Garage Band Ripper

[martin manning]

The October 2022 Vintage Guitar magazine has a nice article by Dave Hunter about an amp HAD built for session man Joey Brasler in the mid-1990's, which was named "Garage Band Ripper." There are quite a few photos, including a full inside chassis shot.

It's a 2x EL34 built into a gutted Orange chassis. Different, but recognizable. It has an all-in-one precision power supply board, which I'm sure many of us have thought about, and the requisite blue goo, which is obscuring the socket areas of the two preamp tubes. I imagine underneath are small individual boards centered over the sockets (roughly 2" x 2-1/2") with large holes as seen on other D amps. There's a small board with four square trim pots (Bourns, as on HRM) and a relay, which is powered by the familiar regulated supply using a Radio Shack transformer. Those would be the OD entrance and the post-OD tone stack, I guess. The PI tube and its small board are naked, and that board is mounted on edge, as in a D'lator. The man was always changing things up just a bit.

A side bar describes the back story on the "Special 16" that appeared in an earlier issue,,. That was built for Jerry Miller of Moby Grape, and was basically Four Bassman amps in one head box, replacing the four individual Bassman's Miller was playing through on stage. Unfortunately, the band broke up before it was finished, and Miller had no use for it.

[Guy77]

The October 2022 Vintage Guitar magazine has a nice article by Dave Hunter about an amp HAD built for session man Joey Brasler in the mid-1990's, which was named "Garage Band Ripper." There are quite a few photos, including a full inside chassis shot.

It's a 2x EL34 built into a gutted Orange chassis. Different, but recognizable. It has an all-in-one precision power supply board, which I'm sure many of us have thought about, and the requisite blue goo, which is obscuring the socket areas of the two preamp tubes. I imagine underneath are small individual boards centered over the sockets (roughly 2" x 2-1/2") with large holes as seen on other D amps. There's a small board with four square trim pots (Bourns, as on HRM) and a relay, which is powered by the familiar regulated supply using a Radio Shack transformer. Those would be the OD entrance and the post-OD tone stack, I guess. The PI and its small board are naked, and that board is mounted on edge, as in a D'lator. The man was always changing things up just a bit.

A side bar describes the back story on the "Special 16" that appeared in an earlier issue,,. That was built for Jerry Miller of Moby Grape, and was basically Four Bassman amps in one head box, replacing the four individual Bassman's Miller was playing through on stage. Unfortunately, the band broke up before it was finished, and Miller had no use for it.

That is very cool. Thanks for posting Martin.
I found a few pics of the amp online and posted them here.

Hope that is ok

10-26-2022 10-56-15 AMb.png

10-26-2022 10-56-59 AM.png

Guy

[WhopperPlate]

The man was always changing things up just a bit.

A side bar describes the back story on the "Special 16" that appeared in an earlier issue,,. That was built for Jerry Miller of Moby Grape.

Great local legend guitar player here. Phenomenal chops. I got to see him perform and sound check back in the day, rented my fender twin reverb but preferred someone else’s pro reverb lol . I remember him casually saying to his band mates at sound check : “real musicians don’t need to rehearse”.

My friend jimmy jackson (phenomenal country rock player) played with him in a band for a tour or two . He told me how he would leave his amplifiers on all day after sound check . He needed the whole amplifier completely warmed up hours before the gig or else he wasn’t happy . One of the the few players I have heard who really understood how important the amplifier and its temperament was to the core of the sound.

Jimmy told me people would come up to him after a gig and day “hey, you really warmed up for those last few songs “ and he would reply ,” I am always warmed up, my amps weren’t”

Cheers

[martin manning]

Jerry Miller is still out there, approaching his 80th birthday. This is from 2013, but here he is playing with Jorma K at Fur Peace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhUf86HQy6k

[dreric]

As I am pondering a return to amp making, more like a return to the projects I've stalled about on and it's interesting to see how HAD made this amp. It brings up more questions than anything:

1. Why bother using an Orange Chassis, when you replace pretty much everything? Are Oranges steel vs. aluminum?

2. Yet another example of HAD making boards and a layout as a "one off", why would he do that?

3. While the topology is different, the controls remain that same expect the addition of a "ripper" pot, which does what? If if was that addition of another gain stage, that would add another preamp tube, so it could be to introduce variability (the pot) a what stage of the circuit?

