GibGa
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Posts: 13
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« on: April 24, 2009, 06:05:16 pm » |
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Another amp builder newb here. Or semi-newb now as I have been studying and reading for some time now.
I absolutely must have tube amp in my life as you all understand. I have one good manufactured TubeAmp but it is a pcb modern, and I want to have the strip board/p-p so I can maintain and mod, and have better reliability etc... Suffice it to say I am grateful for all the journeyman information shared here allowing me to gain understanding and insight with which I feel now confident to attempt a build.
I started playing guitar in '77 with school friends after many years drumming in school orchestra and marching band. I live in a mountainous area of California and enjoy boating of all sorts especially in wooden boats. I've built several guitars to date one of which by chance happened to sound really good- to me anyway. I've been cutting and sanding wood for a living for awhile now, and the guitars became a hobby five years ago.
Again thank you, and you all enjoy your springtime and warmer weather.
John
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Frankenamp
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Posts: 619
What does this button do?
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« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2009, 07:06:32 pm » |
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Hah! a Band Geek ;) (choirboy here) Welcome aboard! I live on the left coast too I remember 77 well, I was a junior at the time... Picked it up, put it down... pickin' it up again... most of my wood werkin' is making speaker cabs and making industrial stuff....
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This problem calls for a bigger hammer!
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mackie2
Level 2
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Posts: 188
"Follow The Red Wire"
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« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2009, 10:40:24 pm » |
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Hello--
I am an old school newb--amps I have built them--maybe 200 different ones from the norm--over 50 years. I only built what was a
different approach that no one else had tried: for instance an inverted mode guitar tube amp using 6336a's, no vol cont--no tone cont-no output transformer(clear, Clear)--transmitter tube amps--headphone amps--a lot of two tube lo watt amps --6w6 to 45 tubes--vvr is interesting, but requires fet's--there is a different approach, that I am working on now-------12ax7-el84-6SN7-and/or pp el84, 6L6 VPR---var pwr reg--I have been retired for 15 years--radar-microwave--comm-computers, etc. VPR does not use any new technology, just a rearrangement of normal tube engineering.
I was a kid in the mountains of western North Carolina--Haywood County, I built my first radio--Crystal Set--wound on an Oatmeal
Box. The First station: WCKY -- No Battery--No Tubes !!!!!
mackie2
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1/2 a Valve is better than no Valve at all.
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GibGa
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Posts: 13
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« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2009, 12:53:27 pm » |
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Yeah- Band geek indeed and all kinds of other geek interests too. And I grew up in the typical Cal surf town...many more geeks in surf towns than the stereotype indicates :D
I guess now I should post into the amp section to gain some advice as I have a bit of a dilemma deciding what exactly to build. I have a non-running pcb tube amp which I am having trouble pinpointing the cause. I am inclined to pull the guts and start fresh with a 18 watt Stout(the Geek thing - you know ::)) or ZP's 18wSuperliteTMB using parts from the amp as practicle. And/Or start with a schl40 Ga5 and sail onward from there.
Thanks for the welcome and Goodday.
J
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Ritchie200
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Posts: 1663
Smokin' 88's!
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« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2009, 02:57:47 pm » |
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Surf town? There are quite a few riders here and although stuck in the middle (St. Lou), I try to surf whenever I can get to some ripples!
Yeah, I built a cystal set back in the 60's too! Back when shortwave was mysterious with all those foreign countries light years away! Now we pick up a cell phone.....man, I'm getting old.
Jim
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 My religion? I'm a Cathode Follower! Can we have everything louder than everything else? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools!-Spicoli |
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mackie2
Level 2
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Posts: 188
"Follow The Red Wire"
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« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2009, 03:37:37 pm » |
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JIM
MACKIE2 BACK AT YOU--WENT TO MICROWAVE SCH AT SCOTT AFB, BELLVILLE, IL--JUST OUT OF EAST ST LOU--THERE WAS A PLACE CALLED THE BRASS RAIL--BLUES-JAZZ-ROCK IN THE OLD DAYS. BARELY CAN REMEMBER-- BUT BEER WAS CHEAP AND LADIES FROM CAIRO WOULD MAKE THE NIGHT WORTH WHILE--I LIKE LOW WATT AMPS THAT SOUND BIG WHEN RECORDED--QUAD PP 6SN7'S INTO AN AMPEG V4 OUTPUT TRANSFORMER TO EFFICIENT 417 ALTEC'S --OVERDRIVE, BOOST DISTORTION VIA CREATION AUDIO LABS'S HOLY FIRE 48 VOLT PEDAL! IT'S KINDA EXPENSIVE, BUT IT'S ALL THE PEDAL I NEED. I HAVE A MODIFIED CHAMP--36WATTS--ABOUT EVERY THING HAS BEEN CHANGED , BUT THE CHASSIS.
ENOUGH RAMBLING!
MACKIE2
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1/2 a Valve is better than no Valve at all.
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Ritchie200
Level 3
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Posts: 1663
Smokin' 88's!
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« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2009, 10:38:54 pm » |
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Mackie2,
What year are we talking about? My band played the rounds at all the Illinois clubs like the Brass Rail, Rico's in Belleville and Granite City, Ed's, Stonehenge, The Red Carpet (really weird place...), Granny's Rocker, and my fav - The Grainery (If you didn't get lucky there, you were passed out!). IL drinking age was 19 in those days. We also played on the Admiral on Saturday nights, when it used to go up and down the Mississippi in the summer. This would have been....1979-81ish. Man that was a long time ago! Remember quarter draw nights! Twenty five cents buys a lot of beer in the course of a night!
As you probably know, Scott is still there and doing well. Be glad they didn't send you to some gosh forsaken place like Rantol in central IL! Nothing but corn fields and....corn fields! Are you still in?
Jim
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My religion? I'm a Cathode Follower! Can we have everything louder than everything else? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools!-Spicoli |
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mackie2
Level 2
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Posts: 188
"Follow The Red Wire"
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« Reply #7 on: April 27, 2009, 02:33:53 pm » |
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Jim:
Old School; that would be 1957. We raised a little hell in those days, until the money, booze, and food ran out. Always had some performing ladies around to help. I just penciled a song to fit the times then:
Back in high school Music was cool
I liked Johnny Cash And Elvis too
They had a beat Of solid Gold
A little bit country And rock 'n Roll
The amp in the attachment is Studio plus 4. Output: PP--6SN7, 6L6, EL84 all on same OT. Pwr Adjustment on 6L6 and El84 6SN7 is always on. Notice Big Red Cap: 2800UF 450V--no ripple. I had trouble getting the file down to 128kb.
Mackie2
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1/2 a Valve is better than no Valve at all.
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GibGa
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Posts: 13
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« Reply #8 on: April 29, 2009, 12:19:02 am » |
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I caught the tail end of the good ol' analog days. I had some characters on my paper route and one in particular was an retired auto engineer/inventor with patents in his name and so he had a large power boat in front of his house etc. I'd toss the papers then watch and learn in his nicely arrayed workskop. Along with the school shops equipted with the Navy surplus Oliver machinery, that shop and his experience caught my interest in tinkering. Now I enjoy rebuilding perfectly good stuff into better good stuff if the intrique hits my imagination.
Been reading here awhile now and pouring through layouts and schematics. I am beginning to get the ideas and can now pretty well turn a schematic into a layout. Of course the deep theory is well beyond me. But this is a facinateing new area of interest for me.
I am very grateful for this Hoffman board as it seems to my beginners understanding THE board for the inventive, adventurous, and creative.
Have a gooday,
John
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