Wire Gauge for Output and Speaker Jacks?

[martin manning]

Steve H, that wire should be fine, and I think 22 ga is large enough for anything in a guitar amp. At 5A current capacity, it is heavy enough for even the filaments of a 4x EL84 amp since it would only have to supply three of the four power tubes- the transformer leads are the only ones supplying all four.

Can you tell me if it's "bonded" wire, where the copper strands are tinned and stuck together? If so, I find that stuff very easy to work with.

[The New Steve H]

Oh, no! Can I paint this wire purple? Will that fix it?

[Lonely Raven]

Oh, no! Can I paint this wire purple? Will that fix it?

I would use dye, not paint. Paint might mess up the crystal lattice of the copper or something.

[The New Steve H]

Man, this purple-wire gaffe is a real setback. And today I had another. I realized this chassis is too thick for the short screws that fit my standoffs. I got out my Forstner bit and cut four recesses in the top of the chassis, so the screws would reach.

It was only about two hours later that I realized I could have bought longer screws.

[The New Steve H]

I might as well tell the whole short-bus story.

I also got frustrated because my new standoffs were the wrong diameter for my screws (the ones that were too short for the chassis). I never realized there were different sizes of standoffs, so when I bought them, I didn't check.

Instead of running to the hardware store for screws, I actually thought, "Man, now I have to drive across town and return these!"

Let's keep this between ourselves. I don't want to be declared incompetent.

[David Root]

We've all done stuff like that. It's called over-focusing. Don't worry about it, that's a normal part of the obsessive traits we all share!

[Structo]

Let's be honest here.
You really just wanted an excuse to use your new Forstner drill bit didn't you?

[NickC]

We've all done stuff like that. It's called over-focusing. Don't worry about it, that's a normal part of the obsessive traits we all share!

...... I am compulsively unobsessive.

[The New Steve H]

Next time: the plasma cutter.

[M Fowler]

Next time I would think you would use a more appropriate chassis

Mark

[The New Steve H]

Probably not. This thing was cheap, and once you know what to do with it, it's not hard to work with. My problem is that I don't see the special challenges coming on this first effort, so they delay me. The second time around, I'll know what to do.

[The New Steve H]

Let's face it. Wasting 90 minutes recessing screw holes instead of buying longer screws...that's like something out of The Three Stooges. That isn't going to happen again.

[M Fowler]

You can buy a 17x8x2 chassis for $17 without all the hassle. Or go prepunched by allynmey or rj for $59 to $69.

Or flat sheet and fold your own. That thick channel stuff is a pain.
Might be fun one or two times but after those builds you'll be looking.

Mark

[The New Steve H]

The problem is that you can't get a full-size chassis for a decent price. A Bassman chassis is 20" long. The biggest ready-made box I could find was 19". I want room to play with so I'm not limited by space. I might want to do something new. Seventeen inches by eight might do it, but I have no doubts at all about 20 by 5.5.

Sixty bucks (plus shipping) is no deal, when I can end up with something nicer and very personal for 20. I want to make several amps a year, and those dollars add up.

Again, you have to remember, most of my problems and delays were caused by inexperience, not the nature of the chassis. Many of the problems I had would have occurred regardless of the chassis I used. Apart from half an hour or so of easy machining, plus fifteen or twenty minutes of sanding, a heavy channel chassis doesn't take any more time than a Hammond box.

As for prepunched boxes, well, why not buy a kit? That's pretty dull. It's like painting by numbers or reheating TV dinners. The point isn't to get an amp as fast as possible. If that was all I cared about, I'd drive to Guitar Center and get one. I don't even plan to use this one except on rare occasions.

Folding my own metal is not realistic. My garage has enough junk in it. Aside from that, the cheapest practical machine I found was something like $400, and they weigh 300 pounds. Shop Fox makes a cheesy one that folds thin metal, and it's $300. I looked into used ones, and they are no bargain, either. For under a hundred, I can get a piece of junk that will make poor-quality bends in very thin metal, but it won't have fingers, so it won't make boxes.

I'm really enjoying this. A prefab box wouldn't be the same.

[M Fowler]

Okay I totally understand but your wrong about not being able to get larger chassis at low cost.

http://ddawgamps.com/Amp_Chassis.php

Mark