Guitar amp, US vs UK

[HSSBO94]

Hello
A guitarist friend of mine bought an amp in the UK because it was simpler (and slightly cheaper) than actually bringing his own amp from the US on a plane.

Now that he's played the new amp, we've decided it sounds nice and would be good to bring back home.

Our biggest concern is the 110 Volts vs 220 volts difference in the UK and US. Would a drop in voltage (when the amp is brought back to the US) alter the sound of the amp at all?

Besides the voltage, we don't have any other problems; we have all the adapters etc. necessary to make the plugs physically fit. The amp's power supply does not convert the electricity at all from the plug (or at least not on the outside, I've not opened the amp up to see if it does on the inside)

thanks

 

[Chris15]

It won't work.

There will be a power supply in the amplifier and last I checked, no one was making a switchmode powered guitar amp. So the transformer in the linear power supply will output half the voltage and the power supply will plain not work.
There may also be a longer term issue with the fact that a transformer designed for the UK will be wound for 50 Hz and that the US power of 60 Hz will cause some funkiness with the magnetic resonances in the transformer.

 

[David Ashton]

most amps I've come across will have a transformer tap to 120v it makes sense to have your gear adaptable to the Worlds biggest market, at worst you might have to buy a 120/240 transformer.The frequency difference is seldom an issue in that type of equipment.

 

[SHARYNF]

It is done all the time with touring bands, they just use an external transformer or there is a transformer connection that will change to 120 volts

If you shop around you can get better prices but here is a good starting point

Amazon.com: Power Bright VC2000W Voltage Transformer 2000 Watt Step Up/Down 110 Volt - 220 Volt: Patio, Lawn & Garden
Sharyn

 

[Footer]

If the cost of shipping an amp was more then buying new, odds are your not dealing with the most high end amp ever. Might be worth it to just buy a better amp when you get back stateside then to invest more money in this amp. Its fine for touring bands to cart around a power converter, however, do you really want to be stuck doing that for ever? Its just one more piece of gear he will have to carry around. Added to that, you are going to be paying shipping again for this amp that will cost more then the amp itself. So, you have shipping for the amp, the power converter large enough to power the amp, and now you have an amp that is not really made for where you are using it. Just invest the money in a newer, better, amp when he gets back.