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There were several database errors last week, and then this one today. I don't really understand what is causing the errors.

I think it is fixed now. I didn't know the hompage wasn't working---I was going directly to "unread messages" which appears to work fine.

These acronyms are getting out of hand.

There is a very small lot of Sunking II and 8-Ball (Marshall Bluesbreaker) PCBs available in the store. I will be stocking more of each soon. The 8-Ball documents are forthcoming.

Do you fellas have any tips for safety with this stuff? I kinda want to try building one now.

Here's how I worked safely on my (used daily) AC4 this week: unplug the amp, turn it on and let it sit for a while. After a bit, I was reading 10v on one of the plate sockets for the pre-amp tube, so I connected one end of a 10k 2W resistor to one of the plate resistors and the other end to chassis ground. I did this with some plastic covered clamps. Waited a bit longer then measured 0v on my DMM where I hooked the resistor to the plate. At that point I removed the circuit board and connections from the chassis using just one hand and measured the main decoupling cap directly with the DMM. Still read about .9v across the positive and negative there, so I discharged that directly to the chassis. Completely safe to handle at that point.

I was really meticulous about it, but there is no such thing as too careful I guess when it comes to high voltage / high current stuff. I've never tried probing a live amp, though. That is a bit scarier.

Grizzlebeard now has a complete set of enchanted Ebony armor and weapons. Head to toe, he is a dark marauder. He can fell dirty vampires with one arrow from his bow...the Burninator.

Don't know if Josh built it or not, but he was a customer around that time. This was probably 2009-10?

BTW: the PCB is super cheap. You have to be really careful not to burn any pads up when you desolder. I pulled a partial pad even while being gentle.

I did some mods this afternoon to the trusty old AC4TV and they turned out quite nice. Here's what I cobbled together from suggestions on the internets.

Replace the stock Sovtek tubes. I went with a Tung-Sol EL84 and a JJ 12AT7. The AT7 is lower gain than the AX7, but I got one of those too in case I change my mind later.
C5 - bumped from 4n7 to 22n Orange Drop 630v.
C6 - switched to 22n Orange Drop 630v.
C4 - bumped from 220pF ceramic to 500pF Silver Mica.
C3 - bumped from 4n7 to 10n Orange Drop, 100v.

On order: Weber 10" Blue Pup to replace the stock 10" ceramic. I may also cut a new port on the back of the amp.

End result: beefier, some more headroom, I think, and a more useable tone control. It really does sound a bit thicker due to replacing C5. I still run the tone control on the dark end, but there is more balance and range. I might go back later and add a switch to put another small cap in parallel with C3 to go even darker. I also might replace C18 with an Orange Drop just for the mojo at a later time. I don't have any rated for 400v+ right now, only 100v.

I'm pretty stoked with the new tones. The component changes are fairly inexpensive and the speaker is reasonable ($95). But, the jury is still out until I swap that speaker. So far, so good!

He's a loner..a bit of an Anarchist. He doesn't need factions or allegiance to any Imperial or Stormcloak flunky. Actually, he is with the Dawguard currently so he can kill vampires. But he is not doing the main quest...did that with my first character, Elkar the Dark Elf. He does have a companion...Inigo the Khajiit. Inigo is very helpful in killing baddies. Inigo thinks Lydia is an idiot and insults her constantly.

Is the new avatar Skyrim?

That's GrizzleBeard. He's my level 34 Redguard. He don't like being disrespected. He will whoop anyone who does with his drain health Ebony enchanted bow and/or glass warhammer.

Rrrrr....word?

It turned out that the output waveform of the noninverting clipper consists of two components: (1) the amplified and clipped version of the input waveform (2) plus the unamplified input waveform. That is, the noninverting clipper adds (or mixes) the original input signal to the amplified and clipped input signal.

I'm thinking that there could be an improvment in dynamics if the pedal is operated at 18v. Am I right?

It's a thing that many people aren't hip to, but (IMO) explains why the TS type design is so popular: the clipped signal mixes with the clean signal. A simple thing, but crucial to the "feel" of the pedal.

Sorry to hear you had some trouble with the switches If you ever re-visit it, try it with these sub-miniature switches: http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=42

They go a long way toward opening up space. Plus, the are not as tall.

Builds look great!

I'm going to get on it in earnest ASAP. There's a lot of back-end stuff I need to do/learn up on for the website re-design so that's kinda delaying things a bit.