With the V1290 making it back to the site earlier this week, we wanted to share a little bit of the history behind our particular build of this class-A preamp.

No question, there are many options out there for “73” style preamp recreations. But when we decided we’d build one back at the beginning of this decade, we wanted to really do it right!

Most modern recreations of this circuit, and many others, use modern components that simply do not have the same characteristics as the originals - in particular, the Motorola and Fairchild transistors used in the 1970s. That’s a reality most manufacturers choose to live with, as the time and expense required to source obsolete components would be extremely difficult to justify.

However, as you probably know, we like to do things a little differently! We accepted this challenge, and in our quest to make the most accurate reproduction of this circuit on the market today, we scoured the world over to find the crucial and practically unobtainium Motorola 2N3055 and Fairchild BC184C transistors used in the original circuit. And lo and behold, in an antique radio warehouse in Europe, we found enough stock of each to bring the V1290 to life!

There is literally no other manufacturer today using these rare, long obsolete parts in a “73” style circuit. And that, combined with the correct polystyrene, tantalum, and poly film capacitors throughout, is why we believe this unit is as accurate to the original as you can find today.

In the end, we’re extremely happy with the result and how it stacks up to other recreations out there. It’s also one of our most aesthetically pleasing builds! Check out the gut shot image of the V1290. Lots there for the true nerds to take in…