pix of Custom built guitar amps/cabs

[Ice-9]

I also have amp build projects... But it lags, lags, lags... 

With some others, this one is still sleeping :



In the small department, my Radio-Tone has a new advertising career for py part time amp repair job as a business card display :





In the big department, my Serial Tone Killer is now finished and operational... Not less than five years later its inception :



















Lagging, did you say ? 

A+!

This is one lovely looking amp.

[thomasha]

What kind of OT did you use? I was thinking of making similar amp, but wasn't sure where to get an OT.

it's a 10W 100V line transformer. I used the 0, 2.5W and 0.625W taps for the primary and an 8 ohm speaker at the 4 ohm tap, to get the 32k primary.

[rankot]

What kind of OT did you use? I was thinking of making similar amp, but wasn't sure where to get an OT.

it's a 10W 100V line transformer. I used the 0, 2.5W and 0.625W taps for the primary and an 8 ohm speaker at the 4 ohm tap, to get the 32k primary.

Just to check if I got you right:

0, 2.5W and 0.625W are used as primary to load tubes and you connect 8 Ohm speaker at the 4 Ohm tap? And the primary is 32k in that case? What is 2.5W, is it center tap then?

Is it something like this? https://www.parts-express.com/70V-10W-Line-Matching-Transformer-300-040

[thomasha]

Yes, 0 and 0.0625w taps are connected to the plates and 2.5w is the centre tap. 

The one you sent is a 70v line transformer, you want a 100v one, like this one here:https://www.visaton.de/en/products/public-address/accessories/tr-1016

[rankot]

Yes, 0 and 0.0625w taps are connected to the plates and 2.5w is the centre tap. 

The one you sent is a 70v line transformer, you want a 100v one, like this one here:https://www.visaton.de/en/products/public-address/accessories/tr-1016

Thanks! Now to find a source for that one!

[stallik]

I stumbled on this at a recent guitar show. Thought it looked really neat
Trying to recall the maker..

[bluebunny]

Very neat indeed, Kevin.  I can see "Dover Custom 20" in that oh-so-black chassis.

[vigilante397]

I stumbled on this at a recent guitar show. Thought it looked really neat
Trying to recall the maker..

That is GORGEOUS. Zoomed in it looks like most of the components just have black heatshrink over them, but a few (notably the larger electrolytic caps) look like they may have been painted? Either way a killer look. I think this should be the standard instead of gooping circuits you don't want traced.

[thomasha]

Just to add a video of the amp in action:

[Ben N]

That is GORGEOUS. Zoomed in it looks like most of the components just have black heatshrink over them, but a few (notably the larger electrolytic caps) look like they may have been painted? Either way a killer look. I think this should be the standard instead of gooping circuits you don't want traced.

Hmmmm.  Putting heatshrink on resistors in a hi-voltage amp doesn't strike me as the best way to manage heat.

[vigilante397]

That is GORGEOUS. Zoomed in it looks like most of the components just have black heatshrink over them, but a few (notably the larger electrolytic caps) look like they may have been painted? Either way a killer look. I think this should be the standard instead of gooping circuits you don't want traced.

Hmmmm.  Putting heatshrink on resistors in a hi-voltage amp doesn't strike me as the best way to manage heat.

The resistors shouldn't be dissipating much heat to begin with, if the resistors in your tube amp are getting hot enough to worry about managing heat then you have a problem.

[thomasha]

That is GORGEOUS. Zoomed in it looks like most of the components just have black heatshrink over them, but a few (notably the larger electrolytic caps) look like they may have been painted? Either way a killer look. I think this should be the standard instead of gooping circuits you don't want traced.

Hmmmm.  Putting heatshrink on resistors in a hi-voltage amp doesn't strike me as the best way to manage heat.

The resistors shouldn't be dissipating much heat to begin with, if the resistors in your tube amp are getting hot enough to worry about managing heat then you have a problem.

I have to agree.
The only resistor that might get hot is the power stage cathode resistor, and maybe the b+ resistors. All the others are normally rated for 1W but will have a really low dissipation. For example, let's say the plate resistor drops 200v at a 1mA current (12AX7) it will only give you 200mW. Normally the voltage drop and currents are way lower.

[amptramp]

That is GORGEOUS. Zoomed in it looks like most of the components just have black heatshrink over them, but a few (notably the larger electrolytic caps) look like they may have been painted? Either way a killer look. I think this should be the standard instead of gooping circuits you don't want traced.

Hmmmm.  Putting heatshrink on resistors in a hi-voltage amp doesn't strike me as the best way to manage heat.

This is bad for maintainability as well.  People identify resistors with colour codes or printing for a reason.  We used to have maintainability demonstrations called out in the contract as a task in some of the equipment we made.  A number of faults were placed in a completed device and the test was to see how long it would take to be diagnosed and repaired.  We always assigned our best tech to that test and gave him everything he wanted short of hookers and blow.  For that one day, he was the most important person in the company.  CEO's may come and go but a tech who can ace an M demo is a keeper at any cost.

[EBK]

I'm working on another small amp.  I haven't figured out a cabinet for it yet, but I like the way it sounds through my Champ cab.  I will probably eventually pair it with a Jensen 5-inch speaker and look for a deep cigar box to put it in.


The preamp is a ROG Azabache with a modded tone range.  The power amp is a 2.5W Class D module from Adafruit.  The result is pretty fun.

[GGBB]

I stumbled on this at a recent guitar show. Thought it looked really neat
Trying to recall the maker..

That is GORGEOUS. Zoomed in it looks like most of the components just have black heatshrink over them, but a few (notably the larger electrolytic caps) look like they may have been painted? Either way a killer look. I think this should be the standard instead of gooping circuits you don't want traced.

Dover Custom amp BTW.

Brad would not bleeping like this. Skip to 3:08.

[GGBB]

That is GORGEOUS. Zoomed in it looks like most of the components just have black heatshrink over them, but a few (notably the larger electrolytic caps) look like they may have been painted? Either way a killer look. I think this should be the standard instead of gooping circuits you don't want traced.

Hmmmm.  Putting heatshrink on resistors in a hi-voltage amp doesn't strike me as the best way to manage heat.

This is bad for maintainability as well.  People identify resistors with colour codes or printing for a reason.  We used to have maintainability demonstrations called out in the contract as a task in some of the equipment we made.  A number of faults were placed in a completed device and the test was to see how long it would take to be diagnosed and repaired.  We always assigned our best tech to that test and gave him everything he wanted short of hookers and blow.  For that one day, he was the most important person in the company.  CEO's may come and go but a tech who can ace an M demo is a keeper at any cost.

So called builders who would do this are most likely not going to share their schematics either, making diagnosis and repair even more difficult unless you take/send it back to them, which is impossible when they inevitably go out of business within a few years because they get a bad reputation for doing this kind of thing.