kbp810 Posted May 21, 2010 Posted May 21, 2010 Well I had a few unexpected delays... I needed some minor surgery that kept me down for a short bit, and then.... ...during the first start up test the fuse popped... did some checking, did some hair pulling out... finally found a little solder "stalagmite" that was shorting out on a chassis screw (it was in the absolute perfect spot)... fixed that, powered on again and popped the fuse again! After more and more frustrating troubleshooting I finally found the problem... the first short out must have fried the diodes as they both read nearly full open in both directions. Ordered a new pair, finally came in today, threw them in, and success! So I pieced the rest together and she is good to go! Amp sounds great, seems to have a lot of clean headroom for a single power tube, especially considering these are typically noted to have more of a blues/crunchy tone. It sounded loud and clean and I haven't even turned it up past half way yet (so I'm sure there's still some crunch hiding in there somewhere). For tubes I ended up throwing in a used C-Wing El34 and a used Phillips 12ax7 that I had picked up dirt cheap for the first power up... but truth is I think they sound fantastic so I think they are going to stay a while. (I Had a NOS Marconi 6v6 and NOS Telefunken 12ax7 on standby) On a side note- if anyone's near Livonia and needs tubes, a little shop on Ford rd a few miles west of Middlebelt has a few boxes full of used tubes at $5 a piece... lot's of 12ax7's, el34's, el84's, 6l6's, and I think a few kt88's as well (no 6v6's left). Mostly Mesa Labeled, EH, and GT's left though... I think the name of the shop was Bluesairmen. Now enough talking... here's some pics! (I'll try to post some sound clips tomorrow night, I got a little carried away with playing and forget to grab the zoom) She lives! Finally in it's home Realize I didn't post much of the rest of the build from where my last post left off... but here's the inside of the speaker cab Went with a Fender Blue Frame Alnico (Eminence) and a Warehouse Vet 30 - I was worried about the Warehouse at first, but this pair sounds great, can't wait to hear them after they break in.
111518 Posted May 22, 2010 Posted May 22, 2010 Well I had a few unexpected delays... I needed some minor surgery that kept me down for a short bit, and then.... ...during the first start up test the fuse popped... did some checking, did some hair pulling out... finally found a little solder "stalagmite" that was shorting out on a chassis screw (it was in the absolute perfect spot)... fixed that, powered on again and popped the fuse again! After more and more frustrating troubleshooting I finally found the problem... the first short out must have fried the diodes as they both read nearly full open in both directions. Ordered a new pair, finally came in today, threw them in, and success! So I pieced the rest together and she is good to go! Amp sounds great, seems to have a lot of clean headroom for a single power tube, especially considering these are typically noted to have more of a blues/crunchy tone. It sounded loud and clean and I haven't even turned it up past half way yet (so I'm sure there's still some crunch hiding in there somewhere). For tubes I ended up throwing in a used C-Wing El34 and a used Phillips 12ax7 that I had picked up dirt cheap for the first power up... but truth is I think they sound fantastic so I think they are going to stay a while. (I Had a NOS Marconi 6v6 and NOS Telefunken 12ax7 on standby) On a side note- if anyone's near Livonia and needs tubes, a little shop on Ford rd a few miles west of Middlebelt has a few boxes full of used tubes at $5 a piece... lot's of 12ax7's, el34's, el84's, 6l6's, and I think a few kt88's as well (no 6v6's left). Mostly Mesa Labeled, EH, and GT's left though... I think the name of the shop was Bluesairmen. Now enough talking... here's some pics! (I'll try to post some sound clips tomorrow night, I got a little carried away with playing and forget to grab the zoom) She lives! Finally in it's home Realize I didn't post much of the rest of the build from where my last post left off... but here's the inside of the speaker cab Went with a Fender Blue Frame Alnico (Eminence) and a Warehouse Vet 30 - I was worried about the Warehouse at first, but this pair sounds great, can't wait to hear them after they break in. Cool post. I really enjoy seeing these projects. I'm committed to one day trying to build something myself, so it's very inspiring.
