My Amp Building Journey, Its a kind of blog ... |
|
|
|
|
Aug 18 2007, 01:54 AM
|
|
The speaker looks voxy and that cabinet is Fender style or Peavey Classic, Tweed is really great looking. Got one just like that (the Peavey i.e.)
Do you have any instructions on how to construct a cabinet? I will be doing that but have no idea to how to form the inside for the right tone. -------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
 |
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 18 2007, 02:01 AM
|
|
QUOTE (MickeM @ Aug 17 2007, 08:54 PM)  The speaker looks voxy and that cabinet is Fender style or Peavey Classic, Tweed is really great looking. Got one just like that (the Peavey i.e.) Do you have any instructions on how to construct a cabinet? I will be doing that but have no idea to how to form the inside for the right tone. No I don't have exact plans - I am currently trying to learn basic construction techniques like box joints and dowel and such, there are some good pages around if you google. Regarding cabinet tuning and such ... I think you can get away with it if you have an open backed cabinet - that's what I am planning. If you close the back you need to be a lot more careful, and even more careful still if you want to port it appropriately. I am hoping to avoid that at least for my first build. One trick would be to copy an existing design ... -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 18 2007, 02:06 AM
|
|
Reverse engineer for the win
 Or if you are really rich just buy an old Fender and chuck out the innards  .Cheers, Tony -------------------- Get your music professionally mastered by anl AES registered Mastering Engineer. Contact me for Audio Mastering Services and Advice and visit our website www.miromastering.com
Be friends on facebook with us here. We use professional, mastering grade hardware in our mastering studo. Our hardware includes: Cranesong Avocet II Monitor Controller, Dangerous Music Liasion Insert Hardware Router, ATC SCM Pro Monitors, Lavry Black DA11, Prism Orpheus ADC/DAC, Gyratec Gyraf XIV Parallel Passive Mastering EQ, Great River MAQ 2NV Mastering EQ, Kush Clariphonic Parallel EQ Shelf, Maselec MLA-2 Mastering Compressor, API 2500 Mastering Compressor, Eventide Eclipse Reverb/Echo. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 18 2007, 02:13 AM
|
|
QUOTE (Andrew Cockburn @ Aug 18 2007, 03:01 AM) there are some good pages around if you google. I have tried, belive me, just didn't find aything easy enough to understand. I found lots of forumlas, could have been mistaken for rocket science... Give me a hollar if you find any site for dummies QUOTE (tonymiro @ Aug 18 2007, 03:06 AM) Reverse engineer for the win Or if you are really rich just buy an old Fender and chuck out the innards .Cheers, Tony Yes I can do that! Reverse engineering that is, not that other thing
-------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 18 2007, 11:52 AM
|
|
QUOTE (Andrew Cockburn @ Aug 17 2007, 09:01 PM) No I don't have exact plans - I am currently trying to learn basic construction techniques like box joints and dowel and such, there are some good pages around if you google. Regarding cabinet tuning and such ... I think you can get away with it if you have an open backed cabinet - that's what I am planning. If you close the back you need to be a lot more careful, and even more careful still if you want to port it appropriately. I am hoping to avoid that at least for my first build. One trick would be to copy an existing design ... If your going for a tube combo you can't do a closed back. The tubes will cook themselves up real fast but only after destroying some of your solder work and frying some stuff. I saw a special edition Fender Hot Rod Deluxe where they didn't cover the body with tolex or tweed they just sanded and stained the cabinet and it was GORGEOUS!!! If you use decent material I'd highly consider staining it. It won't affect the sound, and it will look freaking hot. Oh! and how many people do you see with stained wood amps?     Hardtail This post has been edited by Hardtail: Aug 18 2007, 12:07 PM -------------------- Beginner's Amp & Guitar Gear Guide My Keeley Blues Driver BD-2 Review My Line6 Flextone II Review Guitars: Martin D-16RGT with B-Band UST & '99 Fender "Big Apple" Hardtail HH Strat Amps: Fender Blues Junior Special Edition & Fender Studio 85 (Simultaneous... yummy) |
|
|
|
|
Gear: Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster, Gibson '67 RI Flying V, Mesa Boogie F-30 112 combo, crazy pedals.|
|
|
|
|
Aug 18 2007, 09:09 PM
|
|
QUOTE (JVM @ Aug 18 2007, 07:14 AM) Yes! The site I use for gathering all the info for my Deluxe has pics of that amp. All I can say - what a beauty! Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful amp. Hmm, see what you mean, but I'm not convinced my woodworking is up to a finished piece like that - I was thinking of doing some experiments with dowel joints and a router today to see how close I could get to something reasonably decent - that is a great look to go for though 
