5E3 amp build project

[Hfan]

Well, another milestone reached today: the wiring for the electronics is complete!

 

Some intermediate pics:

 

 

 

 

 

This is it fully wired and tidied up:

 

 

 

Looks good Howard. What kind of caps are the black electrolytics? Looks like they are labeled "Tube Amp"?

 

Now I need to buy some bits to make a light bulb limiter. I've made a capacitor discharge tool and on Saturday I'll be debugging the circuit - one arm behind my back

[H]

Hi Pete, the kit came from Tube Amp Doctor, a German company who sell a lot of 'own-brand' stuff. It has a very good reputation, especially with valves (tubes). The caps are their own stuff.

[H]

This is a lightbulb limiter, English-style

 

 

And this is a capacitor discharge tool I made:

 

 

It was circuit testing day today...

[H]

I followed Paul Ruby's 'first start up' guide. Unsolder secondaries, test heater circuit, etc. Then reconnect secondaries and some more testing. I'm getting a bit more familiar with my multimeter now!

 

Finally, the moment of truth: a full power up with valves and speaker connected. Success

 

[H]

I didn't get a lot of time to play through it and couldn't dime it (or anywhere near) but there are some sweet cleans and some lovely overdriven tones playing with a stronger attack up around the tenth fret.

 

I'll record a selection of settings on the amp with single coils, P90s and humbuckers very soon.

 

Now though, I can have a little rest; the Limey is alive!

 

 

 

 

[pegleg32]

Howard, you sure don't let any grass grow under your feet, when you start a project, you get seriously after it!! The amp is looking spectacular!!! Can't wait to hear it.

[H]

Howard, you sure don't let any grass grow under your feet, when you start a project, you get seriously after it!! The amp is looking spectacular!!! Can't wait to hear it.

Thanks Don Your turn now

[H]

I weighed it now it's finished: 39lbs. Luggable, definitely!

[Steiner]

Eureka! You found it! And a purple jewel to boot! That's a mighty-fine looking sound box you got there Man. I can (rightfully) see your chest swell from this side of the pond.

 

Now jump on a plane and bring to to the next PSP

[H]

Eureka! You found it! And a purple jewel to boot! That's a mighty-fine looking sound box you got there Man. I can (rightfully) see your chest swell from this side of the pond.

 

Now jump on a plane and bring to to the next PSP

Thanks, it's been great fun making it even though certain parts of the build filled me with trepidation: finger joints, the big switch-on.

 

I'd love to make the PSP but I know that for the next few years my family commitments won't allow it. Hopefully, the PSP will continue beyond that time and one day I'll get to meet all of the fantastic people I share this forum with

[Hfan]

Congratulations on a job exceedingly well done Howard. You should be very proud. And thanks for sharing.

[H]

Someone told me today that I have to break in the speaker by playing at a decent volume through it for around 20 hours. That doesn't sound like hard work

[H]

Congratulations on a job exceedingly well done Howard. You should be very proud. And thanks for sharing.

Thanks Pete

 

This thread's not done yet though - there are sound clips and some queries on possible causes of some noise I'm getting intermittently. I'm after that 'longest thread' title now

[kbp810]

Congrats H! That didn't take too long to all come together, looks fantastic too!

 

So what are you building next

[kbp810]

Thanks Pete

 

This thread's not done yet though - there are sound clips and some queries on possible causes of some noise I'm getting intermittently. I'm after that 'longest thread' title now

The noise of which you speak... can you describe what it's sounds like, and if its happening in idle or while playing?

 

A few thoughts as well... are you jumping the channels together; and/or if you are playing on one side, have you tried turning the volume all the way down on the opposite side?

[H]

The noise of which you speak... can you describe what it's sounds like, and if its happening in idle or while playing?

 

A few thoughts as well... are you jumping the channels together; and/or if you are playing on one side, have you tried turning the volume all the way down on the opposite side?

