The Amp Garage

+1 on the Kinman's. I have them in my Strat and absolutely love them.
-Kevin

Hey guys, Yeah, i don't use any solid state gear as far as amps go, so no heresy here. I haven't found one SS amp that had good tone either. I just figured if you did build it well (mil or NASA spec) you could probably drop it off your house several times and still go play a show. The compromise wou...

Hi guys, are they "design center"....."design maximum"..... or are they "absolute maximum"?...... Either way we would be OK. Design Center ratings are more conservative ratings than Design Maximum so we definitely would be OK. If it was Design Maximum and only accounted for manufacturing tolerances ...

Hi guys, There is something to be said for "stone hammer reliable under all conditions". I can't argue with that. My only point is: has anybody tried JJ 6V6's in an amp with these voltages? Have they personally experienced a cloud of electrical smoke with these tubes? I have personally had a set in ...

There are no current or past 6v6's that would survive on 500+ volts and they never lasted in Kelly amps

Kelly had 485 volts on the plates at idle. This is even lower when the amp is under load. Look at the limiting values for a JJ 6V6 in attachment please.
-Kevin

Casey Jones,
Do what you will and enjoy . However, some 6V6's are rated for 500V. If we had enough heater current and a VVR or powercaling card we could change output tubes and voltages on the fly!! Everyone would be happy! Have a great weekend.
-Kevin

"No problems with failures"?! These amps are notorious for eating 6V6s. I thought we were talking about scratch building one. That would involve using components that are available now. As a head with tubes facing up, out of the sound field of the speaker, with tubes rated to handle the voltage you...

Hi Guys, Mouser stocks 1W zeners in 100v (part# 78-1N4764A). They also have an 82v zener in the same line. Now you only have 3 zeners in series creating a composite 3W 282v zener. As skyboltone said above, you can use a MOSFET with these zeners to create a voltage clamp. It won't necessarily be a re...

Hi Guys, Just to clarify, the Kelly amps did not actually use an active Baxandall EQ. It uses the passive Baxandall as it is not inside of a feedback loop. It also has a mid boost (switched parallel cap) added. Drz400, I know that is what you said above but it seemed a little confusing as written. F...

Nichicon radials are excellent. I would expect the same from the axials. They are superior to the Sprague Atoms and they are small and cheap. They are made by Panasonic I believe, who also has high quality caps. I give a big thanks to the computer industry for this. Just my 2 cents.
-Kevin

If you would be so kind ...
I'm kevin@boulderguitarlessons.com
Thank a lot!

Hey rackandroll, Not trying to be nit picky here but you probably want to use the right nomenclature when referring to your capacitors. Above, I assume you are referring to a 50nF capacitor when you say .05mF, however .05mF is 50,000nF. I believe you mean .05uF which is equal to 50 nF. That is a maj...

The bigger trannies and extra voltage and the speaker tap really tame the looser and rawer output stage. Lets not forget doubling the transconductance of the output stage. Half the plate impedance, twice the current capability, and twice the transconductance of the 50w make a big difference in tone...

Is that red tweed? I haven't seen any tolex that has that pattern berfore.
-Kevin[/i]

Hi guys,
Tjauernig is correct that half the power only yields a 3db decrease in sound, which is NOT half the volume. If you want to have half the volume you need a 10db decrease, so go from 100w to 10w.
-Kevin