-------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 27 2007, 09:17 AM
|
|
Update:
Since I last posted I have postively ruled out the prospect of building the cabinet myself ... I had almost convinced myself that I could do it and that previous disasters had just been bad luck. However, 5 hours in the garage with a lump of wood, Black & Decker Workmate, circular saw and a ruler have now convinced me otherwise. It took me several hours to cut 4 pieces of wood - this was just an experiment. They were supposed to be the equal four sides of a cabinet. Long story short, equal they were not. Cabinet would have been wonky. Forget woodworking, my talents lie in other areas. I'm still liking the tweed style case, but I can buy one for $300 - $400. Expensive but it should look good. Unless of course I can persuade a GMCer to make one for me for less ... In other news, the kit arrived this week:  Lots of lovely parts to fit together. The pre-drilled chassis came with it and today I lacquered it.  The timing is good - I have 5 days off work over next weekend. I'll be away for a couple of those but that leaves me some time to start hooking this beauty together and realize my path to sonic nirvhana. In addition to the kit I have ordered some PTFE coated hookup wire, and a decent Fluke Multimeter for testing once it is made. I also ordered a Weber MASS power soak for low volume recording and practice so I should be all set when I have put it together. This post has been edited by Andrew Cockburn: Aug 27 2007, 09:19 AM -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 27 2007, 09:31 AM
|
|
Out of curiosity Andrew are you going to incorporate the power soak a la THD in to the amp or keep it separate?
Cheers, Tony ps looking forward to the next installment
-------------------- Get your music professionally mastered by anl AES registered Mastering Engineer. Contact me for Audio Mastering Services and Advice and visit our website www.miromastering.com
Be friends on facebook with us here. We use professional, mastering grade hardware in our mastering studo. Our hardware includes: Cranesong Avocet II Monitor Controller, Dangerous Music Liasion Insert Hardware Router, ATC SCM Pro Monitors, Lavry Black DA11, Prism Orpheus ADC/DAC, Gyratec Gyraf XIV Parallel Passive Mastering EQ, Great River MAQ 2NV Mastering EQ, Kush Clariphonic Parallel EQ Shelf, Maselec MLA-2 Mastering Compressor, API 2500 Mastering Compressor, Eventide Eclipse Reverb/Echo. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 27 2007, 09:46 AM
|
|
QUOTE (tonymiro @ Aug 27 2007, 04:31 AM) Out of curiosity Andrew are you going to incorporate the power soak a la THD in to the amp or keep it separate? Cheers, Tony ps looking forward to the next installment No, I was looking at London Powers Power Scaling box with a view to building it in to the mp, but in the end I decided to keep it somple and get something I could re-use with different amps. -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 27 2007, 10:03 AM
|
|
Separate for the win
. Only minor downside is it becomes another box to lug around and more cables to trip over .Cheers, Tony -------------------- Get your music professionally mastered by anl AES registered Mastering Engineer. Contact me for Audio Mastering Services and Advice and visit our website www.miromastering.com
Be friends on facebook with us here. We use professional, mastering grade hardware in our mastering studo. Our hardware includes: Cranesong Avocet II Monitor Controller, Dangerous Music Liasion Insert Hardware Router, ATC SCM Pro Monitors, Lavry Black DA11, Prism Orpheus ADC/DAC, Gyratec Gyraf XIV Parallel Passive Mastering EQ, Great River MAQ 2NV Mastering EQ, Kush Clariphonic Parallel EQ Shelf, Maselec MLA-2 Mastering Compressor, API 2500 Mastering Compressor, Eventide Eclipse Reverb/Echo. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 27 2007, 10:11 AM
|
|
QUOTE (tonymiro @ Aug 27 2007, 05:03 AM) Separate for the win . Only minor downside is it becomes another box to lug around and more cables to trip over .Cheers, Tony Yeah, but then I never gig so I'll sling it in a rack and forget about it - have you had any experience with these? Or a maybe a Hot Plate? -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 27 2007, 10:15 AM
|
|
I've got a hot plate Andrew it does pretty much what it says on the tin... Only downside I've come across is that you get a bit of treble loss. No big deal as it's not so much that you can't get it back off the eq - amp or graphic pedal/box. Overall I see a powersoak as pretty much essential kit for home use valve amps.