There are two distinct noises - one is like white noise (like playing an amp right next to a snare drum) and quite loud compared to the rest of the output. It's not there often. The other noise seems to be some sort of harmonic that comes when I play the low E open. This is less obtrusive but still noticeable. Neither happens at idle, just while playing.

 

I didn't make a note of the conditions these noises happened in. I'm going to do two things next: first I'm going to figure out what settings I'm on (channel, tone, volumes) when these things happen. The second is to record them so I can post a clip of each noise.

[H]

Congrats H! That didn't take too long to all come together, looks fantastic too!

 

So what are you building next

Thanks - and thanks for your assistance and encouragement both before and during the build

 

A friend of mine has been watching the whole episode with interest and is now making GAS-style statements - I may be building another Limey before the end of the year

[H]

The Limey is sick I've done a chopstick test and re-soldered a couple of connections but no joy I'm getting really low output which is very distorted unless I hit the strings way harder than I normally would.

 

I'm in out of my depth now so I'm taking it to 'amp hospital' this weekend.

[H]

I changed out the knobs to cream and put in an amber pilot light. They seem to complement the look better than the black and the purple.

 

 

Some more porn coming soon Once it's been fixed up I'll post some sound clips too.

[kbp810]

The Limey is sick I've done a chopstick test and re-soldered a couple of connections but no joy I'm getting really low output which is very distorted unless I hit the strings way harder than I normally would.

 

I'm in out of my depth now so I'm taking it to 'amp hospital' this weekend.

Oh no!!!

 

If you want, post some close up pics of the circuit and wiring, I'll take a look and see if anything stands out as a potential cause.

[DetroitBlues]

Yep, I believe KBP810 can help you out if its not too late....

[H]

Oh no!!!

 

If you want, post some close up pics of the circuit and wiring, I'll take a look and see if anything stands out as a potential cause.

Nice of you to offer

 

There are various pics of the wiring and components in the last 20 or so posts of this thread, there have been no changes.

 

It worked the first time I fired it up a week or so ago. No components or wiring look burnt, there was no smoke, nothing sounds different when I move the components/wiring with a chopstick. There are some elements of the wiring underneath the eyelet board but I'd need to unsolder all the pots/jacks or all the tube sockets from the eyelet board to take a look.

 

Do you want me to post up the wiring diagram? I can see various differences between this and the Fender diagram so it may be clearer why my circuit looks different in places.

 

The place I'm taking it to at the weekend has offered to show me how to test it fully with my multimeter to diagnose problems so it will be worth the repair price for that knowledge.

[kbp810]

Nice of you to offer

 

There are various pics of the wiring and components in the last 20 or so posts of this thread, there have been no changes.

 

It worked the first time I fired it up a week or so ago. No components or wiring look burnt, there was no smoke, nothing sounds different when I move the components/wiring with a chopstick. There are some elements of the wiring underneath the eyelet board but I'd need to unsolder all the pots/jacks or all the tube sockets from the eyelet board to take a look.

 

Do you want me to post up the wiring diagram? I can see various differences between this and the Fender diagram so it may be clearer why my circuit looks different in places.

 

The place I'm taking it to at the weekend has offered to show me how to test it fully with my multimeter to diagnose problems so it will be worth the repair price for that knowledge.

 

Well, that might very well make it worth it

 

I'm looking through the pics on the past few pages, and nothing jumps right out at me... except it looks like you used solid wire. (...after draining the caps of course) You might want to double check the solder joints - I would check around the tone stack first. Sometimes the solder doesn't make a good "mechanical" joint to the solid wire... so it looks like a good connection at first, but after a short while of vibration from the speaker it starts to seperate itself from the joint. You might find one that looks well connected, but give it a little tug and it will pull right out.

 

I could of course be wrong, but just seems like a potential cause given that it worked, got a little noisy, and then had the big volume drop.

[H]

Which bits constitute the 'tone stack' in a 5e3? Apologies for my noobness

[brentrocks]

Cab complete

 

 

 

 

OMG...that is fabulous!!!

 

GREAT WORK!!!!