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About DinosauralIn early 1995 I left my BBC engineering post and co-founded Lovetone® with Vlad Naslas. Our first product was the Meatball™, which was initially conceived as "a big envelope follower with 10 knobs". I designed the circuitry for all eight Lovetone products, including the Meatball. Vlad did the enclosures and graphics as well as the marketing in the early years, and we both came up with the overall concepts and "vision".My Dinosaural® "Tube Bender™" (an all-transistor overdrive pedal design with authentic valve sound - not currently available) was something I designed partly in collaboration with David Petersen as part of a series of kits (mostly otherwise Dave's own designs, but I helped with the PCB's) for the UK "Guitar and Bass" magazine. The Tube Bender™was manufactured, marketed and sold via Dinosaural between 2003 and 2007. Famous users included Manfred Mann who used one on his electric piano and Snow Patrol who bought a number of them! Back in 1997. Dave and I had an interesting project researching Brian May's "Deacy" amp circuit (via Greg Fryer) from two photgraphs and producing a convincing sounding prototype replica for the Queen guitarist! I did amp repairs, as well as repairs and modifications to lots of classic FX pedals and Echo machines, and quite a few of those via CCGX (Charlie Chandlers' esteemed shop in Hampton Wick). Also, via CCGX I designed and built some custom equipment for luminaries such as Pete Townshend of the Who and Robbie McIntosh of the Pretenders, etc. I also did a few repair jobs for Radiohead, including restoring Thom Yorke's Selmer Stadium amp that I believe he used extensively on his solo album a few years back. Lovetone® created and sold many high quality and innovative analogue guitar effects boxes to musicians in all corners of the world. I founded Dinosaural® in 2002 to provide exclusive warranty repair and technical support for all Lovetone products as well as other brands of classic analogue electronic music equipment. I finally left the Lovetone® business after 13 years in March 2008, and from January 2009 stopped working on Lovetone products altogether owing to changes in circumstances. I am now pursuing a full-time career as an employee working with both analogue and digital electronics (I even qualified with a City and Guilds Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment 2377-12 certificate for PAT testing!). Since winding down Dinosaural to a relative "tick-over" in early 2007, I have worked on the design and test of Magnetometers and high-voltage pulse circuits, including PCB design. And I'm loving playing the guitar again after years of using it mailnly as a "test generator"! I'd like to thank all of my customers over the years for being great to deal with. I am sorry to disappoint those who want(ed) their Lovetone boxes fixed, but I had to "draw a line in the sand" in the end. I intend to resurface in "guitar effects land" once again eventually....so watch this space! Dan Coggins Wantage Updated: December 21st 2011 |
