High-plate Classic

[ijedouglas]

I built a #0102 a couple of years back and no matter what I did, I could never really bond with the amp. I changed transformers (twice), rebuilt it from scratch a couple of times... in fact the only thing that remained constant was the chassis. Chatting to Charlie Wilson a while back about this amp and how, no matter what I did, I couldn't get it sounding right, he suggested I try a high-plate classic. I started off with just changing the treble and mid cap and I liked what I heard. I changed out the mid and bass pots and liked it even more and convinced myself to redo the tonestack from skyliner to classic. The more I looked at the amp, the more I convinced myself that a complete rebuild was in order. Having rebuilt a couple of amps and feeling the pain (deconstruction is way harder than construction), I decided to use a new chassis I had lying around. I'm getting close to mounting the pre-amp and PS board but I thought I'd share couple of pics.

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[erwin_ve]

Hi Ian,

Looking very good!
Can you give examples of what you didn't like about #102 and what you liked on the changes you made?

Erwin

[bepone]

very nice, according to the material, this will be very smoooooooth amp

[Colossal]

Looking very good!
Can you give examples of what you didn't like about #102 and what you liked on the changes you made?

I was wondering the same. The new amp looks great!

[ijedouglas]

Looking very good!
Can you give examples of what you didn't like about #102 and what you liked on the changes you made?

I was wondering the same. The new amp looks great!

Thanks guys.

As to what I didn't like.... I really can't put my finger on it but there was just something there that I didn't like. It may have been in my head but no matter what I changed (literally everything) it remained. I don't think it was the circuit as I love RFs tone and I've heard other clones that I like. Who knows

[erwin_ve]

Looking very good!
Can you give examples of what you didn't like about #102 and what you liked on the changes you made?

I was wondering the same. The new amp looks great!

Thanks guys.

As to what I didn't like.... I really can't put my finger on it but there was just something there that I didn't like. It may have been in my head but no matter what I changed (literally everything) it remained. I don't think it was the circuit as I love RFs tone and I've heard other clones that I like. Who knows

I couldn't bond with my #102 either. For me it feit the wow factor was not in the right frequency spectrum.
So is the high plate classic a attempt for a #102 a bit different?

Erwin

[ijedouglas]

So is the high plate classic a attempt for a #102 a bit different?

With regards to my approach or to try and recreate 102 pre-skyliner update? Im actually taking pieces from a few classics I have seen and blending them into a "generic" version. Once I have it fired up, I'm sure I'll start changing things around.

[ijedouglas]

A little more progress....

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[Mr. dB]

Does that Tandy coax use a solid copper center conductor, or is it "copperweld"?

[ijedouglas]

Does that Tandy coax use a solid copper center conductor, or is it "copperweld"?

Solid copper. First time I have used it and it's way harder to work with than the white teflon (RG-316) I used previously

[Charlie Wilson]

The Tandy actually is plated steel. I tried solid copper and it is very bright.
CW

[ijedouglas]

The Tandy actually is plated steel. I tried solid copper and it is very bright.
CW

That makes sense. I thought it was copper but it's real hard to work with

[Charlie Wilson]

No pain no gain.
CW

[ijedouglas]

Finished, now onto the tweaking

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[Colossal]

Looks great. I am always impressed by you guys that either have the blessing of a stash of these build-specific old parts, or are able to track them down.