madbeanpedals::forum

Projects => Build Reports => Topic started by: juansolo on September 24, 2012, 06:22:59 PM

Title: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: juansolo on September 24, 2012, 06:22:59 PM
Well I will be if it works!

(http://juansolo.demon.co.uk/stompage/images/amp3t.jpg) (http://juansolo.demon.co.uk/stompage/images/amp3.jpg)

Sanity checking tomorrow followed by power.
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: sgmezei on September 24, 2012, 06:29:19 PM
Oh Snap that is CLEAN!!! Nice build dude. Good call on the sanity check. Tubes and high voltage means more expensive parts to blow up.


Great Build!
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: GrindCustoms on September 24, 2012, 07:11:29 PM
Great job man!

I've been lurking at that amp for a while...:)

Was talking about it to CJ yesterday.....6L6 goodness!  8)
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: nzCdog on September 24, 2012, 07:25:19 PM
Yum yum... now hurry up and finish it :o ;)
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: juansolo on September 24, 2012, 07:26:35 PM
Standard build is a pair of 6V6s, but I have a pair of Svetlana Winged C 6L6s ready for when we figure out the resistor changes it'll need :)

I didn't mention for others, its a Ampmaker Double Six kit. Schematic here (http://www.ampmaker.com/images/ak02kit/ak02sc2.jpg). Seemed only logical to actually make an amp after I've done so many valve pedals.
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: juansolo on September 24, 2012, 07:29:07 PM
Quote from: nzCdog on September 24, 2012, 07:25:19 PM
Yum yum... now hurry up and finish it :o ;)

Fingers crossed it'll be running tomorrow. Then a trip over to Martin's (MJW amps) as he's making the cab for me. I simply don't have the facilities to do it myself. I have a pair of 10" Eminence 1028K's that I got for an insanely cheap price that'll be going in the cab with it.
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: oldhousescott on September 24, 2012, 07:33:43 PM
If you don't have a light bulb limiter, it would be worthwhile making one for your first start-up.

Linky (http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/spo_test.htm)
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: nzCdog on September 24, 2012, 07:34:31 PM
Woooo!  Getting a pro cab done is such a treat, bet it'll look dreamy
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: angrykoko on September 24, 2012, 10:13:53 PM
Nice work!
Makes me itch to build another amp.

One thing I was told about when I built my amp was the lead dress on the heater wires.  I started off wiring them exactly as you have yours.  Then I was pointed to this page on Valvewizzards site: http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/heater.html

Scroll down to the section "Layout / lead dress:", you'll see a little picture where he runs the heaters over the tube sockets to keep them coming in from one side only.  Read the last paragraph of that section, he explains it well.

The heaters were the biggest source of noise in my amp, this change and adding an artificial center tap really helped a ton.

Looks really great though.. Nice work!
I'm jealous!

Koko

Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: juansolo on September 25, 2012, 07:50:30 AM
Ah yes, that's Merlin's site, bit of a ninja that man! His pedal designs are exceptional also.
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: raulduke on September 25, 2012, 08:23:35 AM
Nice work dude!

I'm looking forward to hearing your first impressions on the amp.

I was going to order one, but alas, it appears he has stopped offering kits for the double six.
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: juansolo on September 25, 2012, 04:14:37 PM
Success!

(http://juansolo.demon.co.uk/stompage/images/amp4t.jpg) (http://juansolo.demon.co.uk/stompage/images/amp4.jpg)

Oh I like this! It's not quite as loud as I  expected (which is a bonus), but it's clean all the way around the dial. Then you kick the boost (throws out the tone stack) and yep, there's quite a bit of crunch there. Responds really well to pedals on the front of it too. Lovely clean tone. Which was what I was after, though it doesn't dirty up as nicely as my MJW does, unsurprisingly.

The 6L6s sound much nicer than the 6V6s. However I'm not entirely sure they're running optimally, nor do I think I can when I'm limited to a 15w PSU. Still they'll last a lot longer.  It's got a NOS RFT in the pre-stage after swapping a few around.

The watts switch works. It's really quiet and breaks up easily on 1W. You can talk over it. Obviously it loses a tonne of headroom. But it does what it does well.

Over all really pleased with it. Can't wait for it to get boxed up.
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: raulduke on September 25, 2012, 04:26:52 PM
Damn it looks so cool dude!

I seriously want one now after your description.

I hope Barry starts selling the kit again  :-[
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: jkokura on September 25, 2012, 04:39:38 PM
That's lovely! I'd love to build one for myself!

Jacob
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: gtr2 on September 25, 2012, 05:12:28 PM
Awesome!  I'm itching to build an amp.  Maybe this winter... The new BYOC kit looks interesting, but I was hoping for a different flavor than Fender.  :)

Josh
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: nzCdog on September 25, 2012, 07:42:11 PM
Well done mate!  Looks lurvely... I'm jealous 8)
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: pryde on September 25, 2012, 08:15:12 PM
Super cool amp, congrats on a successful build.

I considered one at a point but ended up building a 5e3 instead. I still am seriously looking at the Ampmaker SE-5a for my next build. I here ampmaker is good to work with.

Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: geekmacdaddy on September 26, 2012, 02:18:42 AM
Congrats. Looks fantastic.
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: gtr2 on September 27, 2012, 12:58:00 PM
uhh...  I did it...

In a moment of weakness I just purchased the SE-5a.

The price seemed really reasonable even with overseas shipping and taxes.  I didn't want to have to source components for an amp build and this is exactly what I was looking for.  Once built I'm hoping to sell an amp to cover the cost..

Josh
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: raulduke on September 27, 2012, 02:17:43 PM
Good on ya Josh  ;)

Looking forward to the build report (you can see mine here: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=5545.0 (http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=5545.0)).

I haven't given my Se-5a much love recently; may have to have a blast with it tonight.

It sounds really good cranked; at full whack it has an awesome crunch tone (especially using my LP).

Barry (the owner of AmpMaker) is in my experience an incredibly helpfull guy; I couldn't recommend them highly enough!
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: juansolo on September 27, 2012, 05:55:13 PM
Have to admit, I'm tempted to have a go at the PP-18 next...
Or just bite the bullet and build from scratch.
Title: Re: Bit early for this one, but quite pleased with it so far.
Post by: nzCdog on September 27, 2012, 07:49:18 PM
Ampmaker has a cool selection of parts, so I'm hoping to snag a PT and chassis from him... (when the cow$ come home etc)