The Amp Garage

daydreamer wrote: "Some people have a destiny that involves nothing more than serving as a cautionary tale to others."
Andy

Heard a corollary to that years ago:

"Nobody is completely worthless; they can always be used as a bad example".

I've built them both ways - strain relief and IEC. I think the little extra time to make a cutout for an IEC is worth it. I hate to have a chord dangling from a combo or head while it is being transported. Too easy to accidentally step on it. Same here. Did my first express old-school, but no more....

............... Then buy Merlin's book from him so I don't feel so bad about all the good ideas I have gained from his work. Cheers. Thanks! When I saw the diodes (esp the V1B, no parallel cap) was wondering if there was some odd asymetrical bias going on as the input swung from positive to negativ...

If you can find thick enough Formica, that is what certain boutique builders have used in the past. In fact I saw an amp that sells for $3,200 that used counter top material for circuit boards. :D Formica was originally used as a man-made replacement for the widely-used natural insulator, Mica. The...

Hmm. Help a brother out here. What kinda bias you get for V1a (and b)? Two diodes with a 100n cap in parallel to ground or just a diode to ground?

There is an an electronics 'junk' store here from which I purchased about 200 old Ge transistors of all different types many years ago. Is that OEM? They still in business? Used to go to COS 6-10 years ago and raided OEM mostly at their old place (vintage 60s supermarket with scattered basting pans...

Been playing thru a 4x12 loaded with Governors, but have thought of switching down to a 2x12 with Scumback H75s (65w). Jim: is it the M75s that are too bright?

Mostly check the >1watt resistors to make sure I got the right value. Some color codes have down cold (the 1's) but others either don't remember off the top of my head or can't quite read the color (esp the blue-green-violet). Maybe I am color-deficient? For the caps, jeez, they're all over the map....

I always meter mine just before placing, cutting to size, and soldering. Not only reistors, but pots and caps. Also do continuity checks on switches, jacks, and sockets (lug to hole).

Got a Tektronix 465 100 MHz off ebay (less than $100). Was a bit of a search.

Only went that route because the guy was local and actively using it (for CB Radio repair).

Not surprised at all that he tailed you for a while. Driving late at night, not a biggie. But driving like a grandma late at night is usually a drunk. Was probably looking to see if you were gonna weave, checking license plate, etc. Throwing a butt out the window was definitely an excuse to get a cl...

Second on Geoff Emericks book. Rousing and imformative good read from a perspective I've never seen before with the Beatles, or any other band really. Imagine being promoted to recording engineer at age 19 and your first gig was an album by the worlds most popular band. And the result? Revolver.

If you really want to learn amps, need to understand electrical principles. The Navy Electricity and Electronics Training Series (NEETS) was designed to provide "beginners with fundamental electrical and electronic concepts". It's a series of topic-oriented modules, freely available at: http://www.p...

For guitar/bass amp purposes, there are three types of tubes;

Preamp
Power
Rectifier

Although in most peoples books, an "all-tube" amp can have a non-tube rectifier (solid state).

You are indeed one of the pre-eminent and much respected Trainwreck builders, Master Fowler :) I most humbly call attention to this passage in your last missive: I guess that one less hole depends on whom you got the chassis from. Yeah, for this is the very reason I cautioned the reader to "avoid a ...