Just finished first rocket build, any build suggestions?

[fish22]

Hey everyone, I just finished this RJ Rocket and thought I would post it and ask for some thoughts on things I could improve upon for next time, which will be pretty soon. It is my first TW style build.

I realize some of my joints are not the prettiest so I don't really need that pointed out.
But I would like some pointers on wiring routing, twisting, etc for next time for the sake of keeping the amp quiet, reliable, and for all around "best practices" type stuff. At this point, I haven't gone back and cleaned up my solder splashes or any other junk yet. Some of my wire routes came from starting to run out of wire .

I'm pleased with the way it sounds and more than pleased with my experience with RJ.

Anyway, I'm very grateful for the wealth of knowledge that this forum offers for people. Thanks!

Be gentle.

Wyatt

[MHProd]

Looks pretty good. How's the sound/noise?

[johnnyreece]

I know you weren't looking for solder critique, but I just wanted to mention, some of the turrets look barely soldered. Not trying to be nitpicky; just want to let you know.

Personally, if I find that all my solder is running down inside the turret, I back off the heat on my iron a touch. Others may say I'm a complete idiot, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

[fish22]

I know you weren't looking for solder critique, but I just wanted to mention, some of the turrets look barely soldered. Not trying to be nitpicky; just want to let you know.

Personally, if I find that all my solder is running down inside the turret, I back off the heat on my iron a touch. Others may say I'm a complete idiot, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Thats actually one of the things I learned from this project. The temp thing makes perfect sense. Next time, I think I'll wrap everything instead of going in the top. Thanks!

[fish22]

Looks pretty good. How's the sound/noise?

Tone wise, one of the best amps, if not the best, I've ever played through.

Noise wise, pretty darn quiet. Has a really subtle hum but the owner never even noticed it.

[BLT]

The input with a shielded cable is never a bad idea. And I'd have lifted it farther away from the heater wire to pin 9, and then cross the heater at more of a 90 degree angle. The cathode bias ground wire on my builds goes to the screw on the socket of the closest EL84. I too now wrap components around terminals as much as possible. Nice clean build, well done!

[fish22]

The input with a shielded cable is never a bad idea. And I'd have lifted it farther away from the heater wire to pin 9, and then cross the heater at more of a 90 degree angle. The cathode bias ground wire on my builds goes to the screw on the socket of the closest EL84. I too now wrap components around terminals as much as possible. Nice clean build, well done!

I actually debated on the shielded input wire going straight to V1... I think I'll change to that and take your advice on crossing the heater at a 90* angle.

noob question: Do I need to ground the shielding on the input wire?

Thanks!

[JoeCon]

Fish

Yes but only ground one end of it. The other is not attached to anything.
I ran mine right from the input jack to the resistor soldered right on the tube socket. And grounded it at the input jack.

HTH

[Smokebreak]

Looks great! You may want to consider making a stronger mechanical connection where the wires go in the holes. You don't have to get carried away, but I find a little wrap around socket pins, pot lugs, etc helps me sleep at night . Plus, you don't want the wire moving when the solder is setting, and having a good mech connection will help prevent that. I saw a '63 Deluxe last week whose original screen resistor was never soldered to the pin. It was wrapped around just barely enough for it to never have caused any problems, and apparently enough that no one ever caught it. So I just left it.. Kidding ..

[RJ Guitars]

Great looking build! These are really sweet sounding amps.

I can tell you one thing I just learned for myself... the Edcor power transformers separate the windings and wires a bit different than the traditional Wreck style from Heyboer or Pacific. I found that I needed to separate the center taps on the B+ and Heater windings and bond them to ground at 2 separate locations. This is a good practice in general but with that same Edcor PT on the Songwriter amp I had an annoying hum until I separated them.

Thanks for posting your build progress, you have nicely documented what I call the "Econo-Rocket". It goes together real nice and tidy with those can caps yet still has that great Rocket tone.