Cheers, Tony -------------------- Get your music professionally mastered by anl AES registered Mastering Engineer. Contact me for Audio Mastering Services and Advice and visit our website www.miromastering.com
Be friends on facebook with us here. We use professional, mastering grade hardware in our mastering studo. Our hardware includes: Cranesong Avocet II Monitor Controller, Dangerous Music Liasion Insert Hardware Router, ATC SCM Pro Monitors, Lavry Black DA11, Prism Orpheus ADC/DAC, Gyratec Gyraf XIV Parallel Passive Mastering EQ, Great River MAQ 2NV Mastering EQ, Kush Clariphonic Parallel EQ Shelf, Maselec MLA-2 Mastering Compressor, API 2500 Mastering Compressor, Eventide Eclipse Reverb/Echo. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 27 2007, 11:06 PM
|
|
QUOTE (Nick334 @ Aug 27 2007, 06:03 PM) Good luck Andrew (I think you'll need it). Thanks Nick - I've built amps before, but this is my first tube one! -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 4 2007, 03:15 AM
|
|
Update:
Well after a busy week and a trip up to Massachusetts I finally have some time to put into this project! I am still waiting for my wire to be delivered - it got caught up in the vacation and should arrive tomorrow. Not too bad as I am not returning to work until Wednesday. With a little luck it will arrive early in the day and I can actually start soldering some stuff together! My Fluke Multimeter arrived, and now I feel like a real professional - I have always wanted an excuse to get one of these. I plumped for the Fluke 115, by no means top of the range, but far from entry level too. I have also ordered a few valves and sockets and some other hardware from The Tube Depot - a very impressive mail order outfit. They have a great selection, and shipping took just a couple of days. I ordered some EL34s, some 6L6s, a couple of spare 12ax7s and some EL84s just for kicks, along with a number of tube sockets. (The latter is because various of the mods I have in mond for my amp involve additional preamp tubes - the best time to wire in preamp tube heater circuits is at the beginning, its a lot harder later on, so I am building in a spare socket and wiring its heater circuits from the outset). In the meantime, I have mounted all of the chassis components: - Transformers - Input/Output Sockets - Tube Sockets - Switches - Fuseholder - Potentiometers - Power Socket Here are a few pics to be going on with Top:  Front:  Inside:  Its starting to look almost like a real amp now Next installment (hopefully tomorrow) is the circuit board, followed by the chassis wiring. This is pretty involved with lots of carefully twisted and routed wires so I won't rush it. In other news, I have emailed Mojo tone about one of their combo cabs - hopefully I will be able to fit everything into it but I need some measurements from them first. And finally, I bought a tube tester off eBay - a big old thing built in about 1960 but it still works - amazing! Thats it for now, all things being equal I hope I'll have an update tomorrow! This post has been edited by Andrew Cockburn: Sep 4 2007, 04:59 AM -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 4 2007, 03:32 AM
|
|
Yeah, I think I'll do that too
Building is a lot of fun, and I may even get a decent tone out of it, but buying cool stuff is great as well!
-------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 4 2007, 03:59 AM
|
|
Love the look of the chassis Andrew.
May i be cheeky and ask how much it will cost to make in total (roughly)? -Ben |
|
|
|
|
 
|
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:
