martin manning wrote:Does the catalog listing reveal any of the thoughts behind it?
The fact that the Manzamp was available as a preamp has me a little concerned that I may have missed some secret ingredient. As it stands, I imagine this Manzamp like a Bassman, where the tone is determined as much by the speakers and output section. The original Bassman preamp is pretty simple and straight forward.
Maybe there was another Manzamp with 4 tubes, and a ODS style overdrive. Maybe that is what the Manzamp preamp is based on. This Manzamp in the picture has one of the tube holes blocked off and seems to follow the Bassman preamp architecture very closely.
"You feel like you're floating on a football field filled with marshmallows." -Dumble
I am working around the perimeter of the PC board in a counterclockwise direction. I started with the hot line from the rectifier tube and I'll end witht the last ground by the power section.
martin manning wrote:Thanks Mark, I do recall reading that description now. Re the power supply, it looks like there is a lot more reservoir capacitance, but otherwise the precision power supply isn't much different, electrically speaking. Dumble-style presence is Fender presence. I'll be most interested to see the other circuit details when they are finally unveiled...
I was speaking to the increase in capacitance. 8uf shared by the preamp in the bassman and 20uf for the rest of the circuit. touch response.
Wow, it is almost fully wired. I'm not happy with my Treble and Mid pots, they are guitar pots with no friction. I ordered new ones. I also ordered a Variac, because I don't have one.
I was going to start this up with the Variac, but realized the rectifier won't do anything until its hearters get up to 5v, so its not going to do much good. I have never used a Variac in the past, but thought I'd try something different.
I don't care if this thing does not work right off the bat, I just don't want it to catch on fire! I spent so many hours on that PC board, I really, really don't want to have to make another.
"You feel like you're floating on a football field filled with marshmallows." -Dumble
I don't care if this thing does not work right off the bat, I just don't want it to catch on fire! I spent so many hours on that PC board, I really, really don't want to have to make another.
I don't blame you one bit.Good luck on the start up. Chad
ic-racer wrote:Wow, it is almost fully wired. I'm not happy with my Treble and Mid pots, they are guitar pots with no friction. I ordered new ones. I also ordered a Variac, because I don't have one.
I was going to start this up with the Variac, but realized the rectifier won't do anything until its hearters get up to 5v, so its not going to do much good. I have never used a Variac in the past, but thought I'd try something different.
I don't care if this thing does not work right off the bat, I just don't want it to catch on fire! I spent so many hours on that PC board, I really, really don't want to have to make another.
Thisis how i do it: With the standby switch in standby, bring the variac up slowly while checking heater voltage and B+ on the resevour cap. Once you're up to full line voltage, leave the amp on for a minute or two to get the tubes good and warm. Then turn the variac all the way down, flip the standby switch to the play position, then slowly bring the variac up while watching the B+ nodes.
I like to use both a light bulb limiter and a variac to power up 1st time. You can plug in a SS rectifier like Weber makes for the inital power up then when everything looks good plug in the tube rectifier....
martin manning wrote:Does the catalog listing reveal any of the thoughts behind it?
The fact that the Manzamp was available as a preamp has me a little concerned that I may have missed some secret ingredient. As it stands, I imagine this Manzamp like a Bassman, where the tone is determined as much by the speakers and output section. The original Bassman preamp is pretty simple and straight forward.
Maybe there was another Manzamp with 4 tubes, and a ODS style overdrive. Maybe that is what the Manzamp preamp is based on. This Manzamp in the picture has one of the tube holes blocked off and seems to follow the Bassman preamp architecture very closely.
Isnt OLDER Bonnie Raitt similar to what the Manzamp wil do? I`ve also heard/read Eric Johnson used one on Ah Via Musicom! Could be wrong!
I ceremoniously made the last solder connection last night. Pictures to come.
I was anxious to try it out but realized that 11:00 at night is not a good time to be trying out any semi-experimental electronic creation that produces 400v
"You feel like you're floating on a football field filled with marshmallows." -Dumble
I ceremoniously made the last solder connection last night. Pictures to come.
I was anxious to try it out but realized that 11:00 at night is not a good time to be trying out any semi-experimental electronic creation that produces 400v
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I spent so many hours on that PC board, I really, really don't want to have to make another. 
