[Renamed] TUBE AMP HEADs
- Thread starter seekz
- Start date
DarknessFury
New member
WOW...building your own amp sure looks fun, dangerous and complicated...but the satisfaction of completing it is priceless! Did you do that panel yourself, mikemann?
YES. I would like to say again. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS if you don't have basic electronics knowledge or basically not cut out for this. GO BUY SOMETHING READY MADE from the shops, more worthwhile anyway.
DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!! I have being dabbling with electronics since I was in my young lower sec years, that is like almost 20yrs already.
Power supply in a tube amp typical goes up to 450-500volts DC!!! LETHAL ZONES!!
Even experienced engineers get killed thru electrocution, by accident or carelessness. There is no room for sloppy work here.
DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!! I have being dabbling with electronics since I was in my young lower sec years, that is like almost 20yrs already.
Power supply in a tube amp typical goes up to 450-500volts DC!!! LETHAL ZONES!!
Even experienced engineers get killed thru electrocution, by accident or carelessness. There is no room for sloppy work here.
thor666
New member
seekz said:
Try Guitar Connection.
Mikemann: The Marshall looks fantastic. Perhaps one reason I can offer as to why the amp doesn't sound as good as a production one is that it hasn't been "burnt in". Well, I'm assuming you haven't let the amp burn in anyway.
Agreed - there's no room for sloppiness in amp building.
thor666 said:
I did not say this JTM45 hand built does not sound good. The sound is better than current production models. Should rival or even beat other boutique class production too.
Some reviews I had on it was that the warmth sound was immediate, solid tightness in tone on the whole playing spectrum. Also the sensitivity of the amp give seasoned players an immediate feel of extra response apart from production models they normally use.
New speakers need a 'breaking in' period, that's for sure.
Only got preamp tubes,quad match set of EL34 and 2 gold plated tip socket left.
My board was the Hi Octane(eyelet one not like yours with turrets). I remember the first and only time i did it. Was very unconfident of whether the amp would work. Thankfully it did.For now i will try to concentrate on pedals instead.
Did you know that point to point circuitry is more inefficient than the PCB ones? People still do it because of the aesthetic appeal.
My board was the Hi Octane(eyelet one not like yours with turrets). I remember the first and only time i did it. Was very unconfident of whether the amp would work. Thankfully it did.For now i will try to concentrate on pedals instead.
Did you know that point to point circuitry is more inefficient than the PCB ones? People still do it because of the aesthetic appeal.
seekz
New member
I think i'll do the hi-octane one....
was thinking about my efx pedals...
lets just say i need to use some reverb on a lead line.
It'll be a pre-distortion verb sound into the tube head...
I've never tried before... but its not gona sound great right?
unless i add some sort of post distortion "effects send" routing jacks before the tube distortion right?
was thinking about my efx pedals...
lets just say i need to use some reverb on a lead line.
It'll be a pre-distortion verb sound into the tube head...
I've never tried before... but its not gona sound great right?
unless i add some sort of post distortion "effects send" routing jacks before the tube distortion right?
Timex said:
Eh.... I don't think that that is right. With well designed placement and wiring, I feel it (P 2 P) beats PCB hands down, in terms of reliability, noise rejection, accessibility...etc. As is shown by legend amps.
Why it's remain seen only in boutique class amps, is mainly because of the manual labour (also the skill required) involved to build such amps properly. With PCB, the build process become automate-able. So mass producing PCB based amps is more viable in today's context.
Some PCB based amps nowsaday have reach a stage, that they are not made to be repair friendly, some even not possible, mostly not economical. SMT (surface mount) technology is such example.
Again, the market is small, in ours even more not viable. If someone is willing to plionk in the cash to open a boutique amp shop in SG, I tell him he is nuts. But at the same time, I will offer to joint venture with him and give it a shot. I also nuts too. I dun play, yet I love the legendary tones that is produced by past guitar legends. JTM45, Twin Reverb, Orange, AC30, Hiwatt, Bassman 59....etc. Even solid state ones like Jazz chorus.
yes but tests have shown that PCBs based circuits are able to last longer and can be produced faster.Well at least thats what my prof says.Not too sure about the noise reduction part.I also read it in come on an article about victoria amps.But i'll agree on wat you wrote about accessiblility.Somehow between a if there were 2 marshalls one with PCB and the other PTP wiring and there is a big price difference, i would chose the PCB one.
On a side note, i am still looking or a DIY valve based distortion pedal design. Any ideas where i can find an effective one?
On a side note, i am still looking or a DIY valve based distortion pedal design. Any ideas where i can find an effective one?
That's why your prof is in school teaching, not outside getting his hands dirty. Don't read too many books or dumb one-sided theory articles, you will become dumb too.
Why I say this is because my hands are always dirty, with the innards of amps from those built just last month to 50yr old ones. I can testify that point to point superiority when it comes to amp applications. Hey if those amps are still servicable after 50yrs, I will say they are as lasting or even more lasting than PCB ones.
Also stray capacitance from the parallel copper tracks on a PCB is one article I also have read before. But, no it doesn't bother me at all. Proper design and build engineering can overcome issues. Thus I am not playing down PCB, they are as important and even more so today, for our daily lives and technology advancment.
I am saying all these based more on my hands on experience and common sense. My theory knowledge is limited. But applying what I know is more important.
Why I say this is because my hands are always dirty, with the innards of amps from those built just last month to 50yr old ones. I can testify that point to point superiority when it comes to amp applications. Hey if those amps are still servicable after 50yrs, I will say they are as lasting or even more lasting than PCB ones.
Also stray capacitance from the parallel copper tracks on a PCB is one article I also have read before. But, no it doesn't bother me at all. Proper design and build engineering can overcome issues. Thus I am not playing down PCB, they are as important and even more so today, for our daily lives and technology advancment.
I am saying all these based more on my hands on experience and common sense. My theory knowledge is limited. But applying what I know is more important.
