Building the Rocket: Don Morris on 30 Years of Electroplex Amplifiers
Electroplex founder Don Morris on building the Rocket, PCB vs. point-to-point, low-wattage amps, and the Blonde Bassman that inspired it all.
Listen or readPacific Transformer designs and manufactures a line of pre-designed guitar amp transformers that can be purchased directly through our ecommerce site, Pacific Audio Magnetics.
Notes from the bench
Flight hardware, 400 Hz power, and the Mars and deep-space missions our magnetics have flown on.
Electroplex founder Don Morris on building the Rocket, PCB vs. point-to-point, low-wattage amps, and the Blonde Bassman that inspired it all.
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Podcast Electroplex founder Don Morris on building the Rocket, PCB vs. point-to-point, low-wattage amps, and the Blonde Bassman that inspired it all.
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Engineering Our audio engineer explains how guitar amp output and power transformers set headroom, saturation, and feel, and how tone words become specs.
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Company news Founded in 1981, Pacific Transformer enters its 45th year of delivering custom magnetics with world-class engineering, industry-leading turnaround, and a relentless commitment to quality.
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Engineering From the depths of the ocean to the surface of Mars, custom transformers must deliver reliable performance in the most challenging environments.
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Customer story The heart behind the sound: how custom transformers shape iconic guitar amplifiers from Trainwreck to Two Rock.
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Insight Building supply chain resilience with custom power transformers. How we kept operations running during the recent port strike.
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Company news We'll fix what your last vendor broke. We take ownership from start to finish, delivering on time, every time.
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Company news It's not impossible until we say it is. We see ourselves as more than a manufacturer — we're your engineering partners.
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Company news Pacific Transformer named a finalist in the Green/Sustainability category at the 2024 ACG Orange County Awards.
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Engineering Custom transformers enhance performance, reliability, and space efficiency. Here's where a custom design pays off.
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Customer story Helios Power achieved a breakthrough in distribution transformers with a patented high-impedance design.
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Customer story How we reverse-engineered transformers for legendary Acoustat electrostatic speakers.
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Company news Elevating our commitment to California manufacturing excellence with CMTA membership.
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Customer story Our transformers have helped make fast, reliable charging accessible to Tesla owners around the globe.
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Company news The best sounding guitar amp transformers at an affordable price. Introducing the RED series.
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Engineering Custom transformers designed for the unique demands of off-grid power systems.
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Customer story How Pacific Transformer played a part in Opportunity, the Mars rover launched in July 2003.
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Company news Our definition is the sum of four categories: reliability, speed, flexibility, and affordability.
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Company news Recognized for Global Supplier Collaboration & Partnership by the world's leading elevator and escalator company.
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Insight For almost four decades, we've designed and built transformers for nearly every facet of the alternative energy field.
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Engineering Thousands of common parts are available in our online catalog. When to choose one — and when to go custom.
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Customer story The James Webb Space Telescope: a revolutionary machine that will study every phase of cosmic history.
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Customer story Bringing back the Sound Techniques analog console used by The Beatles, David Bowie, and more.
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Company news 2021 in review — our 40th anniversary, our first consumer brand, and a major acquisition.
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Company news Pacific Transformer expands Mexico-based manufacturing capacity by 300%.
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Insight Battle-tested contingency plans across our global facilities keep your products arriving on time.
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Company news The same stellar sounding, hand-wound transformers at a lower price point.
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Engineering Developing radiation-hardened, hermetic DC-DC converters for space applications with unprecedented flexibility.
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Customer story Engineering the charging system for the Harley-Davidson LiveWire, the brand's first electric motorcycle.
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Customer story How our proprietary transformers power the amplifiers used by John Mayer, Eric Johnson, and more.
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Company news We acquire Transformer Design and Supply, famed for high-end audio transformers for Matchless and Divided by 13.
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Company news Pacific Audio Magnetics launches at Summer NAMM — the first consumer product in our 40-year history.
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Customer story The first helicopter on Mars — the first powered, controlled flight outside of Earth — powered by Pacific Transformer.
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Company news 40 million transformers shipped since 1981. How three friends started Pacific Transformer.
Read articleWe partner with George Alessandro to launch a direct-to-consumer line of classic vacuum tube guitar amp transformers.
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Insight From China plus-one to nearshoring — how the pandemic reshaped global manufacturing.
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Company news A step-by-step walkthrough of our manufacturing process at our headquarters in Anaheim, California.
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Engineering The questions that matter when designing a custom power transformer. Our lead engineer breaks it down.
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Company news Choosing a supplier often comes down to the numbers. Add them up and the choice is pretty clear.
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Engineering Other than our work in healthcare, none is more critical than our work in aerospace.
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Company news Fully operational as an essential business, supporting critical medical and defense needs.
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Insight We've designed and built power solutions for almost every electric vehicle on the road today.
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Engineering Why high-frequency transformers require distinct core materials and design considerations.
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Insight The lesser-known risks of offshore manufacturing: quality, inconsistency, true cost, and logistics.
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Engineering Unpacking agency approvals — what UL, CSA, TÜV, and ETL certifications really mean.
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