Maestro Antique Revised VPtP

Maestro Antique Revised VPtP

¥19,800 Sale

The MaestroAntique Revised (aka MAR) was released in 2010 as the first Leqtique model, but since production was discontinued, it has never been reissued except for the limited release of the MAR Quad in 2014.

Since the circuit boards of each Leqtique model have been made Virtual Point to Point since 2017, we have decided to release "MAR VPtP" in limited quantities.

At the time, MAR was based on some very important vintage components, but there were also some differences in the manufacturers of the other parts, and the sound was slightly different depending on the time period. This time, I started by collecting all of those absolute basics again, and assembled it with my personal "Best MAR" combination of parts that I personally thought was the best combination of parts from all periods at that time. Please see below for my commitment to that "basic tone".

One of the most important parts is the upgrade from the standard Bakelite board (left) to the special VPtP board (right). At the time, I personally liked the handmade look of Bakelite and used it, but in recent years, I fell in love with the professional look of the matte black finish, as well as the good electrical properties of the glass composite material. I also fell in love with the 6 oz super thick copper foil with a double layer of 3 oz copper foil, which is actually the same idea as point to point wiring, so I settled on this shape.

I will introduce each of the "basics". The first is Allen Bradley's 1960's vintage carbon composition resistor. Since MAT, we have switched to carbon composition resistors from several current manufacturers, but MAR and MAR Quad use vintage stock items lavishly. Due to the nature of carbon composition, it produces a very warm mid-range musical sound, and AB's in particular has a high level of resolution and a very delicate sound. The same goes for ERO's vintage MKT1826, shown in the photo. The reed part is made differently from the current MKT1817 that followed it, and is non-magnetic, so it produces a more delicate sound. It's a very detailed and niche part, but the core of MAR's sound is largely based on this. Of course, only these two are used in this MAR VPtP.

 

Both of these Toshiba Semiconductor parts are the most important part of the "basic tone" sound, but they are very difficult to obtain, and it was difficult to collect these two vintage parts, which is why MAR was discontinued. When MAR Quad was released, it was difficult to obtain the secret diode on the left side, which produces a very smooth distorted sound, but this has now been resolved and we have been able to secure more than the limited quantity of this MAR VPtP. The problem is the (L) grade, which is a low-noise selection of a general-purpose transistor called 2SC1815GR. (It has LG printed on it.) This has been very difficult to obtain since the MAR Quad, but this time it was impossible to procure the required quantity even if we searched both domestically and internationally, so instead of NOS products, we gathered them from old boards that were mounted but never used. Of course, the functions are perfect, but for this reason in particular, the MAR VPtP is released in limited quantities.

Lastly, the model number of the op-amp, which is the heart of the MAR, has never been changed since the first MAR, but for the first time in the MAR VPtP we have used an A-rank op-amp selected by the manufacturer. It doesn't change the sound significantly, but it's not easy to use an A-rank op-amp in a production model, so I think this is the real pleasure of a special edition like this.

This is the secret recipe for the sound inherited from the original MAR. On the left is the original MAR, and on the right is the new MAR VPtP. Please compare them with the above for reference.

If you already own the original MAR or MAR Quad, please open the back of the pedal and enjoy checking out each part. All of the above parts come from various places around the world (for example, Vintage AB comes from the USA, Vintage Ero comes from Germany, etc.), and many of them are not easy to obtain. If you can feel the romance of such parts, it will be a reward for me as a builder.