Thoughts?
Eric

[WhopperPlate]

As I am pondering a return to amp making, more like a return to the projects I've stalled about on and it's interesting to see how HAD made this amp. It brings up more questions than anything:

1. Why bother using an Orange Chassis, when you replace pretty much everything? Are Oranges steel vs. aluminum?

2. Yet another example of HAD making boards and a layout as a "one off", why would he do that?

3. While the topology is different, the controls remain that same expect the addition of a "ripper" pot, which does what? If if was that addition of another gain stage, that would add another preamp tube, so it could be to introduce variability (the pot) a what stage of the circuit?

Thoughts?
Eric

1) on the same notion; why bother using a fender chassis when you replace pretty much everything?

2) not the first time someone has made a one off design , let alone dumble . Sometimes we do this because we can, or maybe it was a donor amp from a friend and he was just having fun , or perhaps it was a custom commission . There are definitely examples of dumble modded amps that weren’t done for $ . All part of “living the craft “ .

3) I haven’t analyzed the layout extensively , but without an extra tube it could possibly just be an external gain pot that would usually be mounted internally . “Od trigger” on 121 comes to mind.

Cheers

[martin manning]

dreric, Charlie, the story is in the article. Dumble asked a friend if there was something he could do for him, and he gave HAD the Orange to mod. The friend said the Orange didn't sound good, but that he didn't want an ODS either. The request was for something "big, fat, loose, and fun." It was gutted, and it got a new PT and OT, so not much was left except the chassis.

[WhopperPlate]

dreric, Charlie, the story is in the article. Dumble asked a friend if there was something he could do for him, and he gave HAD the Orange to mod. The friend said the Orange didn't sound good, but that he didn't want an ODS either. The request was for something "big, fat, loose, and fun." It was gutted, and it got a new PT and OT, so not much was left except the chassis.

Cool! Pretty much as I guessed lol

[Guy77]

As I am pondering a return to amp making, more like a return to the projects I've stalled about on and it's interesting to see how HAD made this amp. It brings up more questions than anything:

1. Why bother using an Orange Chassis, when you replace pretty much everything? Are Oranges steel vs. aluminum?

2. Yet another example of HAD making boards and a layout as a "one off", why would he do that?

3. While the topology is different, the controls remain that same expect the addition of a "ripper" pot, which does what? If if was that addition of another gain stage, that would add another preamp tube, so it could be to introduce variability (the pot) a what stage of the circuit?

Thoughts?
Eric

The last time I had an Orange amp it was indeed a steel chassis.
Funny thing is that I noticed a slight difference in sound when I built the same amp in a steel chassis as opposed to aluminum!

Vacationing in beautiful British Columbia this weekend.

Cheers
Guy

[Reeltarded]

UP with CF. Look at all the yellow going southwest above the empty noval and disappearing northeast under the PS board.

[WhopperPlate]

UP with CF. Look at all the yellow going southwest above the empty noval and disappearing northeast under the PS board.

Good eye . I just assumed almost anything wirh “ garage band” or “ripper” in its title would be in that vein.

[Reeltarded]

Marshall value PI caps and output too!

lump BUMP lump lump

Oh look! I am wrong about the output. Look at the end profile of the caps. .1-.022.. then .047x2

Look at the second noval hole from the right.. wth haha

Gross.

[WhopperPlate]

Marshall value PI caps and output too!

lump BUMP lump lump

Oh look! I am wrong about the output. Look at the end profile of the caps. .1-.022.. then .047x2

Look at the second noval hole from the right.. wth haha

Gross.

As long as it works and sounds good after you drop it off the back of a pickup truck it’s all good

[Reeltarded]

This is so timely.

Pacific Transformer

[WhopperPlate]

This is so timely.

Pacific Transformer

Now install them into amplifier , put it in a beater cabinet, place on tail gate , quickly reverse and brake . Now let’s see what happens .