls
the overall low end output of the amp. The other knob controls how much overall gain is
available on tap. Both knobs will drastically change the overall sound and feel of the amp and
should be used to taste.
Notes: the drive control will make the amp louder overall. If you struggle with taming your
volume, this is a good way to help you do that.
Impedance switching:
All of our amps come with some type of impedance switching mechanism to help you match
the output impedance of the amp to the impedance of the cabinet(s) you are using.
Typically, we will use 2, 4, 8 and 16 outputs or a combination thereof coupled with 2 parallel
output plugs for multiple speaker cabinets.
WARNING!: DO NOT MISMATCH THE SPEAKER OUTPUT OF YOUR AMP TO THE CABINET.
CATASTROPHIC FAILURE COULD RESULT AND WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY. DO YOUR
BEST UNDER EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE TO MATCH IMPEDANCES OF AMP AND CABINET.
Effects Loop:
The effects loop is unique in that it hooks up directly to the phase inverter from the last stage of
the preamp. This arrangement allows you to either blend in the effects from the loop or blend
them out for a completely clean signal. The blend control can be substituted for a level control
by customer request.
Thank you!
Thank you for your purchase. It helps us create more unique designs and helps fund our
learning time and helps us pay our contractors which is very important to us. Without you we
wouldn't exist and we are really aware of this. Thank you!
Table of contents
