Blues Deluxe to ODS build

[Amwatts]

I don't think the tone stack will work as expected. You are essentially lifting the bass pot with a huge 250k mid pot, thus providing something like a mega boost and rendering the stack useless. I only know this arrangement for the Bluesmaster preamp, where the mid pot is 25k. #102 front end looks a bit different. There the mid pot gets its own ground and the bass pot is grounded through either a 1k8 or 10k resistor (the latter in case of a Skyline stack).

Well spotted , Thanks , I'll seperate them and put the 10k / 0.001 on the bass pot

C35/R13 are not present in 'normal' 4th gen ODS amps. They are in a HRM or Bluesmaster.

I'll go without and see

Your master and volume pots are arranged differently too. You now have a separate clean and OD master, instead of a ratio control feeding your master in OD. That is again typical for HRM, but not other Dumbles. The only exception I can think of is ODRS #60, but that is a different kind of beast because of the mixing stages of the reverb anyways.

Luckily, the conversion from HRM to #102 is rather straight forward. Just stick to the exact #102 values/schematic like Martin said.

I'll have to do some tracing on the PCB to get around this I feel, and see what needs to be wired at the pots

On a sine note: you could make the HRM circuit/stack (foot)switchable. I think Two Rock did so in the Opal. I experimented with this and this way you can get a nice compromise between regular ODS and HRM. But never perfectly both! You'd need some more switching to achieve that as there are actually quite a lot of differences between regular and HRM.

I think I'll just remove it

Updated Tonestack

BluesMaster DClone 100W w#102 mods.jpg

[martin manning]

Did the board come with a schematic?

[Amwatts]

Did the board come with a schematic?

Yes, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it here , It's retro customs, downloadable from their site , I did trace it and mdroberts1243's schematic from here and they are so close to each other

BluesMmaster DClone 100Wv12.pdf

[martin manning]

Knowing how the PCB is "wired" should make it easy to switch over to 102 spec. Do you have a link to the schematic? I can see if it will download for me.

[pompeiisneaks]

I'm pretty sure Lou based a lot of those schematics off our site here, he's a regular commenter, etc. The schematics are really dumble's designs anyway, so I doubt he's going to make a fuss. His goal is for us amp builders to buy those excellent PCB's and put them in amps...

~Phil

[xtian]

Did the board come with a schematic?

Yes, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it here , It's retro customs, downloadable from their site , I did trace it and mdroberts1243's schematic from here and they are so close to each other

BluesMmaster DClone 100Wv12.pdf

The development was done by me, using publicly available resources from ampgarage.com, and measurements I made from donor Hot Rods. Lou converted my schem and created the PCBs. Lou did some nice original work on the switching PSU and circuit. And the layout was a collaboration. So yes, you may post docs here. Thanks for your concern.

[Chris Brown]

If I rip the tweed off of mine is that pretty wood going to be underneath?!?

I converted a BDRI using this board... I built mine with 102 values. I actually gig with it quite a bit. My only regret is using the screw terminals, although it's been gigging for a year now and no issues at all. I put a warehouse et65 in it and it's a perfect match.

[Amwatts]

If I rip the tweed off of mine is that pretty wood going to be underneath?!?

That's what got me started down this path . I found an old Blues Deluxe where the quality chipboard cabinet had flaked away to nothing , Then thought I can build Retro Custom into this .. That wood is Tallow Wood , from my stash of exotic woods I build custom amps with. It was some of the left over pieces that didn't make the grade for customers.

I converted a BDRI using this board... I built mine with 102 values. I actually gig with it quite a bit. My only regret is using the screw terminals, although it's been gigging for a year now and no issues at all. I put a warehouse et65 in it and it's a perfect match.

I got the warehouse ET65 yesterday , When you did yours, did you just change the values on the board ? Leave the tonestack/pot values etc Bluesmaster , or did you got down the complete overhaul road , I'm still contemplating whether to try and go all the way .
I think I'll start by removing the HRM and changing values to 102 , then decide if I need to enter the next stage .

