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  #31  
Old 01-14-2017, 05:22 PM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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Clint, you build the cleanest amps. Everything looks perfect. I'm sure many home builders' amps are a mess inside.
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  #32  
Old 01-14-2017, 07:15 PM
moon moon is offline
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Thanks for taking the trouble to post your latest amp-building project - some great work and real knowledge on display

I hope this is an inspiration for others wondering about amp-building. It's really not as hard as you think and you can build some truly amazing, classic amp circuits.
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  #33  
Old 01-14-2017, 07:31 PM
moon moon is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Womack View Post
So, anyway, I'm wanting to dive into the kit market myself. I know I will have to start at the bottom with something like a Tweed Champ or something similar to get my trouble shooting skills back up to snuff.

Bob
The secret is to work very carefully and methodically, and triple-check you're soldering the right bit to the right other bit. With good solder work there won't be anything to debug and eutectic solder will help avoid cold solder joints.

I love my home-made 5F1. It's more versatile than you'd think in a "silent recording" setup ie reactive load (schematic available on request) and convolution cab sim. There's a lot of scope to tweak the sound with different speaker IRs.
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  #34  
Old 01-17-2017, 06:53 AM
clintj clintj is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moon View Post
The secret is to work very carefully and methodically, and triple-check you're soldering the right bit to the right other bit. With good solder work there won't be anything to debug and eutectic solder will help avoid cold solder joints.

I love my home-made 5F1. It's more versatile than you'd think in a "silent recording" setup ie reactive load (schematic available on request) and convolution cab sim. There's a lot of scope to tweak the sound with different speaker IRs.
My usual procedure once I've finished building is to grab a fresh copy of the layout and schematic, and go over every connection using my eyes and a multimeter to walk down each piece of circuit. Verify the proper points have ground, and look for inadvertent short circuits to ground as well.

I'll be getting back into this today after I get my morning chores done around the house. Dogs won't walk themselves, you know.

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  #35  
Old 01-17-2017, 02:36 PM
clintj clintj is offline
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Busy day. Got the sockets wired, grounding completed, and the power cord wired in. All that's left is installing the chassis in the cab, wiring in speakers, and testing.



A few notes from today's work. The output transformer secondaries (blue and brown) are left long until I know it's right. 50/50 chance the polarity is reversed on a new build, which leads to a full power howl. Not fun to listen to.



Grounding for the power amp section is accomplished by combining the high voltage center tap, heater center tap, standby switch ground, filter cap ground, and power tube cathodes in one "star".



The power cord ground is left longer than hot and neutral wires as insurance. In the event the cord gets yanked out, the ground will be the last to release. The ground also gets its own attachment point, free of other connections.





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  #36  
Old 01-17-2017, 02:37 PM
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Got repair parts incoming, so this'll sit til tomorrow.

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  #37  
Old 01-17-2017, 06:58 PM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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wow, great pics and great job!!
no matter what little of a job i do on my amps, i have learned to hook up my bulb current limiter and variac. it only took one mistake for me to learn that the hard way.

play music!
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  #38  
Old 01-17-2017, 09:12 PM
jseth jseth is offline
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Immaculate build, Clint! Exceptionally sanitary...

Looking forward to having you "put it through its paces..."
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  #39  
Old 01-19-2017, 04:48 PM
clintj clintj is offline
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Went through and verified the circuit today, twice. Looks good (knock on wood). I then mounted the chassis in the cab, and built the speaker cables. I'm taking a break before even thinking about powering it up. I want a clear mind so I don't mismeasure something or put a hand where I shouldn't.

Getting close!





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  #40  
Old 01-19-2017, 06:03 PM
Darwin Darwin is offline
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Clint, that has the "I'm in charge" look!!! -- Darwin
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  #41  
Old 01-19-2017, 06:03 PM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clintj View Post
Went through and verified the circuit today, twice. Looks good (knock on wood). I then mounted the chassis in the cab, and built the speaker cables. I'm taking a break before even thinking about powering it up. I want a clear mind so I don't mismeasure something or put a hand where I shouldn't.

Getting close!





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i agree. i always take a break after i've been working on an amp. i won't power it up until the variac and bulb limiter are connected. no shorts allowed!

great looking!

play music!
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  #42  
Old 01-19-2017, 09:42 PM
clintj clintj is offline
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Made it through power up testing!

She's currently plugged in through a light bulb limiter (out of the pic). The green wire is a bleeder resistor used to drain the caps between tests so I can enter the chassis safely once voltage drops to low levels. I use the Paul Ruby startup procedure found here for first startup:

http://paulrubyamplifiers.com/info.html

It provides a nice step-by-step guide to powering up safely, checking for problems at each stage.

All I have left is to remove the light bulb limiter, shorten my output transformer primaries, set bias properly, and see what it sounds like.

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  #43  
Old 01-19-2017, 10:25 PM
clintj clintj is offline
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Oh, man. That is just sumptuous tone clean, and that lapse into breakup is intoxicating. I had my Strat plugged in for a few minutes and inched up the volume to 7, and I can't stop grinning. That sound is unbelievable!

I can tell this amp will take a little while to learn, but it's begging to be recorded already. I'll have to take an hour tomorrow and start experimenting with mic placements.

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  #44  
Old 01-20-2017, 10:43 AM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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fantastic. congrats!!!!

play music!
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  #45  
Old 01-20-2017, 11:15 AM
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Bob Womack Bob Womack is offline
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Congrats on a successful startup!!!

Bob
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