The Amp Garage

Hmmmm….Metal amp. Just thinking, there are a couple of things to keep in mind: 1) A clean, loud power amp is useful. Metal solos and rhythms need to be articulate. 2) Metal rhythm sounds are typically chunky and scooped. The higher the scoop center frequency (up to a point), the ‘deathier’ the tone....

Like Charlie Watts, my wife has a nice little 4-piece Gretsch kit. Due to a roller derby accident, she doesn’t have that heavy a foot, but the 20" deep x 22" dia. kick drum really gets out. The rack tom is a 12”, the floor a 16”, and she has a matching 14” snare. Add a Zildjian 16” crash, 22” ride, ...

Build a straight AB763 Dual Showman but use one pair of 6L6s, nix the trem circuit, and use an 8 Ohm speaker load. One EVM 12L or 15L should do it. Not clean enough? Sub in a 12AY7 in V1. Maybe try to find a set of NOS 7027s (mind the pin out) or 7581s, or even use 807s if you can tolerate an expose...

First off, I’ll have to agree with the Alembic F2B and Ampeg tone stack suggestions. Merlin has some nice ideas in his book, too. You may want to consider using a lower gain tube in the preamp such as a 12AU7. The goal here seems to be to make it clip in the output stage and a class A1 SE 6550 doesn...

+1 on the squaring shear. Works great on phenolic and FR4; no dust. Find someone who does sheet metal work. Most plumbers and siding & trim guys have one.

GuitarBob, In hindsight, I think you're right. I probably overcommitted in my quest to make it look fancy. Shoulda just done a gold top.

For a speaker / cab combo consider an EV TL606 cab with an Eminence Delta Pro 15A. I have an original EVM-15L in an Audio Centron-built TL606 and it is thunderous even with a 50 watt BF Bassman. I've seen the Delta Pro 15A suggested as an EVM replacement for bass applications. The cab is fairly port...

Yeah, I'm just sanding lightly to get the last of the sealer off. I tried a range of nasty chemical strippers (in the garage, doors open, with cartridge breather mask and gloves). Nothing seems to put a dent in this stuff other than heat or abrasion. Heat just makes it expand, lift, and sometimes cr...

I've heard good reviews on the Guitarfetish kits. Haven't built one, though. I have a Saga LP currently under construction. The body sealer is indeed a bear. The neck sealer came off nicely with Citrus Strip. No chemical stripper I tried, even nasty industrial stuff from a boat yard, touched the stu...

I had a similar experience back in the ’80 when I was starting out wrenching on amps. A friend had his dad’s ca. ’68 SF Vibrolux Reverb which had been in storage for at least ten years in an attic. It had the same condition; it just wouldn’t give up the goods or get as loud as other 2x6L6 amps on 3 ...

Do I use them? Preamp tubes, yes; all the time, especially in my HiFi amps. I have a few sets of Telefunken ECC83s from '60s Dyna PAS preamps and they seem to last forever if you run them conservatively. That also includes not running them in CF circuits without elevated heater supplies which seems ...

The best way to make a small fortune in amp repair is to start with a large one. :wink: In my experience (friends know me as the "amp guy"; I don't have a shop) potential customers fall into two camps: 1) People wanting restos or maintenance on serious, valuable amps. This is the high $$$ end of it....

There's a guy here in Detroit who used to work for Naylor and plays in a well-known local bar band. He has a Superdrive 60 combo he built for himself with a single 15" Eminence in it. "Which one?" I asked him. "The cheap standard one from the Legend series. It was lying around in the shop" he said. ...

[/quote]Thanks, CPollack. Much appreciated. Cannot wait to get it all together. How do you like your RAT ~ Vintage or modern model?[/quote] It's an old old RAT in the big box. Kind of rusty and beat up, but it's awesome.Thick and meaty, but still cuts through (sorry for the technical terms :) ). I a...

I'd put the wah first. The Cry Baby loads the guitar in a way that affects the tone and is an important part of the way the effect sounds. Also, I've never heard a wah used after the distortion generating stages that sounded in any way tasteful (my opinion of course). I also feel that it works best ...