FredZepp Posted May 22, 2010 Posted May 22, 2010 Very Cool Amp... And it looks great. It was a good read, the solder "stalagmite" and the diodes added some suspense to the story.... And I was interested in what you thought about the Warehouse Vet 30. You seem a bit unsure of it as a single speaker , but it works well with the warmth of the alnico...? Anyhow... cool amp there.
kbp810 Posted May 22, 2010 Author Posted May 22, 2010 Very Cool Amp... And it looks great. It was a good read, the solder "stalagmite" and the diodes added some suspense to the story.... And I was interested in what you thought about the Warehouse Vet 30. You seem a bit unsure of it as a single speaker , but it works well with the warmth of the alnico...? Anyhow... cool amp there. Thanks for the kind words; despite the brief hair pulling out episodes it was alot of fun and i'm sure I'll likely be tackling another build again some day. As far as the Warehouse vet 30, I know I wanted to mix a ceramic and an alnico, but was trying to stay within a reasonable budget just in case this turned out to be a flop. So then my reservation was that I might be falling into the buy cheap buy twice syndrome... I've never tried it as a single, but I can certainly say that it sounds fantastic paired with the alnico, so no regrets. Got a little side tracked on the sound clips, because I just picked this up (Just when I thought I was ready for a break from tinkering) It doesn't work.... yet! It's a Music Man 112 RP Sixty Five. Circuit board is dated 4/16/1979 - which about fit my guess before hand as it has the sixty five spelled out instead of 65 but it has the solid state preamp. A bit dirty and lot's of cob webs and dust inside - so starting with a little bit of cleaning; then I'll be breaking out the multimeter once again. As of now, the light comes on, but nothing happens. I was hoping it might have just been tubes, but threw in a new pair of el34's and no luck. Thankfully the schematic is readily available online... It's 65 watt's with a low and high input, spring reverb, phasor, and bright and deep selectable options.
golferwave Posted May 23, 2010 Posted May 23, 2010 GREAT amps!! Thanks for sharing and be sure to keep us up to date on the Music Man. Those have MOJO!
yoslate Posted May 24, 2010 Posted May 24, 2010 Nice looking piece of furniture on that build, kb. Reminds me of the Harmon Kardon - Frazier - Garard component stereo rig my dad bought my mom in '64 or so...the one I blew up, trying to wire it to my Silvertone 1x12, after my first hearing of Are You Experienced! I think Dad is still pissed off about that one.... And those Music Man 1x12's just kill. That's a whole lot of amp right there!
kbp810 Posted May 24, 2010 Author Posted May 24, 2010 The Music Man lives! Just needed a touch of solder on the wire from the input jack to the board, and a fresh pair of El34's and it is good to go! Wow does this thing have some serious mojo to it! The reverb is amazing and the phasor mode is lot's of fun too. The nice thing I notice on this amp is that it still has some really great tone at lower volume levels - though to really hear it sing I'm sure still requires having spare replacement windows on standby My only remaining problem is... I have too many amps and not enough Heritage guitars!
kbp810 Posted May 26, 2010 Author Posted May 26, 2010 Sorry for the delay, here are some clips of the home build... at first I was only able to pull clean out at non-feuding-with-the-neighbor volume levels, but I found if I turned the gain pot all the way up, left volume just above 1/4, and turned the volume up on the guitar I got a little nice blues crunch. The mic is making it sound a little crunchier then it really was on some of the playing though. One last side note, my dog is my number one fan... and he likes to show his appreciation of my music by licking my picking hand as I try to play - makes it a bit tough to get a good take! (that and I really need to take a break from building stuff and try practicing a little more ) http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3272872/P1%20amp%202.mp3 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3272872/P1%20amp%201.mp3
Hfan Posted May 27, 2010 Posted May 27, 2010 The Music Man lives! Just needed a touch of solder on the wire from the input jack to the board From a fellow tinkerer, congrats, I love problems / solutions like the one above. Good to start at the input eh? Do you tinker with more current amps? Ever consider removing all ribbon cables and replacing with wire? That's one of my current Blues Jr projects along with an upgraded output transformer etc etc. The more I work on it the more I like the older point to point designs. Hope to do a build one day when more time is available.
