Tweed Overdrive Special

[10thTx]

I've learned alot from this forum. So, with a aim to repay some of the good I've gleaned here, I wanted to share some info on a project I've worked on from another forum.

We took a D_mble topology and began substituting a tweed tone stack, a paralleled 12A_7 in the second gain stage of clean. Then we added a pentode in the second gain stage of the OD.

There is some info along with sound clips here:

http://www.el34world.com/Forum/index.php?topic=9636.0

With respect, 1othtx

[ChrisM]

I was just looking at this the other day when I was browsing Doug's store.

It looks really neat, love to know how it sounds. You got a few interesting ideas in it.

[10thTx]

love to know how it sounds

my Tweed Overdrive
http://www.soundclick.com/player/single ... i&newref=1

DaGeezer's Tweed Overdrive & better playing
http://www.zshare.net/audio/786814058ef04507/

With respect, 10thtx

[da Geezer]

Here's the newest clip of mine.........pretty much finished "tweaking" it. OD only, bridge pickup (Dmzio '59 PAF).
Just plugged in the guitar, got a good sound dialed in, stuck an SM57 in front of the 1x12 closed back cab, did a single run thru of the track & recorded it....took about 10-15 minutes (IOW, didn't mess with the amp a bunch to get "the perfect tone" or try to get a perfect recording or positioning of the mic, etc)

http://www.zshare.net/audio/79176723a361e923/

That's only "1" of many, many tones available from the amp....very versitile AND (more important to me) extremely easy to dial in good tone without futzing with tone stacks or trying to remember "How did I have the controls set to get that sound?"

Also, very sensitive to guitar volume & tone control settings....cleans ups easily by rolling back a bit on the vol pot.

I play in a "Dance" band with a wide variety of music types...played 3 long sets the other nite using only the clean & OD sections...no OD pedals needed, just a delay & reverb run in the effects loop. Simplest my setup has been in years!

Geezer

[martin manning]

Wow, that's really great guys, and Geezer, that's some very nice playing! The several clips really do show the versatility in this thing.

What were the final tweaks? Also, I see it's wired for a tube rectifier... Have you tried that out? It'd be easy to add a switch and a couple of diodes to have it both ways, eh?

Great to see a new and different take on the D thing, congratulations to you both on your success!

[David Root]

Nice tones guys! Interesting schematic indeed, tell us about the fatness stage.

[Zippy]

Nice tones guys! Interesting schematic indeed, tell us about the fatness stage.

Looks like it dials in the amount of 12AY7 that is running in parallel with the second stage (V1b). Nice idea to blend two similar, yet different, colors in the preamp.

[da Geezer]

Looks like it dials in the amount of 12AY7 that is running in parallel with the second stage (V1b)

Yes, that's correct. ~~ 3/4 up on the dial seems to be the "sweet spot" on mine.

The 12AY7 is my personal preference....any 12A_7 works just fine. A higher gain tube would give more "Fattness" & more available gain in the OD section.
On the OD clip I posted above, I had the OD gain up fairly high, & the drive fairly low. If the gain is lowered & the drive turned up a bit, the tone becomes more "Dumbleish". I'll try to do some more clips to show the different tones available....

Thanks for the comments......Geezer

[Structo]

I can't get my computer to play that clip.
The media player appears but does nothing when I click play.

[Zippy]

Are you bringing the Fatness control to the front panel?

Oops, never mind. I see that it is probably Volume-Tone-Fatness.

Are you shielding the leads to/from the V1a to V1b/V2a?

[Sonny ReVerb]

Do you guys have any build shots, gut shots, eye candy, etc?

[M Fowler]

Guys nice amp thanks for the sound tracks.

Mark

[10thTx]

Not a pretty layout or wiring job BUT the amp is super quiet at idle and has NO hum problems.

This was a cathode biased D-HRM amp that I redid into the Tweed Overdrive which I prefer tone wise. It got even messier after the conversion. This is the amp I used on my sound clips.

I have since added a 50k trim pot on the back instead of the 25k internal trim. And I added a 500k mini-pot on the front panel where the fattness control is. The other two switches are a bright cap on the volume and a paralleled resistor on a cathode of V1-b


with respect, 10thtx

[mat]

Wow! Great sounds ! Thanks for shearing This amp has some Redplate spice on it Wish I wasn't so busy at work

[CircuitButcher]

Here's the newest clip of mine.........pretty much finished "tweaking" it. OD only, bridge pickup (Dmzio '59 PAF).
Just plugged in the guitar, got a good sound dialed in, stuck an SM57 in front of the 1x12 closed back cab, did a single run thru of the track & recorded it....took about 10-15 minutes (IOW, didn't mess with the amp a bunch to get "the perfect tone" or try to get a perfect recording or positioning of the mic, etc)

http://www.zshare.net/audio/79185245d71bb233/

That's only "1" of many, many tones available from the amp....very versitile AND (more important to me) extremely easy to dial in good tone without futzing with tone stacks or trying to remember "How did I have the controls set to get that sound?"

Also, very sensitive to guitar volume & tone control settings....cleans ups easily by rolling back a bit on the vol pot.

I play in a "Dance" band with a wide variety of music types...played 3 long sets the other nite using only the clean & OD sections...no OD pedals needed, just a delay & reverb run in the effects loop. Simplest my setup has been in years!

Geezer

Great sounds & good playing

The JJ Jam and the GrandCentral6 clips while being tonally different appear to share the interaction between guitar & amp - seems responsive with good clarity.

Well done.

Is there much difference between this amp and the schematic posted above?

Thanks!