Wiring

[neversour]

I was wondering what type of wiring is best for this build. I was thinking 20 gauge Teflon coated copper stranded. Any objections or other suggestions?

[dartanion]

Use what you want, but 22 or 20 ga PVC insulated solid core is the usual choice for wrecks.

[Jackie Treehorn]

The wire I would avoid, is the silver plated copper type. A lot of the Teflon wire is silver plated and to me, it sounds clangy and harsh on the top end.

I really like Kimber TCSS which is pure copper, 7 strands, with Teflon jacket.

[geetarpicker]

Also the original TWs used solid core wire, and for a reason. It can be bent into shape and helps to create a specific lead dress which can be quite exacting on these amps. Stranded wire gets sloppy quick, and in these amps wires need to be placed a certain way and stay need to stay put. The only stranded wire in a traditional wreck is the filament lines, the screen feed to the power tubes and just a couple of other places. All signal wires were solid core.

As others already mentioned for some reason Teflon wire makes for a bright harsh amp with these circuits, and they tend to be bright enough as it is.

Basically 20 gauge solid core copper, with PVC insulation is the original spec signal wire.

If you build it close to the original spec the only shielded wire you need is from the input jack to the first tube, and it's only grounded at the input jack side.

[Mark]

Thanks for the tip Glen, I've used 22 gauge wire with a 300VDC rating, though I doubt it is going to make a huge impact upon the tone of the amp.

Mind you it is a Rocket and not an Express.

The problem with Teflon is it is impossible to get it to bend and stay in shape, which pretty much rules it out on Trainwreck and Dumble builds.

[Jackie Treehorn]

How many types of Teflon wire have you two tried? I've never had a problem with Kimber TCSS, getting it in place. I've done multiple wreck types with it without problem and it sounds awesome if you're looking for a fuller tone from your amp.

[Mark]

Jackie the stuff I've used has a 600VDC rating the insulation is quite thick and it can be bent into tight curves but it retains the shape of gentle curves best.

I find teflon great to work with but I find PVC to be wreck and Dumble friendly.

[Colossal]

I'll put two cents here as I've been using Kimber TCSS for a while and it is excellent in both performance and sound. There is no plating over the conductor, only pure copper multi-strand. It does retain its shape very well.

[badtweed]

Over that last 3 decades, I've used mil spec teflon coated multi strand silver plated copper in many of my amp builds. No sonic issues and it is easy to strip with thermal strippers

It is difficult getting it to stay where you'd like to have it stay. You can also run into some small amount of mechanical coupling thanks to the teflon being somewhat stiffer/harder than cloth or PVC coating so more care needs to be taken to avoid that issue.

Recently for my signal path runs I've started to use single core bus style wire and install clear teflon insulation over the wire as needed.
Works and looks very nice and uncluttered.

It is easy to deal with since you only need to cut the wire to length with conventional wire cutters and no concern over scoring the wire with mechanical strippers or overheating the wire with teflon wire thermal strippers.

Negative aspect is the high cost of teflon sleeving.

For the casual builder, PVC coated wire is just fine esp at the price.

http://thebigwhistle.blogspot.com/