Need Help With Bassman 5B6 Build

[KennyC]

Hi Folks, and happy holidays! Let me start by saying that I have never built an amp from scratch before, and have very little knowledge about resistors and capacitor’s. With that said, I purchased a used Little Walter head about a year ago, fabricated a deluxe reverb sized chassis, disassembled the LW and reinstalled the parts in the chassis I built and now have a bassman 5b6 in a deluxe reverb combo cabinet. The problem is that it doesn’t have enough power (27 watts) for some of the gigs I play, so I’m going to build another one from scratch using the Tino Zottola ptp version, same as the LW. I’m hoping to get some advice from some of the guys who have built them.

So, my first question is, what trannies would you recommend to get somewhere between 40 to 45 watts? And the next question is, will I need to change out any other components by going to the larger trannies? And being I know nothing about building amps, can anyone recommend a layout for building this in a deluxe reverb sized chassis. I think I lucked out when I gutted the LW and reassembled it using the layout I came up with because sounds a good as it did before I made the change. With that said, half the wires had solder iron burns, and the main hot power lead wire wasn’t even soldered! Oh, and the effects loop doesn’t work either. Very shoddy work for sure. I’d also like to add the bass roll-off knob that the LW’s have, if anyone can help with that as well.

So again, my questions are:
Which power/output trannies would you suggest to get the 40 to 45 watts?
Will I need to change out any other parts to accommodate the higher power trannies?
Any layout suggestions for building this in a deluxe reverb chassis…do’s and don’ts?
How do I wire up a bass roll-off knob?
Thanks.

[maxkracht]

I am not familiar with Little Walter or Tino Zottola and no idea what kind of bass control you are looking for, there are many ways to cut bass. Pictures/schematics/other specs are helpful. Perhaps what you actually want is something closer to a 5f6 Bassman/jtm45 output section? You could probably achieve about the same thing by converting your current amp to fixed bias to get a bit more output. For all I know, your current amp could already have transformers with the same spec as a 5f6a. More efficient speakers could also help.

Switching to a higher voltage power transformer will get you a bit more output, but it also introduces more variables that will be confusing if you are just starting out. Best to stick to transformer/tube/circuit combinations that are well documented.

[martin manning]

Might be some info in this thread: https://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19934

[KennyC]

Thanks Martin. I’ve already researched every post on every forum I could find for the past few weeks. The 2 guys that seem to have the most knowledge regarding this amp are the guys on the same post you linked, Mark Fowler and the Milkman, particularly Mark, who has built at least 2 of these and installed the bigger trannies on one of them. I believe he got 40 watts out of it when he was finished. I sent him a PM yesterday, so hopefully he can help me out.

[martin manning]

The e-mail notification isn't working on this board, and Mark only drops by occasionally these days. It may be a few days before he sees it.