FredZepp Posted May 27, 2010 Posted May 27, 2010 There are some nice tones that come out of that one..... sounds fun. And the dog story made me chuckle. ...My dog joins in when I play and HOWLS....
kbp810 Posted May 28, 2010 Author Posted May 28, 2010 From a fellow tinkerer, congrats, I love problems / solutions like the one above. Good to start at the input eh? Do you tinker with more current amps? Ever consider removing all ribbon cables and replacing with wire? That's one of my current Blues Jr projects along with an upgraded output transformer etc etc. The more I work on it the more I like the older point to point designs. Hope to do a build one day when more time is available. I haven't tinkered much with current amps, but if I did I would certainly consider replacing ribbons with wires. I've always been a fan of "real" wiring as well. To me I think it looks better, and it's certainly easier to mod and troubleshoot when neccesary. The most modern one I've messed with was a modern ampeg jet j-20, but it was point to point as well (had put in an adjustable bias mod). There are some nice tones that come out of that one..... sounds fun. And the dog story made me chuckle. ...My dog joins in when I play and HOWLS.... It is a fun little amp to play with - I wish the mic had done it better justice; I have one of those zoom h2's, it's a neat little mic and easy to use, but I haven't quite found the right balance of input level and volume on it yet. Seems like it either doesn't pick up loud enough... or it's too loud and clips. Either way... here is a pic of my biggest fan!
smurph1 Posted May 29, 2010 Posted May 29, 2010 Well I had a few unexpected delays... I needed some minor surgery that kept me down for a short bit, and then.... ...during the first start up test the fuse popped... did some checking, did some hair pulling out... finally found a little solder "stalagmite" that was shorting out on a chassis screw (it was in the absolute perfect spot)... fixed that, powered on again and popped the fuse again! After more and more frustrating troubleshooting I finally found the problem... the first short out must have fried the diodes as they both read nearly full open in both directions. Ordered a new pair, finally came in today, threw them in, and success! So I pieced the rest together and she is good to go! Amp sounds great, seems to have a lot of clean headroom for a single power tube, especially considering these are typically noted to have more of a blues/crunchy tone. It sounded loud and clean and I haven't even turned it up past half way yet (so I'm sure there's still some crunch hiding in there somewhere). For tubes I ended up throwing in a used C-Wing El34 and a used Phillips 12ax7 that I had picked up dirt cheap for the first power up... but truth is I think they sound fantastic so I think they are going to stay a while. (I Had a NOS Marconi 6v6 and NOS Telefunken 12ax7 on standby) On a side note- if anyone's near Livonia and needs tubes, a little shop on Ford rd a few miles west of Middlebelt has a few boxes full of used tubes at $5 a piece... lot's of 12ax7's, el34's, el84's, 6l6's, and I think a few kt88's as well (no 6v6's left). Mostly Mesa Labeled, EH, and GT's left though... I think the name of the shop was Bluesairmen. Now enough talking... here's some pics! (I'll try to post some sound clips tomorrow night, I got a little carried away with playing and forget to grab the zoom) She lives! Finally in it's home Realize I didn't post much of the rest of the build from where my last post left off... but here's the inside of the speaker cab Went with a Fender Blue Frame Alnico (Eminence) and a Warehouse Vet 30 - I was worried about the Warehouse at first, but this pair sounds great, can't wait to hear them after they break in. Awesome man!! Did you build the Cabinet too? Nice woodwork!!
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