[Amwatts]

Did the board come with a schematic?

Yes, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it here , It's retro customs, downloadable from their site , I did trace it and mdroberts1243's schematic from here and they are so close to each other

BluesMmaster DClone 100Wv12.pdf

The development was done by me, using publicly available resources from ampgarage.com, and measurements I made from donor Hot Rods. Lou converted my schem and created the PCBs. Lou did some nice original work on the switching PSU and circuit. And the layout was a collaboration. So yes, you may post docs here. Thanks for your concern.

Thanks for the permission and thanks for such a great PCB , so well built , you both did a great job .

LRC_HRD2ODS_Rev-D1_Schematic.pdf

[Chris Brown]

I got the warehouse ET65 yesterday , When you did yours, did you just change the values on the board ? Leave the tonestack/pot values etc Bluesmaster , or did you got down the complete overhaul road , I'm still contemplating whether to try and go all the way .
I think I'll start by removing the HRM and changing values to 102 , then decide if I need to enter the next stage .

I used 102 values for everything outside of power supply/switching, and I also kept the adjustable PAB circuit that the board provides. If you're moving toward 102 but not fully jumping in to replacing everything, I would suggest at least swapping in a 100K level/ratio, and upping the mid pot.

[Amwatts]

I got the warehouse ET65 yesterday , When you did yours, did you just change the values on the board ? Leave the tonestack/pot values etc Bluesmaster , or did you got down the complete overhaul road , I'm still contemplating whether to try and go all the way .
I think I'll start by removing the HRM and changing values to 102 , then decide if I need to enter the next stage .

I used 102 values for everything outside of power supply/switching, and I also kept the adjustable PAB circuit that the board provides. If you're moving toward 102 but not fully jumping in to replacing everything, I would suggest at least swapping in a 100K level/ratio, and upping the mid pot.

I ended up doing the same as you . The 100Kl on the drive brings on the gain pretty quickly, I'm gonna throw in a 100k Audio curve and see if that makes it more gradual. I'll never use the drive on full with the linear pot .

[Amwatts]

After more research and looking into the multiple variations of this circuit . I think I'm going to try #124 . that 250kA pot on the OD drive and Fender value resistors in the preamp has caught my eye ...

Too many options for someone who has just started down the Dumble rabbit hole

[Chris Brown]

While we're on the subject of the BDRI conversion... try at your own risk, but one of my absolute favorite things with this amp is to throw a couple of JJ6V6S in there. It becomes the ultimate livingroom ODS. I've also used it like this for a couple of live recording sessions and gigs with a quieter drummer as well.

One night I took it to a full volume gig with the 6V6 in there and regretted it when the drummer started hitting hard... swapped in 6L6 on break and back to plenty of headroom.

[Amwatts]

Update : I think I've found my ODS version , I put #124 Skyliner values in and that's the sound I was expecting in my head .
Huge Fender style cleans , and nice bluesy overdrive , crunchy with great sustain and pick attack, but not too fuzzy .
This will be my gigging amp I feel ...
Still waiting on some parts for the presence , and the master vol pf cap, but as is I'm pretty happy
finished it at 2am so I couldn't crank it, But today it will be heard throughout the valley ....

The journey has been fun ..
I left the filtering from the Bluesmater version, but did change the dropping resistors in the power section to Skyliner specs, also added the NFB 10M cluster on V1b as per Skyliner

The WGS ET65 is much better than the V30 I had .

I've added the values to the schematic (haven't drawn the V1b NFB yet) . I decided to add the original 84 values as well as the 88 Skyliner values , I went with the Skyliner as it had the 250Ka pot on the OD gain , and I wasn't happy with the #102 100kl version, it just came on too fast for my liking

Here's the schematic with the Bluesmaster, #102, #124 , #124 Skyliner values added .... If you are doing a build with the Retro Custom PCB .. the options are (hopefully clearly) laid out

If you find some mistakes , please let me know and I'll rectify them .... I'm off to test this baby .... thanks for all your input here

BluesMaster DClone 100W w#102 #124 mods.pdf